Welcome to The Baba Times
Your Window to the World of Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality!
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.
LATEST NEWS We are conducting 'Guided Meditation Session' every Saturday at 5.30 PM EST from New York.
This will include discussions on various topics like Upanishads, Philosophy, Spirituality & Meditation through Skype. Please send 'Add Request' to 'DLSNewYork' from your skype account so that you can participate in this Satsang. These sessions are part of Divine Life Society from Rishikesh
Hari Om. The Baba Times Team, Contact thebabatimes@gmail.com
Never Forget Your Divinity
Spiritual Message for the Day – Never Forget Your Divinity by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 15 November 2014 20.28 EST | New York Edition** |
Never Forget Your Divinity
Divine Life Society Publication: Ponder These Truths by Sri Swami Chidananda
Never, never forget that you are radiant immortal Atman, you are the radiant, immortal, spiritual Light. You are a radiant spark of the Divine, a ray of the great Light of lights which is beyond all darkness.
Our physical personality, our body, mind, intellect, thoughts, emotions, desires, sentiments, memories, imaginations and the various processes going on within the psyche, the psychological self, may all be regarded as necessary in order to function upon this physical plane. They may even be valued in the light of the fact that they are necessary instruments, media and helpful factors in order to strive and awaken ourselves to our eternal, essential divine nature. So they have a value.
But except for this fact, that they are channels for sadhana, the instruments of Yoga for spiritual striving, for illumination and liberation, they are, by and large, only of nuisance value to be tolerated, because they are the prolific source of our bondage, our disharmony, our clash and conflict, within ourselves as well as with others. They are the prolific source of so many experiences that we do not wish to have. They constantly obstruct the awareness that “I am the radiant immortal Self, I am a spiritual entity beyond body and mind, name and form.” By that little action of veiling, they drag us down to the lower plane of physicality, body consciousness and mental consciousness. That itself makes them serious obstacles in the unfoldment and the manifestation of our spiritual consciousness. Therefore they are burdens to be tolerated, and constantly we have to see them only as a temporary covering and reject them.
In spite of their veiling power, you must assert the Spirit; you must affirm your eternal, radiant, immortal nature. Constantly you should do that. Never, never forget that you are radiant, immortal Atman. Never, never forget that you are children of the Divine, essentially also divine. You are a part, jivatma is a part of the paramatma. If you forget ten times, recollect yourself ten times. If you forget a hundred times, reject the wrong idea and again recollect yourself a hundred times. Keep up this sadhana. Live in divine awareness. Ever be centred in your true, eternal, immortal, divine identity, be centred in the Self.
If you wish to overcome the many factors within yourself that stand in the way of this radiant spiritual awareness, this constant positive state of light, power, joy, cheerfulness and inner peace, it is necessary to tap the power that is everywhere around you in nature and to be conscious of this power by sublating or setting aside the name and form that covers it.
Every object in this outer universe is a centre of spiritual force, because it is a manifestation of the primal cosmic power or energy. A tree, a stone, falling rain, the blowing wind, everything that you can see, hear, taste, smell or touch in this universe, whether immediate or remote, is infilled by the divine principle. This was the experience of the Upanishadic seers, and you have to try to be constantly aware of the hidden substratum of the apparent, ever-changing names and forms.
If you are rooted in this awareness, then you are conscious of being enveloped by a power, by a benign presence, a healing presence, a peaceful presence, a radiant, luminous presence. Thus it becomes much easier to relate yourself directly, either through prayer, or through invoking the Divine Name which represents this power, or through svadhyaya (study of scriptures) which raises your mind to sublime heights.
I wish to particularly call your attention to one aspect of this svadhyaya. Svadhyaya requires a book no matter how small it is. Suppose you are in a state, a condition or situation where, due to reasons beyond your control, you cannot take the book out to read, and yet at the same time you urgently need a little support from within. For such occasions you should have by heart a repertoire, a reserve of sublime, lofty, inspiring, power-infusing sayings from the sacred books. They should always be there. At any moment you must be able to recollect them and to repeat them mentally or even verbally.
Therefore during your spiritual study day by day, you must try to get by heart and make your own, certain essential parts, certain inspiring verses or lines from the Bhagavad Gita, from the Upanishads, from the New Testament, or some other scripture. So, if you have within yourself for immediate recollection, immediate affirmation, certain verses or lines by heart, then it becomes a valuable substitute for svadhyaya in situations where it is not possible to take out a book and read. When you repeat them, immediately you become inspired. Your inner atmosphere is transformed, because they are powerful. These great quotations are instant power.
For example, from the Bhagavad Gita have an inspiring line such as: ajo nityah sasvato’yam purano na hanyate hanyamane sarire (Unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, the Self is not killed when the body is killed); or for Vedantic inspiration, some verses from the Avadhuta Gita like: ahameva’vyayo’nantah suddha-vijnanavigrahah; sukham duhkham na janami katham kasyapi vartate (I alone am imperishable, infinite, the form of pure Consciousness. I do not know pleasure or pain or how they affect anyone); or for peace, from the Guru Gita, such as: chaitanyam sasvatam santam vyomatitam niranjanam (…Who is pure Consciousness, eternal, peaceful, beyond ether and untainted). When you say “vyomatita” (beyond ether), you are already uplifted; you go beyond this world of name and form, being aware that you are part of the Being Who is spotless and pure, and Who far transcends space and everything that is gross and material. Thus you must always have some very few selected verses for instant inspiration, instant upliftment of the spirit, instant infusing of power into your consciousness, into the centre of your being. This is one important point.
Secondly, make your prayer creative and powerful. Prayer should be understood as asking the Lord to keep you constantly in a state of inner awareness, of inner spiritual relationship and communion with Him; not to ask for anything He has created, but to ask for Himself and a continuous, unbroken, living, inner spiritual relationship with Him, so that the channel of power and light between Him and you is never blocked, never closed, never switched off; it is always open; there is always a constant inflow of His divinity, and all that it implies, into your own consciousness. This is the thing to ask, so that prayer also is something that enhances this awareness and infuses you constantly with that greater power. Thus make your prayer creative, constructive and progressive.
This is the highest form of prayer—not for gaining anything in this world created by Him, but for gaining only the most coveted of all things, Yoga, a constant inner communion and link with Him. This is the true purpose of prayer. Then you shall lack nothing. You shall have light, power and wisdom. You shall have an abundance of God’s grace.
Excerpts from: Never Forget Your Divinity - Ponder These Truths 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Action and Reaction – The Law of Karma
Spiritual Message for the Day – Live The Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 November 2014 14.35 EST | New York Edition** |
Action and Reaction – The Law of Karma
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 2 – Commentary on The Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda
It is said that a right action should be judged from four angles of vision. Firstly, the intention in doing a thing should be justifiable. We should not have an offensive intention behind our action. Secondly, the consequence that may follow from our action should also be justifiable. Thirdly, the very reason behind our intention—why we developed this intention to do a particular action—has a reason behind it which is superior to our psychological intention, and that also has to be justifiable. Finally, it should not harm any person. If our action does some harm to somebody, knowingly or unknowingly, it will have a reaction.
Actions done either knowingly or unknowingly will produce some reaction. Many times we feel that we have made a mistake unknowingly and, therefore, we should be pardoned. The law does not seem to think exactly the same way. There are one or two interesting stories in the Mahabharata and the Puranas. There was king who had many cattle, and in that country there was a Brahmin who had a cow. One day it so happened that the Brahmin’s cow strayed into the herd of cattle which belonged to the king. As was the custom of ancient rulers, charity of cattle and gold were given to people every day. One day the king gave some cattle in charity to a Brahmin, and it so happened that this stray cow was included. The Brahmin was leading this cow which was a gift from the king, and on the way the real owner came to know about it.
He said, “This is my cow. Why are you taking it?”
The reply was, “I don’t know anything. It was given to me by the king.”
The Brahmin went to the king and asked, “Why did you give my cow as a gift to somebody else?”
The king said, “I did not know that it was your cow. I never knew that your cow had strayed. Don’t get angry with me. I will give you one thousand cows. Don’t worry about this cow.”
The Brahmin replied, “I do not want one thousand cows. I want only my cow.”
It became a great predicament because the Brahmin who got the gift would not give it back. He said, “King, you have given it to me. Are you going back on your word?”
It is said that this peculiar moral crisis in which the king found himself made him a lizard in the next birth. What terrible punishment is this! This story is found in the Bhagavata. Sri Krishna touched the lizard, and it once again became the king.
There is also the story of Mandavya, the great sage. He was sitting in a corner, meditating. One day there was a theft in the treasury of the king. The priests and the army started searching for the culprit, and the thieves who took the treasure ran helter-skelter. Finally, they became afraid of being caught so they threw away the stolen treasure, and it happened to land near the sage who was meditating. The army found it, and concluded that the sage was the thief. They dragged him away and brought him before the king.
The king said, “Impale him immediately.”
In those days the king was the only judge, and he could pass any sentence. They impaled the sage on a spear. Mandavya was hanging there, but because of the great power of his meditation he did not die.
Finally his soul went to Yama, and he asked Yama, “For what wrong action of mine have you punished me with impalement? To my knowledge, I have never done any wrong action in my life. How has this kind of punishment been meted out to me? You have made some mistake!”
Yama replied, “You cannot recollect. When you were a child, you took a little broomstick and pierced a fly. Therefore, you have been pierced.”
“When did I do it?” asked the sage.
“You were about eleven years old,” Yama replied.
“Oh! You are punishing me for having done something without the knowledge that it was wrong. I was an innocent child. I did not know anything.”
“Innocent or not innocent, the law acts!”
Then, it is said, Mandavya furiously cursed the law and changed it so that in future, from that day onwards, no punishment would be meted out to anybody for a mistake that they committed before the age of fourteen years. This is Mandavya’s rule. Today there are judges to decide these cases. Anyway, the law of karma is very intricate: gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ (4.17).
Excerpts from: Action and Reaction – The Law of Karma - Chapter 2 – Commentary on The Bhagavadgita 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Live The Divine Life
Spiritual Message for the Day – Live The Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 November 2014 14.35 EST | New York Edition** |
Live The Divine Life
Divine Life Society Publication: Adapt, Adjust, Accommodate by Sri Swami Sivananda
Be serene and tranquil under all circumstances. Cultivate this virtue, Shama (serenity), again and again through constant and strenuous endeavour. Serenity is like a rock; waves of irritation may dash on it, but cannot affect it. Meditate daily on the ever-tranquil Atman or the Eternal which is unchanging. You will attain this sublime virtue gradually. The divine light will descend only on a calm mind. An aspirant with a calm mind only can enter into deep meditation and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. He alone can practice Nishkama or selfless Karma Yoga.
Each Sadhaka should bear in mind that divine life is to be lived in small details. If you are divine in small details, you can be divine in big things. Unless you are careful in your day-to-day life and mould your life in accordance with your idealism, it cannot bear fruit.
Doubt or uncertainty is a great obstacle in the path of Self-realisation. It bars the spiritual progress. This must be removed by Satsanga, study of religious books, Vichara and reasoning. It will again and again raise its head to mislead the aspirant. It should be killed beyond resurrection by certainty of conviction and firm unshakable faith based on reasoning.
Doubt is your great enemy. Doubt causes restlessness of mind. Destroy all doubts through Vichara and Jnana.
Introspect regularly. Practise self-examination for ten minutes before you go to bed. Sit comfortably on a chair. Close your eyes. Think of all actions-good and bad-that you did during the course of the day. Think of all the mistakes that you committed consciously or unconsciously.
A man, who has no life of introspection, whose mind is of outgoing tendencies, cannot find out his own mistakes. The self-conceit acts as a veil and blurs the mental vision. If an aspirant wants to grow, he must admit his defects when they are pointed out by others. He must try his level best to eradicate them and must thank the man who has pointed out his defects. Then he can grow in spirituality.
Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in future. Be cautious. Just think of the causes which led to your failures and try to remove them in future. Strengthen yourself with new vigour and virtues. Develop slowly your will-power.
Every temptation that is resisted, every evil thought that is curbed, every desire that is subdued, every bitter word that is withheld, every noble aspiration that is encouraged, every sublime thought that is cultivated, adds to the development of will-force, good character and attainment of eternal bliss and immortality.
Subconscious life is more powerful than your ordinary life of objective consciousness. Beneath your conscious life there is a very wide region of subconscious life. The subconscious life can modify and influence your conscious life. Through the practice of Yoga you can modify, control and influence the subconscious depths. All habits are imbedded in subconscious.
The mind is a product of experience. It is the result of past thinking and is modified by present thinking.
From experience you get Samskara, from Samskara you get Vasana, from Vasana you get Vritti. Then imagination (Kalpana) makes the Vritti into a desire (Iccha). Ego attaches itself to the desire and it becomes then an urge (Trishna). Then you are forced to do Cheshta or action to fulfil the desire. Action gives rise to experience and so the cycle is repeated.
Samskaras or impressions you have created during your Sadhana period within a closed room, will be wiped out if you are not careful or vigilant during your period of activity in the world. So constantly dwell on these ideas, “The whole world is my body. All bodies are mine. All lives are mine. All pains are mine. All joys are mine!” Jealousy, anger, hatred, egoism, all will vanish.
The mind is the creator of all fancies, concepts and through these of worries. A little control over the mind should be exercised when small ripples of disturbance pass over the surface. Sit calmly and watch the mind-wanderings carefully. Find out what are its habitual likings and thoughts.
Just as you remove at once from your shoes a pebble that troubles you, so also you must be able to remove at once any tormenting thought from your mind.
All your troubles and miseries are due to your egoism. It is egoism that has limited you. The cause of your misery does not come from without. Annihilate this egoism. You will enjoy infinite bliss and a life of expansion.
The secret of renunciation is renunciation of egoism, mine-ness and desires. Objects do not bind you. It is mineness (Mamata) that binds you to this Samsara or cycle of births and deaths.
Free yourself from the base thoughts of the mind, the various useless Sankalpas. It is the actions of the mind, that are truly termed Karmas. True liberation results from the dethronement of the mind. Those who have freed themselves from the fluctuations of their minds come into possession of the supreme Nishtha (meditation). If the mind be purged of all its impurities, it will become very calm and all the worldly delusions attendant on its births and deaths will be soon destroyed.
Destroy the fuel of desire, and the fire of thoughts will be extinguished.
In every thought, in every action, you have to assert your mastery over your Vritti. Then Yoga is fulfilled, divine life is lived.
Excerpts from: Live The Divine Life - Adapt, Adjust, Accommodate by 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Be Firm in Wisdom
Spiritual Message for the Day – Be Firm in Wisdom by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 12 November 2014 16.51 EST | New York Edition** |
Be Firm in Wisdom
Divine Life Society Publication: Be Firm in Wisdom by Sri Swami Sivananda
Viveka (wisdom) gives inner strength and mental peace. A viveki (wise one) gets no troubles. He is always on the alert. He never gets entangled in anything. He has farsightedness. He knows the true value of the objects of this universe. He is fully aware of the worthlessness of these shallow toys. Nothing, nothing can tempt him. Maya (illusion) cannot approach him now.
Associations with mahatmas (holy ones) and study of vedantic literature will infuse viveka in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree; one should be well established in it; viveka should not be an ephemeral or occasional mood in an aspirant. It should not fail him when he is in trouble, when any difficulty stares him in the face. It must indeed become part and parcel of his nature. He should exercise it at all times without any effort. If one is careless in the beginning, viveka may come and go. So the aspirant should live in the company of sages for a long time till viveka burns in him like a big steady flame.
Maya is very powerful. She tries her extreme level best to lead the aspirant astray. She throws many temptations and obstacles on the path of young inexperienced aspirants. Therefore the company of sages and mahatmas is like an impenetrable fortress for the neophyte. Now no temptations can assail him. He will undoubtedly develop true and lasting viveka. He will then have permanent and spontaneous viveka.
Then only he is truly and perfectly safe. The dangerous zone is past. Only a true viveki can claim to be the richest, happiest and most powerful man in the world. He is a rare spiritual gem. He is a beaconlight and torchbearer. If viveka is developed all other qualifications will come by themselves. From viveka is born vairagya (dispassion).
Discrimination is the faculty which distinguishes between the real and the unreal. The whole world outside and the universe that is inside, are unreal. Earth, water, wind, fire, the sky, the ocean, our bodies and the vital force animating them, our minds, our consciousness of ourselves all are but airy nothingness. The only real thing is the atman (self) or Brahman, the absolute.
Excerpts from: Be Firm in Wisdom by 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Eradicate Desires and Rest in your Desireless Blissful Self
Spiritual Message for the Day – Eradicate Desires and Rest in your Desireless Blissful Self by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 11 November 2014 14.52 EST | New York Edition** |
Eradicate Desires and Rest in your Desireless Blissful Self
Divine Life Society Publication: A Guide to Noble Living by Sri Swami Chidananda
The spiritual Sadhaka daily comes nearer and nearer to God. Day by day, his spiritual struggle brings for him more and more freedom from earthly bondage, from Maya. Every desire annihilated adds new strength to the enhancement of this freedom. It is a fresh addition to the store of inner happiness.
Here are some of the methods of thinning out the Vasanas (desires).
(1) Self-denial: Curtail all unnecessary wants, activities and mixing. Too much of contacts with friends and promiscuous mixing stimulate the old habits, previous Samskaras (latent impressions). Hence worldly contacts should be reduced as far as possible. Exert a little pure will. Deny then and there and say, “No, I don’t want it, since it is not going to help my spiritual well-being. Seek the counsel from the pure intellect and it will give you sure protection at the required moment. Slowly you will develop an attitude of looking at sense-objects as poison and delusive, a clever entrapment of Maya and then you will naturally deny them for your spiritual welfare.
(2) Vigilance: The past Samskaras are like dormant forces and coiled-up potential energies which sometimes assume violent forms and produce tremendous agitation in the mind, totally confuse and bewilder it and make it assume the very forms of desires. This is called Vishayakara Vritti.
So vigilance must be resorted to. No amount of leniency should be given to the mind.
(3) Non-cooperation: All the senses must be withdrawn slowly from their respective centres of pleasure. If you go on denying all the desires, then they will die a natural death.
So continue this incessant process of dynamic self-denial and become a conqueror of all desires. Thus having washed clean the mind of all Vasanas, the aspirant ultimately rejoices and sports in the pure consciousness, bliss and self-delight of Atmic awareness.
Excerpts from: Eradicate Desires and Rest in Your Desireless Blissful Self - A Guide to Noble Living 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Dharma – Basic Ethics
Spiritual Message for the Day – Dharma – Basic Ethics by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 November 2014 18.53 EST | New York Edition** |
Dharma – Basic Ethics
Divine Life Society Publication: A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India by Swami Krishnananda
The Mahabharata is an epic of life. It depicts the truth that life is a journey and its meaning is in the practice of dharma. Virtue triumphs in the end and vice is put down by the universal justice. The things of the world are perishable and human glory is short-lived. The accumulations that one makes do not last long. Every rise has a fall. All union ends in separation. Life ends in death. As logs of wood meet one another and get separated in the vast ocean, so do beings meet one another and get separated here.
Desire does not cease by fulfilment; on the other hand, it increases when it is fulfilled, like fire over which ghee has been poured. All the wealth of the world is not enough to satisfy the cravings of even one person; knowing this, one should attain tranquillity of mind.
We had innumerable mothers and fathers, wives and children in several lives. To whom do we really belong? What is the relation that obtains among us? Every day, people are seen dying and being cremated; and yet the remaining ones imagine that their death is not near. What can be a greater wonder in this world?
A wise person does not grieve over the pains or is exhilarated over the joys of life. He is a fool, who gets sunk in them and forgets his destiny.
Dharma is supreme in this world. Dharma brings material prosperity (artha), fulfilment of wishes (kama) and final liberation (moksha). It is surprising that people do not pay attention to the need for practice of dharma, when everything can be achieved through it. The essence of dharma is that no one should do to others what one would not like others to do to oneself. Selfishness is death. Unselfishness is immortality. Both death and deathlessness are in one’s own person and not in some distant place.
The individual may have to be abandoned for the good of a group, or family; the group for the good of a larger community; the community for the good of the country or nation; and, even the whole world for the realisation of the Atman.
Heedlessness (Pramada) is death. There is no other death. The sense of ‘mine’-ness is death. The knowledge, ‘nothing is mine’, is immortality.
The Mahabharata Epic, emphasises in different ways that life in the world is transitory and the realisation of God is the goal of life.
Excerpts from: Dharma – Basic Ethics - A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
The Anu-Gita
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Anu-Gita by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 9 November 2014 19.23 EST | New York Edition** |
The Anu-Gita
Divine Life Society Publication: A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India by Swami Krishnananda
Next to the Bhagavadgita, in importance, comes the Anu-Gita which occurs towards the end of the Mahabharata epic. This Gita is supposed to be a tentative answer which Krishna gave to Arjuna, on the latter’s request to hear the contents of the Bhagavadgita once more. Krishna’s reply meant that it was impossible to summon again that power of the Absolute, by which the wisdom of the Bhagavadgita was spoken. He, however, agreed to give Arjuna a substitute which goes by the name of Anu-Gita.
The Anu-Gita exhorts us to overcome the world by self-mastery. King Janaka says that he does not enjoy things for his pleasure, not even the smell that attaches to his nose, and hence he has conquered the earth-principle. He does not enjoy the taste that attaches to his tongue, and hence he has conquered the water-principle. He does not enjoy the form that attaches to his eyes, and so he has conquered the fire-principle. He does not enjoy the touch that attaches to his skin, and thus he has conquered the air-principle. He does not enjoy the sounds that attach to his ears, and so he has conquered the ether-principle. He does not enjoy the objects of thought which attach to his mind, and so he has conquered the mind. Janaka says that he engages himself in action, not for his pleasure, but for the sake of the presiding deities (adhidevata) and their elemental counterparts (adhibhuta). The correlation of the subjective (adhyatma), objective (adhibhuta) and the Divine (adhidaiva) principles in the Universe has been explained under the subject of creation in our discussion of the philosophy of the Upanishads.
The Fire of the Soul (adhyatma-agni) gets ignited by the control of the senses, by weaning the mind away from objects, and by a life lived in seclusion. The spiritual fire burns as a conflagration by self-restraint. He becomes fit for immortality, who can remain in this condition even for a minute at the time of his death. The five senses and the internal organ with its faculties of thinking and understanding are like the tongues of fire, to which the objects of sense, thought and understanding are the faggots. The Soul, as the seer, hearer, thinker, understander, etc., is like the several Ritviks or performers of a sacrifice. One should consider all objects as offerings in this sacrifice of sensation, cognition and perception. By the performance of this internal sacrifice, externality is negatived and there arises in one the power of cosmic creation. The knower, knowledge and known are the three oblations offered into the universal Fire of the Atman. The ten senses are the performers of the sacrifice. Their ten actions are the oblations in the sacrifice. Their ten deities are the fires of the sacrifice. Here, the mind is the ladle (sruk) and cognitive knowledge is the material. This sacrifice (yajna) is perpetually going on in the individual and the Universe. Hence, there is no condition of inaction anywhere.
When the mind is prompted to speak out its thoughts, the samana fire within gets lighted up, making the prana unite with the apana. Then, by means of udana, it rises upwards towards the head. And due to the work of vyana it passes through the throat, the palate, etc., and produces audible speech. When the action of the prana subsides, it again descends into the samana.
Like the senses, the prana also may be regarded as a performer of the universal sacrifice. The prana and the rest rise from Hiranyagarbha, the Universal prana, and return to Him again in the end. By the action of the Cosmic prana, air (Vayu) becomes apana through prana, vyana through apana, udana through vyana and samana through udana. The prana and apana move amid samana and vyana. When prana and apana are withheld, samana and vyana are simultaneously withdrawn. Udana is amid prana and apana and is the support of all the prana_s. It is the Vaisvanara Agni, the Universal Fire situated in the individual as _samana at the root of the navel, that rises as the powers of the senses as well as the cognitive and perceptive powers. prana and apana are like two oblations (ajya-bhaga) in the sacrifice and in their middle is the sacrificial fire in the form of udana. This is jnana-yajna and yoga-yajna.
One who moves with the consciousness of Brahman is a Brahmachari. He has no particular attachment to any action. Brahman is his sacrificial twig (samit); Brahman is his sacrificial fire (agni); Brahman is his sacrificial grass (samstara); Brahman is his sacrificial water (apas); Brahman is his preceptor (Guru). Such a one is a Brahmachari. One who looks on all beings with equality of essence, with no desire or ambition, attains to this divine state.
Excerpts from: Anu-Gita - A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Manonasa - Anihilation of the Mind
Spiritual Message for the Day – Manonasa - Anihilation of the Mind by Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 8 November 2014 19.53 EST | New York Edition** |
Manonasa - Anihilation of the Mind
Divine Life Society Publication: Manonasa – Anihilation of the Mind by Swami Sivananda
Mind is Atma-Sakti. Mind is a bundle of Vasanas (desires) and Sankalpas (thoughts, imaginations). Mind is a bundle of Raga-Dvesha (likes and dislikes). Annihilation of mind is Manonasa.
Manolaya is temporary absorption of the mind. This cannot give Moksha. The mind can come back again and wander in sensual objects. Manonasa alone can give release or Moksha.
VICHARA
How is the mind purified, brought under control and how are its activities stopped and how is it annihilated? Here are some useful and practical points. Mind can be controlled and annihilated by Vichara or enquiry of “Who am I?” This is the best and most effective method. This will annihilate the mind. This is the Vedantic method. Realise the unreality of the mind through philosophical thinking.
SLAY THE EGO
Eradicate the feeling of egoism. Ego is the seed of the tree of mind. “I” thought is the source of all thoughts. All thoughts are centred on the little “I.” Find out what the little “I” is. This little “I” will dwindle into an airy nothing. It will be absorbed in the infinite “I” or Parabrahman, the source for the little “I” or Ahankara (egoism).
The Sun of Self-realisation is fully seen when the cloud of ego disappears.
VAIRAGYA
Vairagya (dispassion) is another method for annihilating mind. It is distaste for objects of sense-pleasures by finding out the defects in the sensual life. Objects are perishable. Sensual pleasure is momentary and illusory.
ABHYASA
Abhyasa or practice is another method. Concentrate the mind by fixing it on Brahman. Make it steady. Abhyasa is ceaseless meditation. This leads to Samadhi.
NON-ATTACHMENT
Asanga or non-attachment is a sword to destroy the mind. Take the mind away from objects. Detach. Attach. Detach it from the objects. And attach it to the Lord. Do this again and again. The essence of the seed of the sprout of world experience, which is desire, can be destroyed by the fire of non-attachment.
VASANA-KSHAYA
Vasana-Kshaya is another method. Vasana is desire. Renunciation of desires leads to Vasana-Kshaya. This will lead to annihilation of mind (Manonasa). Desire for objects of pleasure is bondage; giving it up is emancipation. Desire is the most essential nature of the mind. Mind and egoism are synonymous.
PRANAYAMA
Vibration of Prana causes movement of the mind. It gives life to the mind. Pranayama or control of Prana will stop the activities of the mind. But it cannot destroy the mind to its roots like Vichara.
CONTROL THE THOUGHTS
Control the thoughts or Sankalpas. Avoid imagination or day-dreaming. The mind will be annihilated. Extinction of Sankalpas alone is Moksha or release. The mind is destroyed when there is no imagination. The experience of the world illusion is due to your imagination. It vanishes away when imagination is completely stopped.
RENUNCIATION
Mental renunciation of possessions is another method. The absolute experience can also be realised if you learn to be in a state of thought-suspending Samadhi.
BE BALANCED
Attainment of equanimity is another method. Be balanced in pain and pleasure, heat and cold, etc.
He alone experiences everlasting peace and eternal bliss who has transcended the mind and rests in his own Satchidananda Atman.
DEVOTION AND SERVICE
Japa, Kirtan, prayer, devotion, service of Guru and study are also means to annihilate the mind.
Excerpts from: Manonasa – Anihilation of the Mind by 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Yoga of Synthesis
Spiritual Message for the Day – Yoga of Synthesis
| **Baba Times Digest© | 7 November 2014 16.29 EST | New York Edition** |
Yoga of Synthesis
Divine Life Society Publication: Philosophy and Teachings of Swami Sivananda
Even as Swamiji tried to integrate the basic tenets of all religions, so also he integrated various Paths of Yoga and called this ‘Yoga of Synthesis’.
His main admonition is:
“Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise; Be good, Do good, Be kind, Be compassionate.”
The terms ‘Serve, Love, Meditate, Realise’ denote the four main Paths of Yoga, namely Karma Yoga (Yoga of Action), Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion), Raja Yoga (Yoga of Meditation) and Jnana Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge). That is, he advocated synthesis of all the Paths of Yoga on the rock-foundation of purity which is to be develop through broad-mindedness and generosity reflected through charity which is symbolised here by the word give. As a practical philosopher, Swamiji instructed everyone - irrespective of his spiritual level - to be good and to do good to others. “Real happiness”, he says, “is in making others happy.” His vision of Jnana Yoga was in seeing the Lord in every being and serving all the living creatures as if it is worship of the Lord. He was open-minded and did not impose on any aspirant a rigid sadhana programme. Swamiji believed that each sadhaka requires a different amalgam of spiritual practices, and that the sadhaka himself should find out a suitable mode by properly blending different Paths of Yoga, in accordance with his aptitude and temperament while keeping one Path as the main Path.
His explanation of the main paths of Yoga is very explicit and apt. He says: “To behold the one Self in all is Jnana Yoga. To love the Self in all is Bhakti Yoga. To serve the Self in all is Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga is suitable for a man of active temperament, Bhakti Yoga for a man of devotional temperament, Raja Yoga for a man of mystical temperament, and Jnana Yoga for a man of rational and philosophical temperament.”
He used to suggest Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga sadhana to beginners, and only after proper purification, and control of mind and senses, he was initiating the sadhakas into meditation and Jnana Yoga sadhana.
THE THREE DEFECTS
If you want to see your face clearly in a mirror, you must remove the dirt in the mirror, keep it steady, and remove the covering also. You can see your face clearly in the water of a lake only if the turbidity (impurity) is removed, if the water that is rendered still, and if the (avarana of) moss that is lying on the surface is removed. Even so is the case with Self-realization.
In the mind there are three defects, viz., mala or impurity, vikshepa or tossing, and avarana or veil. The impurities of the mind should be removed by the practice of Karma Yoga, by selfless service. The tossing of the mind should be removed by worship or upasana, by japa and devotion. The veil should be torn down by the practice of Jnana Yoga, i.e., by study of Vedantic literature, enquiry, self-analysis, service to the Guru, and deep meditation. Only then Self-realization is possible.
Excerpts from: Yoga of Synthesis - Philosophy and Teachings of 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
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Peace is Your Essential Nature
Spiritual Message for the Day – Peace is Your Essential Nature by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 6 November 2014 12.56 EST | New York Edition** |
Peace is Your Essential Nature
Divine Life Society Publication: Peace is Your Birthright by Sri Swami Chidananda
Peace is your birthright. For, in reality, your essential nature, your innermost real nature, Nija-svarupa, is peace profound. The great Universal Reality whom we refer to as God is immeasurable peace—profound, unfathomable and limitless peace—Santo ayam Atma. This Universal Spirit verily is of the very nature of profound peace. Peace, therefore, is the eternal, unchanging reality. Peace alone exists—timeless, transcending time, without beginning and without end. Peace is the eternal reality.
God Himself is peace. But the restlessness, the clash and conflict, the violence and warfare we see upon the surface of this planet earth today, is the outcome of man’s intransigence. It is the outcome of man’s deliberate rejection of the sublime message of peace that God has been sending to this human world from time to time through His great messengers, through His divine messengers, the prophets, the saints, the messiahs, who have come to declare to man that he should walk the path of goodwill, harmony and friendship.
That Great Universal Reality which is the source and origin of all existence is the common meeting ground of all beings and under His universal, spiritual fatherhood all humanity is a single family related in terms of brotherhood. We are all children of the Divine. The recognition of this fact is the key to establishing and bringing about peace in this world.
God’s peace is perennial and permanent but man superimposed upon it hatred and violence, insecurity and restlessness, warfare and conflict. There is no harmony. Discord has become the order of the day. Instead of trying to decide issues by love and understanding, mutual give and take, harmony and peace, in a friendly manner, we take recourse to violence.
In truth what man wants is comfortable living and whatever policy the government adopts, if it is able to provide for him these things—comfortable living, good job, steady income and a salary and the good things of life—he does not care whether the government is engaged in peace or in warfare.
Under these conditions if we would still like to bring about a climate for peace, we have to re-educate the human individual into right thinking. People think in a haphazard way. There is no positive thought, there is no thought in the right direction and all this has resulted due to two or three very important factors. First and foremost, God who is an infinite ocean of absolute divine peace and blessedness, has tried to give to man this awakening message that peace is your birthright. You are of the very nature of peace. Deep within you there is an innermost centre which is purely spiritual and that inner spiritual centre of yours is a part of the Universal being. Therefore, by its very nature it is absolute peace. There abides peace in your heart.
To enter within to a life of introspection and meditation and to experience that peace within and thus become established in inner individual peace, is the first step towards world peace. When individuals are established in inner divine peace, they will begin to radiate this peace in their own environment, and into their own particular circle of beings with whom they have to live and move. Thus, everywhere there is an inner awareness that man’s real nature is spiritual and that real nature is of the very nature of absolute peace, Santi, Shalom.
Happiness is the outcome of peace. Santamu leka saukhyamu ledu (Without peace there is no happiness)—thus sang the great saint-poet Tyagaraja. Therefore, if you want happiness you must first of all establish peace in yourself. You must be able to give up the hard adamantine ego-sense and selfishness. The ego-sense and selfishness of the individual nature is one of the greatest obstacles to harmony, unity, brotherhood, love and peace.
Education is meant to draw out from within the human individual all that is sublime, all that is good and auspicious and blessed. It is not merely putting into the human brain a great deal of facts and figures and information. It is not like feeding statistical data into a computer; on the contrary, the process of education is a reverse process. It is a positive, creative process of bringing out from within the human individual these great hidden qualities of love, unity, harmony, brotherhood and peace. It is only when our entire educational system becomes reoriented in this manner that the future humanity will grow in an atmosphere of goodwill and brotherhood, love and harmony, of peace and tolerance, and then alone will world peace become a fact.
Prayer is a great power. It can bring peace, for it can link our inner self to the universal being who is of the nature of profound peace. Therefore, right education through unfailing daily prayer, individual as well as collective, and by giving up our selfish nature, hard-hearted egoistic and selfish nature, we can work towards the establishment of peace, first within the individual heart and then within this immediate environment and thus onward into ever widening circles. Peace can be brought about in this whole world among nations, races and all humanity. Peace be unto you. Om, Santi, Santi, Santih.
Excerpts from: Peace is Your Essential Nature - Peace is Your Birthright 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \** **Email to BT Digest Editor** **( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)