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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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Attain Divine Knowledge through Samadhi
Spiritual Message for the Day – Attain Divine Knowledge through Samadhi by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 27 August 2014 17.37 EST | New York Edition** |
Attain Divine Knowledge through Samadhi
Divine Life Society Publication: Raja Yoga Samadhi by Sri Swami Sivananda
According to Raja Yoga, Samadhi is of two kinds, viz., Samprajnata and Asamprajnata. In the former, the seeds of Samskaras are not destroyed. In the latter, the Samskaras are fried or annihilated in toto. That is the reason why the former is called Sabija Samadhi (with seeds) and the latter as Nirbija Samadhi (without seeds or Samskaras). Samprajnata Samadhi leads to Asamprajnata Samadhi.
The Samprajnata Samadhi is also known by the name Savikalpa Samadhi or Sabija Samadhi. This Samadhi brings perfect knowledge of the object of meditation. The mind continuously and to the exclusion of all other objects assumes the nature and becomes one with the object of its contemplation. The Yogi attains all the powers of controlling the nature in this Samadhi.
The Samprajnata Samadhi is of four kinds, viz., Savitarka, Savichara, Sananda and Asmita Samadhi. All these Samadhis have something to grasp. There is Alambana or argumentation or questioning. They give intensive joy but they are not the best and finest forms of Samadhi. They cover the gross or the subtle elements of nature and the organs of sense. They give you the direct knowledge of the elements, objects and instruments of knowledge and some freedom.
These stages are in the form of steps of an ascending staircase. To begin with, meditation should be done on a gross form. When you advance in this meditation, you can take to abstract meditation, or meditation on subtle things or ideas. Mind should be gradually disciplined and trained in meditation. It cannot all at once enter into the highest Asamprajnata Samadhi or that which constitutes the highest subtle essence. That is the reason why Patanjali Maharshi has prescribed the practice of various kinds of lower Samadhis. When the mind is extremely attached to gross objects, it is not possible to fix it on subtle objects all at once. There must be gradual ascent in the ladder of Yoga. You should place your footstep cautiously in each rung of the ladder. You should pass through successive stages before you attain the highest Asamprajnata or Nirvikalpa Samadhi. But Yoga-Bhrashtas who have passed through the lower stages in their previous birth can attain to the highest stage at the very outset through the grace of the Lord. If the Yogic student had reached the higher stage, he need not revert to the lower stages.
All the forms of Samprajnata Samadhi are Salambana Yoga (with support) and Sabija Yoga (with seed of Samskara). The Yogins enjoy a form of freedom. Dharma Megha in Raja Yoga means “the cloud of virtue”. Just as clouds shower rain, so also this Dharma Megha Samadhi showers on the Yogins omniscience and all sorts of Siddhis or powers. The Yogi enjoys a form of freedom. Therefore, this Samadhi is called the Showerer or cloud (Megha) of virtue (Dharma). The Yogi enjoys expanded vision of God.
Ritambhara, Prajnaloka, Prasannavahita are the three stages or Bhumikas of Samprajnata Samadhi. In Ritambhara the content of the mental Vritti is Satchidananda. There is still a separate knower. You get Yathartha Jnana or real wisdom. In the second, every kind of Avarana (veiling) is removed. The third state is the state of peace in which the mind is destitute of all mental modifications. The knowledge that you get from testimony and inference is above objects of the world; but the knowledge that you obtain from Samadhi is Divine Knowledge. It is super-sensual, intuitive knowledge where reason, inference and testimony cannot go.
Excerpts from: Attain Divine Knowledge through Samadhi - Raja Yoga Samadhi 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
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What is Meditation
Spiritual Message for the Day – What is Meditation by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 26 August 2014 15.05 EST | New York Edition** |
What is Meditation
Divine Life Society Publication: What is Meditation by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
In the West, the word meditation means a concentrated state of mind in serious reflection. The Latin root of the word meditation, mederi, means “to heal.” It is an effort to heal afflictions of the mind, the hurt ego, by trying to understand the cause of the problem and finding a way to solve it, that is, by knowing what counter-measures to take. To meditate thus, is to deepen a state of understanding.
In the East, however, meditation does not mean thinking at all but fixing the mind in a spiritual ideal, to be one with it, or the thought-process dissolving in the consciousness of it. According to Zen, meditation does not involve any concept but is an awareness of inner silence. As per the Yoga of Patanjali, meditation is a combination of three steps: pratyahara or abstraction, or withdrawal of the mind from the sense-objects or attention to their memory; dharana or concentration; and dhyana or contemplation which, however, is not a thought-process but an absorption of the feeling of oneness with the ideal.
Awareness of an inner silence is not something easy to achieve. It can be confused with a state of dullness or being soporific, which is not the purpose of meditation. To meditate mean does not mean to have a good rest while sitting pretty, and silence is not productive without spiritual aspiration. On the other hand, few have the capacity to think clearly, and too much of mental exercise could lead to tension and confusion.
In Bhakti Yoga, meditation is visualization of the image of a chosen deity, together with mental repetition of a relevant mantra. For the Vedantin it is to contemplate on the meaning of selected verses from the Upanishads or similar scriptures. For the Catholics, it is saying the rosary, based on mantras like “Our Father which art in Heaven,” or “Hail Mary, full of grace.” For them meditation also consists in feeling close to Jesus after receiving communion and retiring into a quiet place.
St. Albert the Great, the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas, observed that meditation for philosophers is a process of perfecting a thought, and for the devotees of their love of God. Prayers said in silence as a dedication of oneself to God can also be called meditation, because it means turning the mind inward to one’s spiritual source, leading to peace.
For, the Hindus, repetition of a mantra, with or without a rosary, but with a feeling of spiritual oneness, is meditation. A common Buddhist meditation consists in repeating the mantras: Buddham sharanam gachchhami, sangham sharanam gachchami (I proceed remembering the Buddha, the righteous path and the welfare of my community). The Tibetians base their meditation on the mantra Om mani padme hum (I am Om, the jewel in the lotus of my heart). For Muslims, meditation is called dhikr or repetition of selected names of God from the Quran, generally with a rosary. Feeling the breath, which is a technique in pratyahara, is an exercise in Zen meditation (the word Zen is derived from dhyana or meditation), as also counting from 1 to 20 or more, over and over again.
Excerpts from: What is Meditation by Sri Swami Shivapremananda
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 to Manage Oneself
Spiritual Message for the Day – How to Manage Oneself by Sri A.K.Krishna Nambiar
| **Baba Times Digest© | 25 August 2014 17.34 EST | New York Edition** |
How to Manage Oneself
Divine Life Society Publication: How to Manage Oneself by Sri A.K.Krishna Nambiar
It is interesting and useful to know about the functioning of our body. It is also equally interesting to know that our heart is said to be the seat of ‘Jivatma’ or the individual self which is the basis of every life. The Physical Science reveals that the purifying process of our blood and pumping of the pure blood to every part of our body which is absolutely needed for its survival is taking place every moment without any interruption. We breathe in air and the oxygen which is needed to purify the blood is used and the impure air or carbon dioxide is thrown out. This process goes on even while we are sleeping; it happens by the grace of Mother Nature.
At the same time, it is also our spiritual understanding that the power which is making this process working within is a spark of spirituality, which is called Soul or Atma or self. There is no death for this spark and it cannot be destroyed by any means. It exercised Its own free will to come in a body and leave the same. When It comes in a body, we call it birth and when It leaves the body we call death. When It continues to remain in a body It helps the growth of it. When It leaves the abode it causes the body to degenerate. Therefore the Soul or Atma or Self is the real sustainer of this physical body. After It leaves the body It goes back to its source. This body which is made of five elements, namely Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space goes back to its source, i.e., the subtle elements known as ‘Tanmatras’, under Natural Law.
In order to make progress in spiritual life, one of the techniques used by spiritual aspirants is ‘Pranayama’ or breath control. In this process, breathing is regulated to purify the heart. In order to empty impurities from the heart, desires for sensual pleasures, all impurities such as lust, greed, anger, fear are thrown out along with the outgoing breath. Truth, Non-injury, continence, absence of a tendency to grab others’ wealth, contentment etc., are taken in along with inward breath which helps a practitioner to maintain smooth functioning of his heart.
Then, the spiritual aspirant expands his spiritual thought which originates from the heart, the seat of self, in absolute purity by doing certain purificatory process such as repeating the name of his favourite deity and concentrating and meditating on It. This helps an individual to integrate his thoughts, words and actions to enable him to make further progress till he attains the goal of realising spirituality.
There are two important things in this life. One thing is this body. The other one is the soul or Atma or Self, which is the Deathless source of life in every body. Now every individual who has a physical form on which his or her entire personality depends, should keep this form in a healthy condition so long as the self remains within the individual form, so that it can be used for further progress in spiritual life. Therefore, one should know the art of managing the above-mentioned two aspects in life so that individual life becomes healthy and happy.
Why is this management of oneself needed? Nowadays, professionals who are well-versed in their own subject are seeking an additional qualification in management. A scientist feels that he should possess the knowledge of managing his own work or a Medical Doctor, who wants to know how to manage a hospital, or an engineer who wants to manage an Industrial establishment or an Administrator who wants to manage an Office. Therefore Management studies are made popular in all the universities to raise all-round efficiency in many professions, carried out in a fiercely competitive world.
It is proved beyond doubt that better management either of government of any country or a business establishment or an Industrial establishment or a spiritual establishment or an individual’s own house brings on better efficiency which ultimately brings in the progress of a country and the well-being of living beings at large. When we consider the problems and techniques of management, it is always done by human beings and it is man that remains as the backbone of this process. Therefore the management of human beings is not only important, but also a necessity for a better life.
In order to manage an industrial, business or any other establishment, the activities reorganised under various heads like Personnel, Works, Sales, Accounts etc. But these activities are managed by Man, Money, Material, Marketing and Management. This ensures efficiency, discipline and progress in any business concern. Where it is not properly managed, the progress is always retarded. In Spiritual Establishments also, the activities are regulated under Service, Devotion, Self-discipline, Dedication, Publishing and Study of Scriptures and Practice of Yoga Exercises and Meditation. In all such activities, their management is placed under the charge of well-qualified persons. This leads to better production or Service by any establishment to ensure economic as well as total Well-being of man and to know how to manage oneself and to make men happy. Swami Sivananda, the Founder-President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, taught a unique and modern method of management under SERVE, LOVE, GIVE, PURIFY, MEDITATE, REALISE, ‘BE GOOD, DO GOOD,’ in order to attain the betterment of the entire living beings and realization of God Almighty by human beings. The Rig Veda Says: “Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti” (The One truth is named by the wise in many ways). He is that which is in everybody and in everything in this Universe: this one God manages everybody and everything individually. He manages the microcosm and macrocosm through the Universal Divine Mother Nature and provides us with water, air, fire and space and everything useful for the survival of living beings, in this Universe.
The first one word ‘SERVE’ contains the entire philosophy of action which is known as ‘Karma Yoga’ as mentioned in various Scriptures, the essence of which is ‘Yogah karmasu kausalam’—B.G. 2:50) or ‘Skill in action is Yoga’; and ‘Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana’—B.G. 2:47) or ‘You are only to perform your duty well without thinking of the fruits thereof’. All the good work done by many noble people, saints and sages in this world have been done only in this spirit. The Great Saint Vasishtha asked Sri Rama to do his duties well in a spirit of ‘Purushartha’ or personal effort. Nobody can prosper in this world without properly serving oneself or others. When a man recognises that, That which is in him is also in everybody else in this world, it becomes easy for him to really understand the spirit of ‘SERVE’.
The next word is ‘LOVE’. Everybody in this world owes allegiance to Love as we come into existence on account of the Love of God. Love thy neighbour as thyself is a quotation from the Bible. Because God loves us, He has provided everything essential for our survival in this world. This is done in a spirit of Love only and therefore we are to love God, as well as His Creations. Solid, Liquid, Light, Air and Space which are needed for keeping our life to continue are always there in this universe to meet our requirements. There is no lust in pure Love which we get from God, our Creator; we are to learn to love everybody alike. When we cultivate ‘SERVE’ and ‘LOVE’ in its true spirit, we become part and parcel of a society where do good and be good alone govern the social quality cultivated by each member of such a society. In this manner the entire humanity can become happy.
‘GIVE’ means sharing what one has with others who are in need of it. It should be done within one’s means, without expecting anything in return. When charity is done in this spirit, purification of mind comes to oneself easily. A pure mind alone can do meditation on God who is actually keeping us alive, living within one’s heart as the Self. We are bound to realise God in and through meditation in daily life which is made pure by serving and loving others, thus observing ‘Be good and do good’. Therefore what Swami Sivananda asked everyone of us through his spiritual instructions, conveyed in a few words, namely, SERVE, LOVE, GIVE, PURIFY, MEDITATE, REALISE, BE GOOD and DO GOOD is Yoga in itself. Swami Sivananda’s aim was to make the entire humanity healthy, happy and prosperous in life in and through cultivation of spiritual values of life to realise God in this very life.
Excerpts from: How to Manage Oneself by Sri A.K.Krishna Nambiar
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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Signs of Progress in the Path of Meditation
Spiritual Message for the Day – Signs of Progress in the Path of Meditation by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 24 August 2014 18.04 EST | New York Edition** |
Signs of Progress in the Path of Meditation
Divine Life Society Publication: Meditation by Sri Swami Sivananda
The goal of life is the attainment of final beatitude or Moksha. Moksha can be attained by constant meditation with a heart that is rendered pure and steady by selfless service, Japa, etc.
Meditation is the only real royal road to the attainment of salvation. Meditation kills all pains, sufferings and sorrows. Meditation destroys all causes of sorrow. Meditation gives vision of unity. Meditation induces sense of oneness. Meditation is a balloon or an aeroplane that helps the aspirant to soar high into the realms of eternal bliss, everlasting peace and undying joy.
Reality or Brahman can be realised by man. Many have attained Self-realisation. Many have enjoyed the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Sankara, Dattatreya, Mansoor, Shams Tabriez, Jesus, Buddha were all realised souls who had direct perception of the Truth or Cosmic vision. But one who has known cannot communicate it to others for want of means. Even the knowledge acquired by the five senses which are common to all cannot be communicated to others. You cannot tell the taste of sugar-candy to a man who has never tasted it. You cannot communicate the idea of colour to one born blind. All that the teacher can do is to tell his disciple the method of knowing the Truth or the path that leads to the unfoldment of intuitional faculty.
These are the signs that indicate that you are growing in meditation and approaching God. You will have no attraction for the world. The sensual objects will no longer tempt you. You will become desireless, fearless, ‘I’-less and ‘mine’-less. Deha-dhyasa or attachment to the body will gradually dwindle. You will not entertain the ideas, “She is my wife; he is my son; this is my house.” You will feel that all are manifestations of the Lord. You will behold God in every object.
The body and mind will become light. You will always be cheerful and happy. The name of the Lord will always be on your lips. The mind will be ever fixed at the lotus-feet of the Lord. The mind will be ever producing the image of the Lord. It will be ever seeing the picture of the Lord. You will actually feel that Sattva or purity, light, bliss, knowledge and love are ever flowing from the Lord to you and filling up your heart.
You will have no body-consciousness. Even if there be body-consciousness, it will be in the form of a Samskara or a mental retention. A drunkard may not have full consciousness that he has a cloth round his body. He may feel that something is loosely hanging from his body. Even so, you will have a feeling of the body. You will feel that something is sticking to you like a loose cloth or loose shoes.
Women will appear to you as manifestations of the Lord. Money and gold will appear to you as pieces of stone. You will have intense love for all creatures. You will be absolutely free from lust, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, delusion, etc. You will have peace of mind even when people insult you, beat you and persecute you. The reason why you are not perturbed is that you get immense spiritual strength from the Indweller or the Lord. Pain or pleasure, success or failure, honour or dishonour, respect or disrespect, gain or loss are alike for you.
Even in dreams, you are in communion with the Lord. You will not behold any worldly pictures.
You will converse with the Lord in the beginning. You will see Him in physical form. When your consciousness becomes cosmic, conversation will stop. You will enjoy the language of the silence or the language of the heart. From vaikhari (vocal speech) you will pass on to Madhyama, Pasyanti and Para (subtle forms of sounds) and eventually you will rest in soundless Omkara or soundless Brahman.
Dispassion, Discrimination, serenity, self-restraint, one-pointedness of mind, Ahimsa, Satya, purity, forbearance, fortitude, patience, forgiveness, absence of anger, spirit of service, sacrifice, love for all, will be your habitual qualities. You will be a cosmic friend and benefactor.
During meditation you will have no idea of time. You will not hear any sounds. You, will have no idea of the environments. You will forget your name and all relationship with others. You will enjoy perfect peace and bliss. Gradually you will rest in Samadhi.
Samadhi is an indescribable state. It is beyond the reach of mind and speech. In Samadhi or the superconscious state the meditator loses his individuality and becomes identical with the Supreme Self. He becomes an embodiment of bliss, peace and knowledge. So much only can be said. You have to experience this yourself through constant meditation.
Contentment, unruffled state of mind, cheerfulness, patience, decrease in the excretions, sweet voice, eagerness and steadiness in the practice of meditation, disgust for worldly prosperity or success and company, desire to remain alone in a quiet room or in seclusion, desire for association with Sadhus and Sannyasins, Ekagrata or one-pointedness of mind are some of the signs which indicate that you are growing in purity, that you are progressing in the spiritual path.
You will hear various kinds of Anahata sounds like the sound of a bell, a kettledrum, thunder, conch, Vina or flute, the humming of a bee, etc., during meditation. The mind can be fixed on any of these sounds. This also will lead to Samadhi. You will behold various kinds of colours and lights during meditation. This is not the goal. You will have to merge the mind in that which is the source for these lights and colours.
A student in the path of Vedanta ignores these sounds and lights. He meditates on the significance of the Mantra of the Upanishad by negating all forms. “The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, nor does this lightning shine and much less this fire. When He shines, everything shines after Him; by His Light all these shine.” He meditates also like this: “This air does not blow there. The fire does not burn there. There is neither mind nor Prana (vital-energy) in that homogeneous essence.” “Asabda (soundless), Asparsa (touchless), Arupa (formless), Agandha (odourless), Aprana (without Prana), Amana (mindless), Atindriya (beyond the senses), Adrishya (not perceived by the physical eye)–Chidanandarupah Sivoham, Sivoham. I am blissful Siva, I am blissful Siva.”
Excerpts from: ** Signs of Progress in the Path of Meditation -**Meditation**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
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Persevere in Sadhana
Spiritual Message for the Day – Persevere in Sadhana by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 23 August 2014 13.29 EST | New York Edition** |
Persevere in Sadhana
Divine Life Society Publication: Realise Thy True Nature by Sri Swami Sivananda
Let the sadhana (spiritual practice) always be regular, continuous, unbroken and earnest. Not only regularity but also continuity in sadhana and meditation are necessary if you want to attain self-realisation quickly. A spiritual stream, once set going, does not dry up unless the channelbed gets blocked, unless there is stagnation.
Be vigilant eternally. Meditate regularly. Annihilate the undercurrent of vasana (habit patterns). Patience, perseverance, courage, determination, discrimination and dispassion are needed to tread the spiritual path. Put away thoughts, stimuli, perceptions, intentions, emotions, feelings, preoccupations and deliberations arising out of the senses and the sense objects. You will attain supreme blessedness or the peace of the eternal.
Keep the flame of thy aspiration ever kindled bright. Let purity, serenity, compassion, truth and oneness, manifest in thy thoughts and actions. Through penance, prayer and meditation the soul ascends on the divine chariot, to the realms of infinite bliss, to God’s halls of wisdom.
Regularity is of paramount importance in spiritual practice. Spiritual aspirants must be arduous and efficient in performing their tasks without a break. Pray without a break. Have unshakable faith. Remember vairagya (dispassion) and abhyasa (constant practice).
Prayer is the wing by which you fly to God. Meditation or intuition is the eye by which you see God. Pray fervently unto the Lord. Pray for the Lord’s light and guidance. Meditate on the great truth within. Strive ever to keep thyself close to the divine centre. Day by day draw nearer unto the Lord. Strive inwardly to grow into the likeness of the divine ideal.
Meditate on the great truth within. Strive ever to keep thyself close to the divine centre. Day by day draw nearer unto the Lord. Strive inwardly to grow into the likeness of the divine ideal.
Excerpts from: Persevere in Sadhana - Realise Thy True Nature by Sri Swami Sivananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Yearning for Liberation
Spiritual Message for the Day – Yearning for Liberation by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 22 August 2014 19.12 EST | New York Edition** |
Yearning for Liberation
Divine Life Society Publication: Bliss is within by Sri Swami Chidananda
The Bhagavata, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, Katha Vachaks and Pundits say that saying that you must attain Moksha is not enough. Individually, you must have within yourself a great desire to attain that state, whatever it is, whether it is Bhagavat-sakshatkara, Bhagavat-darshan or Moksha. Whatever that Lakshya is, you must have a keen desire to attain it, you must feel restless without attaining it. Otherwise, Sadhana will only be luke-warm, when done half-heartedly. Unless there is that great intensity of yearning and intensity of longing, that great hunger of the heart, there will not be that keen edge and intensity in Sadhana. Therefore, they say, again and again, Mumukshutva (burning desire for liberation).
Meera and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had that unbearable agony of separation from the Lord, which is called ‘Viraha Vedana’ in Bhakti Yoga. Is your heart feeling every moment that He is your all in all? Are you living, breathing and existing only for Him? Is that feeling there in the heart? In Vedanta it is called Tivra Mumukshutva, the feeling that this present state is a state of terrible bondage, unbearable bondage. How keenly a person longs to break the bonds when he is tied? How eager is a caged bird wanting to get free from bondage? So this must be felt by you, not merely heard and understood in an intellectual way. When there is keen hunger, then only will you go in search of food.
Sadhana, therefore, presupposes that you have thought over life. You have felt the need for something more than eating, drinking, sleeping, having some job and then retiring and drawing pension and dying. To reach a higher goal, Sadhana must be present in your life in the real sense. You must have a fixed higher goal, a keen longing to attain that goal and a clear concept of that goal. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to give the example of a person immersed under water and held forcibly. The way he will struggle to come out for a gasp of fresh air, the way he will be gasping and struggling, that is the way you should be longing to attain your goal.
Excerpts from:** Yearning for Liberation -**Bliss is within**by Sri Swami Chidananda**
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Life – A Process and Activity (Part 2)
Spiritual Message for the Day – Life – A Process and Activity (Part 2) by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 21 August 2014 14.49 EST | New York Edition** |
Life - A Process and Activity
Divine Life Society Publication: Life – A Process and Activity by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Life – A Process and Activity (Part 1)
The psychology of the Vedanta is a highly scientific methodology evolved out of the fundamental concept that the supreme reality is Absolute Consciousness and anything that may seem to be opposed to it can only be a phase of itself. The fivefold base of objective perception, viz., sound, touch, form, taste and smell, is found to be inseparable from the reciprocally related to the senses of knowledge working under the direction of the mind. The theory of the Vedanta is that the mind, constituting mainly the functions of understanding, thinking, feeling, remembering and willing, is the resultant of the collective totality of the purified forms of the essences of the five substrata of sensations enumerated above. There is the presupposition of the greater truth that at the background of the mind, the senses and their objects, there is the Absolute itself as their very reality. The Vedanta psychology is a direct consequence of its basic metaphysics which lays down that existence is non dual. It is on this foundation of the ultimate inseparability of the knower and the known that we have to envisage the law governing the universe and regulating individual and social life.
The highest law is accordingly conceived as Dharma based on Rita and Satya. Rita and Satya are two terms that occur originally in the Vedas, signifying the eternal cosmic order and the same as manifest in the diversified world. Dharma is nothing but one’s duty as an individual stationed in the cosmos, as its integral part. This at once explains by implication one’s duty towards family, society, the nation and the world at large. Material welfare, the enjoyment of desires and relations to society are given due consideration and are equally regulated by Dharma which, at the same time, works with Moksha or the ultimate realisation of the infinite as its aim. Dharma is the ethical value, Artha the material and the economic value, Kama the vital value and Moksha the infinite value of life. As the infinite includes all the finites, the aspiration for Moksha naturally implies the fulfilment of the ends of all other desires and the execution of all other duties in life. This sublime aspiration arises in the mind when it has an inherent feeling of ‘enough’ with the things of the world. This is the ‘divine discontent’ which acts as a forerunner of the struggle of the spirit to grasp and know itself in the Absolute. It is here that true knowledge dawns.
Ordinary psychological experience is usually marked off from a life of spiritual insight. The path of the pleasant is differentiated from the way of the good. What the senses report to us need not necessarily be the true or the good. Often they give us false intimations and involve us in tantalizing mirages which recede from us as we try to approach them. It is because of this unfortunate predicament that we go on experimenting with one object after another, seeking final satisfaction, but do not find it anywhere. This fruitless pursuit continues until thinking of benefit in terms of separateness discovers its own futility and gives way to a search for peace in terms of more and more integrated realms of being. The individual expands to the family, the family to the community, the community to a wider society or the nation, the nation to the whole world, and the world to the cosmos, wherein the process of expansion finds its limit and begins to turn inward into the centre of experience which, in the end, is recognized to be identical with the Supreme Being.
As we have already noticed, nothing in this world can be considered to be merely a means to the satisfaction of another, for in this mutually determined whole there are only ends, not means. The Bhagavadgita states that all pleasures that are born of the contact of the mind and the senses with the external are a womb of pain, for outward contact is not the way of contacting reality. The dissatisfying consequence of sense gratifications, the fear that usually attend upon them, the chances of getting addicted to the habits and impressions produced by such pleasures, and the inevitability of the rise of further desires and greater distractions, in addition to the wearing out of the senses, should rouse in the man of discrimination a consciousness of the higher life.
Excerpts from:
Life – A Process and Activity by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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Life – A Process and Activity
Spiritual Message for the Day – Life – A Process and Activity by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 20 August 2014 14.52 EST | New York Edition** |
Life - A Process and Activity
Divine Life Society Publication: Life – A Process and Activity by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The philosophy of the Vedanta makes a distinction between existence as such and the experience of any type of existence. Human life is a psychological process, and not an immutable existence. A knowledge of the functions of the mind is essential to understand life in its fullness. The mind is the student as well as the object of study, when life as a whole is the theme that we wish to investigate and comprehend. In a famous image given in the Kathopanishad, the inner self of man is compared to a lord seated in a chariot, the body to the chariot, the intellect to the charioteer, the mind to the reins, the senses to the horses pulling the chariot, and the objects of the senses to the roads along which the chariot is driven. The Upanishad gives a caution that the supreme state can be reached only by him who has as his charioteer a powerfully discriminative intellect which directs the restive horses of the senses with the aid of the reins of the mind, and not by anyone else who may have a bad charioteer. The meaning of this analogy is that the human individuality and personality are outer forms and instruments to be properly used by the inner directive intelligence towards the great destination of life, and not to be taken as ends in themselves or mistaken for reality as such.
Not only the body and the senses but even the self conceived as a limited individual centre of consciousness is a process of intense activity, moving, changing and evolving incessantly. The individual self is the basis of knowledge as well as action. Due to confinement to a spatial existence, the individual self is dominated over and harassed by certain urges felt within itself, pointing to certain external objects and states. The desire for food, clothing and shelter, for name, fame and power, often appears in the human individual as a violent force which cannot be easily subdued or even intelligently controlled. These deep-rooted urges are an immediate consequence of the self’s restriction to a dualistic perception of the world and an arrogation of ultimate selfhood to itself, while the truth is otherwise. We never see one and the same picture at two given moments in a cinematographic projection, but yet we seem to see a continuity of the existence of forms on account of a very quick succession and motion of the pictures. Strictly speaking, we never see one and the same thing in a particular act of perception, but the rapidity of the psychoses is so tremendous that there is an illusion of the perception of a static existence. And above all, there is that absolute Self behind all mental functions, from which these draw sustenance and borrow existence as well as light.
Every action, viewed in this light, becomes a symptom of the restlessness of the relative consciousness in any of the human sheaths in which it is enclosed. There is an unceasing attempt on its part to break boundaries, to overcome all limitations and to transcend itself at every step. The environment called life in which it finds itself is only an opportunity provided to it to seek and find what it wishes to have in order to exceed itself in experience in the different stages of evolution. The universe is another name for experience by a cosmic mind, of which the relative minds are refractive aspects and parts. The desirable and the undesirable in life are nothing but certain consequences which logically follow the whimsical and unmethodical desires of the ignorant individuals who know not their own ultimate destination. What is desirable today need not be so tomorrow, and today’s painful experience may be a blessing for the future. It does not mean that all that we want is always the good.
There is no error in the world or the objects; it is in the painful fact that we have no knowledge of what is really good for us. It is not enough if a physician knows merely that a particular drug has the power to suppress a particular ailment, he has also to know what other reactions the drug will produce in the living organism. No thought, feeling or willing can be said to be healthy when it is not in consonance with the health and peace of the universe as a whole. That we are members of a single undivided family demands that we have to be mutually cooperative, and think and act in terms of mutual welfare, which, in the end, is the welfare of the whole. When this knowledge is not given to the mind, it acts blindly and errs with the idea that what appears to bring a temporary sensation of pleasure to it is the true and the good. When it does not learn the lesson of life by enlightened reason, it has to learn it by pain.
(To be continued…)
Excerpts from:** **Life – A Process and Activity**by Sri Swami Krishnananda**
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Parable of The Butter Hidden In The Milk
| **Baba Times Digest© | 19 August 2014 13.07 EST | New York Edition** |
Parable of The Butter Hidden In The Milk
Divine Life Society Publication: Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda
The young daughter had gone to her village home for the first time from her city-dwelling. At night before retiring to bed, her mother opened a pot in which there was good cow’s milk and poured a little buttermilk. The girl asked her mother: “Mother, that was butter milk; and why have you mixed it with Milk? The milk may be spoiled!” “Child,” answered the mother, “that is the way to prepare the milk in order that we might get butter out of it.” “But where is butter in it, mother?” “It is in every drop of the milk, dear; but you can’t see it now. I will show you in the morning.” In the morning the daughter saw that what was liquid the night before had become solid overnight. Mother put a churning rod into it and started churning the curd vigorously. Butter began to float on the surface of the curd. Then she gathered it all up and presented it to the astonishment of the daughter. The mother explained: “The addition of the buttermilk curdles the milk. Milk is transformed into curd. Then you have to churn it. By this process the butter which was all-pervasively hidden in the milk is obtained. At first you were not able to see it; it was hidden. From where has it come now? From the milk only. Therefore you understand now that it was there all the time. It awaited the process of churning to reveal itself to your great joy.” The daughter, too, followed the same process and got the butter, for herself.
Similarly, a worldly man approaches a Mahatma and asks him: “O Sadhu, why have you renounced the world, and poured this new element of Vairagya and Tyaga into your life? Why don’t you let the life take its natural course?” The Sadhu replies: “Brother, I do so in order to realise God?” “Where is God?” “He is all-pervading.” The worldly man does not see and is not convinced. The Sadhu then explains how the inner personality which is fickle and outflowing should be made solid and firm. Then the churning rod of one-pointed concentration and meditation should be taken hold of, and this solid Antahkarana should be very well churned. Then God is realised. He is all-pervading, in every atom of creation. But He is not visible to the naked eye nor is He realisable by a man except through this process called Sadhana.
Just as a mother was necessary for her daughter to learn that butter exists in milk and that churning will bring it out, even so a Guru is necessary for a man to know that God is, that He is all-pervading, and that He is attained through Sadhana. If the aspirant follows the Guru’s instructions, he too, can realise God.
Excerpts from: Parable of Four Learned Scholars - Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda
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Sage Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
| **Baba Times Digest© | 18 August 2014 17.24 EST | New York Edition** |
Sage Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Divine Life Society Publication: Sage Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Idam brahma, idam kshatram, ime lokah, ime devah, imani bhutani, idam sarvam yad ayam atma. “This Source of knowledge; this source of power; all these worlds; all these gods; all these beings – All this is just the Self.”
This proclamation is like a Brahma Astra that Sage Yajnavalkya is discharging against every kind of attachment one can conceive in this world. It is somewhat easy to accept that God is everywhere. It becomes easy because we always externalise the location of God, however much we may try to universalise Him. The everywhereness of God implies that there is space, and inasmuch as our mind is wedded completely to the concept of spatial expansion, we feel a little bit comforted when we are told that God is everywhere.
Now, Sage Yajnavalkya says the Self also is everywhere. All the fourteen worlds are the Self. Here we will not find it so easy to accept it, because we cannot spatialise the concept of Self. Our Self cannot be somewhere else, it must be within us only.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is not intended for everybody. It is a cosmic meditation. The whole thing is transcendent, beyond ourselves. Even when we think of self, we place it within ourselves. My self is inside me. But Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says the Self is not within us – it is within everybody, within everything, within all the worlds and the universes. In all space and all time, the Self is there. Can anyone close one’s eyes and meditate thus? Can you place yourself in the skies and contemplate from there? But, you may say, ‘this is an easy thing, I can do that, I can place myself in the skies’, but when you place yourself in the skies, again you are bringing a spatial concept, which is not permitted in the case of the awareness of one’s Self. Never should this meditation be attempted by an impure mind.
If anything is dear and lovable, the thing that is loved is not actually loved, it is not dear. The Self in the object attracts the Self in us and then the object looks attractive. It is not the object that is attractive, because a corpse cannot attract anybody, a dead body does not attract. It is the life principle that attracts, the Selfhood in the object is attracting. The beauty and the grandeur of the life principle, it is that which attracts. Where is this Selfhood? Again the question arises – everywhere! The whole universe you carry with you when you move. The universal Self moves with you who are the universal.
The Self need not necessarily be that imagined self inside the physical body. The universal Self should not be considered as a pervading thing, because the Self is inside, it is inside something, and it is inside the universe. The universe is not an extended form in space. The idea of ‘all-pervading’ also should be given up, because the Self does not pervade, It is just what It is; It is utter subjectivity incapable of externalisation. We cannot split it into the object seen. The Self cannot be an object that is visualised. It is the visualiser. Thus, ‘everything’ is the Visualiser only. How would you like to know the knower by whom alone everything is known? Who will know the knower?
You must read the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, especially the Second and the Fourth Chapters where Yajnavalkya pours the highest wisdom on Maitreyi and King Janaka.
“Whoever knows this possesses the whole world. He himself is the world.”
Can anybody contain all things inside oneself and be at rest? This is why preliminary qualifications are prescribed: Viveka, Vairagya, Shatsampatti, Mumukshutva – discrimination, dispassion, the six virtues and longing for liberation. These preliminary qualifications are necessary. If anyone is distracted in the direction of anything else than the Self, then the Self will hide itself fully away somewhere.
In the Atharva Veda there is a Sukta called Varuna Sukta. If you have any longing, it will melt down in the fire of this inclusiveness of God-being. All this amount to one thing: that by externalizing consciousness we will achieve nothing. It is not enough if you merely internalise it also. You should neither be an extrovert nor an introvert but, if you can coin a word, an omnivert. Everywhere you perceive everything. That ‘I’ is not the physical ‘I’ with which you see the world – it is the soul observing itself in things which look like non-Self. The non-Self does not exist; but even in that so-called non-Self the Self is peeping through Its own eye.
The Plenum, the felicity, the incomparable, is the only source of bliss. The greatest qualification is wanting It; no other qualification is adequate. “I want It and I don’t want anything else. I shall get It,” like Nachiketas insisting in the abode of Yama: “Whatever you have given, take it back. I shall go with this answer to this great question that I have put. Without that I do not want anything else that you have offered me - long life, all joys, suzerainty over all the worlds. Answer my question.”
Such determination, if there is in any one of us, the Truth reveals itself automatically. The Truth is seeking us much more than we seek it. As it is wider than our concept of itself, it is a greater force, it calls you. God calls you with greater severity of intensity than we are calling Him.
Yajnalvakya’s instructions lead to Sadyo Mukti, immediate salvation and not a stage-by-stage Krama Mukti or gradual salvation -it is not a question of tomorrow but the karmas that we have performed in the previous births are sitting inside our mind like a knot, hard knot in the form of Brahma-granthi, Vishnu-granthi and Rudra-ganthi-Avidya, Kama, Karma as they call them. They are the Granthis-they have to be melted down. You cannot cut them like a Gordian knot, but melt them down by dispassion, daily meditation, and wanting That only, and wanting nothing else.
Excerpts from: Sage Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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