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The Ideal of The Superman
| **Baba Times Digest© | 17 August 2014 21.16 EST | New York Edition** |
The Ideal of The Superman
Divine Life Society Publication: The Ideal of The Superman by Sri Swami Sivananda
(Sri Krishna Janmashtami message)
Mysterious are the ways and many are the phases by which the universe portrays itself as an organic oneness moving towards the realisation of itself in the highest reach of Self-consciousness. God, the Supreme Consciousness, is the highest Law and Order, and when things go against this Eternal System, He shall correct this wrong immediately, then and there, in that length of time and with that mode of operation which will best fit that particular kind, that nature and that form of wrong. God incarnated Himself as Sri Krishna to effect such a change.
Bhagavan Sri Krishna is the immortal manifestation of God in all His splendour, that man was ever given the fortune to behold. Sri Krishna may be called the “Collective Man”, who represented all beings hungering and thirsting to gain the Highest Freedom and who voiced forth their deepest aspirations in the loudest possible tone. He came to release man from the thraldom of vice and correct his vision so that he could walk along the ever-illumined path to perfection. Sri Krishna is the articulation of the pure longings that are buried in the hearts of people. Sri Krishna is not merely a historical man who came and went, like others, but the Eternal Purusha who dwells even now and shall live in the everlasting future, in the core of all manifestation. It is the Symbol of the Absolute descended into relativity that we call Krishna, the ever-beloved protector of all that breathe and air.
Sri Krishna came to reorganise and reconstruct the society of beings on the basis of Dharma. Dharma is the manner by which one directly or indirectly abides and lives in conscience with the Law of the Universal Whole. That which is conducive, in whatever way, either immediately or ultimately, to the experience of absolute independence is Dharma. Mankind forgot the Law, groped in darkness, committed blunders and managed to disturb the equilibrium and harmony of the Universe. There was a reaction from the Whole, to bring back the universe to its essential and natural equilibrium, and the result is Sri Krishna. So Sri Krishna is called an Avatara, a descent of God in the world, of the Whole in the parts, of the Absolute in the relative. A Rishi or a Jivanmukta represents an ascent of man to God, whereas the Avatara is a descent of God to man, consciously and deliberately. Sri Krishna lived the universal life, laughed a universal laughter, and walked on earth as the moving Spirit of the universe. To worship Him is to be in the Presence of God; to know Him is to realise the Self.
In Sri Krishna we find the blending of the Supreme Spirit and the Supreme Law, as a difference in unity and as a unity in difference. Sri Krishna can be characterised as one who, with the majesty of a Seer and a Divine Incarnation, touched God above and the earth below. The universe is the Glory and the Law of the Absolute in concrete manifestation. Law is the manner in which the Indivisible one appears and exists as the divided many. In Sri Krishna, the relative rarefies into the Absolute, and the Absolute fades away into the relative. The gorgeous prince and the austere sage embrace each other in Sri Krishna.
In Him man and God see each other, as it were, and the world recognises its Maker. Power and Wisdom reach their climax, the earth and the heavens greet one another and peace and joy reach super-abundance in our benign Lord, Sri Krishna. Dharma and Bhrama become one, the universe becomes the sport of the Divine, when the Lila Purushottama, Sri Krishna, hoists the flag of the Infinite in the region that is mundane, and reports Himself as the representative of the Eternal among the non-eternal. The dictum that “Truth alone triumphs, and not falsehood” is picturesquely illustrated in the deeds of Sri Krishna. The power behind virtue, the spirit behind goodness, the truth behind the apparent success of evil has been demonstrated through dramatic scenes in Sri Krishna’s unfailing support to the Pandava brothers. Here He is, with everyone, as the Eternal Companion; only He must be looked to for help.
What a grand life! The householder and the Sannyasin, the great enjoyer and the great renouncer, the child and the sagacious, the sportive and the contemplative, the human and the Divine, melt together in the menstruum of Sri Krishna and exist as One! Truly, God is All, and to God all are one. “He exists pervading all things” (Svetasvatara Upanishad, IV-3).
Sri Krishna’s life is a standing example of the omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence of God, of the fact of Divine Grace and of individual instrumentality in the evolution and involution of the universe. His life is a pattern of life perfect, of the attainment of the ideal of the Superman, of the philosopher-statesman, the sage-administrator, the human realisation in life of the divine Transcendental Reality. Sri Krishna, as the ideal Superman, shows in His life the way and the goal of life of all, explains how to live and why to live. Life should aim at the direct knowledge and experience of the Absolute, and it should be lived in a way which does not, at any stage, violate the principle of this eternal Law, but affirms it in every walk of life.
Beloved aspirants! Celebrate the birthday of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, the sacred Janmashtami, making it an occasion for you to turn over a new leaf, to start afresh Sadhana for God-realisation, with added vigour and greater effort, utilise the day and night of Sri Krishna-Janmashtami for prayer, Japa, worship and meditation. Be pure. Be virtuous. Be sincere. Apply yourself with firm faith and strength of will. Yield not to beguilements and threats. Move on forward with confidence and determination. You shall succeed in achieving life’s Supreme Goal. The Grace of the Almighty is ever with you.
Peace be to you all! May the mighty Grace of Lord Sri Krishna flow through your hearts and prepare you for the memorable regeneration in the Spiritual Consciousness! May your efforts towards Self-realisation be crowned with glorious success! May you attain Kaivalya Moksha!
Excerpts from: The Ideal of The Superman 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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The Rise from Savitarka to Nirvitarka
| **Baba Times Digest© | 17 August 2014 20.33 EST | New York Edition** |
The Rise from Savitarka to Nirvitarka
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 47 - The Study and Practice of Yoga by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The contemplation of an object in the process of yoga is quite different from the contemplation of objects in that people usually engage themselves in ordinary workaday life. In yoga, in the meditation process, the essential features or characteristics of the object cooperate and coordinate themselves with the meditating consciousness, whereas in ordinary sensory perception there is the opposite process taking place.
There is an inherent repelling attitude, a kind of disparity of character between the subject and the object in ordinary perception, because of a peculiar selfish interest that is present in the subject in its contact with the object. Why does the subject crave for the object? The intention is purely self-centred, and this is what cannot be tolerated by the selfhood of the object. The interrelated connectedness of the forces in the world is of such a nature that it prevents the utilisation of any object for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation is abhorrent to the nature of truth, and the forces of nature will not tolerate it.
So our affection for the object, our contemplation of the object, our thought of the object and our desire for the object is contrary to the law of nature, and therefore there is always bereavement in the end. All union ends in separation. All love ends in sorrow. The reason is that there is a mistake committed by the subject, and inasmuch as everyone is a subject from the point of view of another, and everyone is an object also in a similar manner, there is a universal confusion that has been created. This confusion is called samsara – a great mix-up of values that has taken place, totally unintelligible to the mind which is involved in this mix-up. The yoga process is a remedy that has been prescribed for the illness that has been created in this manner.
We have a peculiar mode of thinking ‘objects’, and we are born into this mode from which we cannot usually extricate ourselves. There are at least three elements involved in the perception of an object – the object as such, which is called artha; the idea of the object which is called the jnana of the object; and the nomenclature, the epithet, the name, the way by which we designate the object. These three are mixed up as if they are one single thing, though they are distinct features. When an object is generated, when it is born or brought into existence, it does not come with a name. It is doubtful if the tree knows that it is called tree.
Likewise, nothing in this world is associated with a designation of this character. It has a status of its own, independent of all these associations. But the worst of all things is the idea of the object. We have an idea about everything in this world, and the idea that we hold about things is regarded as identical with the nature of the thing itself. Our opinion about an object is made a part of the nature of the object, so that we compel the object to subserve the definition that we give to it, according to our own perception of it.
The idea or opinion one holds, about anything for the matter of that, is a part of the structure of one’s mind at that given moment. The idea, therefore, is not different from the mind. The idea is mind itself. Inasmuch as the idea is one with the mind, and the mind is one with individuality, the individual holding that opinion or idea cannot, at any time, imagine that the idea can be wrong. How can we think that we ourselves are wrong? We are self-identical.
So, we are the supreme judge of everything, and the whole world becomes a client before us, cringing before us for judgement, and whatever judgement we pass must be the final one. This is the opinion, this is the attitude, and this is the intention of every person, every individual in the world – from A to Z. There is a mutual suspicion created in the body of individuals, on account of this internal compulsion exerted by the subject upon the object. This difficulty that has been created, this intolerant attitude that has been projected towards the object, is naturally repellent to the object. There is, therefore, when it is deeply analysed, no such thing as love of an object by the subject.
The method of meditation is a reverse one, where the subject and the object are enabled to stand on a par, and the fact that they really are on a par becomes recognisable. There is no such thing as subject or object, ultimately. It is only a creation of the minds of certain individuals. Every individual, having a status of his own, her own or its own, cannot be regarded as an object of someone else, because the moment one becomes an object, the status of selfhood vanishes. There is a selfhood present in even an atom. It has a say of its own; it has a purpose of its own and an intention behind its activity, which is not for the fulfilment of someone else. It has a mission of its own which it is trying to achieve through the process of evolution, through which it is moving. The fact that there is an inherent status in everything in this world is recognised in yogic meditation. There is, therefore, no meditation by the subject on an object.
According to the sutra of Patanjali, that which creates this false distinction between the subject and the object and wrongly compels the subject to look upon another as an object, is a peculiar complex – it is the idea, the name, and the space-time relation. These are the things that have to be given up. We cannot isolate the idea from the presence of space-time. So, ultimately, it is a problem of space-time. The two types of meditation that Patanjali refers to have relevance to the conception of something as located in space and time, and the conception of the same thing as not located in space and time. The first one is called savitarka; the other is called nirvitarka. The contemplation of an object as situated in space and time, and therefore defined by our idea of that thing, is savitarka. The freedom from these associations is nirvitarka.
Nirvitarka is a non-relational contemplation, whereas savitarka is a relational contemplation. The relations are spatial, temporal, and individualistic. Desa kala vastu sambandha, is the Sanskrit term. The sambandha of desa is spatial. The sambandha of time is temporal; the sambandha of vastu is individualistic. This means to say that an object is in space; an object is in time, and an object has a relation with another object, which is the causal relationship. To put it more philosophically, space-time-cause are the obstacles before the subject in its attempt to enter into the nature of the object, or to try to possess it, or enjoy it, or become one with it, etc.
By repeated meditation on the substantiality of the object, independent of these relations, a revelation takes place. The mist before the mind is cast out. There is a response from the object in a friendly manner, which was absent up to this time. The response from the object in a friendly manner becomes possible when there is a gesture from the subject that the selfhood of the object is recognised. Likewise, the subject begins to accept the point of view of the object, though it has not taken action on this point of view. This is the stage where the mind begins to rise up from the condition of savitarka to that of nirvitarka.
Excerpts from: The Rise from Savitarka to Nirvitarka - Chapter 47 - The Study and Practice of Yoga by Sri Swami Krishnananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor( dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
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Garland of Vedanta
| **Baba Times Digest© | 15 August 2014 15.20 EST | New York Edition** |
Garland of Vedanta
Divine Life Society Publication: Lectures on Yoga and Vedanta by Sri Swami Sivananda
A Vedantin says, ‘Nothing is mine and everything is mine’. As the world is a mere appearance he is quite right in saying, ‘nothing is mine.’ As he has realised the Self, as the world has no independent existence apart from Brahman or the Self, he says, ‘everything is mine.’ He has controlled the organ of smell and Prithvi Tattva (Earth element) and so all objects of smell and sense belong to him. He has controlled the palate or tongue and the Apas Tattva (Water element) and so all objects of taste, fruits and other dainties belong to him. He has controlled the organ of sight or eye and Agni Tattva (Fire element) and so all objects of sight and beauties and gardens belong to him. He has controlled the organ of touch and Vayu Tattva (Wind element) and so all objects of touch belong to him. He has controlled the organ of hearing and the Akasa Tattva (Ether element) and so all the sounds and music belong to him.
Identification with the body (Deha Adhyasa) brings pain. When one attains knowledge of the Self, he will experience no pain although there is some disease in the body. He is above body consciousness. A highly developed Hatha Yogi only, who has control over the atoms and Kaya Siddhi, can keep his body without ailment. Rise above body and always identify yourself with the painless, diseaseless Atman. You will be free from pain. When you are in deep sleep there is no pain even if you are suffering from any disease. When you are under chloroform there is no pain even if the leg is amputated. It is the linking of the mind with the body that causes pain. If the mind is taken away from the body consciously and fixed on all-blissful Self through constant meditation you will have no pain even if the body is subject to any kind of ailments. This is Jnana Yoga Sadhana. Prarabdha has to be worked out. Therefore the body will be subject to diseases. The Jivanmukta will not experience any pain. The onlookers may wrongly imagine that the sage is also suffering. It is a serious mistake. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had cancer in the throat. Buddha had chronic dysentery. Sankara had piles. But they experienced no pain. When doctors asked Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: “Why do you suffer like this? Can you not undergo the operation”? He replied, “I have given my mind to Mother Kali. How can I think of my body? How can I bring my mind back to the cage of flesh? I am always in bliss.”
If you are deluded by a mirage for some time, you will not be affected by it again when you come to know that it is a mirage only but not water. Even so the world will appear for a Jivanmukta but he knows that it is unreal. He will not be attracted a bit by the objects. It is no more the world of sorrow for him. He knows fully well that it is mere appearance owing to the play of Maya.
The will of a Jivanmukta becomes one with the cosmic will. He experiences the bliss of cosmic consciousness. He feels that all ears are his ears, all eyes are his eyes, all mouths are his mouths, all tongues are his tongues, all hands are his hands, all legs are his legs, all minds are his minds. This will be a magnanimous experience indeed. Words will fail to describe adequately the grandeur of this experience. Realise this experience and be free.
O man! In essence thou art the blessed divinity. Thou art the immortal blissful Self. Why are you attracted towards the physical beauty, the beauty of landscapes and flowers when you are yourself the Beauty of beauties, the fountain-source of all beauties? Why do you admire the sun, moon, stars and lightning, when you are yourself the Sun of suns, the Light of lights? Why do you say ‘I am 40 years of age’, ‘I am at death’s door’, ‘Time has passed away’, when you are yourself the Eternity? Why do you say ‘I am fat’, ‘I am 5 feet 6 inches’, when you are the Infinite? Why do you say ‘I have no money’, ‘I am very poor’, ‘I am penniless’, when you are the Emperor of the three worlds, the source of all wealth? Why do you say ‘I am helpless’, ‘I am your most obedient servant’, when you are the Director and Governor of the whole world? Why do you say, ‘I am miserable’, ‘I am restless’, when you are the embodiment of Bliss and Peace? Why are you afraid of death or Lord Yama, when you are Existence Absolute? Why do you say ‘I am unwell’, ‘I am suffering from a chronic disease’, when you are all-health? Why do you say ‘I am ignorant’, ‘I know nothing’, when you are Knowledge Absolute? Realise the mysterious Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman through purification, concentration, meditation and identification. Rejoice in this wonderful Self and be free. Tat Tvam Asi—Thou art That, O dear Satyakama bold.
Excerpts from:
Garland of Vedanta - Lectures on Yoga and Vedanta 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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If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Methods of Vedantic Sadhana
| **Baba Times Digest© | 15 August 2014 15.20 EST | New York Edition** |
Methods of Vedantic Sadhana
Divine Life Society Publication: Sadhana by Sri Swami Sivananda
Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana are the three stages of Vedantic Sadhana.
Sravana is hearing of the truth. The Abheda-Bodha-Vakya should be heard from the Brahmanishta-Guru. Then Vedantic scriptures and treatises have to be carefully studied for the purpose of properly grasping the meaning of the great Mahavakyas.
Vedantic Granthas are of two kinds: the Pramana-granthas and the Prameya-granthas. One should always study standard works on Vedanta. A complete and exhaustive treatise on the subject has to be studied with the greatest care. Then only the full knowledge of Vedanta will dawn. Works like the Advaitasiddhi, Chitsukhi, Khandanakhanda-khadya, Brahmasutras, etc., are Pramana-granthas, for they refute other theories and establish the Advaitatattva through logic and argumentation. Works like the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Yogavasishtha are Prameya-granthas, for they merely state the Absolute Truth with authority and do not indulge in reasoning for refuting or establishing anything. They are intuitional works, whereas the former are intellectual.
The mind should be pure and tranquil before starting Vedantic Sadhana. Keeping the Vasana in the mind is keeping a black cobra within and feeding it with milk. Your life is ever in danger. Kill these Vasanas through Vichara, Vairagya and meditation on the Atman.
The Sruti texts that deal with creation, such as “from the Atman sprang Akasa, from Akasa Vayu, from Vayu Agni,” etc., are only intended for giving preliminary instructions to the neophytes or young aspirants for they cannot grasp at once the Ajativada or the theory of non-evolution. When you read the passages which treat of creation, always remember that all this is only Adhyaropa or superimposition. Never forget this. Never think even for a second that the world is real. Only through Apavadayukti or refutation of superimposition can you establish the Kevala-Advaita-Siddhanta. If the world is real, if duality is real, you cannot have experience of Advaitic Realisation.
If the impurity of egoism or Ahankara-Mala is destroyed, the other two impurities, viz., Kama-Mala (impurity of desires) and Karma-Mala (impurity of action) will be destroyed by themselves. How, then, can there be Prarabdha for a Jivanmukta or the liberated sage? He is one with the Supreme Absolute.
Excerpts from: Methods of Vedantic Sadhana - Sadhana 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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Pulling God into Yourself
| **Baba Times Digest© | 14 August 2014 15.47 EST | New York Edition** |
Pulling God into Yourself
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter5 The Heart and Soul of Spiritual Practice by Sri Swami Krishnananda
When you sit for meditation, chant Om beautifully, deeply, sonorously – from the depths of your heart – for a few minutes. Chanting Om in this manner will produce a vibration not only within yourself, but also externally in the atmosphere around, especially if it is chanted in a chorus as you have done just now. Its effect is immense.
All things in the world are only vibrations. Concretised, dense forms of subtle vibrations are the things of the world. Really, there is no solid substance ultimately in this universe. There is a hard granite stone in front of you which is a very concrete substance – heavy, and you cannot lift it. But this heavy substance is the form taken by a tremendous cohesion of molecules which form this object called the stone. There is gravity inside every object, which makes it appear as what it is. Else, the molecules will disperse in different directions and there will be no object at all. If the molecules are dissected into their components, they become atoms. If the atoms are dissected into their essential core, they become an electromagnetic force.
The nucleus of the atom is what controls the form of the atom, even as the nucleus of the solar system, which is the sun, keeps the balance of the structure of the entire solar system. The central nucleus of our personality is what we call the principle of self-affirmation. In ordinary language, we call it ego.
The ego is not a solid object but a centralisation of concentrated energy. This chanting of Om, to which you are accustomed, is actually a synchronisation of yourself to the great vibration that originated the so-called cosmos. The beginning of the universe was a huge centralisation of energy. Physicists tell us that the solid object that we touch with our hands is not actually a solid object. It is a sensation created by the molecular action of the so-called thing called the object, and the molecular action in the tips of our fingers.
I am placing before you this analysis to introduce you to the method of contemplating the whole cosmos as a pure, undifferentiated continuum of force. If this method of appreciation in your consciousness is possible for you, what will you desire in your mind? Who will you desire? Which thing? Even the space in which you are living, which you erroneously consider as emptiness, is not emptiness, really speaking. You regard a thing that is not capable of being caught by the perceptual organs of the eyes as non-existent. People say that God may not exist because He is not a solid object that can be conceived or perceived by the sense organs.
What do you mean by God? If the idea is not clear in your mind, you will not be able to meditate; you cannot concentrate. The mind wanders because it is accustomed to think only in terms of visual objects; invisible forces cannot become the content of the operation of the mind. This means to say that all our thought processes are irrelevant in the context of the Ultimate Reality, the ultimate nature of things.
The Bhakti Shastras speak of surrender – the offering of oneself to God. This is the idea you may have in your mind about surrender. What do you mean by ‘surrender’? You have a solid body sitting here, and are you going to offer this body to God? Who are you offering when you say, “I offer myself to God”? This pinpointed, illusory centre, which is the ego that asserts that it alone is and nothing else can be, this objectionable force of self-assertion has to be surrendered, offered, dedicated to a non-centralised cosmical operation, as wide as space, which is conscious of Itself. That indescribable widest expanse, beyond even the concept of space, conscious of Itself, is the only Being. This is why we say God alone is. You have to practise tremendous self-control even to understand what God is – what to speak of actual dedication of yourself to God’s Being.
The idea of God being far away is implicitly present in every centre of thinking because of your involvement in space which divides everything, one from the other. The concept of distance is introduced into the mind because of this spatial expanse called the sky. Actually, there is no such thing as distance. Distance is an illusion. If that is the case, how far is God? If God alone is – remember this point again and again – who will think God? Who will meditate on God? Can you stand outside creation and think it?
I am trying to take your mind gradually to the point of what is known as supreme devotion to God – para bhakti. The apara bhakti, or the lower devotion, is the love of God as a huge person ruling in the heavens – far, far away from the concept of man. The lower devotion consists in chanting the Name of God as if He has a descriptive capacity or attribute by which you can explain the nature of God. Study of scripture, company of saints and sages, pilgrimage to holy centres, taking a bath in a holy river, and worship in a temple, on an altar – these are gauna bhakti, as it is known, a secondary form of devotion, which is very interesting, very important and very necessary. But even with all these appurtenances of devotion, your mind will wander. You will have a commitment. Simultaneously, in your mind you doubt the possibility of achieving anything substantially in spite of all the routines of your worship, fasting, visualising, etc. A fear creeps into the heart: “What is happening to me finally?”
This fear is due to the separation of yourself from the heaven which God is. You must know that the kingdom of God is within you. There is no ‘inside’ in this creation of God. There is also no ‘outside’.
Ask your mind again and again: “Do you really believe that only God exists?” The answer you give to this question reveals what kind of person you are as a religious or spiritual person. Do you really believe, from the bottom of your heart, that God is the only reality? You cannot believe it because you see things other than God. Do you believe that God created the world? Did God exist before creation? Naturally, you cannot say He did not exist. Where was He before He created? Your sins will be destroyed in an instant if you can think that God existed before creation. Then He will not be away from you.
Another difficulty before you is a suspicion that God cannot give you all things. You, of course, cannot deny that God can give all things. But the whisper of the heart which is inside the heart tells you, “Beware! Don’t make a mistake! Who has seen God, and what has God given to devotees?”
Before you reach the borderland of God’s existence, you have to pass through veritable hell, indeed. They are not certain places, some locations of creation. They are certain conditions prevailing, some circumstances through which you have to pass under the order of this body which you consider as yourself. You will not keep these ideas in your mind for more than a few minutes. The whole thing has gone to the winds. Why? Because you have heard what has been said, but you have not bestowed thought on it. Merely listening is called sravana. The impression of what has been heard has to go into the mind and you have to start thinking it deeply. “This is what I have heard.” That is why I recommend that one should make notes during any lecture or reading, of salient points which strike one as important, because everything that is told or read cannot be retained in the mind.
Deep thinking of these truths that you have heard is called manana. Manana is deeper than sravana, which is just hearing. When what you thought, what you heard and the ideas you gathered into yourself get absorbed into your being, they become not merely ideas of your mind but thus become you only. Idea itself is you. You become the idea itself – the merging of the consciousness of whatever you have heard into your own being. Knowledge becomes being. This state is called nidhidyasana.
Excerpts from: Pulling God into Yourself - The Heart and Soul of Spiritual Practice by Sri Swami Krishnananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org
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Music - A Unique Means for God-Realisation
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 August 2014 13.30 EST | New York Edition** |
Music: A Unique Means for God-Realisation
Divine Life Society Publication: Music - A Unique Means for God-Realisation by Sri Swami Vidyananda
Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma—All this is, indeed, Brahman or the Supreme Reality—thus proclaims the gospel of Vedanta, the all-encompassing, eternal lore of the ancient Indian seers. Everything in this universe is pervaded by the Reality. Realization of this Reality is the goal of life. Different means lead to the same goal, as do all rivers to the ocean. All forms of art, in their pure aspects, are different means intended, ultimately, to enable one to realize the goal of life. Of all arts, the main five arts or the fine arts, have been evolved by the ancient seers of India, to particularly help us in this process.
Among the fine arts, music seems to exert a generally stirring influence on all. The five arts are painting, sculpture, dancing, literature and music. Their importance also is in the ascending order. How is it so? First, let us take painting. It shows a beautiful form or a landscape on a plain surface. Painting is an instrument of expression through an image on the canvas. In the second art, namely sculpture, which seems to be a further development on painting, we can see all the details of the contours or the shape of the form, from all sides. The nature of the form is now complete in all aspects.
But the form being static, there is a dearth of life in it, as it were. Movement is indicative of a form being really animate. For a graceful movement, there should be some regulation or discipline of motion, which is called rhythm. Dancing is thus a further development on sculpture. It is full of life with rhythmical movements of the limbs and expression of emotions in the face. At this stage ideas begin to crystallise in the mind. Then they seek their expression. Words flow out. But there should also be some regulation and aptness in the word-structure, in order to properly express one’s ideas. Only then will they be easily understood and appealing to the mind. Literature serves this purpose. Now ideas are expressed very well, so as to help the understanding of man, as well as provide an intellectual stimulus and entertainment.
A still further development is found in music. This is more vibrant, penetrating and could induce a universal response. If we repeat, “Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama Nama Tarakam”, we understand that the name of Rama enables one to cross the ocean of earthly existence, to the other shore of immortality. But it is a mental understanding. Whereas, if we set the same words in a tune and sing or hear them, there is an emotional experience of the depth of the meaning of these words. Not only does the mind understand them, but the heart vibrates with the feelings pertaining to them. Thus, music has more depth and profundity and is of the foremost importance. That is why it is said that music occupies the first place among all the arts. It is the easiest, surest, sweetest and the best means of God-realization.
Music gives enjoyment to the performer as well as to the listener. It gives a higher type of emotional enjoyment and infuses in all the ecstatic state of Bhava Samadhi or superconsciousness through dissolution in pure feeling. Music can be universally enjoyed. If a Japanese sings in his own language or plays an instrument of his country, the Englishman can enjoy the music without understanding a word of it or without being familiar with that instrument. A German can likewise enjoy the Indian music. Such is not the case with literature. It has its linguistic limitation. Only the English-knowing people can enjoy English literature; only the French-knowing people can enjoy French literature.
Music is Divine. It draws one nearer to God. It is God Himself. We call it Nada Brahman or the Reality that is symbolized in music. As a means, it is called Nada Upasana or spiritual practice through singing. Sarasvati, the Goddess of Learning, inclusive of music and the other fine arts, is represented with a musical instrument, called Veena, in Her hands. Veena symbolizes Nada or music. The eternal song of Om emanates from it. Lord Krishna also holds a flute in His hands. It is also symbolic in the sense that it produces the music of the soul. Many saints like Mira, Gauranga, Surdas, Kabirdas, Ramdas, Tukaram, Tyagaraja and others attained God-realization through music.
Music melts the hearts of all. It sets into motion the divine vibrations that gradually unite the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. This is the end and aim of all spiritual practices. The summum bonum of human existence is achieved through music very easily.
Singing the nectarine Names of the Lord and His glories, with proper accompaniments, if possible, will purify the heart, extinguish the fire of earthly suffering and free one from the cycle of births and deaths. It will lead one along the path of the Sreyas or that which is good, bring fulfillment to Vidya or knowledge, infuse grace and felicity in life, and enable the singer as well as the listener to commune with God.
It is in this light that His Holiness Swami Sivananda classifies music as a Yoga by itself. He encourages Bhajan and Sankirtan to serve as easy means to quick spiritual progress. The Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy has a Department of Music, where musically-inclined spiritual aspirants are helped and encouraged to learn this unique means of finding solace and inspiration in life. Many seekers from Eastern and Western countries have been trained here in classical music, vocal as well as instrumental.
Excerpts from: Music - A Unique Means for God-Realisation by Sri Swami Vidyananda
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The Source is Also the Goal
| **Baba Times Digest© | 12 August 2014 16.45 EST | New York Edition** |
The Source is Also the Goal
Divine Life Society Publication: Trying Situations - Sivananda’s Integral Yoga by Sri Swami Venkatesananda
You can well imagine that it was a headache to the secretary, and the treasurer, and so on, of an organisation, i.e. the ashram, to have a person like Swami Sivananda as the head. He just went on giving, giving, giving–he did not seem to have any notion where the money came from or where it went. But, I think he knew, though others thought he did not. He was aware all the time that the source is also the goal. “It comes from Him and returns to Him: We are merely channels. We think we are running this institution, this ashram, but we are only trustees.”
At least once a year the ashram experienced a financial crisis. Gurudev would seriously consider the position and say; “We will be very careful. We won’t admit any new aspirants into the ashram.” Usually this only lasted a few days. Soon a poor man would walk in without even a change of clothes asking to stay at the ashram, Swamiji would say: “Yes, yes……… better let him stay. Where else will he go? Do not worry about expenses. Every man brings his own ration with him. Before God sends him here, God has already delivered to the kitchen the food supply that he will need.”
These were not just words; if you looked into his face, into his eyes, you knew he was speaking the truth. In him there was no doubt at all, there was no questioning. In him this truth lived. He knew that what you and I call God’s will, alone prevailed. If we are going to be bankrupt, we will be bankrupt in any case. There is nothing to worry about! And the secretary submits “Alright, Swamiji.” And then the flood-gates are open again–otherwise the next financial crisis wouldn’t come so soon.
Another time we had a classical tragedy. A young man joined the ashram. He was a ceaseless and untiring worker, brilliant in every way. He had captured the heart of the Master. Gurudev loved him and admired him, and took him into his confidence. He had made him nearly the all-in-all. He was the post-master, he was the treasurer, he was almost the secretary too, unofficially. He was the cashier and on top of all this he was also doing some literary work for Gurudev. He was such a dynamic personality, and it was only half an hour after he had left the ashram one day that it was discovered that he had embezzled, heaven only knows how much! He was the cashier and the post-master, so nobody could really estimate to what extent the ashram had been robbed. All we knew was this–there was not a single cent in the entire ashram, which was heavily in debt to local shopkeepers.
So for once we started with a minus balance, and the news spread to Rishikesh. Once again, the grocers very politely told the secretary, “For some time it is better to pay cash for whatever you take,” because the ashram owed a lot to them already. That was the worst calamity I have ever seen in the ashram’s life. And what did the Master do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He was enjoying the whole thing as a big joke: “How was it possible for him to cheat us like this? He was such a good man! He must be a genius.” Two things he went on repeating. “He must have been a genius to do this.” And, “But he did a lot of work.” He added, “We must have owed him some money–-but he could have asked me, I’d have given him.” What is that vision, that realisation, established in which one can say this? That is the vision of God.
One more example of this. In 1946 a businessman came to the ashram from South India. He knew that the Master was very fond of dissemination of spiritual knowledge and that the shelves were full of books which had been printed and published by the ashram. So, he said to Swamiji, “I can distribute and market all your books in South India. He took a large consignment. Six months later the secretary wrote to the address given by the businessman–the letter was returned, “No such address!” The secretary was amazed. Gurudev said, “Ohji, if you think that you are the self of the man who cheated you, you won’t be disappointed.” If God is one, omnipresent, what is stealing? Stealing is only transferring the object from the right hand to the left hand. You think that you are Swami So-and-so, and that you have an ashram, and that those books belong to the ashram, and someone else took them, and made a profit, and so on. This makes you angry. “If you see your own self in that other person, not only would you not feel sorry, but you may even feel happy.” Nothing more was said about the whole affair.
“Be equanimous; balanced, even-minded in success and failure, gain and loss.” It is not grinning and bearing it–not at all. “He who cheats me, and that which I call ‘me’, are but the two hands of the omnipresent being, who alone exists!”
But sometimes, to the discomfiture of the authorities of the ashram, Gurudev could make a big joke of this whole thing. One night the ashram temple was broken into, although a number of people were sleeping on the covered verandah which went around the four sides of the temple. The silver pot and other silver vessels were missing. The priest who had discovered the loss, reported the theft to the Master. But instead of getting serious, the Master was curious. “People were sleeping right there at the time when the theft was taking place?” Then he burst out laughing. “He must be a very clever thief. If he is found, I’ll award him a title ‘Chora Shikhamani’ (which means a super-expert in stealing).”
That was all. Gurudev made it look as if there was no theft. He who needed them took them away. He used a very beautiful expression. He used to call it ‘Gupta Daan’–secret charity, in which the receiver saved you from even the trouble of giving it! He needed it–he took it.
Once we decided that instead of Swami Sivananda, he should have been called Swami Givananda–he who rejoices in giving. He knew that the supply came from the source, and to the source it returned. Material considerations of accounting did not bother him at all. He proved in his own life that in such generosity, there was no bankruptcy. He used to say very often, “Giving has never made a person poor; charity has never made a person poor.” In 1924, the Master arrived in Rishikesh, with only the clothes that he had on his body. In 1973, hardly fifty years later, the ashram that he had built was worth a few million rupees, and yet he went on giving, giving, giving. He himself used to say, “Such an attitude puts you in direct communion with the inexhaustible source of all prosperity.”
Excerpts from:
The Source is Also the Goal - Trying Situations - Sivananda’s Integral Yoga by Sri Swami Venkatesananda
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The Integral Method
| **Baba Times Digest© | 11 August 2014 19.43 EST | New York Edition** |
The Integral Method
Divine Life Society Publication: Part I, Chapter 3 – The Foundations of Philosophy by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Swami Sivananda’s method combines revelation, meditation and reason in one. Infallible knowledge is to be had only in the intuition of Reality, and all knowledge derived through the senses, understanding and reason falls short of it in an enormous degree. No other method of approach to Truth than communion with being as such can give us ultimately reliable knowledge. Unless the knower and the known are identified in knowledge, knowledge is not true, but gives us only a semblance of what we really seek to obtain. Swami Sivananda is a faithful follower of Sankara in his basic presuppositions, though he is equally friendly with Ramanuja, Madhva and the other dualistic and pluralistic philosophers.
To Swami Sivananda, philosophy is the way of the attainment of Brahman, and his method includes all that is best in every school of philosophy. The experience of the nature of the individual in relation to the universe, of which it is a content, becomes the basis of philosophical enquiry, which culminates in spiritual meditation and realisation. Sruti, Yukti and Anubhava—authority, reason and intuition—are the stages of the ascent of the soul aspiring for eternal life. Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana—hearing (or study), reflection and meditation—sum up the practical method of the spiritual aspirant. Hearing and reflection comprise the entire gamut of speculative philosophy, and Nididhyasana is the final fruition in meditation, leading to Sakshatkara or realisation. Aspiration for the Eternal is the greatest incentive to philosophical enquiry, whose aim is not only to know, but to be.
Human knowledge, for Swami Sivananda, is not an exact representation of reality, nor is the world a mere projection of the human mind. The world is the objective appearance of the Absolute, thus being ideal, but is also the cause of the representation of the same in human knowledge, thus being real. The world is ideal as contained in the Absolute, real as being outside the finite minds. We should not make assertions or take active steps without first ascertaining the powers of the instruments of knowledge and action. “We must understand what knowing is, in order to explain anything at all, so that any proposed explanation of knowing would necessarily presuppose that we understood what knowing is” (Prichard: Kant’s Theory of Knowledge).
The central aim of the philosophy of Swami Sivananda is the living of the highest life, a life fixed in the knowledge of the principles which are the ultimate regulators of all things. An enlightened life of peace joy is the goal of his sublime philosophy. And this blessedness can be attained only in the Divine Being. Dharma, the ethical value; Artha, the material value; and Kama, the vital value, are all based on Moksha which is the supreme value of existence. The aim of life is the attainment of Moksha. The sight of evil and suffering, pain and death, directs one’s vision to the causes of these phenomena; and this, in its turn, necessitates an enquiry into the reality behind life as a whole.
Swami Sivananda teaches that the bondage of man consists in his ignorance of the true nature of his Self and that his freedom is in the knowledge of the Self. By bondage he means subjection to the process of birth and death and the consequent experience of suffering and pain. Self-knowledge can be attained even in this very life, provided one puts forth sufficient effort towards this end. True happiness can be had only in the Self, and it is futile to search for it in this temporal world, which does not partake of the nature of Reality. The knowledge that man has to strive for is not a theoretical understanding but is the consciousness of the Self.
The philosophy of Swami Sivananda is not any secret way capable of being trodden only by a select few. It is an all-inclusive method which comprises all existent means of communion with Reality. It is not a speculative system reserved for intellectual pleasantry during leisure hours, but is the food of the higher understanding and the light of the innermost Self of man. The Vedanta is as simple as life is; and also it is as complex as life is!
It is ignorance and wrong understanding that make certain people think that the philosophy of the Atman or Brahman is an other-worldly theory concerning only a life which follows death. It can and ought to be applied in the daily life of everyone. Without it life would be a perpetual groping in darkness. What is man, if not a thought, a feeling, or a group of thoughts and feelings? And the Vedanta is the light that illumines the world of thought, of feeling, of willing, of understanding.
The Vedanta of Swami Sivananda does not teach that one should detest the world or isolate oneself in some world other than this. It does not proclaim that anyone should forsake his duties in life or put on a grave face or behave in any conspicuous manner. His Vedanta declares that one should not be selfish or attached to any fleeting object, that one should live in the consciousness of the loving brotherhood and unity of the Self in the universe, that the truth of existence is one and indivisible, that division or separation, hatred, enmity, quarrel and selfishness are against the nature of the Self, that the pain of birth and death is caused by desire generated by the ignorance of the Self, that the highest state of experience is immortal life or the realisation of Brahman, that everyone is born for this supreme purpose, that this is the highest duty of man, that all other duties are only aids or auxiliaries to this paramount duty, that one should perform one’s prescribed duties with the spirit of non-attachment and dedication of oneself and one’s actions to the Supreme Being, that every aspect of one’s life should get consummated in this Consciousness.
The question is not of abandoning something or holding on to something, but of a change in the Drishti or the vision of life. It is a reorientation in the way of the functioning of the volitional, the conceptual and the perceptual consciousness that is required by the philosophic life. The body will be there; its activities will be there; but these will be transformed into the lustrous gold of the liberated life of Jivanmukti, by the touch of the philosopher’s stone of the knowledge of the Self. This life of Self-knowledge is life in its splendid perfection and plenitude. This is the blessed gnosis, the state of freedom or Moksha. The way to such realisation is Vedanta-Sadhana. It commences with the analysis and study of the nature of the Atman, and comprises the inner techniques and processes of Yoga, Bhakti and Karma.
Excerpts from: The Integral Method - Part I, Chapter 3 – The Foundations of Philosophy by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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Raksha Bandhan
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 August 2014 20.41 EST | New York Edition** |
Raksha Bandhan
Divine Life Society Publication: Hindu Fasts and Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda
RAKSHA BANDHAN is called Avani Avittam in South India. This falls on the full moon day of the month of Sravan (August-September). It is an important Hindu festival. Hindus wear a new holy thread and offer libations of water to the ancient Rishis on this day.
Recitation of the Vedas on this great day is highly beneficial. This festival is also known as Upakarmam, and is specially sacred to the Brahmins, who have been invested with the sacred thread.
When a Brahmin boy is invested with this thread, symbolically his third eye, or the eye of wisdom, is opened. The holy festival of Upakarmam reminds one who wears the sacred thread of its glorious spiritual significance. Brahmins also offer libations of water to their ancestors, to whom they owe their birth; to the great Rishis, to whom they are highly indebted for their spiritual knowledge; and to the Vedas themselves. The true Hindu never forgets his benefactors!
The followers of the four different Vedas have their Upakarmam on different days.
On this day, Sachi, the consort of Indra, tied a holy thread or amulet around the wrist of Indra, when he was defeated by the demons. Then Indra, the king of gods, gained victory over the demons by the power of this protection (Raksha means “protection”). He then recovered the lost city of Amaravati.
In North India, on this day, an amulet known as a Raksha or Rakhi, is tied round the wrist of brothers by the sisters as a protection from evil during the coming year. Brahmins and Purohits similarly tie amulets round the wrists of their patrons and receive gifts. A Mantra is recited when the Rakhi or the silken thread is tied. The silken thread is charged with the power of the Mantra, which is as follows:
Yena baddho balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah;
Tena twaam anubadhnaami rakshey maa chala maa chala.
“I am tying on your hand this Raksha, with which the most powerful and generous King Bali himself was bound; O Raksha, don’t go away; don’t go away.”
The power of this Mantra protects the wearer from evil influences.
Excerpts from: Raksha Bandhan - Hindu Fasts and Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda
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The World We Live In
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 August 2014 20.38 EST | New York Edition** |
The World We Live In
Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga by Sri Swami Venkatesananda
Man has endeavoured through the ages to live without God or the cosmic Being. Political philosophers, economists and scientific ‘sages’ have assigned to themselves the godly role of protecting man’s peace and happiness, while others function as religious leaders, offering easy salvation to their supporters. Politics, science and economics have failed. Let man now turn towards God. If the religious spirit is absent from our life it has no value, but once it is added then learning, wealth, social position, political or scientific leadership can all assume meaning and purposefulness.
The word ‘dharma’ means “a factor that sustains, upholds, protects and brings together”. It brings us all together, binds us in a wonderful and divine cord of love; that is what religion means. Anyone using this dharma or religion to divide society into antagonistic groups is spreading irreligion and doing the greatest harm to this dharma. Ultimately dharma unites us with god; god who dwells in all beings.
Thus our religion or dharma ought to promote the prosperity of mankind and also ensure the salvation of man. By keeping us together in a bond of love, we are almost compelled to serve one another and thus promote one another’s interests and welfare. By uniting us with god, we are liberated from pettiness, worldliness, selfishness and greed. Here is the greatest miracle on earth: the silent transformation of the human heart, which our dharma brings about. It reminds us that we form the one body of god, inseparably united in him. We may have our own characteristics, faculties, and temperament; we may follow different paths to him, but in his love we are all united, and eventually we shall all reach his feet. All our efforts for the betterment of the lot of mankind fail only because we have not yet realised this.
Religion has suffered the same fate as the present era—that of distortion. The simple is made complex. Yet we see on the horizon the dawn of the age of simplicity, and of an urge to seek for the truth in a maze of distortions. Even the word ‘yoga’ has been distorted. Yoga has nothing to do with miracles and magic, but is the synonym of its phonetic cousin ‘yoke’, which is the essential meaning of the word ‘religion’. Yoke unites two, religion binds them.
Distortion has also crept into religion and divided mankind into opposing camps of ‘your religion’ and ‘my religion’. True religion (yoga) ignores this disharmony and yokes all of us together for humanweal. The source scriptures of all religions say that we should love our neighbour as ourselves and that we should love God with all our being. That is yoga and that is religion. The two must be linked.
Understood aright, therefore, yoga can enrich our life and fulfil its purpose. By yoking us, uniting us and binding us together with a cord of love, it indirectly promotes harmony, peace and prosperity. God is love. The soul yoked to god is possessed and led by this love. We are all bound by the cord of his love which is the omnipresent omnipotence that creates sustains and redeems all.
That is theory, and theory must be translated into practice. Fundamentally, yoga is simple. It demands the curbing of our egoism, annihilation of selfishness and effective control of our mind and senses, so that they function in tune with the infinite. In practice however, we discover that before we attempt to harmonise the self with society and with god, we should strive to integrate our personality so that our thought, word and deed, as also our intellect, emotion and life, do not tear us into several disjointed personalities. Yoga integrates our personality by revealing our own inner nature, its potentialities and limitations.
By an interesting process of social service, worship by god, inward contemplation and health giving physical posture and breathing exercises, yoga achieves the greatest of all miracles—the transformation of the human heart.
Excerpts from: The World We Live In - Yoga by Sri Swami Venkatesananda
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