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The Best Part of Knowledge
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Best Part of Knowledge by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 22 July 2014 15.11 EST | New York Edition** |
The Best Part of Knowledge
Divine Life Society Publication: - The Best Part of Knowledge by Sri Swami Chidananda
The whole of the spiritual life is an acquiring of spiritual knowledge. The_guru_ is a source of spiritual knowledge: Scriptures are the source of spiritual knowledge. Special books on specific topics or aspects of the spiritual life and_sadhana_ are also a source of spiritual knowledge. The function of knowledge is to remove ignorance. We replace ignorance by knowledge. It is knowledge itself that does this function of getting rid of ignorance and taking its place. It removes darkness and brings light.
But, apart from its function of getting rid of ignorance, let us ask a different question about knowledge itself. We have knowledge, but what is the best part of this knowledge that we have acquired? We may say that knowledge by itself is undivided—it is one integrated thing—but there are parts of knowledge in relation to us.
When we consider knowledge and ourselves, when we consider knowledge and its relationship to ourselves, it is dual. We are related to knowledge, and knowledge is related to us. Therefore, the question of what is the best part of knowledge acquires a certain relevance and importance.
The first part of knowledge is that we now know something that we did not know before we acquired this knowledge, before we were blessed or graced with this knowledge. The_guru_ gives blessings in the form of the knowledge that has the power to gradually liberate us. Thus, you did not know, and when you got the knowledge, you knew. So knowing is a quintessential part of knowledge—enabling us to know things that we did not know until it came into our experience. Knowing, therefore, is the essence of the matter.
However, what is the difference between a person who does not know and a person who knows? Is there any difference at all? That is the next part of knowledge—when the knowing of the knowledge makes a difference in the person. The person is more perceptive, more understanding, more tolerant, more sympathetic. They act with a greater spirit of give and take. Knowledge can do all these things, but there is a big IF. That big IF is that knowledge can do all these things only if the person allows this knowledge to have a transforming effect upon their being. They become a better person because before they got the knowledge they committed many errors. After they acquired this knowledge they begin to avoid all those errors. They act in a different way, a better way, a nobler way.
So, knowledge is knowing, and when this knowing brings about a change for the better in us, it also becomes being. Knowledge first becomes knowing when previous to that we did not know. But then, if we are satisfied with keeping it at that level, and it does not bring about any change, then there is only one part of knowledge that is present—not a better part of knowledge. The second part of knowledge is becoming someone different in a positive and creative way because of the knowledge. The second part of knowledge is being.
And there is still a better part of knowledge. This change must become a social asset. It must become a value that has an effect in terms of other people’s well-being. It is here that the third part of knowledge comes into our consideration. Out of becoming a knowing person and then a changed person, we turn this knowledge and its knowing and being into a social asset, a value in human relationship—a value not only to our own self-culture, self-evolution and ethical and spiritual progress, but a value also in terms of the well-being and happiness of others.
Perhaps this is the best part of knowledge—the doing part of knowledge—bringing knowledge into actual manifestation in a creative pattern of human relationship, behaving with others so that every act that you do becomes a source of benefit to others, every act is, as it were, a seed for the well-being of others, the good of others, bringing into their lives something positive, something helpful, something for which they feel grateful. That is the third part of knowledge.
Knowing is good; it is a wonderful part of knowledge. Being is better. It is really a very praiseworthy part of knowledge, a very, very valuable part of knowledge. But doing is best because it affects in a positive, creative and beneficial way all other lives whom you touch as you move about in this world and live your life. It becomes a benediction, a boon, a blessing, a great desirable value in your life with others—all others, all of God’s creation. Therefore the best part of knowledge is knowledge in practice, the transforming effect of knowledge upon your being being a source of auspiciousness, good and benefit to others.
Excerpts from:
The Best Part of Knowledge by Sri Swami Chidananda
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In Tune with the Cosmic Vibration
Spiritual Message for the Day – In Tune with the Cosmic Vibration by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 21 July 2014 21.49 EST | New York Edition** |
In Tune with the Cosmic Vibration
Divine Life Society Publication: - Yoga as a Universal Science by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The Om that we speak of is not merely a sound in the ordinary sense. It is not some noise that we make. Om appears to be a sound only in its outermost expression, in its Vaikhari form, but in its internal structure, it has a deeper relationship with things. The whole universe is vibration ultimately, and not made up of objects, segregated from one another. Modern science tells us today that the whole universe is energy. There are no objects. There are no brick walls. There is not even the sun, moon and stars. There is only a continuum of equilibrated, spread-out energy everywhere, a four-dimensional continuum, they say. What is all this but a vibration that they are speaking of?
The universe originated from a vibration, The terms Nada, Bindu and Kala which one hears of in Tantric and Hatha Yoga circles are only certain ways of mentioning the same process of the manifestation of this original impersonal vibration gradually solidifying itself, condensing more and more into concrete forms of visible objects, bodies and personalities. So, the universe is a vibration, and not a bundle of things, persons and objects. In the ultimate analysis, the universe does not exist at all as it appears to our eyes; because, ultimately, in the Samadhi state, it vanishes like a dream. And great scientists today have gone even to that farthest limit of saying that the world is only a thought. It is not even a vibration in any externalised manner. The vibrations are only mathematical concepts. A terrifying conclusion, indeed, for a person who cannot understand what all these mean!
Om is cosmic essentially, and it is not merely a sound produced through the mouth. The so-called sound that the Yoga student manifests, through his vocal organs as the chant of Om, is only an attempt on his part to set himself in tune with the cosmic vibration that is already there, even before he was born into this world.
All Yoga is nothing but an endeavour, on our part, to set ourselves in tune with things as they really are. In, Yoga, we do not try to modify things, or change things, in any way whatsoever. Everything is perfect and all right in itself. The creation of God is complete in every minute detail. It does not require any change. But, the change is required on our side, because we are distracted individuals, completely severed from this harmony of the Whole; and, divinity, spirituality, religion, Yoga, whatever they may call it, is nothing but the art of our self-attunement with this universal set-up of things. By the chant of Om, we put forth an effort to subdue the distractions of our mind and nerves and our entire personality.
The whole personality of the individual normally tries to run away from Reality. We are every minute running away from God in our perceptions of things and in our desires especially. And this running away is visible in the interest that we take in the forms external, believing that everything is different from everything else, so that we have got particularised ideals and ideologies and interests in respect of different persons and things. This externalising habit of the mind is restrained gradually by various methods. And all these methods constitute Yoga. And one method, among the many, is the chanting of Om.
The universe includes us. We are not outside it. So, in our chant of Om, we try only to set up a vibration within ourselves, at the root of our personality, a vibration corresponding to that which is already there in the universe outside, so that in a very accurate pronunciation of Om, deeply conducted with profound feeling, we become one with all things for a second, as it were. That is why we feel such a joy. Joy is the outcome of unity with objects, and when we are outside them, we are in grief. So, we feel a sensation of identity of ourselves with the subliminal realities at the back of all things by this profound and feelingful chant of Om that we have to conduct everyday, for a protracted period, as a very regular Sadhana, as a very essential part of our Sadhana.
Tasya vuchakuh pranavah: This is a small Sutra of Patanjali. It means that the designation of God or Isvara is Pranava or Om. In another Sutra, Patanjali says: Tajjapas tad-artha-bhavanam. The contemplation of the meaning of Om is to follow the chant of Om. When we recite or chant Om, it does not mean that our mind will be remaining idle. No, it concentrates itself: it feels the presence of a harmony with the whole universe. One can do Japa of Om itself in any of the forms mentioned. It is the highest of Mantras, and all the Mantras are included in Om: all languages themselves are inside Om. So, in one place, the great author says that when we go deep, very deep into the structure of sound, we may be able to know every language in the world, even the languages of animals and birds. These are all very difficult to achieve, but not impossible, if we are persistent and are able to go beneath the level of our outer, physical and psychic personality.
Excerpts from:
In Tune with the Cosmic Vibration – Yoga as a Universal Science
by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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Moksha
Spiritual Message for the Day – Moksha by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 20 July 2014 13.12 EST | New York Edition** |
Moksha
Divine Life Society Publication: - Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
Moksha is the summum bonum of life. Moksha is the fulfilment of life’s purpose. Life ends on this earth plane when you attain Moksha or liberation from birth and death. The realisation of your real object in life is freedom or Moksha. Moksha bestows on you eternal life of undecaying bliss and perennial joy. Moksha is not annihilation. Moksha is the annihilation of this little self-arrogating ego only. Moksha is realisation of the identity of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. By annihilating this little self you possess the whole of true universality, you attain an eternal life.
Mukti is obtained through the knowledge of the Self. To attain Jnana, you must have one-pointedness of mind (Ekagrata). Ekagrata comes through Upasana. Upasana comes through purity of heart (Chitta Suddhi). Chitta Suddhi comes through Nishkamya Karma Yoga. To do Nishkamya Karma, you must have controlled the Indriyas. The Indriyas can be controlled through Viveka and Vairagya.
Moksha is not to be regarded as a becoming into something which previously had no existence. Moksha is not something to be achieved. It is already achieved. Everything is one with Absolute or Para Brahman. What is to be achieved is annihilation of the sense of separateness. Moksha is the direct perception of that which has existed from eternity, but has hitherto been concealed from us on account of the veil of ignorance. Moksha is attainment of the Supreme Bliss or Immortality and removal of all kinds of pain. Moksha is freedom from birth and death.
Freedom or Mukti is your only real nature. You will have to know this truth only through direct intuitive experience. You will have to cut asunder the veil of ignorance by meditation on the Self. Then you will shine in your original pristine purity and divine glory.
Brahman, Self, Purusha, Chaitanya, Consciousness, God, Atman, Immortality, Freedom, Perfection, Bliss, Bhuma or the unconditioned are synonymous terms. If you attain Self-realisation alone, will you be freed from the round of births and deaths and its concomitant evils. The goal of life is the attainment of the final beatitude or Moksha. Moksha can be attained by constant meditation with a heart that is rendered pure and steady by selfless service and Japa.
Moksha is the highest benefit, Parama Prayojana. Jnana is the benefit which one gets in the internal (Avantara Prayojana). Just as plantain fruit is the highest benefit which one gets, and the leaves, etc., are the Avantara Prayojana in the interval before one gets the fruit, so also Moksha is the highest benefit and Jnana is Avantara Prayojana. Jnana is only the means to attain the highest bliss.
The Jiva falsely superimposes the body and others which are not Self upon himself and identifies himself with them. This identification constitutes bondage. The freedom from this identification is Moksha. That which causes this identification is Avidya or nescience. That which removes the identification is Vidya. Attainment of knowledge of the Self eradicates this Avidya and its effects. The Svaroopa of Moksha is the attainment of Supreme Bliss and removal of all kinds of sufferings.
The right knowledge of Brahman consists in knowing that He is one with one’s own self. The difference between the Jiva and the Brahman lies only in the Upadhi or limiting adjunct. The Jiva, though he is Brahman in reality or essence is subject to the miseries of worldly existence as caused by his connection with the Upadhi of Antahkarana or the fourfold mind (the inner instrument). As there is no real distinction between them, it should be known that Brahman is identical with the Self. Hence it is said that those who know the real truth understand Brahman to be identical with the Self as declared in the great sentences of the Upanishads or Mahavakyas: “I am Brahman”-“This Self is Brahman.” They even teach the same thing to their disciple in the words: “Tat Tvam Asi-Thou art That.” Therefore it should be known that Brahman is identical with the Self.
The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman itself. Having become Brahman while yet alive, he is freed from the round of birth and death. Knowledge of Brahman alone is the means of emancipation or Moksha.
Excerpts from:
Moksha – Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
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You are That!
Spiritual Message for the Day – You are That! by Sri Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 19 July 2014 16.01 EST | New York Edition** |
You are That!
Divine Life Society Publication
Divine Life by Sri Swami Chidananda
Beloved spiritual aspirants! You are seeking something, you are devoted to something, you are practising something all with one single ultimate objective. The inner motivation is the same. It is the attainment of Divine-experience, God-experience, the realisation of the Absolute, the realisation of what you are.
Classical philosophy and all the great mandaleshwars say that this world is an obstacle to that achievement. Sense objects are tempting snares. The unwise jivatma is caught and enslaved by his own desires, and these temptations draw him out and catch him in their coils. The jivatma is helpless, caught by maya.
All this may be said in books and scriptures and by mandaleshwars giving discourses, but we must know better. And the better truth has been expounded to us, revealed to us. But you will know this only if you make right enquiry, vichara. Right enquiry will suddenly bring you light, reveal to you many things that you did not know. It will bring you so many truths.
And then suddenly you will develop a new skill, a new qualification, a new ability to know what it is that stands in your way and what it is that can be favourable to you in moving towards the supreme goal. You will know what you must gladly accept and make part of your life and what you must uproot and throw away, eradicate, even if it is part of your present life: “No, no, now I know better. I am not going to allow this to remain. It is an obstacle that is within myself. I will throw it out.”
So this skill of discrimination, viveka, and the ability to know what is helpful to your spiritual life and what is not helpful and constantly discriminating between these two, then at every step rejecting that which is not favourable to your spiritual life and cultivating and augmenting that which is helpful, becomes a constant exercise of a wise and awakened seeker. So right enquiry and discrimination help move you towards the truth that you are seeking.
And at one stroke, in one declaration-a grand declaration, a great declaration-the whole problem has been solved by a super being. He declared to us that all these things that we think constitute our great obstacle, our great problem, which we constantly have to battle with, are a mere non-existing myth, a nothing. We make it formidable by our lack of right enquiry and discrimination. We have given it importance by endowing it with a strength it does not have: “Do away with this foolishness. It is not formidable. You are always immune to it, above it, unaffected by it.”
The great teacher taught a super devise: “No barrier exists, nothing exists. You are already That which you are seeking to make yourself. Remove this delusion that you are not yet That. You are the divine perfection that you are seeking. The goal is right here-not to be reached, not to be attained, but to be known.”
‘Brahma satyam jagan-mithya jivo-brahmaiva naparah.’ This so-called universe that you are endowing with a reality is a non-existent myth. One alone is real. One alone is the solid truth and fact, and that is satchidananda Brahman, the non-dual Reality, the ever-present, eternal, never-changing Reality. That alone is the Reality, and you are no other than that great Reality, with some imagined accretions that have been added on to your ever-present, all-perfect Divine Reality-something added on.
“Get rid of these accretions. The moment you get rid of these accretions, you are what you are. You don’t have to become something. You are already That.” And to emphasise it: “You are That and That alone, and you are no other!” What a great truth! What a liberating truth! What a wonderfully strengthening truth!
So this is something you have right in your hand. It is yours. Apply this formula and obstacles will be no obstacles, bondage will be no bondage. You will revel, you will rejoice in your eternally liberated, ever-free state. Brahma satyam jagan-mithya jivo-brahmaiva naparah. This is the truth, this is the fact. And this truth is an immediately liberating fact to which you have immediate access. Realise this and be free!
Excerpts from:
You are That! – Divine Life by Sri Swami Chidananda
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
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Philosophy for the Divine Life
Spiritual Message for the Day – Philosophy for the Divine Life by Sri Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 18 July 2014 13.18 EST | New York Edition** |
Philosophy for the Divine Life
Divine Life Society Publication: - Divine Life by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Philosophy is not a theory but a vision of life (Darsana). It is not merely ‘love of wisdom’ but signifies a real ‘possession’ of it. The philosophers are therefore not professors, academicians or doctrinaires, or even ‘spectators’, but true participants of life in its real meaning and relationship. To be a philosopher, thus, implies more substance than what is often taken to be its value in life. A philosopher is not concerned with human beings alone: his concern is with all creation, the universe in its completeness. His thought has to reflect the total import of existence in its togetherness.
A philosopher’s task calls for a great strength of will and clarity of understanding, side by side with an exalted moral consciousness. The usual prerequisites for a student of philosophy have been stated to be…
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Viveka or discrimination of reality as distinguished from appearance
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Vairagya or disinterest in those appearances which are divested of reality
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Sama or tranquillity of mind
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Dama or self-restraint, meaning control over the clamours of sense
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Uparati, or freedom from the distractions characteristic of selfish activity
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Titiksha or power of fortitude in the midst of the vicissitudes of life
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Sraddha or faith and conviction in the meaningfulness of the pursuit of philosophy
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Samadhana or ability to concentrate the mind on the subject of study
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Mumukshutva or a sincere longing to attain the practical realisation of the Absolute.
Without the equipment of these necessary qualifications, a student under the scheme of philosophy will be a failure and cannot get at either its method or its purpose. Though the discipline needed is arduous indeed and no one, ordinarily, can be expected to be full with it to perfection, it has to be accepted that it is an inviolable condition of the pursuit of philosophy, at least in an appreciable measure. Else, philosophy would only shed as much light to the student as the sun to the blind.
Philosophy has often been identified with a life of contemplation, without action. That this is a misrepresentation based on ignorance would become obvious from the nature of philosophic wisdom, as has been stated above. Though wisdom is a state of consciousness and implies concentration and meditation, it does so not in any exclusive sense, for philosophic wisdom is all-inclusive. It synthesises the different sides of the psychological nature, e.g., the knowing, willing, feeling and active. Any lopsided emphasis is contrary to the requirements of a wisdom of life. The teaching of the Bhagavadgita, a monumental embodiment of the gospel of the philosophic life, is a standing refutation of the notion that philosophical knowledge is tantamount to actionlessness. A philosopher, in his heightened understanding, has also the power of sublime feeling and action for a universal cause.
Philosophy is not also opposed to religion; on the other hand it is the lamp which illumines the corners of religion both within and without. Philosophy supplies the raison d’ etre of religious practices, even of ritual, image and symbol. If religion is the body, philosophy is the life in it. Philosophy ennobles religion, sublimates art and stabilises the sciences, such as sociology, ethics and politics. It was the hope of Plato that the philosopher and the ruler be found in the same person, if the world is to have peace. Philosophy is also the remedy for the illnesses which psychoanalysis has been immaturely attempting to trace back to a supposed irrationality of behaviour. Philosophy discovers the rationality behind the so-called irrational urges.
In India, philosophy as Darsana has always been associated with practice or Sadhana. What goes by the name of Yoga is the implementation of philosophy in practical life, with reference to the psychological functions predominating in an individual. Philosophy has therefore relation to one’s being more than to one’s intellectual grasping of outer situations. The philosophic truth is neither the inner nor the outer merely, for it is the whole. The cosmic gets mirrored in the consciousness of the philosopher who lives it more than anything else.
Philosophy is different from any kind of extreme, whether in thinking or living. The golden mean is its rule, which excludes nothing, but includes everything by way of transformation to suit the constitution of the whole which is its aim. To arrive at this finale of knowledge, it considers the cases of perception, inference and intuition; observation, implication and the testimony of experience. It neither denies nor affirms peremptorily. Philosophy is, thus, necessary for every stage and kind of life to make it a joy. There is no satisfaction where there is no meaning. Philosophy is the discovery of the meaning behind life.
Philosophy is impartial judgment without prejudice, underestimation or overestimation. It recognises the values accepted in the different fields of knowledge and iterated in the various viewpoints of observation and logic in order to construct an edifice of integral envisagement. From this it follows that philosophy does not take sides, has a place for every standpoint of thinking in its proper perspective, and its function is to so fit everything into its broad scheme that nothing is either ignored or made to strike a dissonant note in the harmony of its development. Its position is that of the chief judge in the government of the universe. It listens, understands, sifts, weighs and considers the status of any given circumstance not from the standpoint of the circumstance in its isolatedness but in its relation to the whole of existence. No one can, therefore, afford to turn away from the divine gift called ‘philosophy’.
Excerpts from:
Philosophy for the Divine Life – Divine Life by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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Lead the Divine Life
Spiritual Message for the Day – Lead the Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 17 July 2014 16.01 EST | New York Edition** |
Lead the Divine Life
Divine Life Society Publication: - Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
Om! Salutations to the adorable Hari, than whom there is nothing greater, and who is above all this universe!
Why should you prolong your bondage unnecessarily? Why should you not attain your divine birthright now? Why should you not break your bondage now? Delay means prolongation of your sufferings. You can break it at any moment. This is in your power. Do it now. Stand up. Gird up your loins. Do rigorous and vigorous Sadhana and attain freedom, which is immortality or eternal bliss.
The divine within you is stronger than anything that is without you. Therefore, be not afraid of anything. Rely on your own Inner Self - the Divinity within you. Tap the source through looking within. Improve yourself. Build your character. Purify the heart. Develop the divine virtues. Eradicate evil traits. Conquer all that is base in you. Endeavour to attain all that is worthy and noble. Make the lower nature the servant of the higher through discipline, Tapas, self-restraint and meditation. This is beginning of your freedom.
Become a good man first. Then control the senses. Then subdue the lower mind by the higher mind. Then the Divine Light will descend. Only then the vessel will be able to receive and hold the divine light.
So long as your senses are not subdued or weakened, you will have to practise tapas or self - restraint, dama or pratyahara. You may conquer millions of persons in a battle, but you will become the greatest conqueror only if you can conquer your own lower self or mind.
Build your spiritual life on a sure foundation on the rock of divine grace and strength of character. Take refuge in the Lord and his eternal Law. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can bar your path now. Success in Self-realisation is certain. Failure exists not for you. There is light on your path. All is brilliant.
Purify the heart first and then climb the ladder of Yoga steadily within courage and undaunted spirit. Climb onwards swiftly. Attain Ritambhara Prajna and reach the summit of the ladder, the temple of wisdom, where the cloud of virtue or nectar drizzles from Dharmamegha Samadhi.
Sufferings purify the soul. They burn up the gross material sins and impurities. The Divinity becomes more and more manifest. Sufferings give inner spiritual strength and develop the will-force, the power of endurance. Hence, sufferings are blessings in disguise. Spiritual life is toilsome and laborious. It demands constant vigilance and strong perseverance before substantial progress is made.
Meditation and worship are the means of evolving your potentialities and seeking a higher level of consciousness or existence. Practise meditation persistently and calmly without haste. You will soon attain samadhi. Only when you have purified your heart, silenced the mind, stilled the thoughts and surging emotions, withdrawn the outgoing senses, thinned out the vasanas, you can behold the glorious Atman during deep meditation. Even a ray of your light during meditation will lighten your path. It will give you great deal of encouragement and inner strength. It will goad you to do more Sadhana. You will experience this ray of light when the meditation becomes more deep and when you rise above body-consciousness.
You have yourself build the walls of your prison-house through ignorance. You can demolish the walls through discrimination and enquiry of ‘Who am I?’ When an electric lamp is covered by many wrappings of cloth, there will be no bright light. When the cloth is removed one by one, the light grows brighter and brighter. Even so, with the self-resplendent Atman which is covered by the five sheaths. By meditation on the pure Self and practise of the ‘neti-neti’ doctrine, the self-luminous Atman reveals itself to the meditator.
There are four means by which perfect tranquility or emancipation can be attained. These form the highest happiness. They are: Satsanga or association with the wise, dispassion, enquiry of ‘who am I?’ and meditation. These are called Heaven. These are religion. These form the highest happiness.
Without renunciation you can never be happy. Without renunciation you can never be successful in gaining the highest good, i.e. Moksha. Without renunciation you can never be at your ease. Therefore renounce everything. Make happiness your own. Hold renunciation as the foremost of things.
Life is unfolding of the latent capacities of the soul. Lead the Divine life. Generate sublime divine thoughts in your mind through meditation, Japa, Kirtan and study of sacred scriptures. Worship is the unfolding of the bud of the flower of the soul. Worship bestows life eternal. Bask the body in the physical sunlight. Bask the soul in the sunlight of the Eternal. You will have good health and everlasting life. Bathe in the river of life everlasting. Plunge into it. Take a dip in it. Float in it. Rejoice!
Excerpts from:
Lead the Divine Life – Divine Life by Sri Swami Sivananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
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Gurudev – An Exemplar of Renunciation
| **Baba Times Digest© | 16 July 2014 16:54 EST | New York Edition** |
Gurudev – An Exemplar of Renunciation
Divine Life Society Publication: - Renunciation – A Life of Surrender and Trust by Sri Swami Chidananda
Loving adorations to revered and beloved Holy Master Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj who was a sage established in the great Reality—a state which did not come easily to him. It came by dint of great effort, great austerity, great penance, great sadhana, great yoga, deep meditation, but at the same time, with a deep devotion to God, with a deep spirit of absolute surrender to Him: “I may put forth whatever efforts, but the efforts ultimately giving fruit in the attainment of the goal depend entirely upon the divine will of the omnipotent Lord. So in the ultimate analysis, my efforts are as nothing. One hundred per cent, totally, my attainments depend upon the divine will of the Supreme Being.”
So, his was a marvellous combination of the most earnest, most intense self-effort combined with a clear knowledge that everything is only in the hands of God. Human effort avails nothing; ultimately it is the divine will that prevails. And this attitude of his he kept as his own personal secret, his personal inner state always; because if he said, “Everything is in the hands of God,” we who are half-baked people, only too ready to take the easy way, will become lethargic: “No, no. He will do everything. We need not do anything.”
Because the subtle inner truth of lofty spiritual truths is not easy to understand, not easy to grasp. So he always used to say, “No, no, no. Self-effort. Always you must do effort. Without effort, nothing will come!” knowing full well the real, ultimate spiritual truth.
Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji’s one goal was world welfare. All should awaken from the slumber of ignorance. All should awaken and partake of the bliss of attaining Brahma jnana, for the slumber of ignorance is the cause of untold sorrow.
Swami Sivanandaji was a great karma yogin. In our times, he was one of the greatest, selfless workers for the welfare of all humanity. He did unique, unparalleled, unprecedented work. He wrote 300 books and had a big ashram. He held innumerable conferences and opened branches of The Divine Life Society all over India and throughout the world. We saw his activity.
However, we also know that he was a sankirtan samrat. He rejoiced in singing and chanting and dancing to the name of God. He wrote a book Japa Yoga. He was a great bhakta, a great devotee. He was an adorer of the Supreme Divinity in and through everything that he did. He literally lived, moved, had his being in God and acted, in even his minutest actions, only to adore that Supreme Being. For him life was one great worship. Even seeing, hearing, talking, breathing, smelling, touching, tasting, sitting, lying, walking—all things—constituted for him a supreme, glorious worship of the Divine.
Before we knew him, when he lived a life of seclusion, intense penance and sadhana in Swarg Ashram, he was known as a great meditator, a silent withdrawn person, always reflecting upon God, always inside the closed doors of his kutir meditating, meditating, meditating. He wrote a book Concentration and Meditation. He wrote a book Dhyana Yoga. He said that meditation is the ultimate key to attain illumination, enlightenment. He encouraged all his followers to meditate. He devoted a whole volume to translating, explaining and commenting upon the yoga of meditation as expounded in the Yoga Sutras of Maharshi Patanjali. He was a mystic meditator.
But at the same time, he was a kaivalya advaita vedantin in the line of Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya. People in the vedantic ashrams in and around Rishikesh and Haridwar viewed him as a towering vedantic figure. He was all; but basically he was a yogi who sought union with the divine—and he found it. Then he proclaimed it to all as the goal of life and showed all the various ways and means of attaining that union.
Along with other important teachings, Gurudev taught us the essential unity of all religions—in spite of the outer differences in ceremonials, rituals, the architectural structure of the place of worship and the apparel worn by the priests belonging to each religion. All these may be different, but nonetheless they cannot affect the underlying, essential oneness in all religions. All religions declare the omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience of the Supreme Being, the all-perfection of the Supreme Being.
Gurudev engaged himself in multifarious activities each day when he came out of his kutir to the office. He met visitors, entertained them, freely gave them spiritual literature, gave a patient hearing to their troubles, solved their problems, and if they were in distress, gave them solace. Like a great-grandfather, he did all these things. Yet we saw that he was constantly immersed in the Cosmic Being. He was constantly and continuously living in the Divine, in the Spiritual. He was a dual-dimensional marvel of our contemporary times.
The importance of this is that he proved that such a thing is possible—even in this Kali Yuga where humanity is experiencing a state of degradation. Even during his unprecedented, inspiring and nation-shaking spiritual tour of India in 1950, we observed that in spite of the hectic programs, he always abided in Brahman, in the Cosmic Reality.
The outward personality of Swami Sivananda functioned on the secular dimension. The inner reality which had realised itself as one with Brahman and became established in Brahmic-consciousness—That alone is real, all appearances are false—that inner state never varied, was never affected by anything outside. Therefore his consciousness, his personality was truly a marvel of the modern age.
Swami Sivananda’s reliance upon the Supreme was worth seeing. It was total, absolute. He was an object lesson to us. May his blessings be upon us all!
Excerpts from:
Gurudev - An Exemplar of Renunciation – Renunciation -A Life of Surrender and Trust by Sri Swami Chidananda
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Discrimination of Reality
| **Baba Times Digest© | 15 July 2014 20:08 EST | New York Edition** |
Discrimination of Reality
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 1 – The Philosophy of The Panchadasi by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The world consists of objects, and every object is a content of positive or negative perception and cognition. The special feature of each object is that it is distinguished from the other by characteristics that are ingrained in it in a particular manner. This is why we see the world variegated in colors, sounds, tastes, touch, and smells. For example, we mark a difference between a cow and a tree, because we do not find in a cow the features of a tree, and those of a cow in a tree. Objects manifest a mutual exclusion of one another. It is this that enables us to know the multitudinousness that the world is.
We also conceive such difference as that between God and the individual, God and the world, one individual and another, the individual and the world, in addition to the differences among the various contents of the world. What it is that knows that there is difference, and how is difference known at all? A kind of consciousness in us is the knower of the different objects outside as also inside, and this difference is also known by consciousness itself. The world can be known by nothing other than consciousness. One and the same consciousness sees, hears, tastes, touches and smells, and it is also possible to be conscious of the consciousness of all these. Consciousness is a synthetic unity of apperception, it is all at once. Though the eyes cannot hear and ears cannot see, etc., and each sense has one particular function to perform, consciousness is the unity of them all. It is one and indivisible, and it is responsible for all the experiences in the world.
This same predicament is observed in the state of dream, also. The difference of the waking state is only in the permanency of experience which it reveals. While dream experience is short, the waking one is comparatively long. But there is no difference in the constitution, the make-up, or the construction of the two states. Though there is difference between waking and dreaming, there is no difference between the consciousness of waking and the consciousness of dreaming. This is testified by the experience that one and the same individual wakes and dreams, and asserts: “I dreamt.” While the waking state is due to actual perception through senses, dream is brought about by the memory of waking state on account of the impressions of the latter imbedded in the mind, which manifest themselves on suitable occasions. Consciousness has no forms or shapes.
In deep sleep, there is a persistent memory of one’s having slept and experienced joy therein. There is a total absence of experience from the point of view of consciousness, but the effect in the form of memory of having slept is enough evidence that there was some sort of experience even in deep sleep. This leads to the conclusion that the condition of deep sleep is one of a conscious experience, though this consciousness is not to be construed in the ordinary sense of the term. When we affirm that there was all darkness in sleep, it means, we knew darkness. Else, we would not be making such an assertion. To know darkness there must be knowledge, and knowledge is identical with the luminous intelligence with which the states of waking and dreaming are also experienced. There is, therefore, an unbroken continuity of consciousness in the states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. And, consciousness has no beginning, middle or end. It is absolute.
One cannot conceive of the cessation of consciousness, since it is impossible to conceive of one’s own destruction. Consciousness precedes thought, volition and feeling. There is an immediacy in consciousness and it never becomes an object. The knower, knowledge and the known are one and the same and inseparable. There is not in it the opposition of subject and object, as in the case of the various things of the world. It is not known by itself, nor known by another; the former case is impossible, and the latter leads to infinite regress in argument. It is best defined as That which Is.
This consciousness is the Atman, and is the repository of supreme bliss. The bliss of the Atman is unvarying, as different from the pleasure that one feels with any set of objects which are changeful in nature. All things are dear and lovable for the sake of this Self, and hence all things are subservient to the Self. When the loves in regard to objects change due to changing circumstances in life, one realises at the background of all these that the love of the Atman stands unbroken and persists through change. Even displeasure with oneself is not in regard to the essential Atman within, but with certain painful conditions in life which are repulsive to one’s tastes, inclinations or desires. It is not existence that is hated, but certain forms of existence. None ever condemns or tries to negate oneself. There is an inner prayer from everyone that one may live for ever. ‘May I not cease to be; may I exist always’ is the deepest wish in every living being. This love is ingrained in the bottom of one’s existence.
It is never seen that the Self is subservient to objects. On the other hand it is seen that objects are subservient to the Self. On a careful psychological analysis it is observable that the love which people have for things outside is the outcome of a confused mixing up of the bliss of the Atman with the changing names and forms that make up what we call the world. Hence, in loving an object, the confused mind attaches itself to the changing names and forms in its ignorance and the false notion that its love is deposited in the objects, while in truth it is in the Atman, and even when we love objects we are unwittingly loving the universal Atman. Hence the Atman is Supreme Bliss, which is the only natural condition of spiritual existence, while all other conditions with which it associates itself are transitory phenomena, and unnatural.
From the above it would be clear that the Atman eternally exists as consciousness and is absolute bliss. It is Sat-Chit-Ananda, which fact is demonstrated both by reason and intuition. The identity of the Atman with Brahman or the Absolute Being is declared in the Vedanta texts such as the Upanishads, which is also established by reason. But this Atman is not seen, it is not visible to the eyes, and hence all the misery of individual existence. Nor can it be said that it is entirely invisible, else there would be no love or pleasure. That there is a faint recognition of the existence of the Atman is proved beyond doubt by the unparalleled affection which one has towards one’s own Self. But it is also true that it is not properly seen or known; otherwise, one would not be clinging to objects, the perishable forms of the world, which have neither reality in them nor the happiness which one is seeking. Thus there is a peculiar situation in which we find ourselves where we seem to know it and yet not know it. The beauty and the joy are not in things but in the Atman. And this is not known. It is falsely imagined to be in objects; hence the attachment that we cherish in regard to them.
Just as in a large group of students, who are chanting the Veda in a chorus, and where every kind of voice can be heard, it is possible for the father of one particular student in that group to hear the voice of his own son, due to his familiarity with it, though this voice is mixed up with the voices of others, the Atman with concentration on its nature can recognise itself in the midst of the millions of things of the world, amidst the deafening clamour of the senses, because its presence in them is natural and eternal. Just as the obstruction in the case of the father’s properly hearing the voice his son, is the crowd of the voices of others, so in the case of the Atman, the obstruction to its recognition is Avidya or Nescience, which has the twofold function of veiling and distracting consciousness. The veiling is effected by suppressing the character of existence and revelation in regard to Reality, and then manifesting opposite characters, viz., that it does not exist and it is not revealed. Hence we all feel that the Atman is not, and it is not known. This conviction which is brought about by Avidya is the deluding factor in the case of every individual. There is not only the veiling of Reality, but also the projection of phenomenality in the form of the universe outside, and the bodily layers inside. (Verses 3-14)
Excerpts from:
Discrimination of Reality - Chapter 1 – The Philosophy of The Panchadasi by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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Mind-Control
Spiritual Message for the Day – Mind-Control by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 14 July 2014 15:25 EST | New York Edition** |
Mind-Control
Divine Life Society Publication: - Structure of Yoga-Sadhana by Swami Sivananda
Two things are necessary for attaining success in mind-control, viz., practice (Abhyasa) and dispassion (Vairagya).
You must try your level best to be free from any desire for any pleasure, seen or unseen, and this dispassion can be attained through constant perception of evil in them. Dispassion is renunciation of attainment. It is aversion to sensual enjoyments herein and hereafter. The detachment or dispassion is of two kinds, the lower and the higher. Vijnana Bhikshu distinguishes the inferior and the superior types of Vairagya in the following way: “The former is a distaste for the good things of life, here or hereafter, due to the experience that they cannot be acquired or preserved without trouble, while their loss causes pain and that the quest is never free from egoistic feelings. The latter, however, is based on a clear perception of the difference between intelligence and the objects that appear in its light.”
There are various stages in dispassion. The determination to refrain from enjoying all sorts of sensual objects is the first stage. In the second stage certain objects lose their charm for the spiritual aspirant and he attempts to destroy the attraction for others also. In the third stage the senses are controlled, but a vague longing for the sensual enjoyment remains in the mind. In the fourth the aspirant loses completely all interest whatsoever in the external objects. The final stage is a state of highest desirelessness. It is this kind of dispassion that bestows Absolute Independence on the Yogi. In this stage the Yogi renounces all kinds of psychic powers even such as Omniscience, etc.
It is by practice and dispassion that the passage of thought towards external objects can be checked. Mere indifference will not serve the purpose. Practice is also necessary. Remembering God always is also practice.
Mind is drawn towards external objects by the force of desire. By convincing oneself of the illusoriness of sense-objects through an investigation into their nature and by cultivating indifference to worldly objects, the mind can be restrained and brought back to the Self to abide finally. By virtue of this practice of Yoga, the Yogi’s mind attains peace in the Self. Practice consists in constantly repeating the same idea or thought regarding an object. By constant reflection and exercise of will-power, suggestions should be given to the subconscious mind not to look for enjoyment in the changing world without, but in the changeless within. You should exercise great vigilance to get hold of opportunities, when the mind dwells on sense-objects, suggest to it new meanings and interpretations and make it change its attitude towards them with a view to its ultimate withdrawal there from. This is called practice.
The chief characteristic of the mind in the waking state is to have some object before it to dwell upon. It can never remain blank. It can concentrate on one object at a time. It constantly changes its objects and so it is restless. It is impetuous, strong and difficult to bend. It is as hard to curb it as the wind. That is the reason why Patanjali Maharshi says that the practice must be steady and continuous and it must stretch over a considerable period and be undertaken with a perfect faith in its regenerating and uplifting powers. You must not show any slackening symptoms at any stage of practice.
Restraint does not come in a day, but by long and continued practice with zeal and enthusiasm. The progress in Yoga can only be gradual. Many people give up the practice of concentration after some time, when they do not see any tangible prospect of getting psychic powers. They become impatient. They do little and expect much. This is bad. Doing any kind of practice by fits and starts will not bring the desired fruit. Direct experience is the goal of life. Though the effort of practice is painful in the beginning, yet it brings Supreme Joy in the end. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “Supreme Joy is for this Yogi, whose mind is peaceful, whose passionate nature is controlled, who is sinless, and of the nature of the eternal!” (Bhagavad Gita, Ch. VI-27)
“Mind alone is to man the cause of bondage or liberation; lost in enjoyment, it leads to bondage; freed from the objective, it leads to liberation. As mind freed from the objective leads to liberation, one desirous of liberation or success in the path of Yoga must always try to wipe off the objective from the plane of his mind. When the mind, severed from all connection with sensual objects and confined to the light of the heart, finds itself in ecstasy, it is said to have reached its culminating point. The mind should be prevented from functioning, till its dissolution is attained in the heart; this is Gnosis, this is concentration, the rest is all mere logomachy.”
Desire may be described as the hankering for things which gains such mastery over the mind as to preclude even enquiring into their antecedents and consequences. Man at once becomes that which he identifies himself with, by force of strong and deep attachment and loses memory of everything else in the act. The man thus subdued by desire, fixing his eye on everything and anything, is deluded into believing it as the real thing. Due to loss of control man perceives everything with beclouded eyes in this deluded fashion, like one under the influence of a strong intoxicant.
Desire is born of ignorance (Avidya). Attachment, longing and preference are the constituents of desire. Do not endeavour to fulfil desires. Try to reduce your desires as best as you can. Withdraw the fuel of gratification. Then the fire of desire will get extinguished by itself. Just as a gheeless lamp dies out when the ghee is withdrawn, even so the fire of desire dies when the fuel of gratification is withdrawn. If attachment is eradicated then longing and preference for objects will die by themselves.
Man commits various kinds of sins and injures others, when he exerts to get the desired objects. He has to reap the fruits of his actions; hence he is brought again and again in this round of births and deaths. If you increase one object in the list of your possessions or wants, the desire also increases ten times. The more worldly objects you possess, the more distant you are from God. Your mind will always be thinking and planning as to how to get and guard the objects, how to earn tons of money and keep them safe. If the acquired objects are lost, your mind is completely upset. Cares, worries, anxieties, and all sorts of mental torments increase with the objects.
Free yourself from the tyranny of the mind. It has tormented you mercilessly for so long a time. You have allowed it to indulge in sensual pleasures and have its own ways. Now is the time to curb it, just as you would curb a wild horse. Be patient and persevering. Practise daily ‘thoughtlessness’ or inhibition of thoughts. The task may be difficult in the beginning. It will be indeed disgusting and tiring, but the reward is great. You will reap Immortality, Supreme Joy, Eternal Peace and Infinite Bliss. Therefore practise diligently in right earnest. It is worth doing. Be on the alert. If you are sincere in your wish and strong in your resolve, nothing is impossible under the sun to accomplish. Nothing can stand in your way.
From the condition of your mind, from your feelings and conduct, you can very well understand the nature of your actions in your previous lives and can nullify or counteract the effects of evil actions by doing good actions, Tapas, discipline and meditation. Try to lead a life of non-attachment. Discipline your mind carefully. No one is free from pains, diseases, troubles and difficulties. You will have to rest in your divine nature. Then alone you will draw strength to face the difficulties of life. Then only you will have a balanced mind. Then only you will not be affected by external morbid influences and discordant vibrations. Regular meditation in the morning will give you new strength and inner life of joy and bliss. Practise meditation. Feel this joy and bliss despite unhelpful conditions and adverse circumstances. Gradually you will grow spiritually. You will attain Self-realisation.
Excerpts from:
Mind-Control - Structure of Yoga-Sadhana by Swami Sivananda
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The Need for Both Dispassion and Practice
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Need for Both Dispassion and Practice by Swami Atmaswarupananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 July 2014 15:15 EST | New York Edition** |
The Need for Both Dispassion and Practice
Divine Life Society Publication: - Early Morning Meditation Talks by Swami Atmaswarupananda
The normal way of thinking about the spiritual life is that the individual soul has taken birth after birth and needs to be liberated from this round of births and death. But the scriptures tell us that we are already what we are seeking: That thou art… You are the Atman, ever-free, ever-pure.
If that is so, then where is the question of any bondage or any liberation in reality? The scriptures explain that it is the mind that is the cause of both bondage and liberation in the human being. In other words, it is an illusion that the mind believes in, and, therefore, how to control the mind, how to correct the mind, how to purify the mind, becomes our task.
This gives special significance to Lord Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna in the sixth chapter of the Gita. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to sit for meditation in order to control the mind. Arjuna protests: “It’s easier to control the wind than to control the mind.” Lord Krishna doesn’t say that it is easy, but He does say that it can be done through dispassion and practice.
So if bondage and liberation are both in the mind, and we need to learn to control the mind, then perhaps the words dispassion and practice contain the essence of the spiritual life. Dispassion means dispassion for thinking that we can get permanent happiness from anything of this world be it physical or mental, and practice is the practice of the presence of God.
As seekers it is important for us to realise that we require both dispassion and practice and usually a judicious balance between the two. It is possible to develop dispassion for the world, to see how fickle our own mind is, how impure our intellect, and thus develop true dispassion for everything about the world including ourselves, but if we haven’t developed the practice of the presence of God, it will be impossible for us to truly understand what liberation means. On the other hand, if we ignore dispassion and only practise the presence of God, we may experience the liberated state, understand liberation, but ultimately the pull of the world will make us unable to sustain that bliss and understanding. The mind will continuously pull us down by telling us that there is happiness to be had in the things of this world.
Therefore, the importance of following both of Lord Krishna’s instructions. We must develop dispassion and at the same time practise the presence of God. And as both bondage and liberation are in the mind, this combination of dispassion and practice will ultimately allow us to see through the illusion and to recognise that we have ever been free.
Excerpts from:
The Need for Both Dispassion and Practice - Early Morning Meditation Talks by Swami Atmaswarupananda
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If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:
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