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Your Window to the World of Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality!

This website is devoted to Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality and Science. We bring in articles on teachings by Great Saints like Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, Adi Shankara, Swami Sivananda, Swami Krishnananda, Aurobindo, Mother of Auroville and others.

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Parable of The Tailor’s Needle

**Baba Times Digest©

1 June 2014 19:42 EST

New York Edition**

Parable of The Tailor’s Needle

Divine Life Society Publication: Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda

A tailor was at work. He took a piece of cloth and with a pair of shining, costly, scissors, he cut the cloth into various bits. Then he put the pair of scissors at his feet. Then he took a small needle and thread and started to sew the bits of cloth, into a fine shirt. When the spell of sewing was over, he stuck the needle on to his turban. The tailor’s son who was watching it asked him: “Father, the scissors are costly and look so beautiful. But you throw them down at your feet. This needle is worth almost nothing; you can get a dozen for an anna (cents). Yet, you place it carefully on your head itself. Is there any reason for this illogical behavior?”

“Yes, my son. The scissors have their function, no doubt; but they only cut the cloth into bits. The needle, on the contrary, unites the bits and enhances the value of the cloth. Therefore, the needle to me is more precious and valuable. The value of a thing depends on its utility, son, not on its cost-price or appearance.”

Similarly, there are two classes of people in the world-those who create dissensions and disharmony, who separate man from man; and those who bring about peace and harmony, who unite people. The former are generally the rich people, powerful politicians and kings; the latter are generally the poor devotees of God, the penniless wandering monks, and mendicants. The Lord makes use of both to carry on his function of providing the field for the evolution of individual souls. He throws down on the dust the mighty kings and millionaires who create wars and disharmony; and He keeps the poor, pious devotee over His own head. In His eyes the scale of values is entirely different!

Excerpts from:

Parable of The Tailor’s Needle - Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

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The Rationale Behind Prayer

**Baba Times Digest©

30 May 2014 16:36 EST

New York Edition**

The Rationale Behind Prayer

Divine Life Society Publication: The Rationale Behind Prayer by Swami Chidananda

God being transcendental, immanent, but also being a specific indwelling divine principle within each and every body, why is there so much difficulty in attaining that which is nearer to us than anything else in all the universe?

Even if the most proximate thing is by your side, if you turn your head the other way and look in the opposite direction, you will not be able to see it. That is the trouble. That is the problem. There is nothing wrong with God, nothing wrong with His immanence, nothing wrong with His immediacy. What is wrong is that our gaze is elsewhere. So everything is wrong with the direction we have decided to turn our gaze to.

Therefore, all the saints and mystics have prayed, “O Lord, bless me and grant that I may constantly remember You. Let my mind be constantly thinking of You. Let my entire being look only in Your direction, and may I have no eyes for anything else, no ears for anything else. Having ears, let me hear nothing except Your name, Your description, Your glories, Your praise—from saints, scriptures, teachers, mystics, yogis. Having eyes, let me see nothing except things pertaining to You, things that will help me to move towards You. Having a mind, let it think of nothing, but think only of You.

In this way, through all our faculties, let us become only God-oriented. Let all our faculties move only in His direction. Let us make up our mind, our entire being, to refuse to focus upon anything else except the supreme, ultimate, almighty, universal Spirit Divine, our ultimate goal supreme. This then is the way.

Therefore, we pray to the Supreme Being every morning to bless us that we may have the ability and strength to so do. We pray to Him. This leads us into another quandary, another difficulty, another paradox. All religions, all scriptures, all prophets have declared that God is omniscient. Does He not know our predicament? When He is omniscient and He thus knows our situation, why should we pray? Does He not know? Can He not set it right?

A baby knows nothing; it cannot express itself. But the mother, through her love and care, intuitively grasps, “Oh, something is wrong with baby’s tummy. It’s feeling discomfort; therefore it is crying.” God is more than father and mother. He is everything to us, ten times more than any earthly mother that Brahma has ever created. That being so, where is the need to bring anything to His notice, as though He doesn’t know it? Does He need to be told? He is the eye of our eye, ear of our ear, heart of our heart, mind of our mind. So what is the purpose of prayer, the meaning of prayer? This is the paradox and question that faces us when we say, “Prayer can overcome all things.”

A cloth gets soiled. We wish to make it clean, white and shining once again. So we put it in a bucket of hot water and add soap powder. We clean it. The water is not in need of the cloth, nor is the soap. They can serve many other purposes, yet we bring them together. Why? Because the cloth is in need of water, it is in need of soap. Therefore, it goes into the proximity, into an active, dynamic contact with the water and soap. And it comes out clean, white, completely free from all dirt. It is restored to its original purity.

That is the logic behind prayer. Not because the Lord needs to be told, not because He does not know. He knows everything. It is because the one who prays is benefited, is blessed by the contact he creates through prayer. Prayer has gained an essential place in the context of the mystical aspects of all the living religions of the world. They all emphasis prayer. Not because we are telling Him something that He does not know, that He has to be told, but because the very act of telling Him elevates us, sanctifies us, blesses us. Therefore it is that we pray.

Even so, let us pray to revered and beloved Holy Master that by his blessings we will be enabled to constantly keep ourselves in a state of continuous contact and communion with the Supreme Being, for that is the greatest good of man. In that lies the highest welfare of the human individual. In that lies the fulfilment and success of the pilgrim soul upon earth, success in ultimately completing this journey of life by reaching the destination—not having to come back again to repeat this journey, but making it the final journey.

Supremely blessed are those who are thus graced by the almighty Spirit Divine and blessed by their spiritual master. May all of you who sit and hear this word be thus graced by God and guru.

God bless you all!

Excerpts from:

The Rationale Behind Prayer by Swami Chidananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
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The Aim of Objective Analysis

**Baba Times Digest©

29 May 2014 18:34 EST

New York Edition**

The Aim of Objective Analysis

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 2- The Yoga System by Swami Krishnananda

As all thoughts can be reduced to five types of internal function, all objects can be reduced to five bhutas or elements. The five great elements are called pancha-mahabhutas, and they are (1) Ether (akasa), (2) Air (vayu), (3) Fire (agni), (4) Water (apas) and (5) Earth (prithivi). The subtlety of these elements is in the ascending order of this arrangement, the succeeding one being grosser than the preceding. Also the preceding element is the cause of the succeeding, so that Ether may be regarded as containing all things in an unmanifested form. The elements constitute the whole physical cosmos. These are the real objects of the senses, and all the variety we see is made up of forms of these objects.

Our sensations are the five objects. We sense through the indriyas or sense-organs. With the sense of the ear we come in contact with Ether and hear sound which is a reverberation produced by Ether. Touch is the property of Air, felt by us with the tactile sense. With the sense of the eyes we contact light which is the property of Fire. With the palate we taste things, which is the property of Water. With the nose we smell objects, and this is the property of Earth.

There is the vast universe, and we know it with our senses. We live in a world of fivefold objects. The senses are incapable of knowing anything more than these elements. The internal organ, as informed and influenced by the objects, deals with them in certain manners, and this is life. While our psychological reactions constitute our personal life, the adjustment we make with others is our social life. The yoga is primarily concerned with the personal life of man in relation to the universe, and not the social life, for, in the social environment, one’s real personality is rarely revealed. Yoga is essentially a study of self by self, which initially looks like an individual affair, a process of Self-investigation (atma-vichara) and Self-realization (atma-sakshatkara). But this is not the whole truth. The Self envisaged here is a consciousness of gradual integration of reality, and it finally encompasses all experience and the whole universe in its being.

While the psychology of yoga comprises the functions of the internal organ, and its physics is of the five great objects or mahabhutas, the philosophy of yoga transcends both these stages of study. The yoga metaphysics holds that the body is not all, and even the five elements are not all. We do not see what is inside the body and also what is within the universe of five elements. A different set of senses would be necessary for knowing these larger secrets. Yoga finally leads us to this point.

When we go deep into the body we would confront its roots; so also in the case of the objects outside. When we set out on this adventure, we begin to converge slowly at a single centre, like the two sides of a triangle that taper at one point. The so-called wide base of the world on which we move does not disclose the truth of ourselves or of objects. At this point of convergence of ourselves and of things, we need not look at objects, and here no senses are necessary, for, in this experience, there are neither selves nor things. There is only one Reality, where the universal object and the universal subject become a unitary existence. Neither is that an experience of a subject nor an object, where is revealed a knowledge of the whole cosmos, at once, not through the senses, mind or intellect - for there are no objects - and there is only being that is consciousness.

Yoga is, therefore, spiritual, superphysical or supermaterial, because materiality is shed in its achievement, and consciousness reigns supreme. This is the highest object of yoga, where the individual and the universe do not stand apart as two entities but come together in a fraternal embrace. The purpose of the yoga way of analysis is an overcoming of the limitations of both subjectivity and objectivity and a union of the deepest within us with the deepest in the cosmos.

Excerpts from:

The Aim of Objective Analysis - The Yoga System by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

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How do We Come to Know the World

**Baba Times Digest©

28 May 2014 20:35 EST

New York Edition**

How do We Come to Know the World

Divine Life Society Publication: - Psychological Presuppositions- The Yoga System by Swami Krishnananda

How do we know things at all? There is a mysterious process by which we come to know the world, and life is an activity of such knowledge. A study of the mind is a study of its relations to things. The instruction, ‘Know Thyself’, implies that when we know ourselves, we know all things connected with ourselves, i.e., we know the universe. In this study we have to proceed always from the lower to the higher, without making haste or working up the emotions.

The first thing we are aware of in experience is the world. There are certain processes which take place in the mind, by which we come to know the existence of the world. There are sensations, perceptions and cognitions, which fall under what is known as ‘direct perception’ or ‘direct knowledge’ (pratyaksha) through which the world is known, valued and judged for purpose of establishing relations. These relations constitute our social life.

A stimulation of the senses takes place by a vibration that proceeds from the object outside. This happens in two ways: (1) by the very presence of the object and (2) by the light rays, sound, etc., that emanate from the object, which affect the retina of the eyes, the drums of the ears, or the other senses. We have five senses of knowledge and through them we receive all the information concerning the world. We, thus, live in a sense-world. When sensory stimulation is produced by vibrations received from outside, we become active.

Sensory activity stimulates the mind through the nervous system which connects the senses with the mind by means of the prana or vital energy. We may compare these nerve-channels to electric wires, through which the power of the prana flows. The pranas are not the nerves, even as electricity is not the wires. The prana is an internal vibration which links the senses with the mind.

Sensations, therefore, make the mind active and the mind begins to feel that there is something outside. This may be called indeterminate perception, where the mind has a featureless awareness of the object. When the perception becomes clearer, it becomes determinate. This mental perception is usually called cognition.

Beyond the mind there is another faculty, called the intellect. It judges whether a thing is good or bad, necessary or unnecessary, of this kind or that, etc. It decides upon the value of an object, whether this judgment is positive or negative, moral, aesthetic or religious. One assesses one’s situation in relation to the object. Some psychologists hold that the mind is an instrument in the hands of the intellect.

Manas is the Sanskrit word for mind, which is regarded as the karana or instrument, while buddhi is the Sanskrit term for intellect, which is the karta or doer. The intellect judges what is cognized by the mind, and makes a decision as to the nature of the action that has to be taken in respect of the object in the given circumstances.

The intellect is associated with another principle within, called ahamkara or ego. ‘Aham’ means ‘I’, and ‘kara’ is that which manifests, reveals or affirms. There is something in us, which affirms ‘I am’. This affirmation is ego. No logic is necessary to prove the ego, for we do not prove our own existence. This is an affirmation which requires no evidence, for all logic proceeds from it. The ego is inseparable from individual intellection, like fire from its heat. The intellect and ego exist inextricably, and human intellection is the function of the human ego. The functions of the ego are manifold, and these form the subject of psychology.

There are certain ways in which the psychological instruments begin to function in relation to objects. The ego, intellect and mind perform the functions of arrogation, understanding and thinking of objects. There is also a fourth element, called chitta, which is not easily translatable into English. The term ‘subconscious’ is usually considered as its equivalent. That which is at the base of the conscious mind and which retains memory etc., is chitta or the subconscious mind. But the chitta in yoga psychology includes also what is known as the unconscious in psychoanalysis. All this functional apparatus, taken together, is the psyche or antahkarana, the internal instrument. The internal organ functions in various forms, and yoga is interested in a thorough study of these functions, because the methods of yoga are intended to take a serious step in regard to all these psychic functions, finally.

Now, how does the internal organ function? The psyche produces five reactions in respect of the world outside, some of them being positive and others negative. These are the themes of general psychology.

There are five modes into which the antahkarana casts itself in performing its functions of normal life. These modes are called pramana, viparyaya, vikalpa, nidra and smriti.

Pramana or right knowledge is awareness of things as they are. Perception, inference and verbal testimony are the three primary ways of right knowledge. All these methods together form what goes by the name of pramana or direct proof of dependable knowledge.

Viparyaya is wrong perception, the mistaking of one thing for another, as, when we see a long rope in twilight, we usually take it for a snake, or apprehend that a straight stick immersed in water is bent. When we perceive anything which does not correspond to fact, the mental mode is one of erroneous understanding.

Vikalpa is doubt. When we are not certain whether, for example, a thing we are seeing is a person or a pole, whether something is moving or not moving, the perception not being clear, or when we are in any dubious state of thinking, we are said to be in vikalpa.

Nidra is sleep, which may be regarded as a negative condition, a withdrawal of mind from all activity. Sleep is nevertheless a psychological condition, because, though it is not positively connected with the objects of the world, it represents a latency of the impressions as well as possibilities of objective thought. Nidra is the sleep of the antahkarana.

Smriti is memory, the remembrance of past events, the retention in consciousness of the impressions of experiences undergone previously.

All functions of the internal organ can be brought under one or other of these processes, and subject of general psychology is an elaboration of these human ways of thinking, understanding, willing or feeling. The system of yoga makes a close study of the inner structure of man and envisages it in its relation to the universe.

Excerpts from:

Right Significance of “TAT TVAM ASI” - The Yoga System by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

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Why Do We Not Surrender

**Baba Times Digest©

27 May 2014 20:56 EST

New York Edition**

Why Do We Not Surrender?

Divine Life Society Publication: Early Morning Meditation Talk by Swami Atmaswarupananda

The scriptures tell us that our fundamental error is wrong identification. We, who are universal Spirit, have identified ourselves with that which is actually an object to us—our body and mind. To get over this wrong identification, they have prescribed different yogas that are suitable to the nature of different individuals.

However, Lord Krishna makes it very clear that in the final analysis there is only one way to cross this ocean of samsara and that is to take refuge in Him alone. In the last teaching verse of the Gita, He is even more specific. Abandon all dharmas, He tells us—all your ideas of what is right and wrong—and take in refuge in Me alone.

Why is it, when Lord Krishna is so specific, and when we know that the essence of the spiritual life—no matter what our yoga—is surrender, that we are unable to do it easily? The truth is, no matter how much we say we want God, most of us are unwilling to let go of control of our own life. Part of us may want to surrender, but another part of us doesn’t want to let go of control. Why is this?

If we examine it, we will find that normally there are two reasons. One, we have unfulfilled desires. There are things that we want. We are afraid that if we let go of control of our life, if we surrender totally to God, we may not be able to fulfil those desires. This requires sharp discrimination. We have to realize that there is nothing in what we desire that will give us permanent happiness. We have to examine our experience and recognize that there is no real happiness in anything in this world. Unless we do this discrimination, unless we convince ourselves of this truth, then the quality of surrender that is required by Lord Krishna is out of the question.

The other reason that we are reluctant to let go of control of our life is fear. We don’t know what might happen if we do. The purpose of all our spiritual practices is, in fact, to give us confidence in God, indeed, to convince us that it is safe to let go, that we have nothing to fear. But if we continue to think that the purpose of our spiritual practices is to get something for the ego, then we are perpetuating our problem. We’re protecting our ego and its desires and fears.

We have to recognize that we need to deal with are our desires and our fears. Our desires we deal with by analysis. The way to deal with our fears is to take chances. We have to become vulnerable. We must trust God in spite of our fears. Our fears want us to protect ourselves. Wisdom says, I must conquer this fear, I must trust God in spite of the fear.

We think that courage is some great quality, and it is. But it is actually doing the right thing, doing our duty in spite of our fears. Our duty as seekers is to trust God. Our duty as seekers is to take refuge in God alone. That we may have fear, that we may have reluctance is beside the point. We must do what is right, we must do our duty in spite of any reluctance, in spite of any fear. And God is always there to bless our choice and to help us.

Therefore, while wrong identification may be our fundamental problem, it can be cured by surrender and trust, by recognizing that there is no happiness in anything in this world and that God is safe to trust.

Excerpts from:

See God in All - Early Morning Meditation Talk by Swami Atmaswarupananda

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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Parable of The Brahmanishtha and His Disciple

**Baba Times Digest©

26 May 2014 15:44 EST

New York Edition**

Parable of The Brahmanishtha and His Disciple

Divine Life Society Publication: Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda

Once upon a time there lived a certain Brahmanishtha Guru. He was fully immersed in enlightening all humanity with his intuitive knowledge and experience, through all possible means, through delivering sermons, writing books, giving counsels, etc. He employed a certain disciple of his to take down notes, and compile the books. In course of time, the disciple virtually became a gramophone record, always repeating the words and expressions of the Guru. In so doing, he was puffed up with vanity and pride. He went about telling, “What does the Guru know? I remember by heart so many things. I can quote all the scriptures. I am a full-fledged Jnani who knows everything.” In short, he became a renegade.

At one time, one of the Guru’s devotees was bereaved of a family member. The Guru pitched upon that renegade-disciple and asked him to condole for the bereaved family. The disciple duly went to the bereaved family and began in right earnest to deliver a Vedantic sermon. It all looked like a deaf man referring to cross-purposes. The inmates of the house were still putting on a sad face. All on a sudden, the Guru appeared in person before them. His very presence made them cheerful and happy and forget the loss of the member of their family. The Guru spoke but a word or two; and all of them were instantaneously transformed.

Remember the Kenopanishad, “Which one cannot think with the mind; by which the mind is known” etc.

Intellectual and theoretical philosophers live in vain in this world. They are of no use to humanity. Their talks do fall on the ears of the public like the Vedantic sermon given by the disciple to the bereaved family.

Can the moon say that it shines by its own light, that it helps you with its own light, that its light is superior to that of the sun? When the sun rises, the truth of the greatness of moon’s light is plainly known.

So too where there is intuitive experience and knowledge, knowledge arising by itself in an experiencing heart, of what use is the knowledge of the brain?

Sages and saints and men of realization, live to enlighten all humanity. Even if they keep quiet, their very presence is able to transform all humanity, whereas a dry intellect cannot enlighten even one individual.

O man! Forget your intellectual attainments. The knowledge that you possess is not yours, but it belongs to the Lord. Acknowledge His superiority and submit to His will.

Excerpts from:

Parable of The Brahmanishtha and His Disciple: Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

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Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

**Baba Times Digest©

25 May 2014 17:29 EST

New York Edition**

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga – Questions and Answers by Sri Swami Sivananda

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे
सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम्
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्
मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥

Om Tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushti vardhanam,
Urvaarukamiva bandhanaat mrityormuksheeya maamritat

Meaning

We worship the three-eyed One (Lord Siva) who is fragrant and who nourishes well all beings; may He liberate us from death for the sake of Immortality even as the cucumber is severed from its bondage (to the creeper).

BENEFITS

This Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra is a life-giving Mantra. In these days, when life is very complex and accidents are an everyday affair, this Mantra wards off deaths by snake-bite, lightning, motor-accidents, fire-accidents, cycle-accidents, water-accidents, air-accidents and accidents of all descriptions. Besides, it has a great curative effect. Again, diseases pronounced incurable by doctors are cured by this Mantra, when chanted with sincerity, faith and devotion. It is a weapon against diseases. It is a Mantra to conquer death.
It is also a Moksha Mantra. It bestows long life (Deergha Ayush), peace (Shanti), wealth (Aishwarya), prosperity (Pushti), satisfaction (Tushti) and Immortality (Moksha).
On your birthday, repeat one lakh times this Mantra or at least 50,000; perform Havan and feed Sadhus, the poor and the sick. This will bestow on you long life, peace and prosperity.
When the mind becomes ripe with the true knowledge of Paramatma, the soul gets liberated from the bonds of birth and death. This is called moksha. The Tryambaka mantra epitomises the special kind of moksha which accrues by the grace of Tryambaka, the three-eyed Siva. The mantra conveys the meaning that one is released from mortality by the grace of Siva in the same way as the cucumber fruit gets separated from its stalk. Every fruit, when fully ripe, is sweet, though it may have been bitter or sour when unripe. Similarly, when the soul becomes ripe through devotion, it is filled with the sweetness and joy that come from jnana. All fruits fall down from the branches on top, at the roots below, signifying that the root is their source, sustenance and ultimate sanctuary. The ripe soul, however, is the fruit of the tree of samsara, whose roots are on top, “Oordhva moolam,” and whose branches grow down below. So the passage of the liberated soul is upward, Oordhvagati. Strictly speaking, there is no gati or going, for the soul. It is released at the very place where it existed. That is why the example of cucumber fruit is given. This fruit does not fall down but gets detached from the stalk, or rather, the stalk gets itself detached even without the fruit knowing it. Similarly the liberated one does not give up the world; the world gives him up. Remembering that this life has been vouchsafed to us to get rid of future births and deaths, let us pray to the God of our heart, to obtain His grace to qualify for this kind of liberation of the soul, “cucumber mukti.”

Excerpts from:

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra: Yoga – Questions and Answers by Sri Swami Sivananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
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Bhakti Yoga

24 May 2014 20:58 EST

New York Edition**

Bhakti Yoga

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 5 Amrita Gita by Sri Swami Sivananda

God is love. Love is God. God is nectar. God is Prema.
Bhakti is supreme love towards God. It is love for love’s sake. The devotee wants God and God alone. There is no selfish expectation here.
Bhakti is the greatest power on this earth. It gushes from one’s pure heart. It redeems and saves. It purifies the heart.
Devotion is the seed. Faith is the root. Service of saints is the shower. Communion with the Lord is the fruit.
Bhakti is of two kinds, viz., Apara Bhakti (lower type of devotion) and Para Bhakti (highest Bhakti or Supreme Love). Ringing bells and waving lights is Apara Bhakti. In Para Bhakti, there is no ritualistic worship. The devotee is absorbed in God.
In Supreme Love, the devotee forgets his self entirely. He has only thoughts of God.
Para Bhakti and Jnana are one. Bhakti melts into wisdom in the end. Two have become one now.
Bhakti grows gradually just as you grow a flower or a tree in a garden. Cultivate Bhakti in the garden of your heart gradually.
Faith is necessary for attaining God-realization. Faith can work wonders. Faith can move mountains. Faith can take you to the inner chambers of the Lord, where reason dares not enter.
Japa, Kirtan, prayer, service of saints, study of books on Bhakti are all aids to devotion.
Sattvic food is a help to devotion. Take milk, fruits, etc.
Evil company is an enemy of devotion. Give up evil company. Take recourse to Satsanga or company of the saints.
Pray to the Lord thus; “O Adorable Lord of Compassion and Love! Give me faith and devotion. Let my mind be ever fixed On Thy Lotus Feet. Let me have constant remembrance of Thee. Let me sing Thy glory always.”
The Name of the Lord is your sole refuge. It is your prop, shelter and abode. Name is divine nectar. Nama and Nami are inseparable.
Keep a picture of the Lord and concentrate on it—the face or feet or the whole picture. Then visualize the picture in your heart or the space between the two eyebrows.
Repeat your Ishta Mantra—Om Namah Sivaya, Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya—mentally, sometimes verbally when the mind wanders.
The five kinds of Bhavas are: Santa Bhava, Dasya Bhava (master-servant relation), Vatsalya Bhava (father-son relation), Sakhya Bhava (friendship), Madhurya Bhava (the relationship of lover and beloved).
Bhishma had Santa Bhava; Hanuman had Dasya Bhava; Jayadeva and Gauranga had Madhurya Bhava; the Gopis had Sakhya-Bhava; Arjuna and Guha had Sakhya Bhava; Yasoda and Vishnuchitta had Vatsalya Bhava.
Have any kind of Bhava that suits your temperament. Develop it again and again.
Practise the nine modes of devotion or Nava-vidha Bhakti, viz., Sravana (hearing the Lilas of the Lord), Kirtan (singing His Name), Smarana (His remembrance), Padasevana (service of His Feet), Archana (offering flowers), Vandana (prostrations), Dasyam (servant-Bhava), Sakhya (His friendship), and Atmanivedana (self-surrender).
Say unto the Lord: ‘I am Thine, all is Thine, Thy Will be done’. Feel you are an instrument in the hands of the Lord, that the Lord works through your mind, body and senses. Offer all your actions and the fruits of the actions unto the Lord. This is the way to do self-surrender.
Do Anushtan frequently. Live on milk and fruits for a week. Observe Mouna or silence and do Japa and meditate in an intense manner.
Manasic Puja or mental worship is a great help for increasing devotion and attaining concentration. Offer flowers, incense, etc., mentally to the Lord.
Consider your house as a temple of the Lord, every action as service of Lord, the light that you burn as waving lights to the Lord, every word you speak as the Japa of the Lord’s Name, your daily walk as perambulation to the Lord. This is an easy way of worship of the Lord.
Shall I wash Thy Feet with holy water, O Lord? The very Ganga flows from Thy Feet. Shall I give You seat? Thou art all-pervading. Shall I wave lights for Thee? Sun and Moon are Thy Eyes! Shall I offer flowers to Thee? Thou art the essence of flowers—this is Para Puja.
Feel the presence of the Lord everywhere. He dwells in the chambers of your heart, too. He is in the breath in the nostrils; He glitters in your eyes. He is nearer to you than your jugular vein. Behold Him in every face.
Horripilation (Romanchana), tears from the eyes (Asrupat), Kampan or twitching of muscles, Svarabhanga (choking of the voice) are marks or Lingas of devotion.
A realized Bhakta is free from lust, egoism, mine-ness, hatred, jealousy, greed. He is full of humility, compassion and kindness. He sees God in all beings, in all objects. He has equal vision and a balanced mind.
Draupadi was an Arta-Bhaktini; Nachiketas was Jijnasu-Bhakta; Dhruva was an Artharthee-Bhakta; Suka Deva was a Jnani-Bhakta; Prahlada was an absolutely Nishkama Bhakta.
Bhakti is immortalizing nectar. It transmutes a man into divinity. It makes him perfect. It bestows on him everlasting peace and bliss.

THUS ENDS BHAKTI YOGA
OR THE YOGA OF DEVOTION

Excerpts from:

Bhakti Yoga: Chapter 5 Amrita Gita by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Be Free from Objects of Desire

21 May 2014 17:31 EST

New York Edition**

Be Free from Objects of Desire

Divine Life Society Publication: - Commentary on the Panchadasi by Swami Krishnananda

If we have to be free from desires, we have to first of all investigate into the basic defects of the object of desire. Desires arise in respect of things, on account of not properly recognizing the nature of the things themselves. The world is not as it appears to be; things are not what they seem. The mind’s longing for a particular object or a group of objects is based entirely on a misconstruing of the nature of things, like a moth which sees beauty in a flame and runs after this beauty; and we know what happens to that moth.
There are no desirable objects in this world. Objects are neither desirable nor undesirable from their own point of view. They are Ishvara srishti, God’s creation. An impartial God has not created partial objects, where some of them are desirable and some are not desirable. God does not create unnecessary things, useless things, etc., which means there is nothing that we need not desire. Everything has to be desired at one stroke. The whole creation has to be desired, if that is the case. But desire is not generally directed to the whole of creation. It is a partial attitude of the mind in regard to certain chosen things only. No object can attract unless the present condition of the object, the structure of the object, fits in properly with the condition of the mind at that particular moment. If the mood of the mind changes tomorrow, that very same object will be an object of disgust.Not only do our moods determine whether we want a thing or not, the object itself also determines our reaction to it in different conditions.
A presentable form of the object is required in order that the mind may create the idea that it is a desirable thing. Unpresentable, distorted, totally misplaced things will not attract the mind. All this shows that desire is a relative activity of the mind in respect of relative conditions of the world. Therefore, whatever pleasure we hope to have from such a kind of relative contact will be as fleeting as the lightning in the sky.
Desires can be subdued only by detecting the defects of the objects of the senses. This is the moksha shastra.
I understand that desire, anger, greed must be abandoned because they are active manifestations of the mind which are deliberately harmful. But what about building castles in the air, woolgathering? Is it bad? Woolgathering is a torpid state of the mind, a tamasic condition, which will one day burst into rajasic activity; and the harmful desires will reveal themselves one day.
An unconscious condition of the desires is not an absence of desires. If we are unable to think properly and we are in a stasis, the mind is unable to think and it has withdrawn all its activity and adjourned its processes. When this happens to the mind, it does not follow that the desires also have gone. The potential of the desires to manifest themselves in active operation has been postponed for a future suitable condition. Therefore, manorajya, what is called building castles in the air, is also to be considered as equally harmful. It is potentially harmful.
When we think of some object, there is a desire to go near it. Saṁgāṭ-saṁjāyate kāmaḥ: Nearness creates desire. Kāmāṭ-krodho’bhijāyate: Anger follows every kind of desire.
The potential of the desires in the mind can be totally eradicated only in nirvikalpa samadhi. Nirvikalpa samadhi is the highest state of samadhi that one can reach, where the mind ceases to exist, getting dissolved in Pure Consciousness. But one cannot easily reach that state. Therefore, we have to attain that nirvikalpa state through the penultimate condition, which is known as savikalpa samadhi.
Through the graduated steps of meditational practice as prescribed by Sage Patanjali in his sutras - by means of the stages of samadhis – savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, nirvichara, ananda, asmita, savikalpa, nirvikalpa – we have to rise gradually from the lower samadhi to the higher. Thereby, we will be able to overcome the impulsion of desires. The desires will be totally destroyed by attaining a state of samadhi.
If we want to get rid of all these tamasic conditions of the mind into which it gets sunk many a time, what should we do? First of all, we must segregate ourselves a little from conditions, atmospheres which are disturbing in nature. A little bit of ekantavasa is necessary – living in a sequestered place, a place where disturbances are less and the mind does not have occasion to contemplate too much on objects of desire, and there is also a chance for our intellect to operate in a clarified manner. In that condition, where we are alone in an isolated place, we should chant Om several times. Om, Om, Om, with deep inhalation, with deep breath, we take this elongated Pranava as our guide to dispel the darkness which causes the fixity of the mind in a state of tamas and may engender the movement of the very same condition into an active rajasic state. Thus we can overcome this torpid state called manorajya, building castles.
Like a dumb person, the mind will keep quiet at the time when we chant the mantra Om (Pranava) deeply, with intense feeling from the bottom of our heart, right from the navel itself.
We cannot free ourselves from desire for objects as long as objects do exist – as long as we feel that the objects are there outside us, standing in front of us, to be received by us. There are no objects in this world of God’s creation because the creation of God is a universal vast extension, and it has no externality. As God’s creation is universal, it has no externality; therefore, there cannot be an object in the creation of God. The object is nothing but a concoction of the individual mind, which places the universally placed object in an externalized condition. That which is universal is considered as an external thing by the wrong activity of the individual mind.
The objects that we desire are not outside us; they are connected with us. They are internally connected to everything in the world. The whole universe is an organic oneness. That is how God would look at the universe. And inasmuch as the universe is an organic completeness, there cannot be externality anywhere. No part of the body can be regarded as an object of some other part of the body. The leg is not an object of the hand. The hand is not an object of some other part. Notwithstanding the fact that we see an object, it need not attract us. Do we feel attracted to our feet, to our hands or fingers, to our nose? We do not feel attracted to them because they are identical with our organic centre, which is the body. The universe is one single organism. Therefore, where comes the necessity for an object? Who told us that there are objects in the world? They do not exist! Then the desire ceases immediately.
Dṛśyaṁ nāstīti: The objects do not exist. Bodhena: Thus having the knowledge, manaso dṛśya mārjanam: the objectivity consciousness of the mind is totally obliterated. This is the great instruction from Vasishtha to Rama. Wonderful is the Yoga Vasishtha! Everybody should read it.
If this state can be attained by us, we have attained moksha at that moment. The moment we feel that the objects of the world are not there, the externality of space-time also vanishes. Bondage ceases; in one instant we are in a state of liberation. The bliss of moksha is attained then and there, with no distance of time between now and afterwards.

Excerpts from:

Be Free from Objects of Desire - Commentary on the Panchadasi by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor(dlsusa.org@gmail.com)

Sure Ways of Success in Life

20 May 2014 17:24 EST

New York Edition**

Sure Ways of Success in Life

Divine Life Society Publication: - Resurgent Culture by Swami Krishnananda

Control the modifications of the mind-stuff in order to be able to have clear perception and true insight.
We become normal only when we cease from thinking in terms of forms of the mental modification and begin to adopt quite a different way of perception. In other words, we have to rest in our own selves, first, in order that we may be healthy and also have a healthy perception of things.
All types of objective thinking are considered in our system of Yoga as certain diseased conditions of consciousness, for in these states the consciousness is not-in-itself.
A successful life, and a happy life, is possible only when one is able to adjust and adapt the different sides of the personality in a harmonious way and the entire personality with the others that form the constituents of the world. In this sense, life is an art.
The essence of art is the arrangement of material to produce rhythm, symmetry, order, fullness, and a sense of perfection so far as the mind can conceive of it. We have to arrange the pattern of life, with its forces of the outward Nature and inward impulses, so that there may not be any jarring element or inharmonious appearance unsuited to the purpose of realizing the equilibrium of the universe as reflected in our personal lives, in the life of society, the community, the nation and the world.
A happy man who has been able to lead a successful life is one who is thoroughly friendly not only with the structural demands of his own body, mind, emotions, and intellect but also with the different elements that go to form the world outside.
Life is a preparation for self-accusation, a training ground for the individual to transfigure itself in a self-dedication to the Absolute Reality.
Our duty is to act, act in the right way, bearing in mind that we are fulfilling an inviolable and unavoidable imperative, not forced upon us by any outward mandate, but by the law of our own being.
The Bhagavad-Gita, exhorts us not to have attachment to things.
To which object am I to be attached, when everything outside me is inseparably related to me, and we all mutually inclusive and determined in this magnificent home of God’s creation?
Every action has a reaction which comes with an equal force of nemesis and retribution, for every action is a sort of disturbance produced in the equilibrium of the universe, and the universe shall ever maintain its balance by rebutting the force of disturbance created in its being in the form of an action of thought.
The correct spirit with which we have to work in this world is one of self-sacrifice and surrender to the Supreme Cause of all things.
The correct perception is designated as Ishvaradrishti, the practice of the presence of God in each and everything, in every quarter and cranny, everywhere, and at all times.
The essence of the Gita teaching is this, that the universe is the body of God; it is God Himself appearing to us through our senses, the mind and the intellect, that there is nothing outside of God ever existent, that man is bound to have prosperity, victory, happiness and lawful polity when he acts with this consciousness—with the deep feeling that he is an instrument in the hands of the Absolute, that his actions are really not his but Its, and that suffering is inevitable the moment he cuts his consciousness off from the Divine. The happy and the normal life is, therefore, the Divine life.
To be successful in our different endeavors for perfection, first, we have to use our emotions properly and adjust them in such a way that they do not create any discord in life’s harmonious process and secondly, we have always to attempt to make a fuller use of our personalities than we actually do in states of misconception, prejudice and ignorance.
Remember, always, that what is important is not so much what you are, as to what extent you know why you are what you are, and how much you Endeavour to improve yourselves in the right direction.
Understand well before you take a step. There cannot be a right attempt without a clear-cut ideal before it, and directing it. A race horse put to a plough or a plough horse put to race will not lead to any substantial result. We have to know our powers, our knowledge, and go only so far; not further.
The training of the emotions and the development of strength within, however, is not difficult for one who has a genuine conviction that he is backed up at all times by a mighty Power that works everywhere in the cosmos, and that he has nothing to fear. This faith should be born of conviction, enlightened understanding, and a real love for the Supreme Being.
Do not have inner conflicts. Such conflicts are mostly results of the inability to fulfil the basic instinctive urges, which, again, is due to ignorance of one’s hidden capacities and of the way by which to utilize properly the facilities provided under the conditions in which one is placed.
You have to know clearly (1) what ought to be done, (2) what is capable of being done, (3) what has been done already, (4) why something has not been done yet, and (5) how to overcome the obstacles in a reasonable manner. This means that you have to be master of your own psychology.
A successful life includes physical, emotional, intellectual and moral fitness based on an integration of being in all its degrees, inwardly as well as outwardly. Know yourselves as higher than you now are.
Summon the reserve forces which lie latent within, and use them for the constructive work of building the structure of life which is not merely yours, but of everyone, equally.
When the diversity of beings is beheld as rooted in the One, and as having proceeded from the One, then does one attain to Perfection, says the Bhagavad-Gita. But the achievement of this end is hard, though possible for everyone. It demands inner toughness born of a perfect moral nature.
A capacity to love and to serve all with the feeling of the presence of a common element behind everyone, to be truthful and honest and straightforward at any cost, to be able to feel for others as one does for oneself, not to do to others what would not be desirable for oneself, to have always a concern for the good of the whole world and not merely of a restricted group of persons, not to attempt at appropriating things which do not lawfully belong to one self, to be perfectly continent and restrained in thought, word and deed, to be able to look at the world with a cosmic vision, and to act at all times with this consciousness, is the requisite qualification demanded of a truly cultured person and a seeker of Truth.
Let us pray in the sublime words of the Upanishad:

Lead us from the unreal to the Real,
Lead us from darkness to Light,
Lead us from death to Immortality.

Excerpts from:

Sure Ways of Success in Life by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor(dlsusa.org@gmail.com)

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