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

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The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith

**Baba Times Digest©

9 May 2014 17:47 EST

New York Edition**

The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith

Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Seventeenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda

This discourse is termed the “Yoga of the Division of the Three Kinds of Faith”. The theme of this discourse arises out of the question asked by Arjuna in Verse 1 with reference to the final and closing advice of Lord Krishna in the previous discourse, contained in the last two verses therein (Verses 23 and 24). Arjuna asks, “What about those who, even though setting aside scriptural injunctions yet perform worship with faith?”

The Lord replies and states that the faith of such men who ignore the injunctions of the scriptures could be either Sattwic, Rajasic or Tamasic. This would be in accordance with the basic nature of the person himself. And, conversely, as is the kind of faith, so develops the nature of the man.

Thus, in all things like sacrifice, worship, charity, penance, etc., these qualities become expressed in accordance with the kind of faith in which the person concerned is based. They produce results in accordance with the quality of the doer’s faith. These acts done with right faith lead to supreme blessedness. When done without any faith whatsoever, all these actions become barren and useless.

Excerpts from:

The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Seventeenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Practical Hints on Sadhana

**Baba Times Digest©

8 May 2014 22:16 EST

New York Edition**

Practical Hints on Sadhana

Divine Life Society Publication: - The Problems of Spiritual life by Sri Swami Krishnananda

First of all, there should be a clear conception of the Aim of one’s life.
The Aim should be such that it should not be subject to subsequent change of opinion or transcendence by some other thought, feeling or experience. It means, the Aim should be ultimate, and there should be nothing beyond that.
It will be clear that, since the ultimate Aim is single, and set clearly before one’s mind, everything else in the world becomes an instrument, an auxiliary or an accessory to the fulfilment of this Aim.
It is possible to make the mistake that only certain things in the world are aids in the realization of one’s Aim of life, and that others are obstacles. But this is not true, because everything in the world is interconnected and it is not possible to divide the necessary from the unnecessary, the good from the bad, etc., except in a purely relative sense. The so-called unnecessary items or the useless ones are those whose subtle connection with our central purpose in life is not clear to our minds. This happens when our minds are carried away by sudden emotions or spurts of enthusiasm.
All this would mean that it is not advisable or practicable to ignore any aspect of life totally, as if it is completely irrelevant to the purpose of one’s life. But here begins the difficulty in the practice of sadhana, because it is not humanly possible to consider every aspect of a situation when one tries to understand it.
The solution is the training which one has to receive under a competent Teacher, who alone can suggest methods of entertaining such a comprehensive vision of things, which is the precondition of a true spiritual life, or a life of higher meditation.
There are economic and material needs as well as vital longings of the human nature which have to be paid their due, at the proper time and in the proper proportions, not with the intention of acquiring comfort and satisfaction to one’s self, but with a view to the sublimation of all personal desires or urges, whether physical, vital or psychological. An utter ignorance of this fact may prove to be a sort of hindrance to one’s further practice on the path of sadhana.
It is, of course, necessary that one should live a life of reasonable seclusion under the guidance of a master until such time when one can stand on one’s own legs and think independently, without help from anyone.
But, one should, now and then, test one’s ability to counteract one’s reactions to the atmosphere even when one is in the midst of intractable and irreconcilable surroundings. Seclusion should not mean a kind of self-hypnotism or hibernation and an incapacity to face the atmosphere around.
It should also not mean that one should be incapable of living in seclusion alone to oneself, when the occasion for it comes. In short, the ideal should be achievement of an equanimous attitude to circumstances, whether one is alone to oneself or one is in the midst of an irreconcilable social atmosphere.
While in seclusion, the mind should not be allowed to go back to the circumstances of one’s family life, official career or to problems which are likely to disturb the concentration of the mind on God, because the pressure of these earlier experiences may sometimes prove itself to be greater in intensity than one’s love of God.
It is impossible to concentrate on God unless one has a firm conviction and faith that whatever one expects in this world can also be had from God; nay, much more than all these things which the world has as its treasures and values.
It is difficult to have the vision of one’s Aim of Life when the mind goes out of meditation to whatever it longs for in the world. Hence, a deep study of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, the Srimad-Bhagavata and such other scriptures is necessary to drive into the mind the conviction about the Supremacy of God.
Study or svadhyaya, japa of mantras and meditation are the three main aspects of spiritual practice.
Svadhyaya does not mean study of any book that one may find anywhere at any time. It means a continued and regular study, daily, of selected holy texts, or even a single text, from among those that have been suggested above. A study in this manner, done at a fixed time, every day, for a fixed duration, will bring the expected result.
The japa of the mantra should, in the beginning, be done with a little sound in the mouth so that the mind may not go here and there towards different things. The loud chant of the mantra will bring the mind back to the point of concentration. Later on, the japa can be only with movement of lips, but without making any sound. In the end, the japa can be only mental, provided that the mind does not wander during the mental japa.
A convenient duration, say, half an hour or one hour, should be set up at different times, so that the daily sadhana should be at least for three hours a day. It can be increased according to one’s capacity, as days pass.
During japa, the mind should think of the meaning of the mantra, the surrender of oneself to the Deity of the mantra, and finally, the communion of oneself with that Great Deity. Effort should be put forth to entertain this deep feeling during japa, every day.
Meditation can be either combined with japa, or it can be independent of japa. Meditation with japa means the mental repetition of the mantra and, also, at the same time, meditating deeply on the meaning of the mantra, as mentioned above.
Meditation without japa is a higher stage where the mind gets so much absorbed in the thought of God, surrender to God and union with God, that in this meditation japa automatically stops. This is the highest state of meditation.
Throughout one’s sadhana, it is necessary to feel the oneness of oneself and the universe with God.

Excerpts from:

Practical Hints on Sadhana - The Problems of Spiritual life by Sri Swami Krishnananda

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Spiritual Wisdom

**Baba Times Digest©

7 May 2014 22:05 EST

New York Edition**

Spiritual Wisdom (Random Useful Thoughts)

Divine Life Society Publication: - Thus Awakens the Awakened One by Sri Swami Krishnananda

· The difference between the natures of Isvara and jiva is something like that between the meanings of the words, ‘God’ and ‘dog’. There is no doubt some relation between the two, and yet what a contrast of characters! In the jiva the character of Isvara is completely reversed in a topsy-turvy manner, though the relation between Him and the jiva is, no doubt, there.

· Dharma is that sustaining universal impulse which conduces to the prosperity of the individual both here and hereafter. This means that the observance of Dharma does not violate the laws of the world for the sake of the Spirit or of the Spirit for the sake of the world. It views existence both in its depth and its width.

· The mind and the body get identified with each other, like fire and iron in a red hot iron-ball, in such a way that thought cannot be separated from object. There is always a flow of thought with perpetual reference to the body, and all human judgment is thus vitiated by the prejudice that the body is the thinking self. All science and even philosophy cannot help playing second fiddle to this erroneous hypothesis, and thus cut the ground from under their own feet.

· Hanuman is said to have told Sri Rama: “From the point of view of the body, I am Thy servant; from the point of view of the jiva, I am a part of Thyself; from the point of view of the Atman, I am Thy own-Self.” These three standpoints correspond to the three great systems of philosophy propounded by Madhva, Ramanuja and Sankara.

· The thought of God is like the centripetal cohesive force in a star or a planet, which drives its constituents to its centre by a pressure of inwardly directed energy, and is strikes a universally attuned equilibrium of the entire personality in relation to creation as a whole, provided the thought is deep enough and is sincerely raised in one’s mind. It produces a thrill beyond words.

· While Maya follows Brahman, the jiva follows Maya. It seems that while Rama was walking in the forest, Sita was following him and Lakshmana was following her. Maya obstructs the vision of Brahman by the jiva.

· Forces which constitute the universe react and interact among one another for effecting a higher integration - we may call them men and things, and so on in a state of ignorance. These activities of forces are the history of the universe.

· The effect of one’s reading and learning can be seen in one’s behavior. If the behavior has not changed, it means the learning acquired is like water poured over a rock, which gets wet only on the surface without allowing the water to seep into it.

· The four ashramas of life are not four different stages with a jump from the preceding to the succeeding. Each following stage is the flowering of the earlier, a maturing, including and transcending of the past conditions, like the higher and higher standards in education superseding the earlier ones.

· Death is the law of life. It is the law that requires a constant transformation of all composite elements and a reshuffling of all existent forms. Thus, death cannot be avoided. And it can take place at any time, though it has its fixed time.

· Just as twenty-five paise are contained in a quarter rupee coin, the twenty-five manifestations of prakriti are contained in the purusha, though invisibly and intangibly. Though the variety of manifestation is manifold, it is all inherent in its cause, like a chair present in wood.

· The ‘Advaita’ of Sankara is not so much the assertion of oneness as the negation of duality, as the names of his system suggests. God is not one or two or three, for He is above numerical affirmation. He is not anything that we can think of, but, however, He does not involve in any difference; hence He is ‘Advaita’, non-dual. Such is the cautious name of Sankara’s system of philosophy.

· Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are not three gods, but the one God performing three functions. There can, thus, be no superiority or inferiority among them. They are like the three faces of a crystal where one face reflects the others.

· An individual has as many organs as are required to fulfil the wishes that are embodied in the prarabdha karma of a given life, and these organs are of such quality and capacity as the needs of the individual concerned. Nothing more, and nothing less is given to us in this world.

· Every adversity should stimulate more and more strength in us, enough to be able to overcome onslaughts of such types again. Every fall should propel us to a higher aspiration, a longing which should never be dampened, threatened or vanquished at any time.

· Avidya is the disposition by which one mistakes the non-eternal for the eternal, the impure for the pure, the painful for the pleasant and the not-self for the Self. Avidya is the seed of egoism, craving, hatred and clinging to one’s body, so hard to overcome.

· When senses trouble you, remember the sages Narayana and Nara. They are the supreme masters over the senses, before whom Indra had to bow his head in shame.

· There are two greater wonders: The starry heavens above, and the moral law within. Neither of these can be fathomed to their depths, and they will remain a wonder forever. They are endless in their extent and no one can study them as ‘external’ objects.

· When Maricha cried out: “O Lakshmana, O Sita,” Sita mistook it for Rama’s voice. She could not identify Rama’s voice as different from that of another, though she had lived with Rama for so long. So is the case with the jiva. It has forgotten its association with the Absolute and cannot distinguish the call of the Spirit from the clamors of the senses. This is called delusion.

· Krishna was a person of great enjoyments. Vasishtha was devoted to rituals. Janaka was a king. Jadabharata was looking like an idiot. Suka was renowned for his dispassion. Vyasa was busy in teaching and writing. But all these are regarded as equal in knowledge. Different forms serve different purposes, but their essential being is one.

· Man’s conscience in its essentiality is not an accomplice of harm and injury being done to anyone. It is necessary for the evil one intending to destroy others to destroy his own conscience first. The self of the killer is killed much before the act of killing takes place.

· It is unwise to say that the world is good or bad, for the world is one of the conditions through which the ‘gunas’ - sattva, rajas and tamas - evolve in the course of time. All things can be found always in different places and hence our narrow judgments confined to a limited perception of truth cannot be correct. How can we say that any part of ‘prakriti’ is good or bad?

· Great men are not those who run fast and speak much but think deep and live wisely. More than doing it is being something - a change of outlook and attitude. We are great, not because we are something to the world but because we are something in ourselves, even if the whole world is not to exist at all.

· It is impossible to use one’s commonsense when one is in the grip of intense desire; for passions have no commonsense. They have neither reason nor logic, like the overwhelming force of a mighty river in floods, or like a beast caught at bay. Conquest over the human passions is the same as self-control, for the personality of man is but a bundle of latent and patent forces which seek expression in various ways.

· The Ganga destroys sins; the moon destroys heat; the kalpavriksha destroys poverty. But the company of the wise ones destroys sin, heat and poverty all at once.

· It is said that when the devotee takes one stop towards the Lord, he is greeted by the Lord with a hundred steps. The Bhakti-Sastras state that the love of God for the devotee is more than man’s love for God. The power of the Whole is intenser than the force of the part.

· Religion is the reaction of the human mind to its notion of God.

· Dharma is that sustaining power of Righteousness by which one acquires here prosperity (adhyudaya) and attains in the end eternal blessedness (nihsreyasa). It is the law that maintains the balance of forces in the Universe and dispenses the retributive justice to the individuals in such a manner as the equilibrium of creation is never disturbed.

Excerpts from:

Spiritual Wisdom - Thus Awakens the Awakened One by Sri Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
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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 Sheep and The Wolf

**Baba Times Digest©

6 May 2014 22:56 EST

New York Edition**

Parable of The Sheep and The Wolf

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

A man was guarding a large herd of sheep. He sat on a small mound and drove away all the wolves that tried to approach the herd, even when the wolves were at a great distance. Evening set in. The man thought within himself: “Throughout the day I could deal beautifully with the wolves; not one could ever come anywhere near the herd. Nothing will happen at night, either. The wolves may not come at all; and even if they come, I will deal with them properly.” Night fell. Whenever the wolves howled near the herd, the man would shout and imagine the wolves had run away. But throughout the night, the wolves were busy carrying away several sheep. When the sun rose again, the man discovered that more than half the herd had been taken away from him. He became wiser and even while the sun was shining the next day, he gathered enough fuel and lit a very big torch; and in the blazing light of the torch he was able to see clearly in the night and keep the wolves away.

Even so is the case with the Sadhaka. So long as he is in the living presence of the sun of his spiritual preceptor, he is able to guard the sheep of his spiritual Samskaras from being devoured by the wolves of vices. The deluded Sadhaka imagines that as he is able to guard the sheep against the wolves in the presence of the sun of his Guru, he is proof against sin. He feels that sins would not even approach him now! He ventures out. He wanders away from the preceptor, imagining that he is a Jivanmukta. He delivers fiery lectures attacking sin, vicious life, and Maya. But in the darkness of ignorance, in the absence of the Guru near him, the Sadhaka loses most of his virtues. Silently the wolves of vices, against which he himself has been shouting all the time, enter him and rob him of the greater part of his virtue. Then, when he returns to the Guru (if, by God’s Grace, he himself had not been swallowed by the wolves of vice before his returning to the Guru), he discovers that he has lost much of his spiritual wealth by going away from the Guru. Becoming wiser, he now busies himself in acquiring the fuel of Sadhana-Chatushtaya, Yama, Niyama, etc. Even while he is in the living presence of his Guru, he lights up the torch of Discrimination. When this torch is lit, darkness does not approach him at all; and the wolves of vices do not trouble him any more. Then is he, really a Yogi and Jivanmukta. The light of the Guru shines forever in and through him.

Excerpts from:

Parable of the Sheep and the Wolf - Parables of Sivananda by Sri Swami Sivananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
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I Centered to God Centered

**Baba Times Digest©

29 April 2014 17:27 EST

New York Edition**

| Testing Our Spiritual Life

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

It is normal in human life that if we put a lot of time and effort into any endeavour, we want to be able to measure our progress. Whether it is studies, professional life, or business, we want to know in some way what our score is, how well we are doing. The same seems to apply to the spiritual life. After we have put in sufficient effort, sufficient time, there is a factor in us that wants to know whether we are getting proper results.

Normally that inclination is discouraged in the spiritual life, and it is discouraged for three reasons. The first reason is scriptural. “Yours is the effort. The result is up to God. Leave it to Him.” The second reason is a very practical one. There is no practical way that we can judge whether we are being freed from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy or whether divine virtues are developing in our heart. If we try to keep score, it will normally be a matter of self-deception. Rather, as Pujya Swami Chidanandaji once said, “From time to time you discover what changes have come about. Sometimes, this can be a pleasant discovery. Sometimes it can be rather a shocking one—some negative factor that you thought had long ago disappeared suddenly comes to life again. Therefore, any judging we do on our progress should be left to discovery rather than to analysis.

But there is a third reason that we’re discouraged from trying to keep score on our spiritual life. And that is that the ultimate spiritual life is at a level deeper than virtues and vices. One teacher has said that there are only two things, finally, in this universe: one is love; the other is fear. This love, of course, is not the normal type of love, but rather a divine love that has no object. It is just love or perhaps more correctly, it is described as universal goodwill. The other factor, fear, is also not fear with an object, but rather an underlying sense of fear that at any moment can light upon an object such as death, old age, ill health, loss of money, security etc. Therefore, in the final analysis the only way our spiritual life can be judged is to the degree that universal goodwill and trust has replaced that nagging feeling of uncertainty or fear in the depths of our being.

How do we bring about this ultimate change? There is no other way than a total letting go and trusting in God. That is why Lord Krishna told us that the only way we can cross samsara is by taking refuge in Him alone. And even more specifically, in the last teaching verse of the Gita, He tells us to abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Him alone.

Therefore, we cannot really judge our spiritual life by normal measurements. Ours is to make the effort; the results are in God’s hands. From time to time we discover whether we have made progress or not, and ultimately the only real test is the degree of total surrender in the depth of our heart, which means that universal love has replaced all fear.

Excerpts from:

Testing Our Spiritual Life - Early Morning Meditation Talk by Swami Atmaswarupananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition or audio CD, visit:
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The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal

**Baba Times Digest©

3 May 2014 20:47 EST

New York Edition**

| The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal

Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Sixteenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda

This discourse is important and very instructive to all persons who wish to attain happiness, prosperity and blessedness, and to seekers in particular, who wish to attain success in their spiritual life. Lord Krishna brings out quite clearly and unmistakably here the intimate connection between ethics and spirituality, between a life of virtue and God-realization and liberation. Listing two sets of qualities of opposite kinds, the Lord classifies them as divine and demoniacal (undivine), and urges us to eradicate the latter and cultivate the divine qualities.

What kind of nature should one develop? What conduct must one follow? What way should one live and act if one must attain God and obtain divine bliss? These questions are answered with perfect clarity and very definitely. The pure divine qualities are conducive to peace and liberation and the undivine qualities lead to bondage. Purity, good conduct and truth are indispensable to spiritual progress and even to an honorable life here.

Devoid of purity, good conduct and truth, and having no faith in God or a higher Reality beyond this visible world, man degenerates into a two-legged beast of ugly character and cruel actions, and sinks into darkness. Such a person becomes his own enemy and the destroyer of the happiness of others as well as his own. Caught in countless desires and cravings, a slave of sensual enjoyments and beset by a thousand cares, his life ultimately ends in misery and degradation. Haughtiness, arrogance and egoism lead to this dire fate. Therefore, a wise person, desiring success, must eradicate vice and cultivate virtue.

In this world three gates lead to hell—the gates of passion, anger and greed. Released from these three qualities one can succeed in attaining salvation and reaching the highest goal, namely God. Thus the sacred scriptures teach wisely the right path of pure, virtuous living. One should therefore follow the injunctions of the sacred scriptures that wish his welfare and be guided in his actions by their noble teachings.

Excerpts from:

The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Sixteenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda

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

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Basic understanding of spirituality

**Baba Times Digest©

2 May 2014 22:37 EST

New York Edition**

| Basic understanding of spirituality

Divine Life Society Publication: From Various Spiritual discourses by Sri Swami Krishnananda

Prejudice

‘Prejudice’ means a state of attitude which has entered into our very blood, and which influences every thought of ours – every feeling, and everything that we do in life. It is at the background of everything that we think and feel and act; that is called prejudice. It has no logical basis. A prejudiced person cannot be logically converted into a new line of thinking because already there is a predisposition to a particular way of thinking, on account of the atmosphere in which one has been brought up.

We must have taken thousands of births, and all the impressions of our thoughts, feelings and actions of millions and millions of births that we have taken add to the prejudice of our thinking, so that what we are thinking today is a cumulative effect of all that we have thought and felt and done in many, many births through which we have passed. But, this prejudice has become a part of our nature. It is not merely a psychological function in the ordinary sense of the term. It is something that cannot be separated from our own skin. Our very existence is a prejudice.

Spirituality

Spirituality is a state of being. Spirituality is not a way of living in the sense of conducting oneself outwardly in relationship to other people, but it is a state of being.

Being and Doing

Being is what we are. Doing is what we try to manifest in order that this being may become more and more complete. We want to expand our being, which we are trying to do by connecting ourself with other beings. Thus, even our doing or our action is only a need felt for expanding our being. Ultimately, being is the truth, not doing, because our doing is only for the sake of being. The necessity of doing arises on account of my not being one with others, and others not being one with me. If I am they, and they are I, the question of doing does not arise because there is nothing to be done. The connection between my being and your being is called action.

There is no such thing as a distinction between being and doing. There is no doing; it is only being moving within itself for its own sake, for its own expansion and intensity. Our activities in life are the attempts we make to come in contact with external realities for the purpose of the expansion of our finite being.

Knowledge and activity (jnana and karma)

The question of whether knowledge is superior or action is superior arises from another question: whether I am one with you, or I am different from you. If I am different from you, really speaking, then action cannot be avoided.

To be spiritual

The attempt at being spiritual is the effort of the deepest reality of our nature to come to manifestation, and to overcome the prejudice of our being in space, time, and causal relationship. That we are in space, time and cause is an error of thought. Even our doing or our action is only a need felt for expanding our being. Thus, ultimately, being is the truth, not doing, because our doing is only for the sake of being.

Aim of spirituality

The consciousness of the totality of Being – not merely an aggregate of particulars, but the real merger of Being – is the aim of spirituality. This consciousness has to be manifest in our action, even when there is activity.

Karma Yoga

When human relationship becomes philosophical, it becomes karma yoga.

Bondage

When human relationship becomes unphilosophical, it becomes passion, desire, a source of bondage. The same movement –, the same fire, the same water, the same sword, the same knife – can work both ways.

Our bondage is psychological and not physical. As the old saying goes, stone walls do not a prison make. A prison does not mean a building with walls, because even a house is a building with walls, but we do not call it a prison. However, we can call it a prison if our mind changes. So bondage is not merely a physical association, but is also a psychological feeling, and ultimately it is a state of consciousness. Subjection to gunas means the subjection of consciousness to the operation of the gunas.

Yoga

When our relationship with things outside is philosophically motivated and intelligently directed with a conscious purpose present in the mind always, never missed at any moment of time, it becomes yoga. All activity is yoga. All relationship is good relationship. Everything is fine and grand and beautiful in this majestic creation of God.

Necessity for a Guru

We cannot know our mistakes, because we have identified ourselves with it. Sometimes Guru’s grace, sometimes God’s blessings come and enlighten us, illumine us. When everything goes wrong, the intellect can detect that something is wrong; but if the intellect itself goes wrong, then who will detect the mistake? When we are on a wrong path, who will find out that we are on the wrong path?

What is ascent and descent

Evolution is not in space and time, because space and time are part of the evolutionary process. We are not moving as a leaf moves in the wind or a train moves on its track. It is not this kind of movement that is meant by evolution. It is a new type of transformation of consciousness that takes place.

To be spiritually awakened is not to be moving in space, up or down, but to bring about a transfiguration within oneself, an evolution consciously brought about within us, a florescence of consciousness itself, something like waking from a state of deep sleep. When we wake up from sleep, we do not move into space, and yet we know the joy felt when waking up from a bad dream. We have not moved in space, not even moved in time; yet, what a vast difference it has made in our life. We have awakened into our own consciousness.

Freedom or liberation

Liberation is a condition of consciousness and not a condition of physicality, materiality or any type of external association. Therefore, the ultimate freedom, which is moksha, being a state of consciousness, should be attained through a gradual ascension from greater states of subjection of consciousness, to lesser states of subjection of consciousness.

Sadhana is the way to moksha. Moksha is freedom from bondage.

If you would like to purchase the print edition or audio CD, 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:

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Meditate on the Name (Namopassva)

1 May 2014 17:36 EST

New York Edition**

| Meditate on the Name (Namopassva)

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 3- The Chhandogya Upanishad by Sri Swami Krishnananda

Life is ultimately all sorrow on account of one being subjected to the process of transmigration. It is a fact that there are higher pressures exerted upon the individual and that these pressures compel one to be driven along the course of creativity. As long as the cause of this pressure is not realized as identical with one’s own Self, one is not going to attain ultimate freedom from samsara, the cycle of metempsychosis. This cause for ultimate freedom is the Self of all, the realization of which bestows true freedom. And that Self is the Universal Reality.

It has been explained through various analogies, comparisons and illustrations as to how there can be only one Being and that every detail in creation is only a form taken by this one Being in the process of creation, so that there is really only one Being and not two, and that Being is the Self, the Atman.

This is done by gradually taking the mind of the student from the lowest reality conceivable to the highest, stage by stage, indicating thereby that nothing is lost when the Absolute is realized. When God is attained, nothing of the world is lost, just as when we catch the original we cannot be said to have lost the shadow. Everything is gained in a supersensible manner. The shadow may be said to be a part of the original. It is included in the original. All the lesser degrees of Reality are only forms of Its manifestation. Every name and form in this creation is a lesser degree of manifestation of the Reality. The lower degree is not excluded from the higher degree, as the higher includes the lower, and the highest is everything and is all-inclusive.

Narada’s grief

Narada, a master, a sage himself, approaches the divine teacher Sanatkumara, the son of Brahma for spiritual instructions and spiritual solace. He expresses his grief over the fact that he knows so many things but does not have peace of mind in spite of all this knowledge.

Narada says: I have heard from other people that a person who knows the Self crosses over sorrow. What is this Self? I am in internal suffering which has not been relieved by my learning and knowledge. I have a lot of information about every art and every science. I do not know the real substance of these arts and sciences. The name is known, but the content is not known to me.”

Source of the sorrow

Every name has a form corresponding to it. If we utter a particular name corresponding to an object, we immediately have an idea of that object. But we do not possess that object merely because we have an idea of that object. So is the case with all this learning. It is only an idea about certain things, but the things themselves are beyond one’s control. So, this theoretical learning has no connection with the Reality. So, Narada is a knower of the mantras, the names, the ideas. He has an intellectual knowledge, theoretical information. He is an expert in understanding the nature of things, but the Self of these things is beyond him. He has not known the Self of these things.

Sanatkumara replies: The source of your sorrow is what is outside you and that is an external self for you. It is not the Primary Self. Thus, the knowledge that you have about these things which you have mentioned just now is not the knowledge of the Self of these things, but the knowledge of the names of these things, the nomenclature of these things. This is what they call theoretical knowledge of the things in the world. I will tell you once again that this is only theory, and therefore, it is not of much consequence in your life, but it has an importance in that it is the beginning of knowledge. Therefore, meditate on ‘name’.

Practice comes after theory

The idea of an object precedes the real knowledge of the object. Unless we have some concept of the object, how can we approach the object at all? Sanatkumara says that it is all ‘name’, because it is the initial step in the process of the ascent of the soul to the Supreme Reality.

The name of an object includes every kind of information about the object. Thus, says Sanatkumara to Narada: “You, first of all, assure yourself that you have a complete knowledge of objects insofar as their name goes. Though beyond that you cannot go, at least within that realm, be a master. You must have a correct descriptive knowledge of these things.”

Knowledge does not mean ignorance of any particular aspect of experience. It is a total comprehension of fact as such. Even bondage has to be known in its true structure. When we are bound, we must know why we are bound. That is real knowledge. You cannot say, “Well, I am not concerned with the stages of bondage, I am concerned with freedom.” What is freedom? It is knowledge of the causative factors behind bondage. The cure of an illness begins with the knowledge of the causative factors of illness behind it and then only the medicine comes.

The first stage of meditation

The lowest degree of knowledge is informative knowledge of objects. So, namopassva—the first stage of meditation—is mentioned here, which is ideological (conceptual). We may call it theoretical. It is the operation of the mind in respect of an object. The object is not under one’s control. It is far away. We have only a thought of the object. But, that is enough for the time being, because we are in that level only. So, we should meditate on the name. We will be taken gradually from stage to stage. When we are taken to a higher stage, what is implied is that the lower stage has already become a part of our own self in deep meditation and experience. It does not remain any more an object outside. When we have become that in self-absorption, then only we can be given access to the realm of a higher degree of reality. We should complete the process of absorbing the contents of our knowledge, to the extent they can go in this world, by deep meditation. This is conceptual meditation.

The principle of meditation

The principle of meditation is this: whatever the object of your meditation be, that has to be taken as absolute. There should not be anything external to it, because if the mind conceives something higher than that particular object, then that higher thing becomes the object of meditation. The point is that the object that you have chosen for your meditation should be the last point of the reach of your mind, beyond which it cannot go. Then it becomes the absolute. So this absolute is only a name that we give to the best possible reach of the mind in any level or degree of experience.

‘Name is Brahman’-this means name is the absolute, inasmuch as we are in a realm of names only. Why should we not take the higher degree as the absolute, and not the lower one? Because the higher one cannot be the content of the mind in its present state. Suppose we are asked to meditate on the heavenly regions. We cannot, because we do not know what it means. The heavenly regions are beyond the reach of the mind. We will only superimpose physical pictures of our imagination on paradise, Brahma-loka, etc. This is not what is intended. We must limit ourselves to the extent of our knowledge, and complete the meditation regarding that particular object as absolute in itself. So, Narada was asked to take ‘name’ as the absolute. The result of this meditation on name is that to the extent name goes—to the extent of the reach of the mind theoretically, conceptually—to that extent, the meditator will be free.

Whoever meditates thus on ‘name’ as Brahman has freedom in this manner, to that extent of, and in that particular realm of, the name only. Narada asks: “Is there not anything more than this?” “Yes, there is something more than this,” replies Sanatkumara.

(To be continued..)

Excerpts from:

Meditate on the Name (Namopassva) - Chapter 3- The Chhandogya Upanishad by Sri Swami Krishnananda

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Is God a person or a personality?

30 April 2014 17:5 EST

New York Edition**

| Is God a person or a personality?

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 20 Concepts of God- Your Questions Answered by Sri Swami Krishnananda

Swedish Visitor A: Are not intelligence and goodness narrow human concepts? How do we know that God is a person or a personality – that He has personal qualities?

SWAMIJI: Whether God is a person or not – this is your question? You see, this is a fairly important question in the study of theologies everywhere, in all religions. All the Semitic religions (Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam) consider God as a Supreme Person, almost identifying Him with the concept of a Supreme Father. “Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,” – that is how the prayer goes. All these descriptions of God imply that He is a large inclusive universal personality. You are asking me whether He is really a personality.

Personality is a human concept. When we talk of personality, we always think of the pattern of human personality. We don’t think of the personality of a lion, or an elephant, and all that. Our thoughts are conditioned by the human way of thinking. Now, is it true that the human way of thinking is the only way of thinking, and there is no other way? A frog also thinks, a reptile thinks, a cow thinks, an elephant thinks. Do you think that their thinking is wrong?

Visitor A: No, I think they are personalities, too.

SWAMIJI: They are personalities, but we don’t think that God is a huge lion. We generally think that God is a huge human form, as big as this universe. The first point about this is that we are thinking like human beings, and it is not necessary that this is the only way of thinking. It may be subject to modification when we evolve further in the process of evolution. Man thinks in one way, a super-man thinks in another way, and it is believed that man has to become a super-man, until he becomes a God-man.

The other point is: what is personality, be it human or otherwise? A person exists in space and time. If space and time are not there, there cannot be personality. A person exists in space; there is space around him, and time also is there. Now, we believe that space and time were created by God, and they were not there prior to God’s existence. We always say that God is first, not that space and time are first. “God created the heaven and the earth,” says the scripture, which means to say He created space and time. If that is the case, God cannot be said to be conditioned by space and time. In other words, He is not in space and time. If He is not in space and time, how will you see Him as a person?

God, thus, is not really a person. He is not in heaven only. We say God is in heaven, but God created the heaven; so, before He created the heaven, where was He? Neither can we say that He is a person, nor can we say that He is in heaven. God is universal, all-comprehensive, infinite Existence. That seems to be the only conclusion we can draw by going deep into the question of the nature of God.

But, for the purpose of devotion, you see otherwise. Man cannot think of infinitude always. The mind is not made up of such potential. We want affection, love, and also response to our affection. An infinite all-pervading, non-spatial, non-temporal Existence cannot evoke our affection so much, just as logic and mathematics cannot evoke our affection. Logic and mathematics are perfect sciences; we accept that, but we cannot love them. Our heart does not go for them, our heart goes to a painting, music, architecture, sculpture, literature, etc. Where our heart is, there our love and our happiness also is. To manifest our love, we require an object. We cannot love the Infinite for obvious reasons. So, we have to consider God as a Supreme Father. Sometimes, in India, people consider Him also as a Supreme Mother.

From our point of view, from the requirement of human nature, there is nothing wrong in thinking that God is a Person, because the Infinite can also appear as a Person, in the same way as a block of stone can appear as a statue by carving. The block of stone does not contain the statue, but it contains a statue potentially. God can be a Person, and yet we need not limit Him to personality. He is rather a Super-Person. This is what I think God must be.

Excerpts from:

Concepts of God - Chapter 20- Your Questions Answered by Sri Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition or audio CD, 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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Testing Our Spiritual Life

29 April 2014 17:27 EST

New York Edition**

| Testing Our Spiritual Life

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

Excerpts from:

Testing Our Spiritual Life - Early Morning Meditation Talk by Swami Atmaswarupananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition or audio CD, 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:

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