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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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Mind–The Barrier between Man and God
Mind–The Barrier between Man and God
| **Baba Times Digest© | 29 March 2014 20:41 EST | New York Edition** |
Mind-The Barrier between Man and God
Divine Life Society Publication: The Mysterious Mind and Its Control by Swami Chidananda
It is universally acknowledged that the mind is the only link between man and the body, and between personality and the external world. Right from childhood man learns everything about the universe through the mind. Senses just feed data to the mind. It is the mind which actually correlates the data and produces knowledge. It therefore provides the most important factor in man’s life. The mind is also the greatest barrier lying between man and the true source of his being. It is the barrier which forever denies him access to the experience of infinitude. It is the limit within which the human being is confined and cramped into the dimensions of a narrow individualized personality. Struggling to expand and go beyond this limited range of consciousness, man is strongly opposed by his finite mind.
To understand, control and finally overcome the barrier of the mind is the most important business in the life of man. The mind has to be overcome. At the back of you there is that Consciousness of a perfect state of being, where no sorrow touches and where there is no fear. There is that unchanging Reality which lies behind the fleeting experience of this phenomenal world, just as there is an immovable screen present behind the flitting, flickering figures of a cinema show - a screen which remains unchanged by the rapid shadow-play cast upon it and remains unaltered even when the play is finished. In the same way, behind all finite experience, there is that changeless, infinite substratum of indescribable pure Being. That is indestructible. That state of changeless imperishability is your true basis. That is your eternal abode. That is a state of freedom, fearlessness and joy - and that is blocked off from you by the barrier of the mind.
It is in a very peculiar way that the mind acts as a barrier and blocks off man’s access to the Supreme. Infact, it does not actually lie between you and the supernal experience and it does not prevent from finding the access. You are actually nearer to that Consciousness than the mind. That supernal experience is represented by the innermost core of your being and the mind is a barrier in the sense that it draws you outside and ever keeps you away from that Centre. It ever entices you to remain on the surface, in the shallows, forbidding you to go down into the depths of your innermost being. Through its desires, its outgoing tendencies and its constant habit of objectification, the mind draws you away from your Center, channeling your being into multifarious names and forms that constitute the external universe. This is the way the mind acts. It distracts you from your true conscious Center and scatters you amidst the externals.
Excerpts from:
Mind-The Barrier Between Man and God - The Mysterious Mind and Its Control by Swami Chidananda
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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The Yoga of The Divine Glories
The Yoga of The Divine Glories by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 28 March 2014 16:49 EST | New York Edition** |
The Yoga of The Divine Glories
Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Tenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
Krishna tells Arjuna that even the Devas and highly evolved souls fail to understand how He projects Himself as the universe and all its manifestations. He goes on to describe the various qualities that beings manifest according to their Karmas. All these qualities—wisdom, truth, contentment, etc.—originate from Him.
The true devotees of the Lord are wholly absorbed in Him. They have completely surrendered to Him and through single-minded devotion they are granted the power of discrimination, the discrimination that leads them from the unreal to the Real. Krishna emphatically declares that ignorance is destroyed and knowledge gained through Divine Grace alone.
Arjuna accepts the descent of the Supreme in a human form, but wishes to know from the Lord Himself His Cosmic powers by means of which He controls the diverse forces of the universe. The Lord describes His Divine glories, bringing within the range of Arjuna’s comprehension His limitless manifestations, and how He upholds everything. In short, the Lord is the Almighty Power that creates, sustains and destroys everything.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga of the Divine glories - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Seventh Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
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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Subject vs Object
Subject vs Object
| **Baba Times Digest© | 28 March 2014 09:30 EST | New York Edition** |
Subject vs Object
It is very interesting to note the intricate connections between Special Theory of Relativity and the philosophies from the six technical terms defined in Gita Ch 8, namely Adhi-Atma, Adhi-bhuta, Adhi-daiva. These three also form fundamental concepts in samkhya philosophy.
The Special Theory of Relativity describes the variations in the Universe as observed by two different observers who are moving at different speeds compared to the universe or object of observation. A typical example is when an astronaut (travelling in a spaceship) flashes a light on a mirror in the ceiling and the reflected light strikes the floor after reflection. He will see the see light going straigth up and coming down. But an observer on the Ground will see the light taking a diagonal path upwards and downwards. So obviously the length of the path of the light has increased for the ground observer. To keep speed of light constant the time on the ship must have been moving slow compared to ground observer (means the spaceship traveller will age slowly). So everyone of us see space and time differently. So space and time are connected as one continum. Object moving at high speeds experience space contraction and time dilation (compared to slow moving observers) So what is really real?
Samkhya describes the three aspects in any perception, the seer, seen and the process of seeing. The process of seeing is the connecting link that has the characteristics of both the conciousness and matter and that is why it is able to connect the two different realms the knowing principle and the matter itself (the connecting link is both transcendent and immanent). As everything including fundamental matter has a part of ‘conciousness’ because of its original relationsship (from which it came) to Absolute Reality which is made up of Consiuousness and Existence only. The process of seeing or the connecting principle is the only fundamental unchanging background of all, which can see the Universe as it is, everything or everybody else only observes a changing and incorrect universe. The connecting principle is pervading everywhere and at all times (is infinite and eternal, here infinte does not mean a vast space but means no space at all !). It has to be everywhere as perceptions and comprehensions are possible everywhere we are located. When it exists as one thing only, there is no space as space is nothing but an ether created by two different things separated. The subjectiveness and objectiveness are connected by a ‘Knowing Principle’ which is a third entity that ‘knows’ the Universe as it in its fundamental realistic nature which is nothing but pure existence and conciousness (Sat-Chit) and this state leads to bliss (anand). So the untimate reality is Sat-Chit-Ananda. When you become and observe the universe from the position of the connecting principle or Sat-Chit-Ananda, you will not see the universe as it will be you only without any manifestations ! It is like ‘thought’ thinking itself only, eyes seeing itself only.
All these concepts and ideas, are derived from our Beloved Swamiji Krishnanandaji’s (Divine Life Society) writings and speeches. Hari Om Guruji, pranams !
(This is the personal opinion of the writer and may not be accurate and / or may not represent any other materials)
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Total Thought and Meditation
Total Thought and Meditation by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 27 March 2014 17:20 EST | New York Edition** |
Total Thought and Meditation
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter4: Your Questions Answered by Swami Krishnananda
What is meditation?
Meditation is an integration of consciousness. It is not a routine or a ritual and has no connection with any scripture. It is not a religious exercise belonging to some religion. It is an opening of yourself to the final realities of life. It is an impersonal act on the part of yourself, wherein you lift up your consciousness to recognition of the fact that you are a temporary sojourning entity into eternity.
You have come from a larger realm, and will enter into the same realm after some time, which will indicate gradually that your existence has a kind of cosmic sweep. From plane to plane you have journeyed in your millions of incarnations. This is only a temporary form that the cosmic form has taken due to some karma, some pressure of circumstance. We are ultimately, in what we call a spiritual sense, only forces of Nature which have concentrated themselves in certain space-time points, looking like individuals. This is how self-analysis has to be carried on. When you think along these lines, you will find that your mind becomes “total” instead of fragmentary.
You always think of something other than yourself. It is taken for granted by the mind that what you are thinking is something different from yourself. So, every thought of every person is directed towards something which is assumed to be totally different from the process of thinking. This is a mistake.
You cannot even think unless all the atmospheric conditions of the cosmic condition are involved in the very process of thinking. When you think, it looks as if you are thinking like a cosmic being, because your mind is connected to all the circumstances through which you have passed in all your various incarnations.
Everyone is related to you in some way or other through the circumstance of some incarnation, some birth or other. This is why they say that the world is a single family. Like the various branches of a tree coming forth from the root, all these manifestations and forms of existence have come out from One Root.
We don’t do meditation merely for doing it. There can be benefit only if your thoughts are harmonious with reality. If you dichotomise your thought from the reality of the world and consider it as an external object, then it will be finite thinking, and finite thinking will produce only finite results. So, total thinking, is called meditation. All the thoughts of everyone and of everything will be comprehended within the total grasp of your mind in this act.
How to Meditate
Your mind has to consciously, vitally, involve in itself the object which it is thinking; otherwise, you cannot even be conscious of the object. The very fact that you are conscious of some object outside you implies that it has already entered the mind. It has become part and parcel of your consciousness. Now, here is the technique of total thinking. You cannot think the object unless you accept that it is a part of your thought itself. Thus, the thinker is not an individual. It is something in between the object and the so-called subject. It is a connecting link, transcendent.
Adhyatma, Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva
In our ancient scriptures we use words like adhyatma, adhibhuta, adhidaiva, etc. Adhyatma is the thinking subject; adhibhuta is the object, but we don’t know anything else. We think only two things. I am here and I am seeing and thinking something else. But you cannot think something else unless there is a connecting link of consciousness between you and the other object. The thinker is actually that connecting link. That is called adhidaiva, the superintending divinity. So, who is the meditator?
You are not meditating, because if you consider yourself as the meditator, you cut yourself off from the object. But I mentioned to you that you cannot cut off your consciousness from any object, inasmuch as, unless it is involved in that object, thinking is not possible. So this involvement-consciousness is a transcendent consciousness which is above both you and the object. It is a very subtle thing, and very difficult to catch that little crux of the matter.
You transfer your consciousness, as it were, to the middle connection, transfer your consciousness to the center where you contemplate both sides, as if the body is thinking of two hands. This is the subject and this is the object, but the thinker of both is the body; so you are not one person thinking of another thing. Meditation does not mean thinking of an object; it is transference of consciousness from the subjectivity of yours and from the objectivity of the object to a central point which is transcendent to both. That is the divinity which is called Ishtadevata. You contemplate like this. This is what they call total thinking, and this is the essence of meditation.
Difference between total thought and meditation
They are the same thing. Total thought means a perfect form of thought, and meditation means the same thing. It is a total thought, not little bits of thinking, one thing at a time. Generally, we think little things, but that is not correct thinking because when you think something, you exclude something else. You should exclude nothing and include all things in your thought; then it becomes a total thought. It is something like God-thought. That is the perfect form of thinking. Then you will have no troubles from the mind afterwards. There will be cooperative forces working together. If you exclude something, that something which you exclude will not cooperate with you. That is why troubles arise.
Excerpts from:
Total Thought and Meditation - Your Questions Answered by 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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Mind Is a Marvel
Mind Is a Marvel by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 25 March 2014 16:43 EST | New York Edition** |
Mind Is a Marvel
Divine Life Society Publication: The Mysterious Mind and Its Control by Swami Chidananda
In the East, the Yogic masters, rose beyond the mind through processes of Yoga, and totally separated themselves from the mind and all its associated functions, and from that point of vantage, untouched by the mind, and entirely free from influence of its habitual patterns of thought, patiently studied its essential, inherent nature and its behavior. They beheld it in the light of a tangible and higher spiritual experience upon which they were established, and from where the mind was seen to be a distinct object apart from the seer, a thing to be observed and studied.
Mystery of the mind
Vegetation is entirely unconscious of itself and its environment, knowing nothing about the soil in which it grows, about the winds blowing above it, about the water soaking it. In man alone, there is some miraculous factor which gives him an immediate perception of his surroundings, and simultaneously gives him the ability to develop knowledge out of which new ideas are created for himself. This phenomenon is the mystery of human life. It is the mystery of the mind.
If you are in possession of this amazing mental faculty, wherever you go, knowledge opens its doors to you; whereas, deprived of this faculty, you are just like a pebble or a stone or a cabbage. When you go into sleep, and as soon as the mind is absorbed, you ‘lose’ all practical knowledge and become like a block of stone or a piece of wood. The moment the mind starts its activity once again, the whole miraculous motion involved in life begins anew.
Mind – a boon or a bane
What is this mysterious thing that makes so much difference to our being by its activity and its non-activity, by its projection and its withdrawal? Man is all too unconscious and ignorant of this inner marvel of his own mind. Who gives thought to thought? A total change is brought about in that personality in whom the mental functions go out of order. Such a person loses his importance and even his ‘individuality’.
The faculty of the mind is the greatest gift that God has bestowed upon the individual soul. Human nature consists of the mind, but unfortunately, the mind can be the greatest single curse as well. Everyone knows from experience how the mind can plague man at the pinnacle of God’s creation and is indispensable to his life in this framework of earthly existence.
The State of mind
Now, we see that happiness or unhappiness is totally a question of the state of mind. Passion, unlimited desires and uncontrolled impulses are the unmaking of an individual. They lower the state of mind, and total loss of peace, terrific agitation and intense restlessness are the result. All this is experienced as pain, sorrow and suffering. Such mental experiences make man miserable no matter what other benefits God may have bestowed upon him. There is, therefore, a purpose in trying to understand the mind and in making proper use of it. The mind is designed as an instrument. Thought is, itself, your happiness and misery; your heaven or your hell. Thought can either make you or ruin you. When the thought process is ultimately stopped, life comes to an end. Thus, thought is life.
Thought and Mind
Mind and thought are not two different things. If a person is able to stop thought temporarily or permanently, then temporarily or permanently, mind ceases to be for him. If this were ever to happen by itself, the person would be ruined, but if it were done deliberately and scientifically, then he would become the master of the whole universe. Total and complete stoppage of all mental activity by complete mastery over the mind immediately gives man the experience of his True Being. When the mind is totally eradicated, then the experience of what you really are becomes your very own. You rest and have your existence in your Self.
Mind is a powerful instrument
Man’s consciousness is never as it essentially is. The mind clouds it over and acts as the barrier, as the obstruction, to the play of Pure Consciousness which is your true being. You should consider mind as an instrument, for when its behavior and its functions are understood, you can use it as the greatest power that God has given. When it is not properly understood, when nothing about its control is known, then you are just a plaything in the hands of the mind. You should recognize yourself as the master of the mind; otherwise you will fall into the error of regarding yourself as a thinking machine. You are not a thinking machine. You are the thinker - the independent director and controller of this thinking machine called mind. If you do not realize this, you become enslaved by the mind. As the mind is inclined, so are you propelled. You are not at peace. You are tossed like a piece of cork on the surface of stormy waters. Instead of using the mind, you become helpless. This must not be.
Excerpts from:
Mind Is a Marvel - The Mysterious Mind and Its Control by Swami Chidananda
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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor(dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Concentration
Concentration by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 25 March 2014 17:14 EST | New York Edition** |
Concentration
Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga and Meditation by Swami Krishnananda
Concentration is of three forms.
A. Concentration on External Points:
The mind is accustomed to think of external objects only; so, it would be dangerous to suddenly cut off the mind from external objects. You should not try to concentrate on internal centers in the beginning of your practice.
You must pick an external object that you have an interest in; that you have a love for. Believers in God usually try to concentrate on an external picture or symbol of God. You may keep a portrait of Lord Krishna or Jesus Christ in front of you, and gaze at the picture with open eyes. Where the eyes are, there the mind also is. You are not looking merely at a painted picture, but at a symbol of a living personality. So, when you gaze at a picture of Christ or Krishna, you immediately feel in your mind the qualities that these personalities were endowed with.
After three or four minutes of gazing at the picture, close your eyes and mentally imagine the picture. Concentrate on the form you saw. Continue this internal concentration as long as your mind is not disturbed. If, after a few minutes of closed-eyes meditation, you feel that the mind is wandering, then again open the eyes and look at the picture. After, again, gazing the picture for a few minutes, close the eyes again to habituate the mind to internal meditation.
Practice this process for a few months until you can concentrate without a picture. When you can concentrate, merely by closing the eyes, on the form of the portrait, without the external support of a painted picture, you have achieved the first success in meditation.
Feel that this internal picture is not merely in one place, but is in every place. When you begin to feel a uniform presence in all places, the mind ceases from all distraction. The other method to bring about this harmony of mental perception is to think of the vast space. Inasmuch as space is everywhere, you try to concentrate on all directions at one time. You can also concentrate on the light of the sun pervading the whole space. Or you can concentrate on the vast ocean which is everywhere. You can gaze at the flame of a candle or a dot on the wall.
When you gain success in this, you can change your object of concentration; you will have such mastery of mind that you can concentrate on any object. The purpose of this concentration is to make the mind think only of one thing, and not think anything else. So, ultimately, it matters little what object you choose for concentration if the purpose is served, i.e. to think only of that thing and nothing else.
When you are accustomed to this external meditation, you can turn to internal meditation.
B. Concentration on Internal Points:
Internal meditation means concentration on certain centers (Chakras) of the body. The most important and most favorable Chakras (for beginners) in meditation are the Chakra between the eyebrows, and the Chakra in the heart.
In the waking state, the mind functions in the brain, in the dream state it works near the throat, and in deep sleep it goes to the heart. In deep, objectless meditation also the mind goes to the heart. So, the ultimate purpose of internal meditation is to bring the mind to the heart. This is done in three stages: the mind comes from the external object to the head (i.e. the center between the eyebrows), then the mind comes to the heart. Meditation on the point between the eyebrows is in two stages:
(1) external gaze at the center of eyebrows, and
(2) to close the eyes and think of the spot alone (as a spot of light). Slowly, you begin to feel that the mind descends from the head through the throat to the heart. When you do this, you will fall asleep if you are careless. You must do this with caution and alertness; otherwise you will sleep and mistake it for meditation.
The other method of internal meditation is to directly meditate on the heart. You can imagine a blossoming lotus in the heart, or the light of the rising sun in the heart. The best form of meditation on the heart is to feel consciousness as seated there. From this internal point of meditation on consciousness in the heart, you can slowly proceed to the universal.
C. Concentration on the Universal:
Just as Consciousness is in your heart, it is in the heart of everybody. Try to meditate on this Consciousness as present everywhere, in everything (outside and inside) uniformly. This is the absolute form of meditation, i.e., the Supreme State.
To help achieve this Universal State by Meditation, you can chant Om (Pranava) in a methodical manner. There are three types of OM chanting :
- short - about one second, i.e. 30 in 30 seconds;
- middle - each chant for five seconds, i.e. 6 chants in 30 seconds;
- long - each chant for fifteen seconds, i.e. 2 chants in 30 seconds.
The elongated process is the best form of chanting. It makes the cells of the body subside in their activities; the nervous system becomes calm. You need not take any tranquilizers. If you are disturbed, chant this elongated way for fifteen minutes. The whole system will become calm and quiet. When you chant like this, feel also that you are expanding slowly into the Cosmos.
OM is not merely a sound that we make, but a symbol of a Universal Vibration. This is really the Vibration that was made at the beginning of the creation of the world. This Universal Vibration (of creation) is the controlling force behind everything in the world. So, when you chant OM and create this Vibration in your system, you set yourself in tune with the Vibration of the Cosmos. The Forces of the Universe begin to enter into your body; you will feel strong and energetic; your hunger and thirst will decrease; you will feel absolute happiness even if you have nothing (i.e. no material possessions) and are absolutely alone, unknown and unseen by people. You will have no desire for anything in the world, because you have become one with all things.
When you become the friend of the Universal Forces, then the world will take care of you in times of difficulty, and you will have no fear from anywhere. Then it is that, you become a Saint or a Sage. In this state, if you have any desire, it will be immediately fulfilled, because you have become the friend of all Forces in the world. In this state of Ecstasy of Bliss, great Saints sing and dance (because they possess everything in the world). Here it is that you will realize that you are a Child of God. God Himself will perpetually take care of you and you will have no fear, just as the son of a King has no fear because the King protects him always and everywhere in the kingdom.
Excerpts from:
Concentration – Yoga and Meditation by 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor(dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
Harmony
Harmony by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 24 March 2014 16:48 EST | New York Edition** |
Harmony
Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga and Meditation – Practical Techniques by Swami Krishnananda
To bring the mind to the state of awareness of meditation, stability or harmony has to be practiced in every walk of life. Harmony is of various grades.
- You must be harmonious in your relationship with other people in the world. You should be friendly; you should have no hatred towards anyone. You should not harm or deceive anyone. You should not steal or appropriate what does not belong to you. You should have no disgust for any person or thing; you should have affection for all persons and things. All this constitutes harmony in outer relationship with the society and the world. You should not take from the world more than what you have given to it by your service.
- You must be harmonious within your own personality. The human individual is often out of balance with himself. You should take care of the minimal needs of the body: e.g. cleanliness, a bath regularly, to eat only when you are. Treat your body as your friend. Live in ventilated places; breathe fresh air; spend at least two hours a day in open air. Adopt simple living and high thinking.
- You must have harmony of muscles and the nervous system. We are generally in a state of restless activity and agitation. So we are asked to practice Asanas or physical postures, for the stability of the body. Though for the health of the body you may practice many Asanas, you should sit in one Asana alone for meditation. By staying in one, single, steady, comfortable posture, you bring about a harmony in the nervous system and the muscles.
Why is this posture prescribed? Because some energy, you may call it electric power, is generated in the body when the mind is concentrated in meditation. Now, if the extremities of the body are left open, the electricity that is produced in meditation will leak out. So, the purpose of posture is to lock up the fingers and the toes so that there is a circulation of energy throughout the body, and there is no leakage of energy outside. Also, to prevent leakage, you are asked to sit on some nonconductor of electricity, e.g. deer skin or mat, not an iron seat (that will give you a shock). Sit there, locking the fingers and toes, and keeping the spine, neck and head erect, in one straight line. If you cannot sit straight in the beginning, sit straight leaning your back against a wall.
- Bring the breathing process, Prana, into harmony. Pranayama is a normal state of breathing. Usually we are not in a normal state of breathing. And we are not happy when we breathe disharmoniously. The Pranas are disturbed because you long for objects in the world. And to desire an object is to be out of tune with the law of the universe, because the object is not outside the law of the universe; the object is an integral, vital part of the cosmos. So, when you imagine anything is outside, consciousness is disturbed, agitated, unhappy. So, this harmony is achieved not merely by control of breathing through the nose, but by reduction of desires. If you entertain too many desires in your mind, Pranayama will be useless, or may be even harmful. A person with no control over desires should not practice Pranayama. First, you must be ethical and moral in your conduct.
In the beginning, do not practice technical methods (like alternate breathing); just practice normal inhalation and exhalation. Take in a slow, full, deep breath and exhale slowly. Generally, you do not take a slow, deep breath, you take a fast, shallow breath.
The purpose of Pranayama is to reduce the rate of breathing. And, when the Prana becomes calm by this process of slow breathing, the mind also becomes calm. The Prana is connected with the mind. When the Prana is reduced in its activity, the mind is also reduced in its activity. Between the Prana and the mind are the senses. The senses are the meeting point between the Prana and the mind. The senses become active, whether the Prana works or the mind works.
- So, the fifth harmony is the control of the activity of the senses. The senses cannot be controlled so long as you live in the midst of attractive objects. So, in the beginning stages of Yoga practice, you should try to live for at least some time in a year in such places where objects are not tempting to the senses. This is the reason why seekers of Truth try to live in Ashrams, monasteries or secluded places. When you try gradually to abstain from sense indulgence, by living in such holy atmospheres, the senses get automatically subdued. As the senses are in contact with the mind, control of the senses also involves a little control of the mind.
When the mind is accustomed to a life of seclusion and solitariness, and the senses do not ask for tempting objects, you are ready for concentration and meditation. This is really the field of Yoga. All the stages earlier are only preparatory. From concentration onwards is proper Yoga.
- Now, concentration is of three forms: Concentration on External Points, Concentration on Internal Points, Concentration on the Universal.
(to be continued…)
Excerpts from:
Concentration – Yoga and Meditation by 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor(dlsusa.org@gmail.com)
The Yoga of The Kingly Science & The Kingly Secret
Spiritual Message for the Day – The Yoga of The Kingly Science & The Kingly Secret by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 23 March 2014 16:10 EST | New York Edition** |
The Yoga of The Kingly Science & the Kingly Secret
Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Ninth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
Observing that Arjuna was a qualified aspirant and endowed with faith, Krishna declares to him the sovereign knowledge and sovereign secret that is to be known by direct experience. He adds that without faith in this knowledge man fails to reach God and is reborn to suffer.
Now the Lord proceeds to describe His nature as the eternal, all-comprehensive Truth. He is everything that is invisible and visible. He pervades everything that exists. He creates everything, sustains everything, and when final dissolution takes place, absorbs everything into Himself. He manifests them again when the next creation begins. All beings who are ignorant of this knowledge are caught helplessly in the cycle of birth and death. In the midst of this creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe, the Lord stands as a silent witness, unaffected and unattached. He is the sole director, sustainer and supervisor of His Cosmic Prakriti.
Ignorant beings are not able to recognize the Lord in one who has realized Him. Although these cruel beings assume a human form, their nature is that of demons. The God-realized Mahatma, on the other hand, is a man of knowledge, and perceives Him indwelling all beings and creatures. He beholds the underlying unity of existence in all names and forms.
The Lord’s divine protection is assured to all those who take refuge in Him. Whatever path a devotee follows, he ultimately reaches Him. He is the goal of the various methods of spiritual practice. Devotion, Sri Krishna emphasizes, is the essence of all spiritual discipline. If this supreme element is present, then the devotee is freed from bondage. The Lord observes the motive and degree of devotion. Even the most sinful and diabolical man, if he takes a radical turn towards the path of righteousness and truth, reaches the Lord. Whatever vocation one follows, one can attain the Lord if one seeks earnestly and with loving devotion. The essential thing is to fix the mind on the Lord and dedicate everything unto Him—one’s body, mind, actions, emotion and will.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga of the Kingly Science & the Kingly Secret - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Seventh Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition or audio CD, 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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Day-To-Day Practice
Day-To-Day Practice by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 22 March 2014 13:32 EST | New York Edition** |
Day-To-Day Practice
Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga and Meditation by Swami Krishnananda
This is almost a complete outline of the essentials of the practice of Yoga. But, when you actually begin to practice it, you will find it is very difficult. So, you have to be very honest in your pursuit. Swami Sivananda taught us that Sadhana has three prongs, like a Trisula (trident):
- A Daily Routine of Practice. Have a fixed procedure of practice every day. One must keep fixed hours and discipline his personality. In daily routine, three items should be very important:
- JAPA - chanting some Mantra over and over to maintain the same consciousness (this is often useful when meditation is difficult);
- STUDY - reading scriptures or texts on Yoga, e.g. Upanishads, Bhagavadgita, The Sermon on the Mount, The Imitation of Christ;
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MEDITATION - should be performed at a fixed time and in a fixed place every day (you should not change the place); face the same direction daily (either the East or the North) and sit in the same Asana (i.e. posture) every day.
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An Annual Resolve. Vow to give up bad habits like harming or hurting others, telling lies, and incontinence; these three must be given up (slowly) by degrees. Ahimsa, Satya, Brahmacharya are to be practiced. If you break this resolve, you should fast one day. Because of the fear of fasting, you will be careful not to break the vow.
- A Spiritual Diary. When you go to bed every night you should review what you have done since morning. This diary may consist of questions you may ask yourself, e.g. “How many times have I forgotten God today?” “Did I get angry today?” etc.
With these methods, you can take to serious Sadhana, or practice of Yoga. And when your efforts are followed with earnestness of purpose, you shall achieve success in this very life.
Excerpts from:
Day-To-Day Practice – Yoga and Meditation by 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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Negative Check and Positive Approach
Negative Check and Positive Approach by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 21 March 2014 17:55 EST | New York Edition** |
Negative Check and Positive Approach
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 73 The Study and Practice of Yoga by Swami Krishnananda
The principles and disciplines of yama and niyama are regarded in yoga as unconditional and absolute. There is no limitation of these principles either by circumstances, or by time factors, or by the location of one’s existence. That is the meaning of these principles being absolute.
The disciplines of yoga are called mahavrata, the great vows, are universally applicable, under every condition and to every student of yoga – there is no exception at all. Such a rigid prescription is made for the purpose of protecting oneself from possible encounters of forces which are undesirable.
_ Pratipaksa bhavana _ or the counterposing attitude
This vow of yama and niyama, is unconditioned by species, by space, place, time and occasion or circumstance. When there is an inclination to violate these principles due to the common weakness of human nature, one should contemplate the feeling of the opposite. One has to guard oneself in the beginning itself by the practice of continuous pratipaksa bhavana or the counter- posing attitude, even when the inclination towards the opposite has not arisen. We cannot check ourselves when we are already under subjection of an impulse. This is a kind of daily sadhana that is prescribed.
Pratipaksa bhavana is not merely a negative substitution method. It is a method of developing a positive attitude, such as love instead of hatred. It is not thinking of non-hatred, but of love. So we need not think of non-killing. The point is the positive aspect of it that when there is a fraternity of feeling and affection and love, which is the movement of the mind in the direction of a unity of things – when that arises in the mind, the substitution is already adopted.
How can this pratipaksa bhavana be entertained in the mind?
One has to contemplate the consequences of one’s actions. At the time of the impulse manifesting itself into an action, the consequences are forgotten because the impulse takes a stand at that given moment of time on a particular aspect of the experience only, and completely ignores the other aspects. We are not bothered about what will happen afterwards. The mind will not allow us to think like that because if it does, the impulse will get weakened. Hence, the vehemence of the impulse mainly depends upon the restriction of the impulse to a particular mood and emotion, completely oblivious of consequences. The consequences should be deeply pondered over.
What are the consequences of a wrong deed?
A wrong is that which is contrary to the law of Truth itself. If a wrong is really a wrong, against the law of nature, there is no such thing as doing it behind a screen, because nature is within and without. It is all-pervading, and so it will set up a reaction in its own way at a particular time. The consequences of a wrong deed are what are known as the nemesis of karma; the retribution law begins to operate. It can operate in our own personality, it can operate in society, or it can operate in a future birth. It can be in any place, at any time, and in any manner whatsoever.
If it is a purely physical violence that we have committed against our own body due to overeating or overindulgence of any type, the retribution will be in the form of a physical illness and a diminution of physical vitality. If it is something connected with other people, which is social in principle, it will have a reaction from society. But if it is a subtle thing which cannot be observed easily, and a secret wrongdoing has been projected by the mind against what we call natural justice and law, the retribution may follow in a future birth, or it may be even in this very birth if the wrong is very intense.
Sometimes we may not say it, but we are pleased by the outcome, which too is wrong. Somebody’s pain cannot cause us pleasure. Even a thought in this direction is subject to this law. As a matter of fact, thought is real action. Actions which are wrong – either done, or caused to be done, or approved indeed have their painful consequences. Let one contemplate this truth every day.
Ignorance is the cause
These wrongs are done due to the impulses of greed, anger and infatuation. The impulses arise on account of the absence of knowledge or wisdom. Knowing that these impulses have arisen on account of ignorance, greed, anger and confusion of thought and, therefore, knowing what will follow from this attitude and action, one should refrain from wrongdoing.
The consequences that follow are either mild, mediocre or intense, according to the nature of the action. It makes no difference whether actions are knowingly done or unknowingly done – nature will observe them. Ignorance of it is no excuse. If we did not know it, then we will know it hereafter.
What follows in the end?
Great sorrow follows because a wrongdoing produces a samskara in the mind, and we become susceptible to doing it, and then repeating it. Once we have done it, the mind develops an inclination towards the repetition of that action. Just as a river inclines towards a depth, we will be inclined towards this action. Any habit that is repeated becomes second nature, and we become that. Then we need not contemplate doing it; we will be forced to do it.
Intellectual inhibition of these vrittis may not succeed always when there is an emotional pressure from behind on account of the samskara_s already ingrained in the mind due to the action that has been perpetrated. Hence, endless pain will be the result if a proper check is not imposed upon the _vrittis at the proper time, in the proper measure.
Ignorance will also get thickened by the repetition of these deeds because the knowledge of right, or rectitude of righteousness, will get obscured by a continuous perpetration of these actions. What conscience has a tiger when it pounces upon a cow? It is acting upon its instinct, which is its own nature. Likewise, this impulse will become one’s own nature, like the animals, and there is no question of checking it afterwards.
Instincts are the vehemence with which the personality acts or reacts on the basis of a total ignorance of the ultimate law of things. A habit is the seed that we sow for a vicious circle. However much we may try to escape from it, we will not succeed, because habit is nothing but a natural inclination of our whole personality.
How can we change an inclination which is our own nature?
This pratipaksa bhavana method should be practiced every day with a positivity of background behind it rather than making it merely a negative check that is imposed upon the instinct. Though in the beginning it looks like a negative check, later on it should become a positivity of approach– leading to an understanding of the unitary nature of things. Love is positive, while non-hatred may be regarded as its negative aspect. It is not enough if we merely not hate, or if there is only an absence of hatred; there should be also positivity, which means to say there should be affection. Even if we do not do harm, we may not be doing any good. This ‘not doing any good’ may produce, one day or the other, a tendency to do harm, because we cannot keep the mind blank.
In the beginning, the pratipaksa bhavana, which is initially a negative check, is a necessary prescription for the purpose of enabling us to develop the higher qualities of affection, love, and a total positivity of approach in everything. As a positive approach is more difficult than a negative one, the pratipaksa bhavana method is prescribed first. The intention of this substitution is ultimately sublimation, not opposition. We are counterposing the vritti by another vritti which is just the opposite of it.
Afterwards more positive, educative methods have to be adopted in respect of that instinct because the instinct, or the impulse, is nothing but we ourselves moving in a wrong direction. What we call the instinct is nothing but we ourselves moving through space and time towards an object of sense, either in love or hatred. One can control anything, but not oneself. Hence, we can imagine how hard this effort is. Therefore we are asked to contemplate – unremittingly – the virtues, or the aspects of righteousness, which are necessary to divert these undesirable vrittis along the channels of those contemplative features which are the characteristics of the ultimate goal of life.
Excerpts from:
Negative Check and Positive Approach – Chapter 73 The Study and Practice of Yoga by 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor(dlsusa.org@gmail.com)