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The Yoga of Meditation
The Yoga of Meditation by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 13 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
The Yoga of Meditation
Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Sixth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
Sri Krishna emphasizes once again that the Yogi or Sannyasin is one who has renounced the fruits of actions, not the actions themselves. The performance of actions without an eye on their fruits brings about the purification of the mind. Only a purified mind, a mind free from desires, can engage itself in constant meditation on the Atman. Desire gives rise to imagination or Sankalpa, which drives the soul into the field of action. Therefore, none can realize permanent freedom and tranquility of mind without renouncing desires.
The lower self must be controlled by the higher Self. All the lower impulses of the body, mind and senses must be controlled by the power of the higher Self. Then the higher Self becomes one’s friend. He who has perfect control of the body, mind and senses and is united with God, sees God in all objects and beings. He sees inwardly that there is no difference between gold and stone, between friends and enemies, between the righteous and the unrighteous. He is perfectly harmonized.
Sri Krishna proceeds to give various practical hints as to the practice of meditation. The aspirant should select a secluded spot where there is no likelihood of disturbance. He should arrange his meditation seat properly and sit in a comfortable posture, with the head, neck and spine erect but not tensed. He should fix his purified mind on the Atman by concentrating between the eyebrows or on the tip of the nose.
The practice of Brahmacharya is absolutely necessary if one is to succeed in meditation. The conservation and transformation of the vital fluid into spiritual energy gives immense power of concentration. Fearlessness, too, is an essential quality on the Godward path. It is faith in the sustaining protection and Grace of God.
The aspirant is advised to practice moderation in his daily habits—in eating, sleeping, recreation, etc. Extremes are to be avoided as they hinder the practice of meditation. Living a life of such moderation, and gathering up all his forces and directing them towards meditation upon the Atman, the aspirant gradually transcends the senses and intellect and merges himself in the blissful Atman. He finds that the bliss of the Atman is incomparable, that there is no gain greater than the Self. Having thus attained perfect union with the Self, the Yogi no more descends into ignorance or delusion. He does not relish any more the pleasures of the senses.
Lord Krishna again emphasizes that the concentration of the mind on the Atman should be like a steady flame in a windless place. This ultimately leads to the vision of the Lord in all beings and creatures. Arjuna is doubtful whether it is at all possible to engage the mind steadily on the higher Self, as its very nature seems to be one of restlessness. Krishna assures him that the practice can succeed through Vairagya (dispassion) and constant effort.
Arjuna wishes to know the fate of the aspirant who fails to realize the Supreme in spite of his faith and sincerity. Krishna tells him that the accumulated power of his Yogic practices will assure him a better birth in the future, with more favorable conditions for Sadhana. The aspirant will then be compelled to carry on his Yogic practices with greater vigor and faith and will finally achieve God-realization.
Krishna concludes that the Yogi—one who has attained union with the Supreme Lord—is superior to the ascetics, to the men of book knowledge and the men of action, as the latter have not transcended ignorance and merged in the Self.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga of Meditation - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Sixth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
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From The Universal to The Universal
From The Universal to The Universal by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 12 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
From The Universal to The Universal
Divine Life Society Publication: - Seek The Beyond by Swami Chidananda
“The first jnana I want to give you is: This life is only a journey. You have come here; you don’t belong here. You are on a journey, and at the end of the journey you will have to leave and go. So nothing is really yours here. Nor do you belong here. This is the First truth.
“The second truth is that when a person is on a journey, they usually have a destination to reach. What destination have you set for yourself? Think of it! Your destination cannot be anything here for the simple reason that you do not belong here. If you reach any destination here, it will be here and you will go elsewhere. So you can reap no permanent benefit from whatever secular, temporal, worldly, earthly goal that you set for yourself—no matter how great it may be.
It may even be something as comprehensive as banning the use of nuclear weapons, something upon which the fate of all humanity on planet Earth hangs. It may be something as big as the United Nations or the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. All these things are trivial, for the simple reason that none of them can be your real goal; because no matter what you achieve here you will go empty-handed. You came empty-handed, you’ll go empty-handed. Therefore, think!
“Third truth: All these important things—that there is no proper provision in India today for the youth and that you must do something about it—is based on the egoistical feeling that there is a you and that you can do something.
“Look here, this world has been going on for hundreds and thousands of years before you and all people came. You come now and you will disappear like little insects coming in the rainy season having a 24-hour lifespan. Empires have come and gone. You have come and you will go. This drama of life will go on, the world will go on—another 1000 years, 2000 years, 10,000 years.
“You are nothing. There is some higher power that has been looking after this world for eons. Scientists say that the first sign of life came on planet Earth so many millions of years ago. What is your calendar of 365 days before millions of years? So don’t worry about it. There is some higher power who is quite capable of looking after this world that you are so concerned about. You better take care of yourself, so that during this precious little human life between an entry point and an exit point that you do something to improve yourself, bring out all the latent potential within yourself.
“And before you leave, try to do maximum benefit to God’s creation—into which He has put you. That is the only thing that makes life worth living. Life’s importance is not assessed in terms of how much you have amassed, what titles you have, how many audiences you have addressed or how many books you have written. All that is vain fancy. The value of life is in having come here, before you go how many people have been happier, how many have been benefited, how useful have you been to God’s creation. Not only human beings, the whole world.”
“How many tears have you wiped from crying children, orphans, widows, helpless people, from poor, suffering people in the remotest villages where there is no drinking water, no sanitation, no education—they are disease bound? Try to do something. Go there and give them a proper road; they are cut off during the monsoon season. Go not to the posh cities, but help suffering humanity in the rural areas. Bring sanitation, hygiene, medical aid. Give eye camps for those who are blinded with cataracts. Then you have done something.
“Our culture, our country has as its highest ideal in life paropakara, benefiting others, being useful to others, doing something that is good for others, not only for yourself. Paropakara is the highest ideal. This body has been given only for this purpose. So bring about a change in the orientation of your vision.
“So this I am telling you personally. What then is the goal? Your goal is to go back from where you came. There is a great Universal Soul. You are not this body, this cage of flesh and bones. You are not the five karma indriyas or the five jnana indriyas. You are not this mind, emotion, sentiment, imagination and various moods such as anger, passion, greed, envy, jealousy. You are not even this little “I” that you are identifying yourself with when you look in a mirror. All these are not you. You are a center of radiant consciousness, shining consciousness—eternal, imperishable, unborn, beyond time, beyond space, infinite. Read the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita every day!”
This is not an individual addressing an individual. This is the Universal addressing the Universal. And I said that you belong to that dimension. This is a golden chance to lift yourself up from this confined consciousness to your real dimension of infinite consciousness, universal consciousness. That is why we are here.
“May the Universal Consciousness grace and fulfil whatever is there in your heart, whatever you are aspiring for, whatever you are ardently longing and wishing for. May it be fulfilled!”
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Hindu Gods
Hindu Gods by Swami Krishnananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 11 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
Hindu Gods
Divine Life Society Publication: - Devi Mahatmya, Prounciation of Mantras, Hindu Gods by Swami Krishnananda
Visitor: Swamiji, someone with a definite purpose of his own, in order to provoke me into an argument, remarked, “Hinduism is nothing but one god fighting with another!” I knew his mind and so refused to say anything. But what is the meaning of these so-called wars between Vishnu and Brahma, for instance, when Lord Siva vanquishes them both and quells their pride? Lord Siva establishes at the same time that He is the Most Supreme! Is it because in such contexts the Manifested God gets accretions of their level which is lower than that of the Supreme Being? The Puranas and the Epics are full of such incidents of war among the Gods.
Swamiji: The subject-object opposition in time and space, the affirmation of the ego as superior to and supreme over everything, causes the clash, no matter at what level. This clash of the positive and the negative, both of which are inherent in everything finite, produces a spark as a higher synthesis and is absorbed in the higher synthesis. But this level of the present higher synthesis is, again, not the highest. It is still only in the process of evolution into the next higher synthesis. Hence this clash and this spark are repeated, and so is the absorption of the spark into the next higher synthesis, from level to level. This clash or ‘war’ between the gods – deities of the different levels – goes on until the last higher synthesis is absorbed into the Absolute. This process of the sparks getting absorbed thus is explained in the Puranas and the Epics as one god warring with another and a third god conquering (absorbing) both within Itself.
Excerpts from:
Hindu Gods - Devi Mahatmya, Prounciation of Mantras, Hindu Gods by Swami Krishnananda
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Practical Spiritual Instructions
Practical Spiritual Instructions by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 10 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
Practical Spiritual Instructions
Divine Life Society Publication: - Essence of Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda
Thou art divine. Live up to it. Feel and realize thy divine nature. Do not murmur when you get difficulties, troubles, tribulations and diseases. Every difficulty is an opportunity for you to develop your will and power of endurance and to grow strong. Conquer the difficulties one by one. This is the beginning of a new life, a life of expansion, glory and divine splendor. Aspire and draw. Grow. Expand. Build up all positive qualities, the Daiva-Sampatti, viz., fortitude, patience and courage that are dormant in you. Tread the spiritual path and realize: ‘I am the Immortal Self.”
Never weep even if you lose your near and dear relations. Births and deaths are the two illusory scenes in the marvelous drama of this world. They are all the jugglery of Maya. In reality nobody comes and nobody goes. Atman alone exists. Atman is Brahman or the Immortal Soul.
Be hopeful always. Face all difficulties, tribulations and anxieties in life with a smile. Always repeat the formula “Even this will pass away.” You will then be always beyond grief and sorrow.
Pain is a blessing in disguise. Pain is an eye-opener. Pain is your silent teacher. Pain will turn your mind towards God. Many old Karmas have to be purged out quickly by the thirsting aspirant before he attains the blissful Samadhi (superconscious state). Therefore, the thirsting aspirant only will get more troubles. Become a spiritual warrior and chop off the thoughts and subtle forms of secret desires for enjoyment. A glorious brilliant future is awaiting you.
Conquer difficulties one by one. Stand adamant. Root yourself in the immortal Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman or Self within. Develop a magnanimous, serene, calm and poised mental state. Sing “Anandoham, Anandoham-I am all bliss. I am all bliss.”
To live is to fight for the ideal and goal. Life is conquest. Life is a series of awakenings. Conquer your mind and the senses. These are your real enemies. Live under lifelong vows. Conquer your internal and external nature. Fight against the antagonistic dark evil forces through Japa and meditation.
If you are firm in your resolves to reach the highest goal of Yoga, if you have firm determination to attain the aim of spiritual life, you will rise up again and march forward even if you have a temporary fall. Feel the divine within you. Open yourself fully to the divine influence. Develop burning desire for the attainment of God-consciousness and burning dispassion (Vairagya) for worldly enjoyments. Abandon all worldly ambitions and mundane desires. Soar high always in the realms of higher spiritual knowledge. Show your moral courage and spiritual strength now, O Ram!
Spiritual life is not mere idle talk. It is not mere sensation. It is actual living in Atman. It is a transcendental experience of unalloyed bliss.
May you all become immortal and drink deep the divine nectar of perennial joy and eternal bliss!
Excerpts from:
Practical Spiritual Instructions - Essence of Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda
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The Psychology of Yoga
Practical Spiritual Instructions by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 9 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
The Psychology of Yoga
Divine Life Society Publication: - True Spiritual Living by Swami Krishnananda
What is the connection between thought and reality?
As far as we are concerned, reality is the whole universe, the world outside. There is a feeling in the mind of man that the secrets of nature are outside, and to discover these secrets we require externalized instruments such as microscope, telescope, etc. There is not the least idea in anyone that these secrets are hidden in our own selves. Yoga being a discipline of the mental processes, there must be some secret relevance of this internal process called yoga to the vast reality of the external cosmos. This is a discovery of yoga psychology.
We were under the notion that all the troubles come from people outside, from the world external to us. There are no such things as problems. The ultimate cause discovered by yoga is a peculiar maladjustment of the subject with the object – the drashta with the drisya, – the seer with the seen. “I, as the seer, the observer, the subject, find it difficult to adjust myself suitably with what I see outside – the drisya, the object world, including everything, every person.
In our apparent external life of the waking consciousness we appear to be in harmony with others, but there is a conflict, if we go deep into the matter. What is maladjusted with the world outside is not merely our conscious mind, but our total personality and this has to be set right, which is the purpose of yoga.
No one can know one’s own self, because we mistake knowing for merely a conscious activity of the mind. The knowledge process is identified with what we call a conscious activity of the mind. When I am aware of an object, I am under the impression, wrongly, that my entire personality is tuned to that object in this act of knowing, but what is tuned is merely a part of the mind – the conscious mind, working through the sense organs. Consciously we repress many of our feelings and motives.
What is my present purpose?
The mind, when it is conscious of an object or deals with a particular object, takes out from its resources only those aspects and features of its structure which are necessary for the fulfilment of a chosen purpose at that given moment of time. So, while we are deep-seatedly disharmonious with everything, we openly and overtly appear to be harmonious with all things. Therefore, there seems to be a sort of satisfaction and a success in outward life, while there is an inward dissatisfaction and disharmony inside. This latency for disharmony that is within us pursues us even after death. This is the cause of rebirth. We are reborn into embodiment in successive lives because we carry with us, in spite of shedding the physical body, the potentiality of which we are made – the psychological stuff which we really are. And rebirth, the transmigratory process, cannot be put an end to as long as the deep-rooted, the deep-seated potentialities are not brought to the conscious level and made a part of our conscious nature.
Then, what is the solution?
Like psychoanalysis, yoga prescribes various methods of sublimating these deeper impulses, not by repressing or suppressing them, or even substituting something else for them, but by sublimating them by a very slow growing process.
Like the nucleus of an atom, the affirmation of the ego, this centralizing principle within us, draws sustenance from the constituents of nature outside, pulls particles of matter from the five elements towards itself, arranges them in a particular pattern into what is called this body; and this process will continue endlessly as long as this centralizing principle, the ego, continues to exist. So, the purpose of yoga is to break this fortress of ego.
The very sensation or feeling ‘I am’ is called the asmita or ego, in yoga psychology. Asmi in Sanskrit means ‘I am’, and asmita means ‘I am’-ness. This is the cause, ultimately, of isolating us from all creation outside, making it falsely appear that we are disconnected from things outside and that all the problems and difficulties are in the outside world and not in us. You cannot understand the connection with others because the connection is internal rather than external, and the internal connection cannot be known because the asmita, the ego, works only through the senses, which can act only externally. But relations are really internal, and the external relationship is only a temporary shape or form taken by this internal set of relations. To solve the problems of life, therefore, we have to deal with the internal relations, and not merely the outer aspects of these.
Know Thyself
The need for control of the mind, or chittavrtti nirodhah, arises because of our entire personality being involved with everything in the world, and because of this ego principle within us being the seed form of all the future projected activities, including all thought processes, etc. Therefore, when we know ourselves, we have known everything, because the entire past, present and future is hidden inside us. Even the unimaginable past and the remotest future possibilities are all potentially present in ourselves. So, to know one’s own self is, in other words, to become omniscient, to know the whole creation; and to know one’s own real difficulties is to know everyone’s difficulties.
Thus comes about the need for controlling the mind. As we have already observed, this psychological process of controlling ourselves, harmonizing ourselves through the yoga techniques, is not merely a so-called internal activity of ours because, though for the purpose of expressing ourselves, we may talk of yoga as an internal process, it is really a cosmic process. It is so because this so-called internality of ours, this apparent individuality of ours, is really connected with all things everywhere.
The world ‘outside’ and we ‘within’ are only ways of expression. There is neither a ‘within’ nor a ‘without’. And so, while we speak of the subject in relation to an object ‘outside’, we are speaking in the language of the ego; otherwise, there is no subject and there is no object. To think a thought is to think an object simultaneously, and to think an object is to at once imply all the relations of this object with everything anywhere. Therefore, while rightly directed thoughts can bring about immediate miraculous success, wrongly directly thoughts can bring about a reverse consequence. They can create a hell or a heaven at once, with the power of our thinking. This capacity, this potentiality, this power, this latency hidden within an individual, is discovered by the psychology of yoga; and this has to be unfolded, brought to the surface of consciousness, and made a reality of day-to-day experience.
Excerpts from:
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http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1394401969.316&product=audio&pid=ZAK032&exact_match=on&keywords=true+spiritual+living
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The Yoga of renunciation of Action
Women and The Ideal of Purity by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 8 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
The Yoga of Renunciation of Action
Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Fifth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
In spite of Sri Krishna’s clear instructions, Arjuna still seems to be bewildered. He wants to know conclusively which is superior, the path of action or the path of renunciation of action.
The Lord says that both the paths lead to the highest goal of God-realization. In both cases the final realization of the Atman is the aim, but the path of Karma Yoga is superior. Actually there is no real difference between the two.
Krishna further asserts that perfection can be attained and one can be established in the Atman only after the mind has been purified through the performance of selfless action. The Karma Yogi who is aware of the Atman and who is constantly engaged in action knows that although the intellect, mind and senses are active, he does not do anything. He is a spectator of everything. He dedicates all his actions to the Lord and thus abandons attachment, ever remaining pure and unaffected. He surrenders himself completely to the Divine Shakti. Having completely rooted out all desires, attachments and the ego, he is not born again.
The sage who has realized Brahman and is always absorbed in It does not have any rebirth. Such a sage sees Brahman within and without—within as the static and transcendent Brahman, and without as the entire universe. He sees the one Self in all beings and creatures—in a cow, an elephant, and even in a dog and an outcaste. He is ever free from joy and grief and enjoys eternal peace and happiness. He does not depend upon the senses for his satisfaction. On the other hand the enjoyments of the senses are generators of pain. They are impermanent. Sri Krishna reminds Arjuna that desire is the main cause of pain and suffering. It is the cause of anger. Therefore, the aspirant should try to eradicate desire and anger if he is to reach the Supreme.
The Lord concludes by describing how to control the senses, mind and intellect by concentrating between the eyebrows and practicing Pranayama. One who has achieved perfect control of the outgoing senses and is freed from desire, anger and fear attains liberation and enjoys perfect peace.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga of Renunciation of Action - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Fifth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
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Women and The Ideal of Purity
Women and The Ideal of Purity by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 8 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
Special International Women’s Day Message
A Message
Divine Life Society Publication: - Women and The Ideal of Purity by Sri Swami Sivananda
(Talk given at the opening ceremony of the Ladies’ Section of the D.L.S. Tuticorin in 1951)
WOMAN is the mighty work of God, the wonder of nature, the marvel of marvels, the abridgement and epitome of the world, the queen of the home, the real governess, the sweet companion and helpmate of man.
Woman is the energy-aspect of the Lord. She is the child of primeval power and holds the key of this world. She controls the destiny of children. She is the mother of Sankaras and Buddhas.
Woman is a mysterious mixture of softness, gentleness and grace. She is a compound of service, patience and love. She is Maya’s tempting charm and magic. She comforts and cheers up her husband, children and guests. Even Brahma the Creator failed to describe her fully. She is a kind of mysterious something that gives charm to this world. Without her the home is a void. Without her man is helpless. Without her this world loses all charm. Without her there is no creation.
—Swami Sivananda
Salutations to Divine Mother, the Sakti of Brahman!
The society in which only one half (man) has been spiritually inspired and guided is like a bird flying on one wing! It can hardly move an inch forward. It is only when both man and woman lead the Divine Life, both of them will be able to march forward with bold and gigantic strides to the great goal—God-realization.
In India, woman has the custody of dharma. I would say that is the reason why, in spite of the many inroads into Indian culture of alien materialistic ideologies, India has been able to maintain the essential structure of her ancient civilization. This is because, the Indian cradle song has been one of spirituality; and as the old proverb goes, the cradle impressions accompany man to the very end of his life in spite of the efforts of later life to erase them! It is the mother who is responsible for indelibly printing in the baby’s mind the spiritual impressions and later for sowing in the fertile virgin soil of the child’s mind healthy seeds, of true spiritual culture. Glory to the Indian mother, the maker of saints and sages!
I, therefore, consider it most essential that the Indian mother should be awakened to the true purpose of life and that she should be educated in the principles of Divine Life; so that she may lead the Divine Life herself, lead her children into Divine Life and exercise her influence over her husband, too, and enable him to lead the Divine Life. The family whose members all lead the Divine Life is really a blessed family of devas.
Whether she adopts the grihasthasrama or whether she chooses to remain a brahmacharini throughout her life—woman has a great part to play in building up the nation. The nation needs the services of brahmacharini nurses, doctors, teachers and social workers. To these especially, a thorough knowledge of yoga sadhana, of Divine Life, is most essential. They should be as rigid in regard to adherence to principles of Divine Life as their male counter-parts, the brahmacharis and sannyasins. The brahmacharinis should keep Maitreyi, Gargi and others as their ideal. They should always aspire to realize God through selfless service, devotion, the practice of yama and niyama.
The inherent divine qualities in the woman enable her to lead the Divine Life with much less struggle than man! Ahimsa: This is woman’s very nature! Satyam: though woman shares man’s evil tendencies in this respect, she is capable of more easily following the path of truth! Brahmacharya: Indian woman’s purity is unrivalled. When one ponders over the survival of these divine virtues in the Indian woman in spite of the powerful alien base influence, one is wonder-struck; what powerful personalities, what great upholders of dharma, what embodiments of righteousness and of daivi sampatti, the women of ancient India must have been! My humble obeisance to them! The very utterance of names like Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Anasuya is purifying.
May God bless you all and enable you to shine as jivanmuktas and bhakta-siromanis in this very birth! May you all lead the Divine Life of Truth, Love and Purity!
Excerpts from:
A Message - Women and The Ideal of Purity by Sri Swami Sivananda
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Mental Activity Hides Your Real Nature
Mental Activity Hides Your Real Nature by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 7 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
Mental Activity Hides Your Real Nature
Divine Life Society Publication: - Lectures on Raja Yoga by Swami Chidananda
If we can consciously overcome the activity of the mind and control it, master it and totally subdue it then we can rest in a permanent state where all experiences are overcome. They are negated, and in that state of a conscious cessation of mental processes, you can attain to a state of perfect peace, perfect rest, perfect silence. Thus when the state of absolute silence of the mind is attained, whatever is beyond the mind becomes manifest. It now prevails in a field of your experience.
Consciousness becomes characterized not by the experience of mental state, but consciousness becomes characterized by the experience of the Self, your true Self. For, there is nothing to obstruct. There is nothing to bar it or prevent it. When consciousness is characterized by mental activity, this mental activity becomes, as it were, like a cloud in front of the sun. Even though the Sun is there, when the cloud comes in front of it, it cannot be seen.
You can see the pebbles at the bottom of an absolutely placid lake very clearly. But, if the surface is agitated, if it is made into ripples, then you cannot perceive clearly the bed of the lake. In the same way, the inner basis of your being is your Self. That is the Reality. That is of the nature of peace and joy. But, if it is covered or if it is in a state of constant agitation, activity, the substratum cannot be seen clearly. It appears to be agitated also, because of its association with the covering medium, the mind.
Mind is the agitator of the surface of the lake of human consciousness and this consciousness is a part of the Divine Consciousness and it is of the nature of Bliss.
Excerpts from:
Mental Activity Hides Your Real Nature – Lectures on Raja Yoga by Swami Chidananda
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Practice without Remission of Effort
Mental Activity Hides Your Real Nature by Swami Chidananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 6 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
Practice without Remission of Effort
Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 54: The Study and Practice of Yoga by Swami Krishnananda
The practice mentioned is for the purpose of directing the mind slowly towards its final achievement and for the attenuation of all the obstacles. One cannot see the light of day at the very commencement of the practice.
The difficulties and pains that are consequent upon one’s strenuous effort are due to the thick layer of samskaras and karmas which have been accumulated in oneself since many births. The very personality of the individual is nothing but a bundle of karmas. Only by continued practice, we can face the difficulties, problems, pains and samskaras. It is a necessary ordeal that one has to pass through for the sake of scrubbing out all the encrustations in the form of anything that goes to make up this personality of ours. The five koshas are various densities of the manifestation of desire and they are like the dense clouds which cover the bright sun and make it appear as if the sun does not exist at all. But the kleshas,or these obstacles, become attenuated gradually due to the pressure of practice, abhyasa, and the accompanied vairagya. For the purpose of generating within oneself a feeling towards the achievement of one’s goal, which is samadhi, and for the obviating of all the obstacles, practice should be continued.
The watchword of yoga is practice – abhyasa. When continued practice is resorted to, the force of the practice keeps all these impediments in check. There is first a sense of renunciation – everything is cast out, and we feel that we are directly in the face of God Himself, where we are perfectly protected from all forces that are opposed to us. It is not true that the path of yoga is a smooth movement, a continuous ascent, one step rising above another step, steadily. One step ahead of us may be visible, but the step after that cannot be seen because the path has turned.
There should be no discomfiture about our future. Everything shall be all right; one day there shall be success. We should not ask for the fruit to fall from the tree merely because we have sown the seed for the tree today. It shall have its own time for maturity and ripening.
So by the practice of yoga, which is expected to be a very strenuous all the obstacles will disperse, and the mind will tend towards the goal. The whole effort is directed in respect of not allowing the mind to go to the objects. The positive effort of the mind should be towards contemplation on the goal of life. We must stay positively strong, healthy and robust.
The confidence and the power of will that one has to manifest in this practice are almost superhuman because, while the inward tendencies of the mind towards its goal always remain submerged and never become visible outside, the problems will always be visible before the eyes. We will see only the problems, the evil, the ugliness, the pain, the sorrow, the difficulty and the almost impossibility of doing anything in this world. The positive side will be like the undercurrent of these outer waves that are dashing upon us, and it will not be felt in the beginning stages.
The reason is that we are floating on the surface. We have not gone deep into things. When we are on the surface of the ocean, we will be subject only to the onslaught of the waves. The calmness of the bottom of the ocean is not known, because we have not sunk deep. We cannot go into the bottom of the ocean because the waves will not allow us to go. The moment we try to escape being hit by one wave, we will be hit by another wave. But once we go in, we will not see the waves at all. There is a profundity, a depth, a deep silence and a grandeur whose powers are far superior to the clattering noises that the waves make on the surface; and the silence of the spirit will be realized to be more thunderous than the shattering noises of the senses and the sensuous mind.
For the purpose of directing the mind towards samadhi, to generate within oneself the feeling towards the ultimate goal, to create in oneself a confidence that one is moving in the right direction as well as to put down all the obstacles, one has to set oneself to practice, without remission of effort. We should not withdraw the effort merely on the assumption that success is not forthcoming. We should not lose hope, because if we dig twenty feet and then think that nothing has come and we give up hope – well, we are going to be the loser, because water may be there at the twenty-first foot.
There is an old story of a devotee of Lord Siva. It seems he used to carry a pot of water from a distant river for abhisheka in the temple, and he was told by his Guru, “Do abhisheka in this manner 108 times, and you will have darshan of Lord Siva.” This disciple followed the instruction of the Guru, and was indefatigably working, sweating and toiling, carrying this holy water from a distant river and doing abhisheka to the murti, the linga of Lord Siva in the temple. He did it 107 times and got fed up. He said, “107 times I have done it; nothing is coming, and is one more pot going to bring anything?” He threw the pot on the head of Siva and went away. Then it seems, a voice came, “Foolish man! You were patient enough for 107. You could not wait for one more pot? And that would have worked the miracle!”
Likewise may be the fate of many people like us. We may be working very hard. We may be spending half of our life in sincere effort towards achieving something, but at the last moment we lose hope and give up the effort altogether. The advice of Patanjali is that this should not be.
Excerpts from:
Practice Without Remission of Effort - Chapter 54: The Study and Practice of Yoga by Swami Krishnananda
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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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The Yoga of Wisdom
The Yoga of Wisdom by Sri Swami Sivananda
| **Baba Times Digest© | 5 March 2014 13:53 EST | New York Edition** |
The Yoga of Wisdom
Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Fourth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
Lord Krishna declares that He is born from age to age, in order to raise man and take him to the Supreme. Whenever there is a prevalence of unrighteousness and the world is ruled by the forces of darkness, the Lord manifests Himself to destroy these adverse forces and to establish peace, order and harmony. Hence we see the appearance of the great saviors of the world.
What is the secret of Yogic action? This, the Lord proceeds to explain to Arjuna. Even though one is not engaged in action, but if the mind is active with the idea of doership and egoism, then it is action in inaction. On the other hand, though engaged physically in intense action, if the idea of agency is absent, if one feels that Prakriti does everything, it is inaction in action. The liberated man is free from attachment and is always calm and serene though engaged in ceaseless action. He is unaffected by the pairs of opposites like joy and grief, success and failure.
One who has true union with the Lord is not subject to rebirth. He attains immortality. Such a union can only be achieved when one is free from attachment, fear and anger, being thoroughly purified by right knowledge. The Lord accepts the devotion of all, whatever path they may use to approach Him.
Various kinds of sacrifices are performed by those engaged in the path to God. Through the practice of these sacrifices the mind is purified and led Godward. Here also there must be the spirit of non-attachment to the fruits of actions.
Divine wisdom, according to Sri Krishna, should be sought at the feet of a liberated Guru, one who has realized the Truth. The aspirant should approach such a sage in a spirit of humility and devotion. God Himself manifests in the heart of the Guru and instructs the disciple. Having understood the Truth from the Guru by direct intuitive experience the aspirant is no longer deluded by ignorance.
The liberated aspirant directly beholds the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self. He cognizes through internal experience or intuition, that all beings, from the Creator down to a blade of grass, exist in his own Self and also in God.
Arjuna is given the most heartening assurance that divine wisdom liberates even the most sinful. When knowledge of the Self dawns, all actions with their results are burnt by the fire of that knowledge, just as fuel is burnt by fire. When there is no idea of egoism, when there is no desire for the fruits of one’s actions, actions are no actions. They lose their potency.
In order to attain divine wisdom one must have supreme faith and devotion. Faith is therefore the most important qualification for a spiritual aspirant. The doubting mind is always led astray from the right path. Faith ultimately confers divine knowledge, which removes ignorance once and for all.
Mere intellectual knowledge does not lead to liberation. It cannot grant one supreme peace and freedom. When one has achieved complete self-mastery and self-control, when one has intense faith and devotion, then true knowledge dawns within and one attains liberation and freedom from all weaknesses and sins.
The Lord concludes by emphasizing that the soul that doubts goes to destruction. Without faith in oneself, in the scriptures and in the words of the preceptor, one cannot make any headway on the spiritual path. It is doubt that prevents one from engaging in spiritual Sadhana and realizing the highest knowledge and bliss. By following the instructions of the Guru and through sincere service, one’s doubts are rent asunder and divine knowledge manifests itself within. Spiritual progress then goes on at a rapid pace.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga of Wisdom - Bhagavadgita – Summary of Fourth 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
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE \\ Email to BT Digest Editor