In continuation with yesterday's post on vasana, mind
and analysis of experience, Swami Sivananda writes on vigilance
on Sadhana.
“Let the sadhana
(spiritual practice) always be regular, continuous, unbroken and earnest. Not
only regularity but also continuity in sadhana and meditation are necessary if
you want to attain self realization quickly.
A spiritual stream,
once set going, does not dry up unless the channel bed gets blocked, unless
there is stagnation. Be vigilant eternally. Meditate regularly. Annihilate the
undercurrent of vasana (habit patterns).
Regularity is of
paramount importance in spiritual practice. Spiritual aspirants must be arduous
and efficient in performing their tasks without a break. Pray without a break.
Have unshakable faith.
Remember vairagya
(dispassion) and abhyasa (constant practice). Prayer is the wing by which you
fly to God. Meditation or intuition is the eye by which you see God. Pray
fervently unto the Lord. Pray for the Lord's light and guidance.
Meditate on the great
truth within. Strive ever to keep thyself close to the divine centre. Day by
day, draw yourself nearer unto the Lord. Strive inwardly to grow into
the likeness of the divine ideal.”
Swami continues about
a Jivanmukhta/ a realized Jnani,
"He who has
subdued his mind will be the same, in good times and in bad. Grief and joy are
but aberrations of the mind. It is only when the mind is associated with the
senses and the body that it is affected and agitated and modified.
When one takes in an
intoxicant, one is not aware of pain, is it not? How does this happen? The mind
is then detached from the body and so it is not bothered by physical pain or
discomfort. Similarly, the Jnani too has immersed his mind in the Atma; he can
establish mental peace and quiet by disciplining the mind.
The Jnani gets full
Bliss from his own Atma; he does not seek it anywhere outside himself. In fact,
he will have no desire or plan to find joy in anything external. He is
satisfied with the inner joy he gets.
The greatness of a
Jnani is beyond description, even beyond your imagination! The Sruthis
proclaim, "Brahmavid Brahmaiva bhavathi. Brahmavid param apnoti",
that is to say, 'he who has known Brahman becomes Brahman Itself', 'he who has
attained the Brahman Principle has become the Highest'.
All bubbles are but
the same water; so also, all the multiplicity of name and form, all this
created world, are but the same Brahman. This is the fixed conviction of the
Jnani, nay, his genuine experience.
As all rivers flow
into the sea and get lost, so also all desires get lost in the effulgent
consciousness of the Realized soul. That is what is termed the Atma Sakshathkaara,
the Vision of the Atma. The Atma has no death. It is not born and it is
unaffected by the six-fold process of change. It is Aja (birth-less), Ajara
(without old age), Amara (without death) and Avinaasi (without decline and
extinction).
Love.
