Chinmayananda Saraswati

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य ज्ञानाञ्जनशालाकया

चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः

Ajnana-Timirandhasya Jnananjana-Salakaya; 

Chakshurunmilitam Yena Tasmai Sri Gurave Namah.

(Prostrations to that Guru who, by the collyrium-rod of Knowledge, opens the eyes of those who are rendered blind by the darkness of ignorance)

"The Guru is God Himself manifesting in a personal form to guide the aspirant. Grace of God takes the form of Guru. To see the Guru is to see God. The Guru is united with God. He inspires devotion in others. His presence purifies all. 

The Guru is verily a link between the individual and the Immortal. He is a being who has raised himself from this into That, and thus has a free and unhampered access to both the realms. He stands, as it were, upon the threshold of immortality; and bending down, he raises the struggling individuals with his one hand, and with the other lifts them up into the empyrean of everlasting joy and infinite Truth-Consciousness. "

(Swami Sivananda)

Dear All,

If the author has to actually justify the quote of Chinmaya above and then Chinmaya's Guru Swami Sivananda's saying given above, then a whole volume has to be written and still  the author would be falling short of vocabulary to actually describe what these masters have written.

Swami Chinamaya says - All rituals, all worships, all efforts by any person (Japa mala, sitting in the assembly hall for attending satsangh etc.) are of little use in one's spiritual upliftment  unless the aspirant is fired up with mumukshatva (intense craving for God realization) and a realized master comes to him, holds his hand and says "Run with Me" (in the path of sadhana as per Guru's instructions)

And about learning by watching Guru's actions, Guru's silence, Guru's words, only those blessed ones who have had opportunity in their lives to be in the presence of a realised Master can actually explain this inexplicable learning process otherwise.

In the earlier days when almost each child used to be sent to the Acharya, to stay in the hermitage of the Guru, the learning that the disciple used to get by observing his Guru is something which no one can describe and no one can understand. 

Sri Chinmaya has written about his experience and learning on observing Tapovan Maharaj, Swami Venkatesananda, Swami Krishnananda etc., have written in detail about their learning on watching their Guru Swami Sivananda, Muruganar has written poems after poems on his learning under the feet of Sri Ramana where the learning was totally in silence as Ramana hardly spoke on spiritual aspects explicitly.

How can Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda be left out in the list? He has written many pages in "Autobiography of Yogi" about his observing and learning from his Guru Sri Yukteswar. 

It so happens that in the hermitage of a Guru, a dozen disciples undergo training for 10 years but out of them, only one or two come out as outstanding and spread the fragrance of their learning from their Guru to the world. This is because of the tuning which Chinmaya has mentioned in his quote. 

There may be many direct disciples of Tapovan Maharaj but only Chinmaya went on to become world renowned saint. Same is the case with Sri Krishnananda or Chidananda under Swami Sivananda and so on.

Such chosen disciples, out of their prarabdha on one hand and due to their intense purushartha on the other hand, end up tuning themselves 100% to their masters and are able to grasp each and every gesture, each and every word, each word of compassion or even scolding of their Master and are able to almost peep into the heart of their Masters and grasp everything that their Master has to give to them.

There are volumes of books on Guru's contribution in Disciple's emancipation like  GURU BHAKTI YOGA by Swami Sivananda  or GURU VACHAKA KOVAI based on Sri Ramana's teachings and GURU TATTVA by Swami Sivananda and many more. 

Love.

Jesus

Dear All,

The initial 2 lines echo Saint Chinmaya's quote where the saint says, even if you slip, even if you fail in your (spiritual) life, do not be afraid, do not get demoralized. Each failure teaches you something very important in your life.

The second part is echoed in the author's spontaneous writing on Buddha's post which he sent to all Muscateers yesterday. The relevant portion of Buddha's post is reproduced below.

The portion given below is as though the response of the devotee to Lord Jesus's assertion that "Lord is one, He goes with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you".

The devotee listens to Jesus's gospel and responds with tears thus:-

"What ever I am, I am Yours. You say You are love and You have told us to live in love. If I have to practice the same, then how can the love not cover myself also? I may be a sinner, I may not be succeeding in progressing towards You, but who else but You can give me the strength to reach You?? 

Mujhe Shakti do, with that strength, let me immerse in devotion / love for which, mujhe Bhakti do and  after I reach the last but one stage in my Bhakti, give me Your hand and help me cross the last step, Mukti do, to whom can I pray for all these, who has all these things to give but You, O Sai Shiva!!!"

This crying out to Lord is natural and spontaneous because:-

1.  The devotee by himself is not able to evolve in the spiritual path. He is weak, slave to his worldly attachments, existing  like a sheep, though he is Lion, in essence.
2. When the devotee searches for support, for someone to hold his hands/carry him on his shoulders and take him to the abode of peace, Prashanti,  the devotee looks at the Lord, call him Jesus or Allah or Ishwar or Sai.
3.  Looking at Sai, the devotee recollects Sai's words "........sambhavami yuge yuge"
4. Thus, the devotee knows that Here is the Lord who has been coming again and again in various forms from time to time for the protection of virtuous. 
5. Since the Lord has come, gone and come back again and again and now, after 24/4/2011 has gone once more to His abode, the devotee gets an assurance within and cries out, who else but You can know the path to the ultimate abode (liberation) as coming and going from/to that place is Your hobby. So, who else but You can carry me through and reach me safely to the BRINDAVAN  of divine beauty, the garden of liberation, from this BHAVA SAGAR of samsara with only pain?

So, the devotee cries from the bottom of His heart, O Bhakta vatsala, Prana Sakha, I know You can never forsake me, please carry me, please give me the strength, mujhe Shakti do!

The feeling of the devotee is same, whether he is a hindu or a christian or a muslim or of any other religion because, GOD IS ONE!

"Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti"

(THAT  which exists is One: sages call it by various names)

Love.

Anandamayi Maa - Delight on witnessing the one essence in diverse varieties in creation

Dear All,

You are requested to align today's quote and the exposition of today's quote with the interpretation of SAI AUM bhajan in 2 dimensions given by the author. This was sent to the sadan group couple of years before.

Love

------------------

Divyatman,

Let us travel through the journey from form to form less and beyond, from bhakti to jnana and beyond!!!

A bhajan interpreted by a devotee, which travelled all over the world through various yahoo groups and other channel then, and the same which is poured now by the SELF,  see the dimensions in both!

AS A DEVOTEE ( In the path of Bhakti), written in 2006

Dear brothers/sisters.

The Lyrics, aligned with the interpreted meaning during the meditation process of a devotee is given below:

Sai Aum Sai Aum Sai Aum

(Aum is the first primal sound, the pranava mantra. So to say, Sai is first, Sai is first and foremost of everything)

Tan Man Praan Mein Sai Aum

(Sai is filled in my physical self, my mental self; my very life breath is Sai)

Shayan Swapan Mein Sai Aum

(With SAI AS MY EVERYTHING, WHEN I WENT TO SLEEP, HE WAS AGAIN IN MY DREAM)

Gagan Pavan Mein Sai Aum

(Sai was in the sky, Sai was felt in the breezy Air) How did it happen?? Did any one post a sky high portrait, oh Sai, so that He was seen in the sky?? No.

Nayan Nayan Mein Sai Aum

(Sai was seen, fel everywhere, because I filled my eyes with Sai, my eyes refused to see anything But Sai)

Janam Maran Mein Sai Aum

(With Sai as my everything, if i were to Die and take another birth to burn my vasanas, my karma, then again, Sai wis the only Pranasakaha, who accompanies , who is there even in my death and in my next birth, He is first, He is foremost, he is everything)

AS SELF, PURE CONSCIOUSNESS (in the path of Jnana), written in 2015.

Sai Aum Sai Aum Sai Aum

O sadhakas,  Know the real substratum of all incarnations to be " AUM"!!!

He was there….

From His energy, appeared / emerged the cosmic vibration- AUM

There on, He became aware- as though

Then the so called creation emerged, (if at all it did!!!)

It is not the physical frame of Sai first; it is the shabda Brahman AUM first …. and all avatars can be meditated and realized through this AUM!!!!!

start with AUM, transcend , exist as THAT , TRANSCENDING EVEN AUM !!!!!.. It is possible; it is possible, before the wink of eye gets over!!!!

Tan Man Praan Mein Sai Aum, Gagan Pavan Mein Sai Aum

Sankhya says- From Him, upon the vibration AUM, emerged 5 elements and the 24 tatwa- all the body of all , all the minds of all, all the prana of all,  in macro and then in microcosm- retrace to their origin AUM

Shayan Swapan Mein Sai Aum

An entire upanishad mandukya is dedicated to relate A - with the waking state , then U with the dream state and then M- with the deep sleep state and the silence after M with THE (thuriya) STATE!!!

If the dream state itself dreams of SAI AUM, then how wonderful is the next state- deep sleep, shushupti- where there is neither body, nor mind, nor intellect.. and then….. who is ever there to describe THE STATE beyond deep sleep- THURIYA or THURIYA TEETHA?/!!!!!!!!!!

Nayan Nayan Mein Sai Aum

O, why can't a treatise be created to explain this one line!!!!

When all the objects of the entire creation merged in ME the pure consciousness, at the subtlest state, how can the nayan (vision/ wisdom) experience anything else except my own SELF which was ever ME, ME, the PURE ME?????

Nayan saw all objects without.. in several births……

A sadguru's nayan / glance fell on me….

His nayan became my nayan ever since then……..

He saw, smiled at the PURE ME, then…..

He gave me his nayan ever since then…..

how do i see anything else with His nayan, as HE, except THE PURE EXISTENCE?????????

how can the physical eyes ever super impose now on HIS NAYAN????????

from where do i fetch creation now, when His nayan is THE nayan????????

For HIM, MY GURU, MY LORD, lending His nayan was spontaneous and He is there to lend His nayan to the entire humanity - HE IS THE SAHASRA SEERSHA PURUSHA……!!!!!

In return, I could only give HIM, THE PURE EXISTENCE HIM, one thing as my dakshina…. NE… He did not wait for me to offer...(CHITACHORA), HE CHOSE TO TAKE IT FROM ME AS DAKSHINA FOR EVER---- AND  WHAT ELSE CAN THE OFFERING BE, EXCEPT MY EYES, WORLDLY, HITHERTO AWARE OF CREATION, CREATED AND THE CREATOR, (Jagath, Jiva and Iswara)!!!!!!

Will I not now say- NAYAN NAYAN HAI (IS) SAI AUM???????

When all objects are gone, the entire creation consumed in MY SELF, not only Nayan Nayan of ME/ HE but collectively, ANY THING WHICH CAN BE EXPERIENCED IS JUST THE AUM, PURE… IS…. PURE BE….., PURE "     "!!!!

And…….., the Journey is over!!!!!

Love.

PS- Janam maran mein Sai Aum, to the composer, has no relevance after NAYAN NAYAN HAI SAI AUM!!!!

Anandamayi Ma

Dear All,

My prostrations to the saint who has poured the above words.

Never before and never after can we find/read/hear such profound words of wisdom.

Here, we have to recall Swami's famous lines.

"Ornaments are many, gold is one;

  Colors of the cows are many, milk is one;

  Beings are many, the Indweller is one"

Even while the saint is looking at the varieties in this world and says,"each one has his own uniqueness and beauty... every one of you adds with his special feature to the glory of the garden", at a subtler level, the delight expressed by Maa on seeing such variety is due to the one factor which is echoed in Sai's lines "Beings are many, the indweller is one".

Each artist has his/her own uniqueness, one is a great singer, one is a great dancer, one is a great painter, one is a great sculptor etc., but if we contemplate on the one single factor/Light (Light of lights) which illumines the art/capacity of each artist, one can Realize that it is the same Divine Light, Divine Energy, Divine Consciousness which illumines each and  every artist's art.

We look around in the world and see so many diversities, each human, each city, each state, each country is unique in its own ways. But behind this diverse universe, what is the one divine energy? What is the one divine light which is illumining each unique aspect in the nature? Who is the one material, intelligent and instrument cause for the matter? 

So, the realized Masters like Anandamayi  Maa, even while delighting in the variety in the world, are always and eternally aligned to  and abide in one truth, SATH, one knowledge CHIT (Knowledge of the TRUTH, SATH) and thereby remain in the state of ever lasting bliss ANANDA ( Due to the existence as the very knowledge and not as knower of truth ( SAT CHIT).

Vibhuti yoga of Chapter 10 of Bhagwan Gita is all about the one all pervading essence in all apparent diversities in this world.

Swami Sivananda explains the ONE existence in all diversities beautifully through his song on vibhuti which is given below.

In the whole song, the " I" or " Aham" is the one lord, one divine light, one divine consciousness as explained above in SAT CHIT ANANDA.

Let us read the song of the saint of Ananda Kutir, with reverance.

Bhajo Radhe Krishna,

Bhajo Radhe Shyama

Soham Soham, Sivoham Soham.

Om Om Om Om Om,

Om Om Om Om Om.

I am neither mind nor body, immortal Self I am,

I am witness of three states, I am knowledge absolute.

(Om Om.....)

I am fragrance in jessamine, beauty in flowers,

I am coolness in the ice, flavour in coffee.

(Bhajo Radhe Krishna...)

I am greenness in the leaf, hue in the rainbow,

I am taste-buds in the tongue, essence in orange.

(Om Om.....)

I am mind of all minds, prana of all pranas,

I am soul of souls, Self of all selves.

(Bhajo Radhe Krishna...)

I am Atman in all beings, apple of all eyes,

I am sun of all suns, light of all lights.

(Om Om.....)

I am Pranava of all vedas, Brahman of Upanishads,

I am silence in forests, thunder in all clouds.

(Bhajo Radhe Krishna...)

I am velocity in electrons, motion in science,

I am effulgence in the sun, wave in the radio.

(Om Om.....)

I am support of this world, soul of this body,

I am ear of all ears, eye of all eyes.

(Bhajo Radhe Krishna...)

I am time, space, dik and the controller,

I am God of gods, guru and the director.

(Om Om.....)

I am melody in music, in rag and raginins,

I am sound in ether, sakti in virya.

(Bhajo Radhe Krishna...)

I am power in electricity, intelligence in mind,

I am brilliance in fire, penance in ascetics.

(Om Om.....)

I am `reason' in philosopher, `will' in jnanis,

I am prem in bhaktas, samadhi in yogis.

(Bhajo Radhe Krishna...)

I am That I am, I am That I am,

I am That I am, I am That I am.

(Om Om.....)

Love.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Dear All,

The entire MBCA posts deal with the essence of the above quote.

All miseries in this world start from this one single letter "I".

This "I" is the subtlest ego - Avidya and Asmita, the ignorance of one's divine nature which gives birth to the next ego - "Mine-ness and thine-ness".

From this "I"- Avidya and Asmita - desires or wants arise.

The desires or wants are the attachments which are explained as Raaga in the MBCA posts.

Once you get rid of your desires/attachments, then you are left with the subtler "I" ness which is explained as avidya in the MBCA theme.

Once this "I" or avidya is also transcended, then you discover the inner peace/inner joy/inner bliss/inner SELF.

Love.

Swami Vivekananda

Divyatman,

Even a mentally very week person, unable to start his spiritual journey due to fear of where he will reach, what will happen if he takes up sadhana etc. should wake up, keep aside all his fears, all his weaknesses, all his apprehensions and stand up and run towards the goal of God realization upon hearing to the roar of the fearless Lion, Saint Sri Vivekananda.

We have heard of the story where a lion was painted like a sheep and it moved along with a group of sheep merrily, totally forgetting its original identity until it was taken to a pool, it was made to see the reflection of its face on the pool and made to realize that it is in fact a lion.

We the human beings have not been painted by any one else but having born as Lion (king of kings), have painted ourselves as Sheep (week animal) and then we happily move around, eat, sleep and enjoy our lives as sheep amongst sheep (in this world full of beings with week mind and lot of desires).

After we have sufficiently suffered or enjoyed for all our karmas performed with our mistaken identity as sheep (man with desires), God enters our lives directly or through a preceptor (Guru). 

The Guru, instead of directly pointing out our mistaken identity, teaches us in the following sequence:-
- Purpose of our birth.
- About karmas, about desires, vasanas and all animal qualities of man on the other  side. 

After we have satisfactorily imbibed his teachings and instructions, he introduces us to what God and We and creation actually is - Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham - Pure Existence, Pure Knowledge or Consciousness, Infinite or all pervading.

At the end of our spiritual journey under the watchful eyes of our Master, we ultimately stand up and roar, "I AM THAT, TAT TWAM ASI".

"Matter is your servant, you are not the servant of matter"-Your body, mind, intellect (BMI), senses which are matter, must be your servants, serving you to proceed towards your realization that you are lion. 

Whereas, unfortunately, man continues to be  servant  to his  BMI, his senses and continues birth after birth with the notion dictated by his  senses that he is a  sheep (Limited week man with unlimited desires).

Love.

Chinmayananda Saraswati

Dear All,

The quote is complete in itself and actually needs no elaboration.

It applies in our worldly pursuits as well as our spiritual sadhana.

Often, in our spiritual sadhana, we fail to reach the state of peace/bliss and somewhere in between, we slip and get carried away from the tempting call of the glittering world.

What Acharya says above is that, let our failure not make us our lose our focus on our ultimate goal in spiritual sadhana.

Let us introspect, let us understand where, during our journey, our ego (any of the kleshas/vasana) took charge and made us slave to them and we lost the race.

Let us pray to God to give us strength not to be slave to similar ego next time and get up and march again and again towards the ONLY goal - Merging with the Source and existing as Source.

Is it not true that when we look back at our past life, we are easily able to identify where all we were wrong? 

This capacity to introspect, to identify our mistakes, to correct them - all this point out towards one thing. Only we as human beings are bestowed with the power of discrimination and it is the divine power/energy/consciousness which we say as Antaratman, which illumines our intellect and then our intellect always points out what is / was right and what is/was wrong!

Love.

Anandamayi Ma

Revered Beings,

Entire Vedanta or what we call as Upanishads with all related Vedanta treatise like Atma Bodha, Ashtavakra Gita, Viveka Chudamani, Avadhutha Gita, Ribhu Gita, Moksha Gita, Sad Darshanam, etc. have been captured in the above pour of the realized Saint Anandamayi Maa.

When God was  there, God ONLY was there, without name, without form, without the 5 elements, without any thing whatsoever.

When God willed to create (this will is indeed mystical because with human mind, we cannot comprehend as to how God, existing without mind, can ever will to create), since nothing else was available to create matter, God poured Himself, His own essence into  the matter He created  and thus, as Maa says, "In water, land, trees, shrubs, creepers and everywhere else, only God (God's energy, God's essence, God's chaitanya) is there".

Thus, God did not create matter and leave it at that, He himself prevailed in the  entire creation, as everything is made of 5 elements and 5 elements is nothing but God's energy, God's pure consciousness. 

Thus, retracing to the Source of each and every living and non-living matter, one has to know and realize that the Source, as Maa  puts it, NONE SAVE HIM (none other than Him).

Anor Aniyam, Mahato Mahiyam...

Subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest, is part of a verse from Kathopanishad.

God is subtler than the subtlest or smaller than the smallest because, God as essence is not apparent, not easily seen or grasped in any matter created. Best example is we human beings. How many of us are actually able to EXPERIENCE the God within us?

God is mightier than the mightiest in the sense, the mightiest or the biggest phenomenon that you can imagine in creation is space and as said before, space, one of the 5 elements was the 1st matter created by God. 

When mother creates a child, mother has to be greater than the child. When God has created space, God has to be necessarily greater than the space, mightier than the space.

Now the secret that we all must know today

Very often the author has heard so many Sai devotees, including those who have been close to him once upon a time tell "I see Sai in all and with that knowledge, I serve all".

Though no body can judge any other's spiritual state and it may be quite true that the devotee would have seen SAI in all, we need to know one thing beyond any doubt on this aspect today.

"UNLESS WE HAVE EXPERIENCED GOD WITHIN US AS TRUE BLISS OR TRUE JOY OR EVEN BEYOND, AS THE SOURCE OF ALL JOY AND ALL BLISS, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPERIENCE GOD IN ALL".

When we say I SEE GOD IN ALL, what would be seen by us perhaps in all? The smiling face of Sai? Sai with orange robe? Sai with bushy hair? Sai with a mole on cheeks? Sai with enchanting appearance? 

It is not possible to see SAI like this.

Here, Swami Vivekananda's  quote comes true - BE AND THEN MAKE.

Only after truly experiencing God as pure, eternal Joy or Bliss or even beyond within the core of our heart, we can possibly see God in all. This is true because, after we exist as JOY/BLISS, we actually have to make no efforts to see God in all. The Joy that we are, gets splashed/showered in all the beings who come face to face with us and in that aura, everything transforms into pure Bliss/Joy.

Love.

Attach to Detach or Detach to Attach? - Swami teaches us

Dear All,

Yesterday, in Chinamaya’s quote - we learnt “Detach, to Attach”. Vairagya has to set in, for salvation to commence.

Today, we read how to “Attach to Detach”!

(Arey bhaiya ji, satya murthy sahb, Hum Khudai confusion mein hain, hum ko aur confuse nahin kariyega! Kabhi attach to kabhi detach. Ye kya confusion hai?!!)

Dear All,

Doctor does not prescribe same medicines to all kinds of diseases to different patients.

Swami also cannot give the same prescription to all devotees.

When He sees that a devotee has got the power to renounce, He commands “leave your job and come and work in parthi”. Author has himself seen at least 3 such cases while Swami commanded to 3 devotees even when we were seated for pada namaskar, as Delhi sevadal, after completing our Seva.

One was Shri Shyam Nanda, who was working at a senior position in American embassy, another was Sri Pradhan, who was in Army and now discharging his responsibility as chief Security Officer in Parthi and there are few more.

This is His command “Detach, to Attach”.

Now, about Sai’s ways of “ attaching us to detach”.

Swami attaches us through:-

·   His experience shared by other devotees with us.

·   His first darshan, sparshan and sambashan

·   His vibhuthi creation for us.

·   Creating ring/necklace for us

·   Saving us from some fatal accident.

·   Forgiving us for our endless sins and smiling and asking us “when did you come” when we are seated in the sanctum sanctorum.

and.. the list is endless.

And when He chose to leave His form as Sathya Sai for the time being, He has left us with a question.

“I have left you physically for the time being. After all the attachments, you have had with Me, I have left a plethora of My teachings for you to get attached to. I shall come back as Prema Sai to see whether you were really attached to My teachings or drifted away from Me and got attached to other names and forms, got attached to this glittering world and got actually detached from Me”

Whether we will PASS the TEST given by our Sai and look at Prema Sai eye to eye and whisper, “Sai, I could pass in Your test”?

LET US THINK!

Love.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Dear All,

The mantra given by Sai in the above pour is as though "ATTACH, TO DETACH" as against DETACH TO ATTACH given in another post where we learnt to develop detachment at mental level for progressing in sadhana.

A child is holding a toy which has some protruding nail which may harm the child. Even if you tell 100 times to the child to leave that toy, the child may not leave and in fact, it may hold on to the toy more vigorously.

However, if you show a more precious, more attractive doll to the child, the child will immediately throw the previous doll and run towards the new toy.

Similarly, it is of no use to preach detachment, dispassion, control of senses etc., to an aspirant sometimes. 

Instead, show him the joy of being in the kingdom of God. Take him through the stories of realized Masters, show him the state of joy of the realized Masters. Narrate the glory of Sri Krishna as described in Srimad Bhagawatham. 

It is quite possible that the aspirant will get so much ATTACHED to the glory of Lord, to the joy of being in God's kingdom that he may be actually DETACHED from the world, without even realizing the same.

So, the secret is "channelize your mind to nobler, higher, sacred pursuits in the world, the less sacred ones will drop off your mind on their own".

Love.