Dhyana Vahini - Post 28

Chapter X

 

Swami writes,

Have contentment and desire only the Lord

“You must have contentment, whatever the gain or loss or state. This is essential. Contentment grants and increases happiness. For the contented mind, life is an endless festival, but the mind worried by desire will have no rest. With desire troubling you, concentration is impossible. 

Desire is the fire in your frame; it reduces you to ashes. Contentment is the effective drug to destroy it. Just as a bath in the cool waters of a stream refreshes a traveller who is exhausted and perspiring in the burning heat of day, the one suffering from the scorching fire of greed will be refreshed by the pellucid waters of contentment.

One should have desire only for the path of realization. One should not dedicate one’s life for the mean desires of the world. Dedicate all to the Lord; that is genuine contentment. That is the result of the acquisition of peace of mind (santhi), joy (santhosha), and discrimination (vicharana). Direct visualization of the Lord (sakshatkara) is also possible then.

To acquire these, remembrance of the Lord’s name (smarana) and meditation (dhyana) are the only means. Only they can give you that power. Nowhere else can you get them; nowhere else will you get them.

More than all, if you possess contentment (santhosha), the other two will be added to you. Nothing is more profitable than contentment. It is a treasure richer than the three worlds. The contented person can experience indescribable divine glory. 

Such a person is more joyful than the owner of the wish-bestowing cow, Kamadhenu, and the wish-bestowing tree, Kalpataru. Such a person can immerse themself within themself and discover bliss therein. Do not strive for physical joy, discarding the more permanent joy of inner calm and contentment.

Do not get attached to this evanescent body; instead, utilize it as an implement. Consider yourself as separate from this destructible body, which was created out of the conjunction of the five elements. Know yourself as the indestructible Atma. Just as the house in which you dwell is separate from you, so the body, which surrounds you for a little time, is separate. The body is the root cause of all this grief, all this calamity, and all this slavery. 

Understand this well: make the body obey your will, and never bow down to it and follow its whims. Be prepared to cast it away; resolve to control it and keep it under strict control. You have to deal carefully with the body; you have to train it with great attention.

Though all that was said above related to the Atma, some activities have to be undertaken by everyone. How should the body be used as an implement, as a boat for example, to cross the stream of life? 

Until the other bank is reached, or in other words, until the ultimate truth is attained, you must take care to see that it is not damaged or broken or leaky. Do not let the boat fall to pieces; be on the lookout for signs of this. That is to say: take moderate food of pure (sathwic) quality at the correct time, and continue disciplined physical activities for the body.

Such activity directed to the spiritual becomes the discipline needed for real spiritual practice. This is what is referred to as meditation, remembrance of the name, ritual worship (puja), and devotional singing. When the discipline is practised, as well as later, you must be joyful and not gloomy. This should not be forgotten; never get tired or timid. However, if you get tired, then you can eat a few ground nut kernels or almond seeds soaked well in water at the end of the day’s meditation. These will cool the body and endow it with strength.

In summary, everyone must develop the virtue of contentment through the practice of meditation (dhyana sadhana). Contentment is a pure (sathwic) quality; it will not transform you into an idler — no, not at all. Instead, it will permit the mind to travel toward the Lord, and it will grant peace. It will also hinder unessential activities that have profit for oneself as the aim. 

The contented person will be fully pure (sathwic) and will lead an inner life, in communion with the Atma. That person can do any work without rest and without complaint. The waves of the mind, which sway in many directions, get a single aim.

The sages (rishis), religious mendicants (bikshus), and yogis of the past realized the goal of life by means of the peace that came to them through contentment. Contentment gives all spiritual aspirants the enthusiasm and vigour necessary for treading the path that leads to realization of God (sakshatkara). Contented, the aspirant can ignore the dangers and difficulties of the path. The aspirant treats all the impermanent things of this life as poison and discards them as trash. Discrimination, renunciation, and the spirit of inquiry develop through contentment. The story of Meera is an example of this. Understand well the stories of Radha, Jayadeva, and Gauranga, for they will teach you the truth.”

We will try to go further deep into this "Inner peace / contentment," which is the key subject of today's post from Dhyana Vahini, in the next post.

Love.

 

 

 

Dhyana Vahini - Post 27

Chapter X

Be ever joyful and sweet

“For this spiritual discipline, you must cultivate the quality of always being joyful, with a smile on your face; this will give you good distinction. People will also like you more. So, the Lord will also have joy upon seeing you. Therefore, observe meditation with innocence, purity, and humility.

Then, without fail, you can attain whatever you strive for. Do not lose your temper in any situation; do not lose courage in any contingency. Respect everyone, whatever their status. Then the quality of universal love (prema) will develop in you. As a result, meditation will progress without disturbance.

For the cure of illness without resort to drugs, meditation is the only remedy. Even the capacity to discriminate and analyse will increase, and by means of that, illness, however serious, can be overcome.”

Introspection

Bro Sanjay Mahalingam’s sharing in one of the sessions is worth a recap here, in the context of what Swami has written above.

Sanjay recalls atleast few occasions when he as well as other few students have asked, “ Swami, tell us, please, what do you want from us, in what way we can be a worthy instrument in your mission, How you want us to be”

In all such situations, Swami’s one answer was, “BE HAPPY”.

That is what our dear lord wants from us and that is the purpose, that is the search of every human being, from his birth till the moment he realizes SELF, in one, few, many, numerous births, and it is “Search for happiness”

And, when you are able to be joyful all the times, Swami gives a huge assurance when he says “So, the Lord will also have joy upon seeing you”!!

Swami writes, 

“In every word uttered, there are two kinds of senses: the obvious and the innate, the native and the qualitative. The Upanishads take up the second kind and elaborate, clarify, and make the Brahman known. One important thing to be remembered is that it is possible and desirable to utilize the full power of words through softness and sweetness. 

If one is anxious to see God in every object, the sweetness of the word will be of immense help. Sir, Master, Lord: in these words, lie the secret of much affection and regard. Through these and such words, how happy you can make others, and how light your minds will become by the practice of softness of expression! When meditation is carried on in that happy atmosphere, how quickly concentration can be attained!

Instead, if in conversation you use words that blame others and despise them, in turn you become the target of blame, and your mind gets agitated by the effect of both; then the object of meditation is not realized because the atmosphere turns impure. Therefore, if you really wish to be happy through meditation, as a preliminary to the process, you must be engaged either in joyful conversation or in happy thoughts or memories. Sweet and soft conversation helps meditation a great deal.

You must cultivate such a character, for character outlasts the body. Virtues are your strength and glory. Character is power. So train the mind and use it to attain the visualization of the Lord (sakshatkara); hold fast to that goal.

Introspection

Swami Krishnananda writes,

“You require nothing in order to bring you peace of mind. You require only yourself. You are the master of yourself, and you have to know how to tune yourself to the requirement of existence as a whole. The tuning of your personality, your existence, to the existence that is total is peace of mind; that is peace of consciousness; that is harmony of existence; that is blessedness; that is happiness; that is bliss, you may say.

Here is the characteristic of a saint or a sage. Nothing is outside the saint and, therefore, he needs nothing from outside. One should not want anything from outside, because the outside thing does not exist apart from you and you do not exist outside that thing which you consider as outside. 

The saints and the sages ask not anything. They do not require anything because they have got everything by being united with that which you regard as outside you. The thing which you want is inside you in the sense that it is connected with your body, your personality, your consciousness. The moment you think, the universe acts, provided that your mind is united with the cosmic mind. 

Satisfaction is not in you or in somebody else. It is in consciousness itself. Satisfaction is uninterrupted performance of consciousness. A larger satisfaction flashes forth when the unit of consciousness that you are operates as a set adjustment with the consciousness of other such units or centers. Who feels happiness? Who feels peace? Consciousness feels peace. It gets disturbed when there is no peace. Who disturbs it? It is disturbed by the wrong notion that it is outside the thing to which it really belongs.

This little 'me' is organically related to the cosmic being – which means to say, I am a cosmic being. And the others I seem to see outside are not outside me, just as I am not outside the cosmic being." Go on asserting this with faith, with the power of will. "If I cannot stand outside the universe, I am the universe itself." Who will disturb your mind, then? Tell me frankly: who is there to disturb your mind? Nobody can disturb your mind. There is no such thing as 'your' mind. 

This is meditation. If anybody asks you what meditation is, tell them this is meditation. You are the maker of yourself. Your peace of mind is within you only. You are the culprit – if at all there is one – and, therefore, complain not. Complain against your inadequacies, your imperfections and the lack of power of will that you are sunk in, by which you are unable to understand how you are connected to the world, to people, to the atmosphere, to ecological conditions, to the world as a whole. 

Find fault with yourself only. Do not find fault with anybody else, because the world is a whole, and wholeness cannot have imperfections.

 

Love.

 

Dhyana Vahini - Post 26

 Chapter X

 

Innocence, Purity, and Humility

 

"The realised souls (jivan-mukthas) are like lighthouses that point out the way to ships caught in blinding darkness in mid-ocean. The spiritual lighthouses show the way to those who struggle helplessly in the thick night of ignorance.

All are born out of the womb of the one Lord. Just as many varieties of fish and crabs and aquatic creatures move about inside a big tank, multitudes of human beings move about in the sea called the Lord. This is indeed a very awesome scene. 

Some are undeveloped, some underdeveloped; they swim around, greedy, and selfish. Amid this crowd of ignorant beings are a few highly developed souls, the wise (jnanis) and yogis. Since they are mixed up with the ignorant crowd, it becomes difficult to distinguish the wise from the others. A microscope is necessary to identify the red corpuscles in the blood; similarly, a special microscope is needed to find the wise. That microscope is no other than meditation.

This creation, and the wonder with which it is filled, is really a source of amazement. But, in the present conditions, there are very few who watch for light and are guided by light. 

Introspection

Swami Vivekananda’s words most relevant to the subject dealt by Swami in today’s post is given below.

“Recognizing" a Jivanmukta can be difficult if not purely subjective. Although "inner" change is uniform in the enlightened state (absence of ignorance re: one's true nature) it's "outer" manifestation can take various forms. 

Not everyone could recognize even Ramakrishna's divinity in his lifetime and even afterward--and He was not just a jivanmukta, He was an avatara! So, there is no reason to suppose everyone can recognize a jivanmukta when they see one.”

The sage from Ananda kutir writes,

“It is very difficult to judge a Jivanmukta. A Shakespeare only can understand a Shakespeare. A Jesus only can understand a Jesus. A man of experience who has mixed with Sadhus and Sannyasins and lived with them for several years may arrive at certain definite conclusions and infer something. But he may or may not be accurate. Only a Jivanmukta with his eye of intuition (Divya Drishti) can directly see and understand a Jivanmukta.

Householders make wrong judgments in deciding the nature of Jivanmukta. They take into consideration only the external conditions of a Jivanmukta. Even educated people commit mistakes in this regard.

The ways of a Jnani are mysterious. Many do not recognise a Jivanmukta. Real aspirants know him at once without any difficulty. They follow him. They live in close contact with him.

He who has mastery over the mind and Indriyas, he who always dwells on the inner Atman is the real Jivanmukta, Nityamukta, a great master, the real hero indeed.

A Jivanmukta is the Sun of Suns, the Light of lights. Sun shines only during day. But the Jivanmukta shines day and night. 

He who is homeless, who is free from all cravings, yearnings, longings, passions, desires, love of society, lustful feeling, and who calls nothing his own is really a Jivanmukta, who has attained freedom or emancipation from births and deaths. Hail, hail to such a great Mahatma!

Self-poised state in pleasure and pain, censure and praise etc., and universal love are the two important characteristics of a Jivanmukta.

If a person has no dislikes or hatred for any creature in this world in thought, word, and deed, he is a Jivanmukta.

A Jivanmukta or a full-blown Jnani is full of pure love, compassion, mercy, exquisite gentleness and hidden power and strength. Love and lustre (Brahma Tejas) shine through his brilliant eyes.

He who sees all things in one and one in all things is really a Jivanmukta. He enjoys peace of mind. He lives in God.

Pain in the body and quarrels always exist in the world. A Jivanmukta has to face these when he does Vyavahara. He does not mind them. He rises above them. He laughs and smiles as they are unreal. He knows that there is neither pain nor quarrel in the Atman.

A Jivanmukta is perfectly desireless, I-less, mine-less, fearless, and angerless. He beholds the Self only everywhere. He has equal vision. He has balanced mind. He has no attachment, longings and cravings. His state is beyond description and yet he will move in the world like an ordinary man. He is ever calm and peaceful. He rests in the Turiya state. He identifies himself with the Pure, All-pervading Brahman. He is free from dualities, differences and distinctions.”

Swami continues,

“So, instead of following this person and that, and taking devious roads and getting lost, it is best to place full faith in the Lord Himself and rely on Him as the only mother, father, guru, and guide. Then you will never lose the right path. He will never direct you to the wrong path. To have that firm faith and that experience, one must take to meditation; that is the one and only means. It is enough if the name and form of the Lord is meditated upon with love (prema) and faith, and you can choose the name and the form that you like most.”

Introspection

After explaining the difficulties one may face in recognizing a Jivanmukhta so that one may fall at His feet and beg Him to teach Brahmavidya, Swami gives a easier way out.

Swami’s above paragraph has to be properly understood. He does not say, don’t take up the path of Jnana, and do not search for jivanmukhta / a Srotriya Brahma nishta guru.

Swami says, in case one is not able to come across such a realized master (Due to his own prarabdha and sanskaras), one may not be disheartened. One may reach and be at the lotus feet of his lord and take up the path of devotion.

To conclude, it depends on the sanskaras of each Jiva, whether the path of Jnana or Bhakti or only the path of karma suits him. One cannot wage war against his sanskaras and one must take up either of the path(s), depending upon one’s aptitude, one’s inner voice / inner urge.

 

Love.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

 

First you must decide what sat-sangha is. It means association with sat or reality. One who knows or has realized sat is also regarded as sat.

 

Such association with sat or with one who knows sat is absolutely necessary for all. Sankara has said that in all the three worlds there is no boat like sat-sangha to carry one safely across the ocean of births and deaths.

 

Sat-sangha means sangha [association] with sat. Sat is only the Self. Since the Self is not now understood to be sat, the company of the sage who has thus understood is sought. That is satsanga. Introversion results. Then sat is revealed.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Dhyana Vahini - Post 25

Chapter IX

Swami says,  

Seek company of the good; avoid company of the bad

But you have to pray to the Lord with one-pointed concentration. This type of single-mindedness comes only out of the pure quality (sattva-guna), and that again is the product of meditation. Therefore, you must cultivate good qualities, and in order to develop these, you should desire the company of the good (satsang). 

Your real companions, from whom you derive the maximum good, are those who talk and discourse about the Lord, about truth, about the service (seva) of others, and about love that considers all as equal. Association with such people is certainly association with virtuous people, for these are the real virtuous people.

Those who never speak of the Lord, or those who are not even aware of Him; who are busy multiplying and strengthening the bonds of worldly existence (samsara); who preach and practise falsehood, injustice, and oppression, and who advise you to stray from the path of dharma —treat those not as your friends but as people to be avoided at all costs. Theirs is the company of wicked people. 

Associating with such leads to committing wrongs against your will, uttering words that should not be uttered, doing deeds that should not be done, and, consequently, treading the downward road to ruin.

People who fear neither sin nor God are capable of venturing into any wickedness; this is no cause for surprise. So, seek the company of those possessed of these two fears; this is the true good company. 

The company of people who have not even an iota of these two is evil and should be dreaded. The aspirant must always yearn for good company (sath-sang). In that company, there is no chance for the growth of greed or for will power (icchasakthi) to attain anything. 

Whether easily available or not, seek and join only good company. Seek and realise permanent satisfaction and contentment. Do not distract yourself by pursuing temporary satisfaction.

It is profitless for a true aspirant to associate with men who spend their time in worldly affairs. If you don’t secure friends of the type I mentioned, be solitary, without associates; you do not lose anything thereby. 

Never even think of the company of the wicked. Do not get entangled in their wiles. If possible, when you get the chance, advise them about the right, but do not yield to their words. 

In fact, do not even entertain the desire to be in the place where they are present. If you cultivate these characteristics, then both repetition of the divine name and meditation will become easy for you and will yield quick results.”

Introspection

Swami often says, “Tell me your company and I shall tell you where you are, where you stand (in your spiritual path)

If we are blessed with a steady and clear mind, with clarity of our spiritual goal and can be master of our mind, then, we may not seek any company at all. We can enjoy the bliss of “alone -ness of SELF”.

But in most cases, it is possible to be like this. Each one is born with a typical sanskara which manifests into vasanas which give rise to certain type of thoughts- Vritti and with those thoughts, we end up  doing some or the other action and keep piling up  fresh karma.

Importance of seeking (even if it is durlabham, even if it is difficult) good company, company of Wise, company of Men of wisdom, company of Spiritual masters who can help us focus our mind on the only goal of our human birth, cannot be over emphasized as it largely shapes up our spiritual  evolvement.

Men who mislead us, take us to evil/ undesirable path are too many. But men of wisdom are few. 50% of success in our spiritual  journey is achieved the moment we are able to seek and attain the company of men of wisdom who can impart us all the spiritual teachings not only as text/ bookish knowledge but also from their own experience, from their own evolvement from Dhanava to Manava and then to Madhava.

Swami Sivananda writes on Satsang, thus:

“ Sage Narada says in his Bhakti Sutras, "The company of the great is very difficult, even inaccessible, but it is infallible." Association with saints is infallible in its operation.

Lord Krishna declares in the Bhagavad Gita, "The same am I to all beings; to Me there is none hateful or dear; but those who worship Me with devotion are in Me and I am also in them." 

Though the rays of the sun fall equally on one and all, it is the face of the diamond that dazzles more than anything else. Although God is equal for one and all, He manifests more vividly in the heart of a sage, which is made transparent by purity.

Steps to satsang

The first step of satsang is keeping company with righteous and good people and serving them. From there, knowledge of the essential nature of our own Self, the divine or supreme Self dawns. 

Then comes vairagya, dispassion, towards the things of this world, and a yearning for God, bhakti. When bhakti becomes strong, then we become the beloved of the Lord. We are dear to Him and chosen by Him. Finally, the direct vision of the Lord will follow.

Good and bad company

A spiritual aspirant should avoid every kind of negative company. The effects of bad company are disastrous. The mind becomes filled with negative ideas by contact with bad companions. 

Just as a nursery is well-fenced in the beginning to protect the plants, so you should protect yourself carefully from unwanted influences. You should avoid at all costs people who lie, steal, gossip and who seek out sensory pleasures.

The human mind is a very receptive instrument. If you place it in negative company, it will acquire negative tendencies. If you place it in holy company, it will acquire divine traits. When thinking of saints, the mind becomes molded into the shape of the qualities of which it thinks, and thereby it becomes pure.

Anything that brings impure thoughts to the mind is bad company. Even a sober person begins to drink in the company of a drunkard. Negative company leads to passion, anger, delusion, loss of memory and discrimination.

Real satsang

There are few people in this world who can think correctly for themselves and who depend on their own intelligence in the pursuit of truth. These people are their own teachers and do not require any other guide. Their satsang consists of meditation on the highest intelligence or consciousness. 

People who cannot think correctly and who are swayed by passion and delusion constitute the large majority. They require a good and wise guru in order to lead a disciplined life. 

Their satsang consists of the company of the guru, service to him and direct instructions from him. It is only the sincere and earnest sadhaka who knows the real value of satsang.

Real satsang gives the aspirant inner spiritual strength to face the struggles of life, overcome temptations, manage inner cravings and fill the mind with positive divine thoughts. The company of a saint can transform anyone. 

Faith in God, in the scriptures, attachment and devotion to God, slowly develop in those who have regular satsang. Satsang is the greatest of all the purifiers. Without satsang, the mind filled with impurities cannot be turned towards God.

From satsang one receives practical lessons in control of the mind, concentration and meditation. Satsang is, therefore, vital for householders who have to engage in worldly duties. It awakens their spirituality. 

Satsang inspires the spiritual aspirants who are treading the path of renunciation. There is nothing so inspiring, elevating, indispensable and delightful as satsang.”

Love. 

Dhyana Vahini - Post 24

Chapter IX

Swami writes, 

 

Discuss the good in others, not the bad

The good should never even discuss the evil that others do, for that will contaminate them. The stories of Druva and Prahlada will, if listened to, grant merit and show the path, and the stories of Savithri and Anasuya will destroy the roots of evil and strengthen character. How does this happen? What is the explanation? They are all holy, and their careers are blameless; therefore, to discuss them and their lives is worthwhile and beneficial. That is the explanation. 

Some critics of “good people” justify their own carpings by saying that they are trying to correct the good people still further and make them even better! No, they are really provoking the good people to evil and drawing that evil upon themselves. They are themselves becoming evil people.

Never think about the badness or evil of others. If you can manage it, always keep trying to turn them to good ways and giving them good advice. One should cultivate peace of mind, the charitableness and eagerness to promote the welfare of all that is necessary for the attitude. These can come only through repetition of the divine name and meditation. The wealth derived from repetition of the Lord’s name and meditation is good qualities (sadguna). Good qualities clean the exterior and also purify and ennoble the inner tendencies.

Waves originate in the upper layers of the sea. They are caused by the wind, so the wind can be said to have that power. So too, the mind of the intelligent person is full of thoughts and opinions. When the proper atmosphere is present, these spring up and roll in from all directions.

 

The Lord assumes the yearned-for form

In the same manner, the Lord is manifest in the picture or image that one worships, but is this due to any special excellence of the picture or image? No. The picture, the photo, the image — these are and remain as picture, photo, and image. 

The fact is that on account of the intensity of the devotion of the devotee, the Lord cannot desist from manifesting Himself for them. For that reason, He assumes — in stone, wood, or paper — the form that the devotee contemplates and meditates upon and worships. 

He materialized from a pillar for Prahlada’s sake! For Vamana, He became visible in a stone! For Markandeya, He issued from a linga (egg-shaped stone)! In order to fulfill the yearning of the devotee, Hari, the Immanent Basic Being of the Universe, will come in any form, in anything, at any place.

 

Introspection

There was no need to introspect as the author vividly remembered what he had read in this context and he could access that and share with you.

Regular Worship Unveils The Divinity In The Idol

Regular worship, Puja and other modes of demonstrating our inner feeling of recognition of Divinity in the idol unveils the Divinity latent in it. This is truly a wonder and a miracle. The picture comes to life. The idol speaks. It will answer your questions and solve your problems. The God in you has the power to awaken the latent Divinity in the idol. It is like a powerful lens that focuses the sun’s rays on to a bundle of cotton. The lens is not fire and the cotton is not fire either nor can the sun’s rays, by themselves, burn the cotton. When the three are brought together in a particular manner, fire is generated and the cotton is burnt. Similar is the case with the idol, the Sadhaka and the all-pervading Divinity. Puja makes the idol shine with divine resplendence. God is then enshrined in the idol. 

The Image, A Mass Of Chaitanya

The idol is only a symbol of the Divine. A devotee does not behold therein a block of stone or a mass of metal. It is an emblem of God for him. He visualises the Indwelling Presence in the Murti or image. 

For a devotee, the image is a mass of Chaitanya or consciousness. He draws inspiration from the image. The image guides him. It talks to him. It assumes human form to help him in a variety of ways. The image of Lord Siva in the temple of Madurai in South India helped the fuel-cutter and the old woman. The image in the temple of Tirupati assumed human form and gave witness in the court to help his devotees. There are marvels and mysteries. Only the devotees understand these.

When Idols Became Alive

For a Bhakta or a sage, there is no such thing as Jada or insentient matter. Everything is Vasudeva or Chaitanya — Vasudevah Sarvam Iti. The devotee beholds actually the Lord in the idol. 

The Murti is the same as the Lord, for it is the vehicle of expression for the Mantra - Chaitanya which is the Devata. The same attitude should the devotee have in regard to the Murti in the temple, which he would evince if the Lord would appear before him in person and speak to him in articulate sound.”

(Extract from Swami Sivananda’s article on “Philosophy and significance of Idol worship”)

In essence, as much as Brahman is all pervading, how can Brahman be not there in the idol which is worshipped by the Bhakta??

Thus, when the devotion is single pointed and Bhakta reaches the most intense stage in his devotion, Chaitanya, which is present in the idol ( as much as it is pervading the entire creation) chooses to manifest as the form of  lord whose image in there in the idol, and the idol speaks, the idol blesses, the idol hugs the bhakta!!

 

Love.