Swami Sivananda

 

 

The divine within you is stronger than anything that is without you. Therefore, be not afraid of anything. Rely on your own Inner Self, the Divinity within you. Tap the source through looking within. Improve yourself. Build your character. Purify the heart. Develop the divine virtues. Eradicate evil traits. Conquer all that is base in you. Endeavor to attain all that is worthy and noble. Make the lower nature the servant of the higher through discipline, Tapas, self-restraint and meditation. This is the beginning of your freedom.

 

Swami Sivananda Maharaj

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 27

Swami now explains the other two yoga(s)

 

Royal path of unitive wisdom

 

“Now about the royal yoga (raja-yoga). Royal yoga means the process of establishing mastery over the mind. One need not surrender one’s intellect or follow the guidelines of religious leaders. There is no chance of being misled or mistaken. At every step, one must rely on one’s own intellect and experience, as tested by oneself.

 

Every being has three varieties of instruments for acquiring knowledge and, through that knowledge, wisdom. The first is “instinctive”; this is very strong, active, and advanced in animals. This is the earliest, the lowest, and therefore the least beneficial of the three. The second is the “rational”, the instrument that seeks the cause and the effect thereof. This is most evident in people. The instinct can operate only in the limited field of senses and sensory experiences.

 

In people, instinctive knowledge is largely subordinated by the rational instruments. The limits of the rational are very thin; reason can range over vastly wider fields. In spite of this, reason is also capable only of very poor performance. Its reach is restricted; it can proceed only a certain distance; it cannot venture further. The road that logic takes is not straight. It is more circular, returning again and again to the place from which it started.

 

Take, for example, our knowledge of the objective world, of the elements and energies that compose it. That which urges and prompts the objective world and its components does not stop with just this much. It absorbs also that which is immanent outside the objective world. So, the extent that reason can spread over and explain is as the “consciousness” that is imprisoned in the tiny molecule as compared with the vastness and grandeur of the transcendent fullness.

 

To go across the boundaries of reason into the full, free realm of intuition, certain spiritual disciplines and exercises are essential. They can be grouped under the name God-propelled wisdom (jnana). For we have only three stages of wisdom: native, or derived from the senses of action and perception (sahaja-jnana); knowledge derived by the process of discrimination and evaluation; and God-induced knowledge, i.e. gained through grace by inner vision or intuition. 

 

The first of these is the knowledge possessed by animals; the second is the characteristic of humanity, and the third is the special treasure of high-souled individuals. It possible for everyone to foster, cultivate, and develop the seedlings of this third wisdom; the capacity is latent in all.

 

Another fact has to be borne in mind. The three are stages of growth, so they are not mutually exclusive types of knowledge. 

 

God-induced knowledge will not contradict discriminative knowledge; it will only bring to light what is un-manifest in discriminative knowledge. The later stage only confirms and elaborates the previous ones. Afflicted by the vagaries of the mind and its fancies, some consider their distorted attitudes to be God-given or grace-induced. They may even call upon others to heed their counsel and lead people astray by their barren guidance. These morons announce their absurd prattle as God-propelled.

 

True teaching can never be counter to discriminative knowledge — the conclusion arrived at by discrimination and evaluation. The yogas mentioned above are all established in consonance with this view. Royal yoga has to be practiced mostly by the mind and its resolution. This is a vast subject, so we consider here only its central theme, something that is the only refuge for the lowest of the low and the highest of the yogis: single-pointed meditation. 

 

For the person engaged in research in a laboratory, one walking along a road, a scholar reading a book, or an individual writing a letter or driving a car, concentration of all their attention on the articles before them and the activity in which they are engaged is very important. The person understands the nature and peculiarities of the object being handled. The more intense the concentration, the more successful the activity. When the mental abilities are focused on one effort, knowledge can be acquired quicker and from a wider field. And, that is the only way by which knowledge can be earned.

 

Concentration will enable one, whoever one is, whatever the activity engaged in, to finish it much better than otherwise. Whether in material assignments, ordinary day-to-day work, or spiritual exercises (sadhana), concentration of mental energies is a must if success is to be achieved. It is the key that can open the treasure chest of wisdom (jnana). This is the most important aspect of royal yoga. It can even be said that it is the only important aspect of that yoga. 

 

Millions of unwelcome, unwanted, unnecessary, and even harmful thoughts enter our minds and confound their activities. These have to be kept out; the mind has to be guarded and controlled and kept under our rigorous supervision. Royal yoga is the one refuge for persons endeavoring to win this victory.

 

Yoga of supreme wisdom

 

The yoga of wisdom (jnana-yoga) is devoted mostly to the study of basic principles. This universe or cosmos, which we cognize as outside ourselves, can be explained by means of various theories of knowledge, but none of them can be convincing to the uninitiated. Wisdom-yogis weave many such theories and hypotheses. They are not convinced of the reality of any material object in the universe, or of any activity, or even of anyone else who propounds any other explanation. 

 

They believe that they should transcend the daily chores of life and not be bound by social or other obligations. In the vast ocean of ISNESS, or truth (sath), all objects are but drops, in their view. They are all struggling to move from the circumference to the center, from which they manifested through illusion (maya). Wisdom-yogis also yearn to merge in the centre, the core of reality, away from the tangle of apparent diversity. 

They exert themselves to become the Truth, not only to become aware of it. Of course, as soon as they are aware of it, they become it. They cannot tolerate the thought that they and truth are separate and distinct.

The divine is the only kith and kin of wisdom-yogis. They know none other. They entertain no other urge, no other attachment, no other desire. God is all, in all. They cannot be affected by grief or joy, failure or success. They see and experience only one unbroken, unchallenged stream of bliss-consciousness. 

For the people who are firmly established in this state, the world and its ups and downs appear trivial and illusory. In order to stay in that consciousness, they have to counter the pulls of the senses and face the fascinations of the world without any agitation of mind.

Wisdom-yogis are vigilant against the temptations held before them by the senses; turning them aside, they approach the Divine and seek strength and solace there. They realize that the power and energy that vitalize the tiniest of the tiny and the vastest of the vast is the same divine Principle. Their actions, thoughts, and words reveal the vision that they have experienced: the Supra-vision (Paramaartha-drishti). They see all elements —earth, fire, water, wind, and sky— as the divine itself and all beings —humanity, beast, bird, and worm — as emanations from God and therefore fully divine."

 

We will go deeper into the SSV part covered in the blog today, in our next post

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 26

Dear Readers,

In the previous post, we read Swami’s writing on two of the 4 paths- Karma yoga and Bhakti Yoga

Karma Yoga

The revelation on this yoga brought about by Swami is rare and not to be found in many commentaries

Quote Swami (a big revelation)

“One wants to do good, and one seeks to do good to someone in some way, hoping to derive joy therefrom and distribute joy. When such joy does not arise, despair sets in.

But the real yogi of action does activity without getting attached, without being aware of whom the action helps or how. 

The lesson that the yoga of action teaches is: do the action as action, for the sake of the action. 

Why do yogis of action fill their hands with work? 

Because that is their real nature; they feel that they are happy while doing work. That is all. They do not bargain for results; they are not urged by any calculation; they give but never receive. They know no grief and no disappointment, for they had not hoped for any benefit.”

Swami reveals beautifully that action taken up with purpose of getting some benefit, some joy, some satisfaction, is not a true Karma yoga.

Doing Karma, as one’s very nature, filling oneself with joy in the very action itself without expecting results of such action to find joy from such results - Such action, Swami says, is real Karma Yoga.

This “self less” action is elaborated by Swami Sivananda as under:-

“Karma Yoga is selfless service unto humanity. "Your duty is to work incessantly but not to expect the fruits thereof." This is the central teaching of the Gita.

Repeat your Ishta mantra mentally even when you work in office. God is the Inner Ruler. He directs the body, mind and senses to work. Become an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Do not expect thanks or appreciation for your work. 

Do actions as your duty and offer them and their fruits to the Lord. You will be freed from the bonds of Karma. It is not the Karma but the selfish motive that binds the man.

Never, never say, "I have helped that man." Feel and think, "That man gave me an opportunity to serve. This piece of service has helped me to purify my mind. I am extremely grateful to him." If you see a poor man clad in rags standing in front of your door, feel that the Lord is before you in the form of a poor man. Serve him with Narayana Bhava.

Never grumble when you do service to others. Take delight in service. Watch for opportunities, to serve. Never miss even a single opportunity. Work is worship of the Lord.

A Karma Yogi should have an amiable, loving, social nature. He should have sympathy, adaptability, self-restraint, tolerance, love and mercy. He should adjust himself to the ways and habits of others. He should be able to bear insult, harsh words, criticism, pleasure and pain, heat and cold.”

Swami Vivekananda brings in more light on this yoga

He says,

Means are as important as the goal

“One of the greatest lessons I have learnt in my life is to pay as much attention to the means of work as to its end” in one of his lectures delivered at Los Angeles, California in 1900.

Hence, while doing one’s actions, and while performing one’s duties, one should first and foremost concentrate on the immediate job that is in front of a person. It often happens that one tends to ignore the immediate task at hand, by indulging too much in the goal to be attained.

(Extending this thought further, it often happens that we, in a spiritual organization, say, SAI organization, are so much bothered about the goal of our actions as members/ office bearers that in our rush to achieve the goal of some actions, say, related to some program that we are hosting, etc., we miss out one important aspect and what is that aspect???- we miss out on LOVE!!)

Over-indulgence with the idea of attaining the goal will make a person blind towards righteousness or unrighteousness of the means. Such, a person will often end up having results that are quite unfavorable and sometimes opposite of what was intended.

That is why Swami Vivekananda cautions-

“Our great defect in life is that we are so much drawn to the ideal, the goal is so much more enchanting, so much more alluring, so much bigger in our mental horizon, that we lose sight of the details altogether.”

Any action that makes us go Godward is duty.

As means are very vital to reach the goal, it is necessary to understand, what actions can serve to attain liberation. Swami Vivekananda calls these actions “Duty”.

He says-

“Any action that makes us go Godward is a good action and is our duty; any action that makes us go downward is evil and is not our duty. From the subjective standpoint we may see that certain acts tend to exalt and ennoble us, while certain other acts tend to degrade and to brutalize us.”

Therefore, only those actions that constitute duty and lead us to exaltation can be considered as the means to Liberation. These are the duties that Hindu scriptures call “svadharma”. What is right and good for one may not be so for another person. Every person should understand his own inherent nature, his position and stage in life and perform those duties that take him towards Liberation.

Swami Vivekananda himself clarifies this-

“The Bhagavad-Gita frequently alludes to duties dependent upon birth and position in life. Birth and position in life and in society largely determine the mental and moral attitude of individuals towards the various activities of life. It is therefore our duty to do that work which will exalt and ennoble us in accordance with the ideals and activities of the society in which we are born. But it must be particularly remembered that the same ideals and activities do not prevail in all societies and countries”

But this does not mean that people perform any actions according to their fancies and call it dharma. Though svadharma is different for every person, there are universal principles that are common to everyone.

Swami Vivekananda says-

“There is, however, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus: “Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue, injuring any being is sin.” Therefore, people must decide their own svadharma, not on the basis of their fancies but on the basis of these universal principles and how their application will take them towards liberation.”

Swami Vivekananda summarizes this path of Karma-Yoga as-

“Karma-Yoga is the attaining through unselfish work of that freedom which is the goal of all human nature. Every selfish action, therefore, retards our reaching the goal, and every unselfish action takes us towards the goal; that is why the only definition that can be given of morality is this: That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral.”

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 25

Yoga, path of harmony

Yoga means “coming together”. In India, where yoga has been flowing in the veins of everyone for ages, it is possible to have the harmonious coexistence of many faiths and beliefs, which is the ideal type of universal religion. Those who can heroically put their faith into daily living can accomplish this togetherness in the human community. 

Togetherness or union can be established between one’s outer behavior and inner nature. The spiritual aspirant intent on the path of love can strive for union between themself and the embodiment of love, namely God. The vedanthin, the non-dualist, can achieve the union of all that IS in the one concept of God. The path of yoga is designated differently in Sanskrit under different contexts; but those who are able to conceive and execute the union are revered as yogis.

Those who strive through activities and achievements to establish the union are yogis of action (karma- yogis); those who follow the path of love are yogis of devotion (bhakthi-yogis); those who strive to manifest their latent powers and canalize them are royal yogis (raja-yogis); those who stick to logical analysis and rational inter- pretations and attain intuitive perception are yogis of wisdom (jnana-yogis). In the Indian (Bharathiya) spiritual history, these four types recur again and again.

Karma yoga

First, the yogi of action (karma-yogi). The yogi adopts the path of establishing union with Godhead by elevating and sublimating acts. We meet in the world many who seem to have been born just to accomplish one particular mission or project. Their intellect is not satisfied with mere imagination or planning. Their minds are full of actual concrete achievements that they yearn to realize. For such people, a guidebook or scripture is needed to direct them along beneficial paths.

Everyone in the world is seen engaged in some activity or other, all the time. Yet, very few know the significance and worthwhileness of activity (karma) or how best to realize the best results out of this inescapable trait. Hence, life is being made banal and barren. The yoga of action teaches the awareness of this significance and guides people along to achieve the maximum benefit out of the activity. Where, when, and how action (karma) has to be done, how spiritual urges can reinforce strength of mind in the performance of action, and how action is to be taken up so that spiritual development can result —these are taught by the yoga of action.

One great objection is raised by some people about this, and we have to pay attention to it. The objection is that the yoga of action involves too much physical strain. But, basically, it is the company one keeps that decides the strain and stress to which the mind and body are subjected. “I like very much to engage myself in only this task.” “I sought only to do good to him, but he ignored my desire and tried to injure me.” These are the usual causes for the strain and stress mentioned above. Such disappointment makes one lose interest in activity. One wants to do good, and one seeks to do good to someone in some way, hoping to derive joy therefrom and distribute joy. When such joy does not arise, despair sets in.

But the real yogi of action does activity without getting attached, without being aware of whom the action helps or how. The lesson that the yoga of action teaches is: do the action as action, for the sake of the action. Why do yogis of action fill their hands with work? Because that is their real nature; they feel that they are happy while doing work. That is all. They does not bargain for results; they are not urged by any calculation; they give but never receive. They know no grief and no disappointment, for they had not hoped for any benefit.

Yoga of love and devotion

The second path is the yoga of love or devotion (bhakthi-yoga). This is congenial for those who are emotionally oriented. It is the path for those capable of filling their hearts with love. The urge is to have God as the Be- loved. The activities will be different, for they relate to incense-burning, gathering flowers for worship, building shrines and temples where one could install and adore symbols of beauty, wisdom, power, etc.

Are you inclined to remark that this is not the right means of achieving union with divinity? Remember that saints, sages, spiritual leaders, and guides throughout the world have emerged just from this devotional and dedicatory stage of spiritual endeavour. 

Some faiths tried to imagine God as formless and described worship of God through various such acts as blasphemy. They tried to suppress the cults of devotion, and in the process, they slighted the Reality and its power and majesty. The belief that God cannot be symbolized in a form is evidence of blindness; the charge that such worship is barren is hollow. The history of the world is witness to the efficacy of devotion (bhakthi). It is not proper to ridicule these activities, ceremonials, and rituals and the descriptions of the lives of spiritual aspirants who adhered to them in order to earn union with divinity. Let those who yearn after the joy of worshiping the Form do so; certainly, it would be a sin to shatter their faith and treat it as infructuous.

The glory of the great heroes of the spirit, those who have scaled the highest peaks of realization and those who attained spiritual fulfilment, is exercising immense influence on the mind of mankind. It is as a result of a long line of such seers that the spiritual message of India has attracted the attention of all nations. If India has been able to earn the reverence of the world, the reason has to be sought in the precious treasure that the seers have earned and preserved. Here, love of God and fear of sin have been the chief pillars of life and the everlasting guides for living. India (Bharath) has won a name for being a holy land, a land steeped in renunciation and in spiritual exercises (sadhanas) aimed at union with the Absolute, renowned for sacrifice (thyaga) and yoga. The urges that this culture encouraged were all directed to the conquest of the vagaries of the mind.

Can the explanations offered by this culture on the nature and characteristics of Reality be palatable to those afflicted by agitated feelings and passion? To the great builders of this culture, God was tangible truth, the one and only real Fact, the goal of their entire love. So the inheritors and followers of this culture treat the nihilist arguments based on inescapably limited “reason” as the fool is treated in the story. The fool saw an idol, and, eager to discover the God, he broke it to pieces with a hammer.

The yoga of devotion (bhakthi) will teach people the path of love. It will tell them not to love with a view to gain profit. Love all; love all as you love yourselves. No harm can come to you then. It will only spread joy and happiness to all. God is present in all beings as love. So the love is directed to and accepted not by the individual but by God, who is resident there. The seeker of God who relies on the path of devotion and dedication soon be- comes aware of this fact.

Some love God as the mother, some as the father, and some as “dearest and closest friend”. Others regard God as the Beloved, the only desired goal. They all endeavour to merge their love with the ocean of love that God is. Wherever love is evident, take it that it is God’s own love. God is the greatest lover of mankind. Therefore, when anyone decides to serve humanity, whom He loves, God showers grace in plenty. When the human heart melts at the suffering of others and expands as a result of that sympathy, believe that God is present there. That is the sign of the validity of the path of devotion (bhakthi-yoga).

 

Dear All,

We will get deeper into today's part of SSV in next post.

 

Love.

 

 

 

 

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 24

Chapter X

The Yogis

 

Three stages of philosophic discovery

There are three steps in the progression of philosophic enquiry (or Vedantic thought) in India: dualism, qualified non-dualism, and non-dualism (dwaitha, visishta-adwaitha, and adwaitha). It is not possible to advance beyond these three steps by human endeavor. Non-dualistic thought is beyond the reach of the common person; it is not so easily comprehensible. 

 

To conceive it with the intellect is itself hard. To experience it, a powerful faculty of penetration is needed. Therefore, it is best to start with the dualist step and experience it as the reality behind things; then, the second stage of qualified non-dualism is rendered easier to reach.

The individual must progress as fast or as steadily as the community. We pass through boyhood, childhood, adolescence, youth, middle age, and old age; it is an imperceptible but inevitable progress. We experience each only when we are passing through it. 

So, too, with these three stages of philosophic discovery. Each view is latent in the rest, and each proceeds out of the experience of the previous stage. It is not possible to be aware of all three at the same time. Based on our spiritual discipline (sadhana) and the experiences gained therefrom, each view- point comes into the consciousness and forms the spring of action and thought.

Those who assert that the universe is real but declare at the same time that the existence of God is but a dream are only proving themselves foolish. For when the effect, namely the cosmos is real, it must have a cause — how can there be an effect with no cause? 

God can be denied only when the universe is denied. God can disappear only when the cosmos disappears. What now appears as the cosmos is really God; this is the vision that true spiritual aspirants will get when they succeed in their endeavor. 

As a matter of fact, the universe we experience is the dream. When we awake from the dream, the truth of its being God will shine in the consciousness. From the be- ginning of time, the God whom we posit outside ourselves has been the reality inside us also. This truth will also become steady in the faith of people.

 

Meeting dogmatism and fanaticism

 

Of course, no existing philosophy can be satisfying to all types and levels of mental equipment. Each has a distinct value. The stages of intellectual development or the powers of reasoning are different from each other. 

So, the three schools of philosophical interpretation mentioned above (dualism, qualified dualism, non-dualism) attain acceptance among different temperaments and different groups of people. No one school has the right to claim superiority and impute inferiority. Only those who are unwise will resort to such tactics.

When people approach us with fanatic views, we must meet them with a smile, eager and yearning, filled with devotion to God. One can get intoxicated, of course, but only because of quaffing the wine of love (prema). 

When people frantic for work approach us, we must share our skill and strength and join with them in work. By this means, it is possible to bring harmony among followers of various faiths and philosophic thoughts. It will bring together schools of thought and belief. 

If only this principle of harmony and harmonious cooperation would become a permanent asset of each person, how excellent it would be! How happy the world would have been if everyone had this knowledge that their viewpoint can at best be only partial and that it requires the harmonious commingling of many other facets to posit truth! 

Essence

Readers can relate today’s part of SSV easily with the previous post. Therefore, there is no need to elaborate on today’s post.

Once after reading today’s post, readers can refer back to the previous 2 posts and can then feel the bliss within. 

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 23

Contemplation / Essence of the previous post form chapter IX

 

Swami Starts with a question

“How could God become these walls, these tables? Here is another doubt that comes uppermost to some: God is supremely pure, so how could He become these impure things”

And Swami answers when He explains the Advaita school of philosophy,

“God is not outside the cosmos, that He became the cosmos, and that He is all that is. There is nothing except God, no other, no second. This truth has to be accepted by all. This is the highest truth.”

Swami further reveals this beautifully when He writes,

“The cosmos is the effect, God is the cause — these statements stress only the fact that the cosmos is but God in another form. To the argument that the body is limited and subtle and that it leads one to the cause (God), or it was from God that it evolved and took shape, the non-dualists would reply that it was God Himself who manifested in the form of the cosmos.”

Now, coming to the objects of the world, not only walls / tables etc. as pointed by Swami but all objects, including living and non-living objects, the question of “How they can be God?” essentially arises because the one who is asking this question is not existing as God/SELF.

One has to realize SELF and exist as SELF, abide in SELF and then, another one who sits at His feet, would realize that in his master’s state, the thought of whether the tables/ walls/birds/ animals/ human beings are all divine or whether they are all not divine, cannot arise at all.

For any such thought, he knows that the master must come down from His state of abidance in SELF  and the disciple knows it is not possible for his master to come down to ever have these questions in his mind.

The master sees the table as table, bird as bird, human as human exactly in the same way as the disciple is seeing.

But the disciple or let us say, a visitor, an on looker, yet to evolve spiritually to higher level, sees  all objects and his senses carry the sight of these objects to his mind and the mind draws an experience and he comments about the objects seen, out of such an experience.

But when the master sees the objects, with that sight, the process gets over and there is nothing carried to his mind to draw any experience at all.

The mind itself is rendered pure to the extent that there is no difference between his mind and the state in which He exists as (SELF).

So, it can only be inferred that since the master does not have varied experience / perception of various objects / human whom He faces / sees / interacts with, all of them are same for the master and all of them are nut consciousness.

Here, the following expression of Swami comes true - “There is nothing except God, no other, no second.”

 

Sri Ramana explains the above truth in His answers to couple of questions, thus: -

Question: In the Vedanta of Sri Sankaracharya the principle of the creation of the world has been accepted for the sake of beginners, but for the advanced the principle of non-creation is put forward. What is your view on this matter?

Maharshi: "There is no dissolution or creation, no one in bondage, nor anyone pursuing spiritual practices. There is no one desiring liberation, nor anyone liberated. This is the absolute truth." This sloka (verse) appears in the second chapter of Gaudapada's Karika. One who is established in the Self sees this by his knowledge of reality.”

Question: Is not the Self the cause of this world we see around us?

Maharshi: “Self itself appears as the world of diverse names and forms. However, Self does not act as the efficient cause (nimitta karana), creating, sustaining, and destroying it. Do not ask `Why does the confusion of Self, not knowing the truth that it itself appears as the world arise?' If instead you enquire `To whom does this confusion occur?', it will be discovered that no such confusion ever existed for Self.”

Ramana further says – “Where are you now? Are you in the world or is the world within you? You must admit that the world is not perceived in your sleep although you cannot deny your existence then. 

The world appears when you wake up. So where is it? Clearly the world is your thought. Thoughts are your projections. The "I" is first created and then the world. 

The world is created by the "I" which in its turn rises from the Self. The riddle of the creation of the world is thus solved if you solve the creation of the "I". So, I say, find your Self.

Again, does the world come and ask you `Why do "I" exist? How was "I" created?' It is you who ask the question. The questioner must establish the relationship between the world and himself. He must admit that the world is his own imagination. Who imagines it? Let him again find the "I" and then the Self.”

 

Love.

 

 

 

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Sivoham, Sivoham was the exclamation that rose from the souls that knew the truth in a flash of illumination, after long years of cleansing the mind through the process of Tapas.

I am Siva, Siva am I!!

Though denoted by many names, and recognized by many forms, the divine principle is one, without a second.

God is the seed, which has expressed itself as all this creation!!

(Divine Discourse, 20 Feb 1974)