(Dec 31,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Vows for the New Year by Swami Krishnananda

Vows for the New Year

Divine Life Society Publication: New Year Message by Swami Krishnananda

(Spoken on New Years Eve, 1972)

What is our duty in the New Year? What is the goal of our life, what is the objective behind us, what is the purpose of our activities – what is it that we want finally in our life. This is the subject of our contemplation on this eve of the advent of a new light.

Our duty is to be true to God and true to one’s own self. We should take stock of what we have done – strike a balance sheet, as accountants do: what good has been done and also what wrong has been done, how much progress has been made in our soul’s longing and aspiration for its destination, and whether we have been moving in the proper direction or whether we have been sidetracked.

The greatest of vows and dedications we can make on this holy occasion, this blessed moment of the New Year, is that we shall be true to our own selves. Vigilance should be our watchword in the New Year and pray to the Almighty to give us  the power of will and understanding, wisdom and sufficient knowledge and strength to withstand the onslaught of the senses. When a weakness becomes an uncontrollable, vehement pressure upon ourselves, we call it a passion.

Sadhakas, seekers of truth, therefore have to take a disciplined vow that they shall live a life of minimum comfort and maximum vigilance and understanding.

The needs of the senses, the needs of the body and the needs of the mind have to be curtailed to the minimum so that we may gain a double advantage. One thing is, we will not be thieves. A person who enjoys more than what he needs is a thief, and he is culpable. He will be punished by the law of nature. Also, this voluntary self-sacrifice that we do by taking only what is the minimum necessity for our lives will be serving society, and to that extent we will be ameliorating poverty in the country. Therefore, the first vow we take is that our comforts should be to the minimum, to the barest necessity of the physical body, merely for its existence and its normal activity.

The second vow we take is: We do not take more than what we have given. We are reborn into this world of transmigration, samsara chakra, as we call it, because we have taken more than what we have given. Putting to one’s own personal use the ignorance and poverty and the helpless condition of other people is exploitation, which is a sin. So we shall not take more than what we have given. We shall not eat what we have not earned.

So, minimum comfort is the first vow. We should not ask for more than what we actually need. The second vow is we should not take more than what we have given. The third vow is, hurt not the feelings of others – either in your thought, word or deed.

Among the three forms of tapas mentioned in the Bhagavadgita, one form of tapas is speaking sweet words. If we cannot speak sweet words, we need not speak at all. We can keep quiet. Ahimsa is popularly defined in this manner as not hurting the feelings of others.

The other vow is that we shall not deliberately speak a lie. We speak lies for the satisfaction of the ego. That should not be done. This should be one of the vows for the New Year.

And the most significant vow of sadhakas and novitiates is brahmacharya. The control of the senses and the restraint of the mind for craving for objects of sense are vows which have to be fulfilled. Sattva increases when ahara, or the intake of the senses, becomes pure. When sattva increases within us, our memory power, power of concentration and meditation also get intensified. When the power of concentration is there, the knots of the heart of bondage are broken. We become liberated.

These are the disciplinary vows which we may undertake as a necessary step in our progress on the path of sadhana and God-realization.

Bhagavan Sri Krishna in the Bhagavadgita says Kalah kalayatam aham (Gita 10.30): “Among measurers, among disciplinarians, among restrainers, I am the Time Spirit,” says God. Let us be cautious and be prepared now itself. There is no saying when this call will come. So let us not weep in the end. Snapping all these commitments from now onwards is the act of wisdom. Therefore, together with a life of discipline we should also keep our goals clear before us, and never be mislead or sidetracked, and be ready to quit, whatever be the time of that order.

Together with this we should also try, to the extent permitted by our knowledge, to lead a life divine. To lead a life divine is to live a life of remembrance of God. Samsara means oblivion to God’s existence, ignorance of the existence of God. Forgetfulness of God is called samsara, and not the existence of things and persons.

Our freedom consists in planting the love of God in our hearts and enshrining Him in our hearts so that we may enter into Him later on and be thrice blessed. We are confused, and the end of it all is that we do nothing because we know nothing. When there is no knowledge, there is no action, no right activity.

Most difficult is to comprehend this path of God, because it is not to be comprehended with the faculties with which we are endowed – not through the senses, nor through the mind, nor through the intellect. It is the soul that visualizes God, nothing else. It is the Atman beholding the Atman, God seeing God, as it were, because the soul has no senses, it has no body, it has no intellect, it has no passions. It is pure luminosity of spirit; and it is this soul within us that comprehends God as Universality.

May this light of the New Year come to us as the light of God, as the light of freedom, as the light of purity, as the light of discipline and as the light of knowledge, the light of strength and power. This should be our prayer.

We cannot gain constantly in this practice unless it is continued daily with a great intensity of ardor, fervor and intense longing for it. It requires a long-drawn training of the mind in a conducive atmosphere, in the atmosphere of a teacher, with the grace of God. Dattatreya says that the love of God arises in the soul only due to the grace of God.

[At this point the clock strikes midnight]

Krishna Bhagavan ki jai! Wish you all a happy New Year of love of God, aspiration for God, and God-realization in this birth! This is the spirit of the New Year which we have to keep up with: tenacity, and great power of will born of understanding, study of scriptures and regular brushing up of our memory through various sadhanas which have been prescribed.

God’s grace is upon us all! We have to remember again the untiring message of Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj: God first, world next, yourself last. Always take God first. In every event, in every action and in every enterprise keep God as the first element and the principle; the world should be taken into consideration only afterwards; and we have to be taken into consideration as the last element because God was first, the world came afterwards, and we were the last after the world was created, so we cannot take ourselves first. This great dictum should be remembered, and we should try to practice it: God first, world next, yourself last.

God is the Supreme Reality and is the only goal of life, towards which every atom, every blessed thing big and small, every soul is gravitating. As rivers rush in to the ocean, all souls move towards God – rush towards God, as it were – because the goal of all life, all creation, whatever be its form, is the realization of God, the Supreme Being, the Absolute.

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Vows for the New Year – New Year Message by Swami Krishnananda
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(Dec 30,2013 ) Spiritual (Story) Message for the Day – God The Almighty by Swami Krishnananda

God The Almighty

Divine Life Society Publication: Invoking Succor from God the Almighty by Swami Krishnananda

Spoken on August 18,1985

The soul’s anguish for God will be the answer to the question as to what we are to expect in our spiritual adventure. There is the well-known path of krama-mukti, the gradual progressive salvation described in detail in the Upanishads. But there is also what is called sadyo-mukti. This is the action of God at once. He has no protocol, and there is no action through the proper channel. He breaks through all this intricate winding processes and grasps the spirit of the devotee with His own hands. Stories like the incident of Gajendra’s moksha are illustrations on this point. Why should Narayana himself come? Has he not got anybody else? He could have sent some assistant, some Garuda, to go and help this poor elephant. He has got so many, but he ran himself.

It appears Akbar was told this story by Birbal, that Narayana ran, unaware of anything else. “What kind of God you have got? Foolish God,” said Akbar. “Why should he run for a little thing? He is almighty; he has got such strength. He could have told some of his attendants to go and help, and they are equally capable. It was not such a serious matter.”

“Well, I will answer this question.” Birbal took time to answer the question how this is possible.

It appears that Birbal was the caretaker of the very, very beloved child, the son of Akbar. He was always taking care of him, taking him for a walk, and so on. One day Birbal asked a sculptor to prepare a beautiful image identical in features with this boy, and he placed this image on the edge of a deep well and left it there. Akbar knew very well that the boy was always under the protection of Birbal and was caring for him. One day, Birbal took Akbar for a walk near this well when it was dusk and things could not be seen properly. “Oh, my boy is here near the well,” Akbar said. “How is he near the well?”

“It’s all right, it’s all right,” Birbal said.

Birbal had already arranged with someone that at the time when Akbar was to be there, this image was to be pushed into the well, and it was pushed. Birbal said, “O God, the child is in the well!” Akbar ran immediately. “Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Birbal said, “Wait here. You have got so many attendants. Send your attendants.”

“Oh, don’t talk, foolish idiot! My child is in the water. I will go and take him myself.”

“Your Highness, your child is safe. Don’t be afraid. Here is the child,” he said. “It is only an image, but I have answered your question.”

Narayana is not an idiotic god. The love of God for the soul that seeks Him is not explicable by human language, and it is not to be interpreted even by a scripture. The Srimad Bhagavata tells us that scriptures, the Vedas themselves are incapable of putting into form and shape the might and majesty and glory of the internal relation that God maintains with His devotee: aham bhakta paradhinaha, says Narayana (S.B. 9.4.36). This is a statement which God can make and man cannot understand: I am dependent on my devotee. Why should He be dependent on the bhakta? This is capable of being understood as a metaphorical statement of the perpetual care that God takes of the soul that is in union with Him.

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God The Almighty – Invoking Succor from God the Almighty by Swami Krishnananda
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(Dec 29,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Prarabdha and Purushartha by Swami Sivananda

Prarabdha and Purushartha

Divine Life Society Publication: Prarabdha and Purushartha by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj

Question: Man's actions are determined to a certain extent by his Prarabdha, yet he is free in his Kriyamana Karmas. What is the line of demarcation? How far the Kriyamana Karmas can bear fruit and how far they are determined by Prarabdha? When a man fails to achieve a desired object, is there a way to find out whether the failure was due to Prarabdha or to deficiency or incompetency of his effort? At what stage a man should stop his effort, when they are supposed to be useless because of his Prarabdha?

Answer: An animal which is tethered to a peg by a rope of a given length has freedom to move within the circle drawn by that radius, the rope. But it has no freedom beyond that limit. It is bound to move within that specified range. Man is something like this. His reason and discrimination afford him a certain amount of freedom which is within their scope. But this reasoning faculty is like the rope with which the animal is tied. Reason is not unlimited and it is circumscribed by the nature of the Prarabdha which governs this body of the Jiva.

As long as man has consciousness of personality, and in so far as it is possible for him and is within the capacity of his conscious endeavor to exercise the sense of selective discrimination or freedom of choice, he is responsible for what he does. He is an agent or doer of the action, and such actions as these are fresh actions or Kriyamana-Karmas, as they are connected with the sense of doership. But if events occur when he is incapable of using this power of understanding, as when he is not in his body-consciousness, or even without his conscious intervention therein, he is not to be held responsible for the same; for these are not fresh actions, but only the fruition of a previous deed or deeds of Prarabdha.

Though every experience is finally caused by Prarabdha alone, its connection with one’s consciousness constitutes effort or a fresh deed. Effort is nothing but consciousness of action as related to oneself, whatever be the thing that prompts one to do that action. It is not the action as such but the manner in which it is executed that determines whether it is a Kriyamana- Karma or not. A Jivanmukta’s actions are not Kriyamana-Karmas; for they are not connected with any personal consciousness. They are spontaneous functions of the remaining momentum of past consciousness of agency.

Experiences which are forced upon oneself of which come of their own accord without the personal will of the experiencer, are the workings of Prarabdha. But others which result from a deliberate and conscious act, which has a pre- meditated background, show that it is a Kriyamana-Karma, though it may be sanctioned by the law of the Prarabdha-Karma itself. An experience caused by mere Prarabdha does not cause another fresh result but is exhausted thereby; but a Kriyamana-Karma tends to produce a fresh experience in the future as it is attended by the sense of doership.

If a desired end is not attained even after all possible efforts on one’s part, it has to be taken that the failure is due to an obstructive Prarabdha. Of course, this is the same as saying that the failure is due to incompetency of the person concerned; for, through a greater effort allowed by a non- impeding Prarabdha - which, however, he is not enabled to exercise at present - he could have attained the desired end. As the Prarabdha determines even Purushartha, it has to be said that the effort of man is the working of the Prarabdha itself as superimposed on his consciousness.

Prarabdha, when it is functioning, can never be defied or destroyed, but it can be exhausted through experience and non-commission of further Kriyamana- Karmas. Even this cessation from doing Kriyamana-Karma has to be allowed by the Prarabdha itself; otherwise even such a cessation will not be possible. An evil Prarabdha will not allow the withdrawal from Kriyamana-Karmas and as long as it is not exhausted through experience, rebirth and pain cannot be stopped.

Only a good Prarabdha can allow higher effort, the rise of knowledge, and cessation from Kriyamana-Karmas. But, on that account, effort cannot be stopped; for the Prarabdha forces itself out in the form of effort as long as its appearance can be possible only through the individual consciousness. Sometimes Prarabdha manifests itself, not through the individual consciousness, but either through external agency or occurrences having causes beyond human comprehension.

Even when a person is goaded by another to do action or Purushartha, it is only an aspect of his Prarabdha in relation to the other’s that works. In the state of supreme wisdom, however, such incitations and admonitions cease. Efforts are automatically (and not deliberately) stopped only on the rise of Self-Knowledge which is the goal of all effort, and not before that. As long as there is body-consciousness and world-consciousness, man will perforce carry on exerting to achieve his desired end. Effort is the natural concomitant of the consciousness of imperfection. Man, being imperfect, continues, by his own nature, to exert until the achievement of Perfection. The question of Prarabdha and Purushartha is a relative one and it loses its meaning on the dawn of Perfect Knowledge.

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Prarabdha and Purushartha by Swami Sivananda
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(Dec 28,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Happiness by Swami Krishnananda

Happiness

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 3 The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

Every effort is motivated by happiness. This is not merely a practical fact, but also a psychological truth. The whole process of creation, manifestation and dissolution, evolution and involution, the entire activity of the cosmos is an urge of happiness. It is happiness that is trying to recover its own consciousness and establish itself in its own pristine all-comprehensiveness. It is this that is called activity. It is this that is called enterprise and aspiration. It is this that is also called cosmic evolution. Happiness is at the back of everything. Happiness alone is.

Normally in our workaday world, we are accustomed to think that happiness is an achievement, by means of an effort, in the direction of an object which is regarded as the location of happiness. It is strange, no doubt, that different subjects endeavoring in the direction of happiness have different objects wherein happiness is supposed to be lodged. This is the reason behind a doubt that can arise in the mind as to where happiness lies.

There seems to be a flaw in the doctrine that the mind alone is the source of all happiness, because this doctrine is refuted by the very activity of the mind every day, which moves towards things other than its own self, viz., the objects in the world around us.

But the other doctrine that the world is the source of happiness also seems to be refuted by a deeper analysis that no object seems to be capable of attracting the attention of everyone at the same time, nor even one and the same subject at all times. So, there seems to be some mystery behind even the assumption of the presence of happiness in the objects outside.

Happiness is not in the mind, nor is it in the object, taken independently by themselves. Sanatkumara says, "My dear Narada, happiness is not anywhere and yet it is everywhere; it is in a completeness of Being that you can find happiness."

Even the whole world put together is finite. It cannot be regarded as infinite, because it is limited by space, time, and limited by the very presence of inner discrepancy within its own self. Then where is happiness? Not in anything that can be conceived by the mind or perceived by the senses. Happiness cannot be in anything in this world, because everything in this world is finite. The infinite Reality that is behind all finitudes, that alone can be regarded as complete by itself, because That alone is independent of any kind of contact with the finitudes. That infinitude is the source of happiness whose reflection in some manner or other in the finite objects of sense becomes responsible for our belief that happiness is in the objects outside.

"Happiness is completeness, happiness is the totality, happiness is in the Absolute," declares the great master Sanatkumara.

If that alone is happiness, why is it that we feel happiness in objects of sense? "Nalpe sukham asti—the finite things do not contain happiness," says Sanatkumara to Narada.

It is completeness of being that is the source of happiness. But where is this completeness of Being? It is not in the objects of sense, not in the union of one and two, or in the union of many. The Absolute, Fullness alone is Bliss—bhumaiva sukham.

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Happiness – Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
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(Dec 27,2013 ) Spiritual (Story) Message for the Day –The Parable Of The Two Zen Monks by Swami Chidananda

The Parable Of The Two Zen Monks

Divine Life Society Publication: The Eye Of The Hurricane by Swami Chidananda

Two Zen monks were on a journey. They came to a little stream where the current was a little strong and there was a village woman waiting to cross. But the time of the ferry had already been over and the last boat had crossed over. The boatman had tied the boat and gone home. But this woman still had to go across; she was lamenting how she could spend the night this side of the river. The two monks were strong and they did not worry about this stream. They tied up their cloth and prepared to ford (wade).

Seeing the woman’s state, the elder monk asked the younger to go and inquire what her situation was. Did she have relatives there with whom she could spend the night? The younger monk went and asked, and she said, “No, I do not know what to do”. Then the young monk said, “Don’t worry mother, I will take you across”. So he lifted her up and forded the stream in company with his senior companion and reached the other bank and put the grateful woman on her feet and she thanked him profusely and went. So they continued their journey, but the elder monk was very much upset.

It was against the rules of their monastic order to touch a female, much less to lift her up in arms and carry her for such a long time (two or five minutes, may be). So he was completely upset. First of all he cast a glance of disfavor and displeasure at the young man and even said, “What is it you have done?”. The young man said, “Forget it”.

At last, walking several miles, they reached their monastery and when they were about to enter, the old man once again started the theme and said, “Look here, you will have to make a penance; you will have to confess to the abbot; you have done something very, very wrong”. And the young man said, “What is it that you are referring to?”. “You carried that woman this evening.” The young monk looked with great surprise.

He said, “Look here, respected sir, I left her long ago by the riverside, miles behind, but you are still carrying her in your head”. He had carried her across and had forgotten the woman, but the old man all along was really carrying the woman in his head. This is the condition, the great problem of man bound and man liberated.

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The Parable of The Two Zen Monks:  The Eye Of The Hurricane by Swami Chidananda

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(Dec 26,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Supreme Reality by Swami Sivananda

The Supreme Reality

Divine Life Society Publication: God-Realization by Swami Sivananda

Life is not a misery. One should live for hundred years by performing action without attachment. Life is not a bondage when it is looked with the proper light. Such a man of proper knowledge looks on all beings as his own Self and his Self as all beings. To him everything is his own Self, and he is not affected by grief, delusion or sorrow of any kind.

The Supreme Reality is indescribable. It is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is beyond even the intellect. It is the light of all else and nothing is a light to it. Speech cannot express it. Mind cannot think it. Intellect cannot understand it. Senses cannot perceive it. Such a wonderful Being is the Truth. Brahma-Jnana is not a knowledge of something but becoming Absolute Knowledge Itself. It is the Infinite Subject, if speech can be permitted to express like that. It is an experience and not a perception. It is absoluteness and is, therefore, beyond the conception of duality and pairs of opposites. The greatest blessedness is to know That, and he is an unfortunate man who dies without the knowledge of it.

Mortal things are ephemeral and so are not worth pursuing. Even a whole life of many years is only very slight. It is nothing. There is no use of enjoying objects. Man is not satisfied with wealth. He craves to become Immortal even against his own conscience. Unfortunately he pursues after the pleasant as against the really good. The good is one thing and the pleasant another. The one liberates and the other binds. One should not catch the pleasant though it is tempting for a moment.

The Atman is not born, nor does it die. It has not come from anywhere and it has not become anything. Unborn, constant, eternal, primeval, this one is not slain when the body is slain. This Atman is hidden in the deep core of the heart of beings. It cannot be attained by any amount of reasoning, study or instruction. It comes only through the Supreme Grace. A man of bad conduct, who has not ceased from crookedness, cannot hope to attain the Atman.

The road to the Supreme is clothed with pricking thorns. It is sharp like the edge of a razor, hard to tread, a very difficult path. It can be trodden only with the help of knowledge obtained from men of wisdom. Knowing That, one is liberated from the terrible mouth of death.

The mind and the senses always run outwards. Only the men of self-discipline and perseverance can gaze inward and experience the state of the Atman as it really is. The children who have no knowledge of the Truth, run after external pleasures and they fall into the net of widespread Death. Only the wise, knowing the state of Immortality, seek not the Stable Brahman among things which are impermanent here.

One need not be anxious to possess things of the world. Whatever is there, that is here. He obtains death after death who perceive diversity in the world. There is nothing many here actually. The one Supreme Substance appears as many things, clothed in different names, forms and actions.

The Atma or the Brahman has no connection with the world of change. As the sun is not sullied by the faults of the eye, the Antaratman is not sullied by the defects of the world. As one fire has entered the world and becomes corresponding in form to every form, so the one Antaratman of the things is corresponding in form to every form, and yet is outside all these.

The goodness, the light, the pleasure and the beauty of the world is not to be found there even in name. Even the splendor of the Sun and the grandeur of the creator is superseded by the Absolute. That state is experienced when the senses cease to work together with the mind and when the intellect does not move, and when there is mere consciousness. When all desires that are lodged in the heart, are liberated, then the mortal becomes Immortal. Herein he attains Brahman.

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The Supreme Reality - God-Realization by Swami Sivananda
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(Dec 25,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – A Sacramental Life by Swami Krishnananda

A Sacramental Life

Divine Life Society Publication: Christmas Message by Swami Krishnananda

Jesus came to bear witness to the light Transcendent. Saints incarnate themselves by the behest of the Supreme Father of the universe to raise humanity from ignorance, error and sin to the life Righteous and Beatific. Saint Tukaram has said, “We live in Vaikuntha, but we come down to help humanity.” The All-powerful spiritual law that governs the universe manifests itself in infinite forms to establish itself in the realm of manifestation. Each form thus manifested bears witness to the Light Eternal. The suffering of the son of God, Christ, is a brilliant example of how the incarnated symbol of the eternal bears witness to its source. There is a great meaning implied in the suffering of the Saints, whether it is deliberately imposed upon himself by himself in the form of ascetic denial or it is imposed on him by external agencies. He that loves the world loves not the Father, and he that dies for the sake of the son of God, truly lives. To die to the narrow life of the earth is to live in the peace that passeth all understanding.

Christ has said that he came here to obey the commands of his Father, to do the Will of his Father. And he has also said that the heaven of the Father is within all. This means that the life of the Saint is a sacrifice done for the sake of asserting the spiritual law of that which is within all. The All which is within everyone is the true Father of humanity and all beings. The life of man is meant to demonstrate the goodness and the love, the wisdom and the truth which is his own origin. The assertion of the righteousness of the universal life which is an expression of the great Father in heaven requires therefore the assertion of all the unifying forces in this world of diversity. The life of the saint is a sacrament, a holy act, a divine worship. Suffering is inevitable to the saint who is the son of God, for, as the Christ has said, the one that is of God has no place to rest. Nothing here can satisfy the infinite impulse to be righteous and to do the righteous. From birth to crucifixion the life of Jesus has been a saga of the process of self-perfection. The incidents in his life represent the microcosmic as well as the macrocosmic changes that take place in the history of the evolution of the universe towards Self-realization in the existence of God.

Every phase of life is a necessary moment in the continued endeavor of the universe to recognize itself in Self-consciousness and unity of powers. Though the life of every person is indicative of the nature of the entire evolution of that individual, past as well as future, resulting in the experience of perfection, the life of Jesus, as well as of Sri Krishna, is a direct illustration of the conscious and systematic movement of the consciousness from its rudimentary individual state to the fully blossomed attainment of the infinite Godhead.

Jesus reveals himself in this world at a time when the king of the country strives his best to oppose him. Jesus has to be protected by being taken to a distant place. He grows up under mysterious circumstances and begins to preach the gospel of Divine Life. He is opposed again, tempted in several ways, charged with guilt, tried in court, found fault with, and crucified.

The soul of man, in the same way, begins to peep out through its material vestures when it finds itself hemmed in by disturbing powers of the physical and the mental world. The spiritual spark has to be saved from being extinguished completely. This is the preliminary step in the practice of Yoga. Sometimes the soul loses itself in a dark night and, later mysteriously emerges out of the same to assert itself with its full dignity and power. It begins to establish its law in all that it experiences and while doing so the powers of the manifested universe come in conflict with its super-normal behavior. The individual soul with its new alignment with the Supreme Self finds itself persecuted by the natural forces of the world. It is tempted vehemently, tried in all possible ways and declared unfit for a natural life in the world. It finds it impossible to live at the same time both in the conscious realm of God and the lusty world of man. It abandons itself to the Will of the Supreme and for the sake of this beatific union with the Infinite it casts off its individuality and ceases to be an element in the changing and objective plane of death, where the passions drag one away from God.

The teachings of Christ constitute the essential principles that regulate the course of the spiritual aspirant in his quest of the great ideal. Faith is the fundamental key to success in spiritual life. Christ has also warned people that many may come in his garb but may not be real teachers. One has to be aware of these deceitful ones and lay one’s trust in the true teacher, the Christ. The power of faith is such that, as Christ puts it, even a grain of it can move a mountain hence. Thought of food and raiment is not to become the burden of the aspirant. It is the instruction of Jesus that God knows more than man and that He knows how to protect man. The one duty of a person is to come to Him alone for rest, light and salvation. But “not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” It is not verbal humility and devotion but sincere feeling of dedication and surrender that can take one to God. Spiritual effort has its aim not in public worship, adoration in the streets and beating of drums, but silent sacrifice and intense feeling of union with the One without a second. God reveals Himself to man not until he becomes ready to sacrifice his life for His sake.

The greatness of the devotee of God is like a sweet fragrance which makes itself felt by all, by its very presence. “They are the light of the world; a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” The spiritual essence that constitutes the core of a person in union with Divine, reveals itself, of its own accord, without any kind of effort on the part of the person who is the medium of that revelation. The sun does not proclaim himself when he rises in the sky, but his very presence makes itself felt by those who have eyes to see and sense to feel. The owl does not know the sun, the blind does not see the light, the ignorant are not aware of the moving spirit of God that dwells in the tabernacle here and shines through the saint. The acts of Christ and his disciples are to be taken not in the sense of processes that have their end in the fulfilment of an individual wish, but as parts of cosmic movement tending to the establishment of God’s glory in the universe.

The life of Christ is a veritable sacrament, an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace that descends from the Sovereign of the universe. It is the unbounded love of God that came in flesh and suffered for the sins of humanity to raise the latter to the source of this love. Love and sacrifice are the key to open the door of immortality. Prayer, not for one’s own salvation from pain, but for the redemption of others from the ignorance of the law of God, is the true form which love and sacrifice takes in the life virtuous. The miracles which Christ performed are indicative of the Omnipotence of Him for whose sake Christ came here. The mission of the life of Jesus is not merely to open the eyes of man to the light that shines beyond the dust of the earth, but also to hoist the banner of the kingdom of heaven on this very earth, by winning for righteousness victory over evil and the temptations of Satan. Life here is a blending of the relative laws of the earth and the absolute law of God. “Render unto Ceaser the things which are Ceaser’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” A development of the aspiration for the Spirit, in harmony with the rules that regulate the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the earth, is necessary in order that the aspirant may be free from the error of the over-emphasis of non-essentials and of neglect of essentials in this relative life. Man is God and brute crossed at one point, and so he has to transcend the brute by an intelligent application of the divine power within him to what is active in him as the undivine force.

Christ was a great realist when he stressed the importance of kindness, love, service and worship of God as the Father in heaven. He was a great idealist when he asserted that the kingdom of heaven is within. The oneness and the organic nature of the universe is what is made explicit by his synthesis of the real and the ideal nature of human experiences in the universe. God is within and also without. The world is within us and also without us. Asceticism and love are both our duties. A parallel integration of the interior and the exterior forces through spiritual regeneration would confirm the kingdom of God on earth. In the teachings of Christ a careful student finds wisdom and holiness, metaphysics and ethics, realism and idealism, self-withdrawal and self-expression, knowledge and its object, fused into one, in a most wondrous and comprehensible manner. Only a God-man can do it, and Christ was one such. His life is a precept, and his precept is the word of God, by hearing and following which the unending beatitude of man is made secure.

Excerpts from:

A Sacramental Life – Christmas Message by Swami Krishnananda
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(Dec 24,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Life of Lord Jesus – The Message of His Birth by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj

Life of Lord Jesus – The Message of His Birth

Divine Life Society Publication: Life and Teachings of Lord Jesus by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj

The Supreme Light descended into this mortal world of gloom and darkness, two thousand years ago.

The Law governing the Lord’s descent upon earth is the same at all times, everywhere. When unrighteousness grows and righteousness is waning, when the forces undivine seem to be stronger than the divine forces, when the Word of God or commandments of His Messengers are forgotten or disobeyed, when religious fanaticism follows the letter of the scriptures killing the spirit, it is then that the Lord incarnates Himself on earth, to save Man, to save righteousness. That is why we find so much in common between the birth of Lord Jesus and the Avatara of Lord Sri Krishna.

Even at birth, the Lord had silently begun to deliver His Message. He chose, not a palace but a stable to be his first earthly home. He chose, not royal parents, but humble, poor, but faithful and pious people to own Him the Lord of the Universe, as their offspring. His scale of values is different from mortal. In His eyes, earthly pomp and splendor, as also pride of piety and vanity of intellect, are not receptacles worthy of His descent: for, “blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God.”

Mary, the Divine Mother of Lord Jesus, had already been informed by His Angels that the Son of God would be born of her. She married a good man named Joseph, the carpenter. They lived in Nazareth. The ruler of the country in which they lived passed an order that all the people should register their names in their native town or village and then pay tax. Joseph had, therefore, to go to Bethlehem, their native place. However, when they did arrive there, they found that they had virtually no decent house or inn to live in, and had to spend the night in a stable. It was here that the Lord was born.

The blessed, pure and pious shepherds were the next to see the Lord. They were keeping watch over their sheep in the country; and an angel appeared before them and informed them of the Divine Birth. Then the angels sang a beautiful song in praise of the Lord and in so doing, revealed the Purpose of His Descent:

Glory to God in the highest
    and on earth peace,
        goodwill toward men.

Lord Jesus had come into this world of men in order to re-establish the true and the highest glory of God, peace on earth, and goodwill in the hearts of men towards all fellow-beings. These blessed shepherds were the very first blessed souls on earth to literally worship the Savior.

When a good old man of Jerusalem, named Simeon, saw the Lord in the temple, he knew that Jesus was the Savior, the Divine Light that had descended on earth to dispel the darkness of ignorance and sin, to redeem the people and to lead them along the path of love and goodness, to the realization of the Kingdom of God within. In the temple that day Anna, a prophetess also saw Lord Jesus and proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God, who would shine as the Light of the World.

At Nazareth, Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the Incarnation of His Light, the Savior, grew up as a dutiful son of the pious parents and learnt carpentry from Joseph. The Divine Master who later in life was to shape the twelve great apostles, and whose flaming words were to shape for all time to come the destinies of countless human beings and even nations upon earth,—He busied Himself in learning carpentry.

When the Lord was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. Jesus was very much interested in the Temple and the discourses of the priests there. In fact, He was so much engrossed in the thoughts of God and His Divine Law, that He returned to the temple and joined a group of religious teachers who were discussing religious questions. Even to these masters of philosophy, His words were astounding.

Lord Jesus was now about thirty years of age, and sought John to be baptized by him on the banks of the river Jordan. John recognized Jesus’s Divinity and asked: “Dost Thou come to me, when I have need to be baptized by Thee?” But the Lord had determined to set an example to mankind: spiritual illumination can be had through a Guru (Preceptor). The moment the baptism was complete, Lord Jesus saw a vision of God’s spirit descending like a dove and alighting upon Him, and He heard a heavenly voice say: “Thou art my beloved son, I am well pleased with thee.”

After the baptism, Lord Jesus resorted to seclusion in the wilderness and practiced extreme austerities and fasted for 40 days. Austerities and meditation had, no doubt, earned for Him divine powers to work miracles. And, the Lord did perform miracles to save people and to heal them.

The Lord considered psychic powers as obstacles on the path of a true spiritual aspirant, and he would never even think of utilizing them for his selfish ends. Even when his life was at stake, Lord Jesus would not use His miraculous powers to prevent His being crucified. All the miracles He performed during His travels were prompted by the supreme compassion of His heart which overflowed with love and mercy towards all beings.

Jesus, after the period of His seclusion and austerities, came back to his native village, eager to impart His wisdom to his fellow-men. John the Baptist had already declared to the people that the Kingdom of God was at hand and called upon people to repent with a contrite heart and effect a change of heart in themselves in order to be able to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus, too, began with a repetition of this Message. But, whereas John had painted God as a stern Judge, Lord Jesus spoke of Him as the All-Merciful Father Who loved to save the sinner. To Lord Jesus, faith in God, earnestness in prayer, and ethical discipline ranked far above religious observances and ceremonies.

A rich young ruler one day approached the Lord and asked: “Good Master, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Lord Jesus replied: “You should keep the Commandments.” “Oh yes,” the young ruler replied: “and I have kept them since my childhood. What else should I do?” “There is one thing more,” said Jesus, “and that is: sell all that you have and give to the poor. Then take up your Cross and follow me.” At the very mention of this sacrifice and renunciation, the young ruler turned away and walked off. Lord Jesus remarked: “It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

One day as Lord Jesus was passing by, a crowd had collected around a woman who had been charged with adultery and had been sentenced “to be stoned to death.” As the crowd was about to carry out this execution Lord Jesus came upon the scene. Such was the magnetic and divine personality that he possessed that the people instinctively obeyed His command to desist from the cruel act.

“A man must be born again if he is to see the Kingdom of God—reborn not of the body, but in the spiritual sense.” Lord Jesus proclaimed that a true change of heart constituted this rebirth.

The feast of the Passover was approaching. As commanded by the Lord, the disciples prepared for the feast in a pious citizen’s house. Strangely enough, as soon as they were also seated and had begun to eat, Lord Jesus let fall a remark: “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.”

During this Holy Supper, the Lord took a bread, broke it and distributed it among his disciples saying: “This is My body”; and gave them wine with the significant remark: “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Yes, the All-Merciful Lord Jesus lived and died so that the sins of mankind might be forgiven and that men might learn to repent truly and lead the life divine thereafter.

Lord Jesus wanted to seclude Himself for a while and pray to the Divine Father. He prays. He knows that the end has come.

The Lord is unwilling even to pray to the Divine Father for miraculous help on this occasion: for His Will be done. The Lord had to be crucified so that for all time to come the Cross shall stand as the Holiest Symbol of sacrifice and Love.  The Lord said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

On the third day, there was a great earthquake. An angel from Heaven, told the keepers of the seupulchre and the women – Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,  that the Lord had risen, and that they would see Him in Galilee!

Before these women could tell the disciples, the latter had met Jesus who said to them: “All Hail.” The disciples went to a mountain in Galilee and worshipped Him. The Lord gave them His last Message:

“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you Always, even unto the end of the world.”

May Lord Jesus ever thus dwell in your heart, bringing Light and Love, into your Life! Amen.

Excerpts from:

The Message of His Birth – Life and Teachings of Lord Jesus by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
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(Dec 23,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant by Swami Chidananda

Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant

Divine Life Society Publication: Christmas Message by Swami Chidananda

Blessed Satchidananda Atman,

“Asato ma sat gamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, mrityorma amritam gamaya.” “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah, sarve bhadrani pasyantu, ma kaschit duhkhabhagbhavet.”

 

In thus offering you my devout worship and adorations upon this most holy Christmas Day at the command of our divine Master, Satgurudev, I started with two or three Sanskrit prayers and it was with a particular purpose that I opened with these prayers. First I chanted “Asato ma sat gamaya, tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, mrityor ma amritam gamaya.” It means “From the unreal, lead us on to the Real. From darkness, lead us on to Eternal Light and from mortality, lead us on to Immortality” and then I followed up with the prayer for cosmic weal, wherein the prayer goes, “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah.” May all be happy. May all be free from diseases. “Sarve bhadrani pasyantu, ma kaschit duhkhabhagbhavet.” May welfare be unto all. May auspiciousness be unto all. May there be no sorrow to anyone.

It is precisely to bring about this state of universal happiness, goodwill and brotherhood amidst all mankind, and peace all over the earth, it is in order to bring about this state of affairs on earth and to elevate man from this earthly life into a divine life and a higher life of spiritual experience and spiritual realisation, that from time to time great souls who are the incarnated embodiments of the Supreme Divine Spirit, God, come down in the form of men. It is to do this that these great souls come upon the earth and through their lives, their activities and their example, and precepts, they teach man how to bring about these things, how each one can contribute to the sum total of goodness, to the sum total of welfare in the world, and how by living a life of goodness, auspiciousness, love and service, we can transform this life and attain immortality, how we can rise from this life of ignorance and untruth to perennial light and eternity. And the life of Christ is an example of such a lofty life of Lokasangraha, so that the whole of humanity may know the way to eternal existence. He taught us the way to divine perfection and this great soul incarnated upon the earth long, long ago, and because his great divine life was thus lived in order to bring about a transformation not only on the life upon earth but a transformation in the hearts of mankind,—it is because he did this work, the world has deified him and adores him even to this day. That is why even thousands of miles away we celebrate here the great Christmas. It is sacred to entire mankind, because Christ came to lead man from darkness to ignorance, from mortality to immortality and from the life of clinging to unreality to a life established in Atmic consciousness.

He took birth in humble surroundings. He was born in a manger, a place where fodder for cattle was kept. He was born of a carpenter. It is as though to bring out the truth that the divine spirit takes birth in that being who is humble, who is pure, who is meek in spirit, in whom there is no pride, it is as though to symbolise this truth he was born in this humble inn, in a manger, and about his lofty life we can give countless sermons, yet we would not reach the limit of his glory and grandeur. But let us recall to our minds a few incidents in the life of Jesus and a few of the precious words that came out of his lips.

One of the parables taught by Jesus is the parable of the sower. The seed that is sown on a rock does not sprout. The seed which is sown on thorns gets choked up and it does not grow. The seed which is sown on a fertile soil sprouts and grows well. It is the ground that makes the seed fruitful. Even so, unless we make the ground of our hearts suitable by acquiring the necessary qualifications, by becoming pure, by generating faith and devotion, unless we do that, all the divine scriptures, all the saints will not be able to do much for us. At least this part of making ourselves suitable vessels, is a thing which is incumbent upon a Sadhaka. Therefore, he who aspires for spiritual realization, let him remember the parable of the sower and the seeds and try to make himself a fit receptacle for the seeds of spirituality. Only if we do that our life will be fruitful.

Secondly, a beautiful parable that Christ has given which shows the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the parable of Good Samaritan. Our love should not be colored by selfishness. Christ said, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and one man asks him, “Who is a neighbor?” He does not answer the question in a direct way, but gives a parable of the good Samaritan and asks the person who put him the question, “Who is the neighbor?” It is the heart full of love, worshipfulness, that determines who is the neighbor. Worshipfulness should be active, purposeful, and practical. A man who was an enemy of a person was injured by the robbers, then the man who was supposed to be an enemy, showed the unity of heart actively and practically and showed that he was the real neighbor. And that man had to come to the Kingdom of Heaven, because he had enshrined within himself the same love which indwelt Christ and which made him give up his body upon the cross. That love which made Christ suffer for the sake of people who had never seen him, that love which made Christ wear the crown of thorns that brought blood out of his body, that love is the key to Christ Consciousness and Immortality.

And last, but not least, once again Lord gives us the lofty parable of the virgins with the lamps. It is not a parable which is remembered by all, but it has got a great significance, especially to us, seekers, who are trying to tread the path of Yoga, which is doubtless a hard path, which is a path meant for those alone who have a heart that has got undying faith. The strength of the devotee is not the strength of the muscle, but the strength of faith. Even if the whole solar system will crash and crumble, once he has grasped the hand of the Lord, the Lord will not forsake him. This strength is necessary for our path.

There were seven virgins. They were waiting for the Lord who was to come. They waited and waited with lamps with them and it became dark, and the Lord did not come. The virgins became sleepy and they fell asleep. They did not take care to replenish the oil in the lamps or to trim the wick. But there was one among them who was very careful and very sincere to unite with the Lord. Sincerity is the secret of Yogic life. That virgin was ever awake. She was careful, and she trimmed the wick, replenished the lamp with oil and lo! When all other virgins were sleeping, and darkness had come, at that moment, Christ appeared and when He came, one was awake, and he took her unto himself. Blessedness and bliss accrued to that soul, which is the fruition of Yoga. What about others? They never knew when the Lord came. They lamented when they woke up, but their lamentation was of no use. And Gurudev tells us the same parable, but more forcibly. He says, “Life is short, time is fleeting. Awake, arise and attain the goal. Keep yourself ever ready to meet the Lord. Be up and doing in Yogic Sadhana.” Let not a moment pass without effort to reach God. Let us be not like the virgins who feel asleep, but like the virgin who was awake and vigilant and who trimmed the wick, and attained oneness with the Lord.

Above all, what is the greatest parable that Jesus has taught. Even as Swamiji has preached it, there is one greatest among greatest sermon that Christ preached. What is it? His own personal life. How he reacted to his surroundings, what was his purity, what was his wonderful compassion, what was his humility? He was an embodiment of all the gospels that he has given, only in a thousandfold increased measure. The inspiration of that great example is a perennial and living lesson to all of us to keep before our eyes. It is the star that we have to follow. There is no darkness as long as we keep our eyes fixed on the star. By following that star, both men of wisdom and men of faith reach the very abode of Lord. If we keep our eyes fixed upon the great Light which is Jesus, we shall surely attain the Lord, with the blessings of all saints.

Let this be our resolve on this great day that we shall follow the star and attain the Lord.

May God bless you all.

Excerpts from:

Life of Jesus for A Spiritual Aspirant – Christmas Message by Swami Chidananda
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