(May 31,2013) Daily routine – Spiritual Living

Daily routine – Spiritual Living

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

Study, svadhyaya is also something very important. You will not be able to go on meditating, and do nothing else. When the actual entry into direct meditation on the Supreme Reality of life is found to be impracticable on a particular day for some reason or the other, stop the meditation. Don’t tire the mind and whip it up unnecessarily when it is not willing to do it. At that time, take up a scripture – anything that enthuses you, rouses your feelings, and enables your spirit to rise – whatever be the scripture or a textbook that you may find most suitable for the purpose.

When you are calmed, and your mind is properly prepared after this study of a scripture, you may take to meditation a second time. But, even then, if you find it is difficult, take to mantra japa. A mantra is a summoning of the Ultimate Being by associating it with the principle of sound. Just as everything has a name, the Universal Reality also may be summoned by some kind of description, a designation. If you have an ishta devata – a god whom you worship dearly – a mantra of that deity can be taken up for your daily japa. A few rounds of the japa mala with chanting for some 15 minutes, or even half an hour, will prepare your mind for meditation.

So, three prongs of this trident of the sadhana process may be said to be meditation, svadhyaya and japa. All the three may have to be attempted every day. Keep a few minutes for japa, a few minutes for study, and a few minutes for actual meditation. But more than all these, there is satsanga. Nothing can equal satsanga, the company of a great person who will sustain your enthusiasm for spiritual living.

Today you may find it difficult to locate a great master.  You can place the portrait, picture, or a photograph of that great master in front of you, and go on gazing at it. What you see with your eyes, you should also think at the same time. There is a direct connection between sight and thought. So, ishta is the name that we give to this form that you place before yourself for the purpose of meditation – the dear one. The mind wants many things, and one of the things is yourself. This kind of thing is not ishta. Mortal objects in the world cannot bless you with such a thing. So, your must-have ishta does not mean a perishable object, because a perishable object can give you only perishable satisfaction. Thus, when you do not have an actual Guru whom you can befriend and receive instructions from, you must have something imperishable in front you for your purpose of concentration.

Therefore, we have japa, svadhaya, meditation, dhyana, and satsanga with great ones. If you are sincere, you will come in contact with these Gurus. The Almighty Lord, who is seated in your heart, who loves you very much, who is your real friend, will bring you in contact with a Great Master. The Guru will come to you, instead of your going to the Guru. Suhṛdaṁ sarvabhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati (Gita 5.29): “Remember, I am your real friend,” says the Great Master Yogi, with humility in the Bhagavadgita. He will come to you for every little thing, and satisfy you with His succour.

Study the Bhagavadgita every day. I mentioned to you that some svadhyaya is to be done every day. There are many holy books. The Bhagavadgita is very good because it tells you what your duty, mama dharma, is. The Bhagavadgita is not easy to understand, though you may chant it any number of times. Its intricacy is very difficult to make out. It is a comprehensive teaching, touching every aspect of life. Or you can have any other book – the New Testament, or the Koran, or the Bible. Whatever you like, take to it with the heart, and study that.

Never forget that God sees you; all your thoughts and feelings, your actions and your performances are seen by millions of eyes around you. You are always watched with a caretaking eye, and it notes all your deeds. Whenever you do something, or speak, or act, remember that you are doing it in the presence of an all-seeing eye. Every atom is an eye of God. Sarvatokṣiśiromukham (Gita 13.13): Everywhere He has got eyes. Every sand particle is an eye of God; it sees. Every brick, every leaf of a tree are all eyes of God. They see. They see, not merely to punish you for your bad deeds, but also to protect you, to warn you and take care of you, and to provide you with all your needs – to see to your yogakshema, and to give you what you need and take care of you in every way.

So, trust in God; do the right. When you do the right, you must remember that it is possible only if you trust in God. Only a person who trusts in God can do the right. Otherwise, your concept of righteousness may sometimes be tarnished by a little bit of your personal selfishness. The great Master Jesus Christ said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate, teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yogakṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (Gita 9.22): “Whoever is intently thinking of Me, is contemplating on Me, is united in his heart with Me, I shall take care of that person continuously and provide that person with every little need.” The world will follow you, instead of your running after the world. The tables will be turned completely; the subject will become the object, the object will become the subject. God will be with you for ever and ever.

Continue to read:

The Trident of the Sadhana Process - Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 30,2013) Daily routine – To become more Conscious of Your Being

(May 29,2013) Daily routine – To become more Conscious of Your Being

Daily routine – To become more Conscious of your Being

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

The last, penultimate instruction in the Bhagavadgita is to renounce all duties, dharmas, for the sake of some other duty: sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (Gita 18.66). Many people put a question: What is it that you are renouncing? People are asked to pursue and practise dharma; instead of that, we are told here to renounce all dharmas. What is it? You are renouncing a dharma for the sake of another dharma, which includes these renounced dharmas. The lower wholeness is included in the higher Wholeness. A larger Integration includes the lower integration. Dharmas, or the duties that you perform in life, are of course very necessary because they are connected with your very being itself, but they are lower forms of holistic experience. As you rise higher and higher in your dimension of being, the duty so-called becomes more a consciousness of your being, rather than the entanglement or association of your being with something outside.

Finite beings, finite individualities, personalities as we are, are perforce made to relate to some other thing externally, which is called work. The work that you are doing every day is only an attempt to whitewash this peculiar suffering unit called finitude, and you are trying to feel that the finitude is diminished to a satisfactory extent by coming in contact with other finites called other people, other things in the world, so that you feel – wrongly though – that the connection of one finitude with other finitudes is a sort of enlargement of finitude in the direction of the infinity. It may look like that, but it is not so. All works are perishable. All relationships will come to an end one day or the other, notwithstanding the fact that you cannot get on in this world without relationships and without some kind of performance.

Actually, the intention behind this connection of one finitude with other finitudes is to attain the non-finite. Your dimension should increase qualitatively, in the sense of your being itself becoming larger, not appearing to be wider on account of possessions which are external things. If you know a little of these things, meditation will bring you great satisfaction. In the state of meditation, you are touching the borderland of that power, which actually is what you seek even in your daily routine performances of work, duty, and the like. This you have to understand as far as possible.

You cannot go to this height immediately. You have to frequent again and again ashrams, guides, masters, and also study more and more, as much as possible, to recharge yourself into the concept of this ultimate validity in the practice of meditation. However much you may try to accommodate yourself with this thought, it will slip from your mind because the senses are more powerful than your conceptualisations. The senses are connected with visible, solid, practical realities, and the mind conceptualises and synthesises the reports of the sense organs. It has actually nothing new to tell. It begins to perform a real duty of enhancing the quality of your dimension only when the senses are withdrawn. When sense restraint is practised, the energy of the senses, which move in terms of the objects, revert to their source, and so the mind thinks not in terms of sense perception, but in terms of the origin of its own emanation from consciousness.

Continue to read:

The Trident of the Sadhana Process - Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

June 1,2013 (Weekly) True Sannyasa by Swami Chidananda

This being Gurudev’s Sannyasa day, let us consider what Sannyasa is. Guru Maharaj said that merely shaving the head and putting on coloured cloth does not make you sannyasin, if you have also not simultaneously kept up a process of constant and a continuous inner renunciation of the false ideas that “I am body, I am mind, I am sentiment, I am thought, I am desire…” All these ideas constitute ignorance. All these falsehood should be renounced. Truth has to be affirmed again and again, and yet again. The essence of renunciation is renunciation of this identification with the human individual personality and all that it constitutes, right from the physical level up to the subtle – memory and imagination, projecting into the future and identifying with the past.

Gurudev was very specific: To lead the spiritual life, it is not necessary to withdraw into the forest. What is needed is the renunciation of ego, abhiman, ahamkara, renunciation of desire, renunciation of attachment, of mamta and asakti (mineness and attachment). In all the eighteen chapters of the Bhagwad Gita wisdom teachings, again and again have been stressed nirmama, nirmoha and anasakti (absence of mineness, absence of attachment and dispassion). Thus, true sannyasa constitutes giving up the false idea: “I am a human individual; I am separate from God, apart from all others.” All that is ignorance. This is bondage. That Renunciation of ego that is outcome of this false identification is sannyasa. Renunciation of selfishness that springs out of “I”-ness and mineness – is sannyasa. Renunciation of innumerable desires that follow in the train of ego – identification, attachment and selfishness is real tyaga, real sannyasa.

Once desire is given up, one no longer has any sankalpa, no other spriha (desire) other than devotion to the lotus feet of the Supreme, devotion to attain aparoksha’nubhuti (direct, actual experience). “I am a mere instrument; Thou doest all” – this idea becomes firmly implanted in the consciousness. The great Mahatmaji who is the father of nation was the ideal sannyasin par excellence, as he lived every moment of his life manifesting dynamism, desirelessness, perfect tyaga, and perfect dedication to vishva-kalyana (welfare of all in the world). God bless you to ponder these truths that have been shared with you by the prompting if Guru Maharaj. May the grace of the Almighty make you a true sadhaka, a real devotee of the Lord, a real renunciate and real walker on the path of spirituality!

(May 29,2013) Daily routine – Meditation

Daily routine – Meditation

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

How do you improve the quality of your meditation? Even if you sit for several hours, the mind may not get ignited. You will feel that nothing has happened, though you have sat for hours, because the mind refuses to accommodate itself to your requirement. The refusal may be due to various reasons. It is not that everyone can do real meditation; only a very few can do that. The mind refuses to act, just as sometimes horses will refuse to move forward, for their own reasons.

Distress of any kind, anguish, expectations which are dubious in their nature, financial penury, and a sense of hopelessness that oftentimes catches hold of people for various reasons in their life may bring some such situation that the mind will say that you have better things to do than meditation. People who have a family have such an experience. It is not that every family man is happy. Only one who has a family will know what it is to have a family. All are not born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They have to work hard with the sweat of their brow, and they are not satisfied with what they earn. Even if they are working in a factory or an office, sometimes their salaries may be inadequate, and the expenditure to maintain a family may not be in harmony with the salary that is earned. You may have to borrow, and borrowing is the worst thing that one can do. You will have another agony of having to pay back your debt. Many such things are there. Very dexterously, you have to adjust your daily program considering all these difficulties in your life.

No one in the world can be said to be entirely free from problems. Everyone has a difficulty, but how to handle it is an art that you may have to discover. Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam (Gita 2.50): Expertness in your dealings is also yoga, says the Bhagavadgita. In handling all your day-to-day enterprises, you must have expertise. There are certain things which you cannot handle, even though you may try your best. When handling a situation, you may apply yourself to the task to the maximum limit of your resources. When everything is found to be inadequate and you have no support whatsoever, then only can you give it up.

Many a time, we make a mistake in not distinguishing between what is possible and what is impossible. There are certain things which are possible, and you can try to do that; certain things also are impossible, and those things you should not try. The attempt at achieving the impossible is a source of suffering to the mind. “Give me the will to change what I can, and the courage to bear what I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference” is an old proverb. But for us, the wisdom is not coming forth. We try to change what we cannot change. There are people who try to change the entire society, all of humanity, with a new perspective. Yes, in a very few rare cases that attempt may succeed, but mostly it becomes a failure and a great sorrow befalling the person who has made the attempt. To understand your own capacity and the position that you are occupying in society is important. You must understand in what situation you are placed. You have to know fully your social placement. Do not make mistakes and imagine something which is not you.

With your determination, coupled with proper understanding, you may be able to organise your day, allotting enough time for sleep, for work, for diversion and some recreation, and for meditation. Again, it has to be reiterated that if you have understood the true spirit of spirituality, you would realise that meditation is not one of the works that you are performing. Though some time has been given for various things and some time for meditation, it does not mean that meditation is one of the functions that you have to perform. It is the vitality behind all your performances. Vitality cannot be regarded as one among the many. It is the all-in-all.

You may find it hard to accommodate yourself to the requirements of the meditational process, because again and again the old habit of thought will persist in thinking that meditation is a religious requirement imposed by scriptures, saints and Gurus, while the world is real indeed, as real as anything else. One of the torments into which we may enter in our spiritual aspirations is that the world, and the activities in the world, will look more concrete than the requirement of meditation. Meditation oftentimes appears abstract because it is a thinking process, and thinking is abstract while the world is very solid. All the things and people with which you come in contact in the world are solid events in your life, while meditation looks like some airy, ethereal performance in respect of something of which you have no knowledge. The fear of the contrast between an ethereal, airy pursuit in comparison with the realities of life will harass the mind.

In the earliest stages, you do not require any guidance. Whatever be the success in your meditation – success or no success – sit for 15 minutes before you go to the office, and let it be a ritual, almost. But if you are very honest and determined to pursue this path as an all-inclusive recharging of yourself in terms of the Ultimate Reality of life, then you may require daily guidance from a teacher. It is something like walking on a tightrope or learning to handle and ride an elephant. When you take to exclusive meditations, guidance is necessary; otherwise, things may turn topsy-turvy. The emotions are strong, senses are very impetuous, the world is very real, and people around you are more real than anything else.

The pursuit of God, the practice of meditation, may look like the pursuit of the will o’ the wisp; something may be there, or it may not be there. Nobody has seen God, and nobody has ever seen the success that anyone has attained in meditation. We hear that it is good, but we don’t know anything about it. We have not practically seen the results of it. Such difficulties will arise. In these lessons you have been told that you are a Total Being attempting to put yourself in a state of en rapport with the Total Being of the universe, which is called meditation. Meditation is not a work that you are performing, in the same way as your existence in this world is not a work. When you are living, existing, and breathing, that condition cannot be regarded as an activity of your life. It is prior to all activity. Similarly, the thing called meditation may look like a work or activity, but it is something more than that. It is a recharging of your whole personality with a condition of superior health.

To regain health is not a process of acting or working; it is not work at all. To regain health from a condition of illness is the gradual rise into a wholeness of your being, from the condition of malady which is the illness. All the activities of the world are included in meditation. This is something which is not easy to understand. All your duties are included in this great duty of meditation, because thought is so powerful that it can bring about transformations even in respect of things which are so solid and real to sense organs in this world of human beings.

Continue to read:

The Trident of the Sadhana Process - Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 28,2013) Daily routine – A program for your day

Daily routine – a program for your day

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

There is a very interesting secret about the first and last words of the Bhagavadgita. It starts with the word dharma: dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre (Gita 1.1). The first word of the Gita is dharma; the last word is mama: nītir matir mama (Gita 18.78). If you join them together, it is mama dharma. So, the Bhagavadgita tells you mama dharma: your duty. Don’t you think it is interesting? Mama dharma is the subject of the Bhagavadgita.

You should have a daily routine, a program for your day. Sri Aurobindo has written that you have to divide the whole day into four parts – six hours for meditation, six hours for work, six hours for sleep, and six hours for other things. Sometimes we have to work for more than six hours; this is the fate of the people working in offices these days. But, if it is systematically done, and the arrangement of the work is computerised in a beautiful manner without any kind of pressure, perhaps in six hours you may finish the work of the day. Six hours you sleep; very good. Six hours of meditation is a wonderful thing. Very few people are able to meditate like that for such a long time. And we have other titbits, for which he has allotted six hours: you have to take bath, to go for a walk, to eat, to take rest, to meet visitors, to read the newspaper or go somewhere; that you have to do within six hours.

Though it looks very fine, you feel you cannot get on like that. Why? Think it over for yourself. Firstly, the debility is in the duration of work; you have to work for eight hours, at least. Sometimes, officials even work till midnight. They carry on till late hours, and sometimes have to work at home also. It is up to you. Though Aurobindo’s idea was very good, you can have your own program. You have to sleep well. You should not cut short your sleep due to any kind of enthusiasm.

Yuktāhāravihārasya yuktaceṣṭasya karmasu, yuktasvapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkhahā (Gita 6.17), says the Bhagavadgita: moderate eating, neither in excess, nor to the point of starvation; vihara: a diversion, a little change for your health also is necessary – activity in a moderate manner – neither being excessively active like a busy-body, nor a do-nothing; svapnavabodha: necessary sleep – neither you oversleep, so that you may become dull and lethargic, nor you cut short your sleep. That is to say, the sign of good sleep is that when you wake up in the morning, you feel refreshed. If you have good sleep, you will wake up refreshed.

The feeling at the time of waking up from sleep is the indication of the condition of your health. When you wake up in the morning, don’t jump up from your bed. Make it a point to sit quietly for a few minutes. Close your eyes. The tamas of sleep has ended, and the rajas of activity has not yet commenced. You are in the middle, between the tamasic condition and the rajasic condition. So, you may say, it is a flash of sattva that is available in the early morning when you wake up.

The meditation should be along the lines we have discussed. Actually, the quality of your thinking at the time of your meditation is what is important. It is like a spark of fire. It is only a momentary phenomenon, but yet it is radiant enough and sufficient for igniting your enthusiasm.

With your determination, coupled with proper understanding, you may be able to organise your day, allotting enough time for sleep, for work, for diversion and some recreation, and for meditation.

How do you improve the quality of your meditation?

Continue to read:

The Trident of the Sadhana Process - Chapter 12:Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 27,2013) Spiritual Message of the Day – Yama and Niyama – Self-Control and Religious Observances

Yama and Niyama – Self-Control and Religious Observances

Divine Life Society Publication: Secret of Raja Yoga by Swami Sivananda

There is a deliberate order in the five parts or limbs of yama (self-control). Ahimsa (non-violence) comes first, because man must remove his brutal nature first. He must become non-violent; he must develop cosmic love. Only then does he become fit for the practice of yoga. Then comes satyam or truthfulness. Because the whole phenomenon of maya (illusion) is asat or unreal, the aspirant should be aware of this fact. He should ever remember the truth or Brahman. Then comes asteya or non-stealing. Because he must develop moral consciousness, he must know right from wrong, righteousness from unrighteousness; and he must know that all are one. Brahmacarya is a divine attribute.

The aspirant is now becoming a superman by the practice of brahmacarya or celibacy. The fifth is aparigraha. The yogic student is free now from desires, cravings, unnecessary wants, luxuries, desire to possess and enjoy. He has a very expanded heart.

Yama is "taking of vow". Niyama is "religious observance". Yama is not a policy or company manners or courtesy, it is sticking to ideals and principles; it is development of divine traits that will transform human nature into divine nature; it annihilates desires, cravings, evil qualities; it eradicates brutal instinct and brutal nature; it removes harshness, violence, cruelty and covetousness; it fills the heart with cosmic love, kindness, mercy, goodness, purity and divine light. It is the foundation of divine life or yoga, on which the super-structure of samadhi is built. It is the corner-stone of yoga, on which the edifice of superconsciousness is built.

Niyama is canon or religious observance. It consists of five limbs; namely, saucha, santosa, tapas, svadhyaya and Isvara pranidhana. Saucha is purity, internal and external. Santosa is contentment. Tapas is austerity or control of senses or meditation. Svadhyaya is study of scriptures. It means also chanting of mantra (name of God) or enquiry. Isvara pranidhana is self-surrender to the Lord. It is consecration of one's work as an offering to the Lord.

There is an intimate relation between yama and niyama. Niyama safeguards yama. If one has internal purity one can get established in brahmacarya. If you have contentment, you will not steal or hurt others or tell lies. It will be easy for you to practise aparigraha.

Continue to read:

Order in Yama and Niyama – from “Secret of Raja Yoga” by Swami Sivananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 26,2013) Spiritual Message of the Day – Gossip to Gospel

Ethical Discipline

Divine Life Society Publication: Easy Steps to Yoga by Swami Sivananda

                                                                                                                         

1. ‘Atman or Self is one. There is one common consciousness in all beings. All Jivas are reflections of the one Supreme Soul or Paramatman. Just as one sun is reflected in all pots of water, so also the one Supreme Being is reflected in all human beings. One cannot become many. One appears as many. One is real. Many are illusory. Separateness is illusory. Separateness is temporary. Unity is real. Unity is Eternal. One life vibrates in all beings. Life is common in animals, birds and human beings. Existence its common.’ This is the emphatic declaration of the Upanishads. This primary truth of Religion is the foundation of ethics or Sadachara. If you hurt another man, you hurt yourself. If you help another man, you help yourself. On account of ignorance one man hurts another man. He thinks that other beings are separate from himself. So he exploits others. So he is selfish, greedy, proud and egoistic. If you are really aware that one Self pervades, permeates all beings, that all beings are threaded on the Supreme Self, as the row of pearls on a string, how can you hurt another man, how can you exploit another man?

2. Who of us is really anxious to know the Truth about God or Divine Life? We are more ready to ask ourselves: “How much money you have got in the Imperial Bank? Who said that against me? Do you know who I am? How are your wife and children doing?” and questions of this sort than questions like: “Who am I? What is this Samsara? What is bondage? What is freedom? Whence have I come? Whither shall I go? Who is Isvara? What are the attributes of God? What is our relationship to God? How to attain Moksha? What is the Svarupa of Moksha?”

3. The beginning of ethics is to reflect upon ourselves, our surroundings and our actions. Before we act we must stop to think. When a man earnestly attends to what he recognises as his duties, he will progress and in consequence thereof his comfort and prosperity will increase. His pleasures will be more refined; his happiness, his enjoyments and recreations will be better and nobler. Happiness is like a shadow; if pursued it will flee from us, but if a man does not trouble himself about it and strictly attends to his duties, pleasures of the best and noblest kind will crop out everywhere in his path. If he does not anxiously pursue it, happiness will follow him.

4. The increase or rather refinement of happiness, however, cannot be considered as the ultimate aim of ethics, for pain and affliction increase at the same rate because man’s irritability, his susceptibility to pain grows with the growth of his intellectuality. The essence of all existence is evolution or a constant realization of new ideals. Therefore the elevation of all human emotions, whether they are painful or happy, the elevation of man’s existence, of his actions and aspirations, is the constant aim of ethics.

5. The Socratic formula: “Virtue is knowledge,” is found to be an adequate explanation of the moral life of man. Knowledge of what is right, is not coincident with doing it, for man, while knowing the right course is found deliberately choosing the wrong one. Desire tends to run counter to the dictates of reason; and the will, perplexed by the difficulty of reconciling two such opposite demands, tends to choose the easier course and follow the inclination rather than to endure the pain of refusing desire in obedience to the voice of reason. Hence mere intellectual instruction is not sufficient to ensure right doing. There arises the further need for chastisement or the straightening of the crooked will, in order to ensure its cooperation with reason in assenting to what it affirms to be right, and its refusal to give preference to desire or the irrational element in man’s nature when such desire runs counter to the rational principle.

6. The pure reason urges a man to what is the best. The Asuric nature of a man fights and struggles against the man. The impulses of a man who has not undergone the ethical discipline runs counter to his reason. All advice, all rebuke and exhortation, all admonition testify that the irrational part is amenable to reason.

7. The basis of good manners is self-reliance. For such reasons have the great founders and eminent teachers of all religions repeatedly proclaimed the need for recognising the Godhead within and for self-reliance in the last resort rather than any texts and persons and customs. Self-reliance is the basis of behaviour.

8. Self-control is the greatest in the man whose life is dominated by ideals and general principles of conduct. The final end of moral discipline is self-control. The whole nature of man must be disciplined. Each element requires its specific training. Discipline harmonises the opposing elements of his soul. The self-control will enable the aspirant to know the Truth, to desire the good and win the right and thus to realise the Reality.

9. Discipline is the training of our faculties, through instructions and through exercise, in accordance with some settled principle of authority. You must discipline not only the intellect but also the will and the emotions. A disciplined man will control his actions. He is no longer at the mercy of the moment. He ceases to be a slave of his impulses and Indriyas. Such mastery is not the result of one day’s effort. One can acquire the power by protracted practice and daily self-discipline. You must learn to refuse the demands of impulses. A self-controlled man will be able to resist the wrong action to which a worldly man is most strongly impelled.

Continue to read:

Ethical Discipline – from “Easy Steps to Yoga” by Swami Sivananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 25,2013) Boredom to Boardroom

Worldly Excellence is No Less Acceptable to God than Spiritual Excellence

Divine Life Society Publication: The Call of Sri Krishna: The Gospel of Super Excellence by Swami Krishnananda

(Talk given by Swami Krishnanada on Janmashtami, Sri Krishna’s Birthday)

One important lesson of our scriptures which we have overlooked is their call to a life of glory. There are many passages in the Vedas in which the Rishi prays for greatness. "O Lord, make me lustrous." "May I be the most glorious." "May the sun and the moon and the earth and the sea, and the sky and the heaven made by Thee, be always favourable to us for achieving greatness."

The Bhagavadgita has a whole chapter – Vibhuti Yoga – in which Sri Krishna exalts the best or most outstanding specimen in each class of beings by identifying himself with it. For example, he says: "Among immovables I am the Himalaya; among rivers, the Ganga; among trees, the holy fig; among cows, the divine cow of plenty; among sages, Vyasa; among heavenly songsters, Chitraratha; among generals, Skanda; among rulers, Yama; among celestial sages, Narada; among warriors, Rama; among men, the King. I am the glory of the glorious, the victory of the victorious, the goodness of the good-natured. I am life in all beings and austerity in ascetics."

In this way Sri Krishna has commended the celebrities in all walks of life but not the mediocre of routine workers. This is the Gospel of super excellence – a clarion call to all aspirants to acquire greatness and glory by their golden deeds. As if to leave no room for doubt, the same previous lesson was taught by Sri Krishna, while showing his cosmic form to Arjuna: "Therefore, stand up! Win for thyself renown! Conquer thy foes! Enjoy the wealth-filled realm!"

Modern thinkers have made a strong plea for the cultivation of super excellence. Thus Emerson wrote: "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, though he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

Similarly Swett Marden said: "There is a fitness in doing a thing superlatively well, because we seem to be made for expressing excellence."

In his book, Excellence, J.W. Gardner, President of the Carnegie Foundation, writes: "Excellence implies more than competence. It implies a striving for the highest standards in every phase of life."

Seva Dharma requires hard work, but mixed with brains. All work must be done efficiently. According to the Gita, efficiency in work is one of the definitions of Yoga (II/50) and the devotee who is dear to Sri Krishna is daksha or dexterous in whatever he does (XII/16).

Efficiency has two sides – spiritual and temporal. The essence of spiritual efficiency is selflessness or other centredness, to do the work as an offering to God or for the good of fellow beings, keeping the eye on the interests of those whom the work is intended to serve rather than one's own. Strikes, demonstration, go-slow and work-to-rule campaigns and the clamour for more pay for less work are as anti-social and unspiritual as the practice of getting richer and richer by exploiting employees or customers.

The performance must also be satisfactory in the worldly sense. First and foremost, it must be of good quality, neat and clean, free from errors and blemishes. Secondly, speed must be added to accuracy. The work must be completed in time. Usually a good worker is also a fast worker and slowness is a sure sign of incompetence. Nothing big can be achieved without promptness.

Another important factor in efficiency is economy in labour, money and material. A capable person can work for long hours without feeling fatigued. He uses his time and energy, in fact all resources, to the best advantage. He never attempts things which his assistants can do for him. He multiplies his powers by winning the cooperation of others.

Finally, the highest ingredient of efficiency is inventiveness and originality. The really efficient man is not simply a routine worker, doing things as they were done in the past. Rather he breaks new ground, makes new, better and cheaper things, simplifies procedures and makes improvements everywhere. He leaves his organisation better than he found it.

But the Lord of Infinite Glory is not satisfied with ordinary skill; He expects superbness from His devotees.

Very noble are those who practise Karma Yoga and work efficiently for the general good. By their efforts, they maintain the world order. Even more valuable are the few who practise Vibhuti Yoga, serve as exemplars, heroes, leaders or luminaries, and make significant contributions to the knowledge, wealth or well-being of mankind.

The development of talent, which has been so much stressed in the Vedas and the Gita, is a basic principle of the doctrine of evolution. Man starts as a seed with several kinds of powers hidden in him. They must be brought out and put to good use. This is essential for the happiness and progress of the individual as well as mankind.

"Each soul is potentially divine," said Swami Vivekananda. "The goal is to manifest this divine within by controlling nature, external and internal."

The possibilities for the development of talent are almost unlimited. Even the most learned, if they only feel humble and sincerely try, can gain deeper insights and climb to greater heights of wisdom. Similarly, age is no bar to the growth of talent. While physical development stops in middle age, intellectual development can go on even in ripe old age. Two ways to keep the mind alert and growing even in the evening of life are to apply it to tough problems and to continue learning something new all the time.

Worldly excellence is no less acceptable to God than spiritual excellence. Both are necessary for the maintenance and advancement of the world. Both are in fact one, according to the Vedanta. Advaita can be expressed in mechanics, in engineering, in art, in letters as well as in philosophy and meditation. But it can never be expressed in half measures. The true Advaitin is the master of the world. He does not know a good deal of his chosen subject; he knows all there is to be known. He does not perform his particular task fairly well: he does it as well as it is possible to do it.... The highest achievements of the mind are a Sadhana.... The man who has followed any kind of knowledge to its highest point is a rishi."

Deep interest invigorates the mind, awakens its dormant powers and is the key to super excellence, invention and discovery.

Hard work is another condition of superiority. The aspirant must master the knowledge and technique pertaining to his particular job; in fact, he must be a keen and lifelong learner, ready to pick up new ideas and new ways wherever he can find them. He must cultivate the habits of thoroughness, accuracy and reliability; he must take pains to check, revise and polish his work until it acquires as perfect a finish as possible within the limits of time available.

Inspiration only comes as a result of hard study, deep reflection and patient search for the solution. Scientific discoveries are generally preceded by a large number of different experiments, trying first one thing and then another. Edison, the wizard of inventions, made about ten thousand tests with different chemical combinations before he found the right one for his storage battery. Looking for a suitable material for the filament of his incandescent lamp, he tried more than 6,000 samples of bamboo from every corner of the earth before he found the one that made the Edison electric lamp ready for commercial use.

Similarly, good writing requires not only profound knowledge but also enormous labour in writing, painstaking revision and rewriting. Carlyle took great pains over his works and, before writing a page of his famous history books, he would consult all the well-known books on the subject. Tolstoy rewrote his War and Peace seven times. Adam Smith took ten years to write his Wealth of Nations, while Gibbon spent twenty years over his masterpiece, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

The story of the discovery of radium is a saga of patient toil in the midst of appalling poverty. It took the Curies four years to isolate a very small quantity of radium from tons of ore. All day and for months they worked together in a damp, rotting shed which they called their lab. For much of this time, Mrs. Curie had to stand stirring a boiling mixture in an enormous pot with an iron rod which was as long as she was tall. The roof of the shed leaked and they did not have enough money to get it fixed. When the rains came, streams of water fell between these two workers and their work. Their labour was indeed tapasya of a very high order.

Super excellence means constant improvement and innovation, thinking in straight lines instead of curves, introduction of simpler procedures, time and labour-saving devices, better and cheaper goods, making two blades of grass grow where one grew before. There is nothing in the world which cannot be improved. The best is yet to be made – whether in books or automobiles, radios or nylons, medicines or men.

The ideal of all-round excellence is very difficult to attain. Only rare persons can become versatile geniuses. But everyone can acquire mastery in some little branch of knowledge or skill. Everyone can do at least some phase of his work superlatively well by developing his strong point or specialising in the part of his work in which he is most interested. And once this is done, superiority in one part of his life will stimulate superiority in other parts. Whatever a man's vocation, let him not be content to remain mediocre; let him lift himself from the commonplace to the outstanding.

We should recapture the spirit of the Vedas and the Bhagavadgita. We should exalt work. We should discover and encourage talent wherever we can. We must produce not only great saints, philosophers and yogis, but also top class men in every walk of life. We need eminent scientists, selfless rulers, farsighted statesmen, dedicated administrators, educationists, doctors, lawyers, engineers, inventors, sportsmen, artists, explorers, writers, industrialists, managers, seers, dreamers, as well as organisers and leaders. No great man has done his duty until he has made at least ten persons worthy to take his place.

"Arise! Awake! Stop not till the goal is reached!"

Continue to read:

“The Call of Sri Krishna: The Gospel of Super Excellence” by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 24,2013) Spiritual Message of the Day – To Realize God, You Have to Want God

On Attainment and Experience - To Realize God You Have to Want God

Divine Life Society Publication: Thus Awakens the Awakened One by Swami Krishnananda

·         No one who is not established in God as an entirety of existence can feel a kinship with Nature or even a sense of brotherhood with others, let alone have peace of mind within one’s own self. Unselfish dedicated work for the welfare of all (sarvabhutahite ratah) and constant devotion to God as the universality inseparable from one’s true being are marks of perfection (sthitaprajna).

·         When man’s meditation on God ends, and God begins meditation on all Creation, the consummation is reached. It is here that all questions are answered and all problems solved.

·         The highest meditation consists in the recognition of the Self in all things, so that there is no object before the Self to think or deal with. It is here that the mind melts like an exhausted camphor cake in the process of self-sublimation.

·         The highest ‘bhava’ which rouses ‘para bhakti’ in a devotee is that in which one cannot recognise even one’s own body as if forgotten since many years, for there is no body-consciousness when the mind expires in pure experience.

·         To be able to realise God, you have to first want God. It is almost a question of supply and demand. To want God is not merely to ‘think’ but to ‘feel’ through your ‘whole being’ that you cannot exist without Him. The entire personality vibrates with a longing that cannot be satisfied by the beauty and the grandeur of the world. There is a want for ‘That’ alone, and nothing short of it.

·         The sense of perfection slowly enters the mind, when it gradually learns to dovetail the various discrepant particulars of the world into a coherent whole. This stage comes when the existence and activity of the mind coalesce in an adjustment of oneself with God’s Creation.

·         Life is a process of entering into God. This is achieved by seeing God in the objects as well as the actions of the world, which is not the seeing of particulars, but of the Universal in them.

·         Tapas is the process of stilling the senses and the mind and allowing the lustre of the Atman to manifest itself spontaneously. The power of the sage is this energy of the Atman revealed by the cessation of the externalising activity of the senses and the mind.

·         Brahmabhavana, the art of the affirmation of Brahman, is called Brahmabhyasa in the words of the Yoga Vasishtha. It consists in constantly thinking of Brahman, speaking about Brahman, discoursing to one another on Brahman and depending on Brahman alone for everything that one values in life. This is the final stage of meditation.

·         It is of little consequence to one who has awakened to normal consciousness whether he or she was a king or a beggar in last night’s dream. Likewise, what one is in this world matters little to one who has awakened to the Presence of God.

·         When the senses stand together with the mind and the intellect does not shake, the state of yoga supervenes. The secret of meditation is this: The mind and the intellect should shine, but not shine upon things other than the shining awareness. This is the realisation of God within.

·         Appearance is the objectified character of Reality; and when this character is negatived in the immediacy of experience, it is not appearance that becomes Reality, but it is Reality free from objectification that knows itself as such.

·         The depth and solidity of substance in the world is similar to the distance and substantiality of things seen in a mirror. This truth is not realised in life because the body of the observer is itself involved in this reflected appearance called the world.

·         The passing of the soul from plane to plane is all a process of Consciousness within the Absolute. Just as our movements in the dream-world are actual spatial allocations of personality but are really within the circumference of mental activity - all dream being only within the mind - so is the transmigration of souls real empirically but are activities of Consciousness within its bosom.

·         It is the opinion of Bhishma that it would not take more than six months to attain Samadhi if the needed precaution is taken to prevent the mind and the senses from hovering round their objects. That this achievement has not been possible in most people shows that it is easier to glorify God than to feel it in one’s heart, and the effort at self-control is more difficult than it is announced from pulpits.

Continue to read:

On Attainment and Experience- “Thus Awakens the Awakened One” by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(May 23,2013) Call of the Absolute

Random Useful Thoughts - Call of the Absolute

Divine Life Society Publication: Thus Awakens the Awakened One by Swami Krishnananda

·         The difference between the natures of Isvara and jiva is something like that between the meanings of the words, ‘God’ and ‘dog’. There is no doubt some relation between the two, and yet what a contrast of characters! In the jiva the character of Isvara is completely reversed in a topsy-turvy manner, though the relation between Him and the jiva is, no doubt, there.

·         Dharma is that sustaining universal impulse which conduces to the prosperity of the individual both here and hereafter. This means that the observance of Dharma does not violate the laws of the world for the sake of the Spirit or of the Spirit for the sake of the world. It views existence both in its depth and its width.

·         The conclusions of physical science are as much true as the discovery that all the plays of Shakespeare are only combinations of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. This is no doubt a truth which no one can controvert or refute. And yet the heart will revolt against this conclusion since it apprehends in the Works of Shakespeare something more than the constituents of the alphabet. This is true in the case of every other observed phenomenon, also.

·         The mind and the body get identified with each other, like fire and iron in a red hot iron-ball, in such a way that thought cannot be separated from object. There is always a flow of thought with perpetual reference to the body, and all human judgment is thus vitiated by the prejudice that the body is the thinking self. All science and even philosophy cannot help playing second fiddle to this erroneous hypothesis, and thus cut the ground from under their own feet.

·         Hanuman is said to have told Sri Rama: “From the point of view of the body, I am Thy servant; from the point of view of the jiva, I am a part of Thyself; from the point of view of the Atman, I am Thy own-Self.” These three standpoints correspond to the three great systems of philosophy propounded by Madhva, Ramanuja and Sankara.

·         The thought of God is like the centripetal cohesive force in a star or a planet, which drives its constituents to its centre by a pressure of inwardly directed energy, and is strikes a universally attuned equilibrium of the entire personality in relation to creation as a whole, provided the thought is deep enough and is sincerely raised in one’s mind. It produces a thrill beyond words.

·         While Maya follows Brahman, the jiva follows Maya. It seems that while Rama was walking in the forest, Sita was following him and Lakshmana was following her. Maya obstructs the vision of Brahman by the jiva.

·         Forces which constitute the universe react and interact among one another for effecting a higher integration - we may call them men and things, and so on in a state of ignorance. These activities of forces are the history of the universe.

·         Hanuman is a combination of strength and intelligence. He was anakhanda-brahmacharin. His life demonstrates that the ojas-sakti generated through brahmacharya heightens both understanding and vitality in a maximum degree.

·         The effect of one’s reading and learning can be seen in one’s behaviour. If the behaviour has not changed, it means the learning acquired is like water poured over a rock, which gets wet only on the surface without allowing the water to seep into it.

·         The four ashramas of life are not four different stages with a jump from the preceding to the succeeding. Each following stage is the flowering of the earlier, a maturing, including and transcending of the past conditions, like the higher and higher standards in education superseding the earlier ones.

·         Death is the law of life. It is the law that requires a constant transformation of all composite elements and a reshuffling of all existent forms. Thus, death cannot be avoided. And it can take place at any time, though it has its fixed time.

·         Just as twenty-five paise are contained in a quarter rupee coin, the twenty-five manifestations of prakriti are contained in the purusha, though invisibly and intangibly. Though the variety of manifestation is manifold, it is all inherent in its cause, like a chair present in wood.

·         The ‘Advaita’ of Sankara is not so much the assertion of oneness as the negation of duality, as the names of his system suggests. God is not one or two or three, for He is above numerical affirmation. He is not anything that we can think of, but, however, He does not involve in any difference; hence He is ‘Advaita’, non-dual. Such is the cautious name of Sankara’s system of philosophy.

·         Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are not three gods, but the one God performing three functions. There can, thus, be no superiority or inferiority among them. They are like the three faces of a crystal where one face reflects the others.

·         An individual has as many organs as are required to fulfill the wishes that are embodied in the prarabdha karma of a given life, and these organs are of such quality and capacity as the needs of the individual concerned. Nothing more, and nothing less is given to us in this world.

·         Every adversity should stimulate more and more strength in us, enough to be able to overcome onslaughts of such types again. Every fall should propel us to a higher aspiration, a longing which should never be dampened, threatened or vanquished at any time.

·         Avidya is the disposition by which one mistakes the non-eternal for the eternal, the impure for the pure, the painful for the pleasant and the not-self for the Self. Avidya is the seed of egoism, craving, hatred and clinging to one’s body, so hard to overcome.

·         When senses trouble you, remember the sages Narayana and Nara. They are the supreme masters over the senses, before whom Indra had to bow his head in shame.

·         There are two greater wonders: The starry heavens above, and the moral law within. Neither of these can be fathomed to their depths, and they will remain a wonder forever. They are endless in their extent and no one can study them as ‘external’ objects.

·         When Maricha cried out: “O Lakshmana, O Sita,” Sita mistook it for Rama’s voice. She could not identify Rama’s voice as different from that of another, though she had lived with Rama for so long. So is the case with the jiva. It has forgotten its association with the Absolute and cannot distinguish the call of the Spirit from the clamours of the senses. This is called delusion.

·         Krishna was a person of great enjoyments. Vasishtha was devoted to rituals. Janaka was a king. Jadabharata was looking like an idiot. Suka was renowned for his dispassion. Vyasa was busy in teaching and writing. But all these are regarded as equal in knowledge. Different forms serve different purposes, but their essential being is one.

·         Man’s conscience in its essentiality is not an accomplice of harm and injury being done to anyone. It is necessary for the evil one intending to destroy others to destroy his own conscience first. The self of the killer is killed much before the act of killing takes place.

·         It is unwise to say that the world is good or bad, for the world is one of the conditions through which the ‘gunas’ - sattva, rajas and tamas - evolve in the course of time. All things can be found always in different places and hence our narrow judgments confined to a limited perception of truth cannot be correct. How can we say that any part of ‘prakriti’ is good or bad?

·         Great men are not those who run fast and speak much but think deep and live wisely. More than doing it is being something - a change of outlook and attitude. We are great, not because we are something to the world but because we are something in ourselves, even if the whole world is not to exist at all.

·         It is impossible to use one’s commonsense when one is in the grip of intense desire; for passions have no commonsense. They have neither reason nor logic, like the overwhelming force of a mighty river in floods, or like a beast caught at bay. Conquest over the human passions is the same as self-control, for the personality of man is but a bundle of latent and patent forces which seek expression in various ways.

·         The Ganga destroys sins; the moon destroys heat; the kalpavriksha destroys poverty. But the company of the wise ones destroys sin, heat and poverty all at once.

·         It is said that when the devotee takes one stop towards the Lord, he is greeted by the Lord with a hundred steps. The Bhakti-Sastras state that the love of God for the devotee is more than man’s love for God. The power of the Whole is intense than the force of the part.

·         Religion is the reaction of the human mind to its notion of God.

·         Dharma is that sustaining power of Righteousness by which one acquires here, prosperity (adhyudaya) and attains in the end eternal blessedness (nihsreyasa). It is the law that maintains the balance of forces in the Universe and dispenses the retributive justice to the individuals in such a manner as the equilibrium of creation is never disturbed.

Continue to read:

Subtle Secrets of the Sadhana - “Thus Awakens the Awakened One” by Swami Krishnananda

If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at:

generalsecretary@sivanandaonline.org