Atma Yoga
Atma Vidya or Knowledge of the
Self will dawn in you through Atma Yoga. The great sages lay great emphasis on
self-surrender to the Lord, and emphatically assure you that the Lord in His
Infinite Mercy saves you, uplifts you and leads you to Himself. He reveals
Himself to you. This is Atma-Yoga.
Not by developing a keen
intellect, not by getting by heart hundreds of texts, nor by all kinds of
austerities, can the Atman be realized; through self-surrender alone can you realize
Him. The Upanishads emphatically declare that the Atman reveals Himself to that
person whom He chooses. Your work consists in making yourself fit to be chosen
by Him and then, to wait.
In you there are two forces.
One is the Pure Self, the divine element in you, Daivi Sampat or divine
qualities like purity, truthfulness, cosmic love, selflessness, mercy and
others, abide in this Higher Self. The other is the lower self, the impure mind
in which you find elements of Asuri Sampat or evil tendencies—lust, greed,
anger, jealousy and other vices. The Higher Self is your friend, guide and
philosopher; it guides you with its shrill small voice of conscience. The lower
mind is your enemy—it keeps you bound to the wheel of Samsara. With the help of
the Higher Self, your friend, you should conquer the lower self. You should
understand this truth clear. Mere suppression of evil tendencies will not do.
You should eradicate them root and branch; you should transform the whole of
your mind into divine. That is the goal. By dwelling constantly on positive,
divine, thoughts, you shall have to divinize your entire mind. Again and again
the mind will run towards the objects of sensual enjoyment; you will have to
restrain it and bring it again and again to the lotus feet of the Lord. Again
and again, the terrible enemies of the Pure Source—viz., lust, anger and
greed—will raise their head in your mind, you will have to reflect on their
true nature and feel: They are the gates to misery, suffering and bondage, and
renounce them.
You should meditate regularly.
You should practice Pratyahara. You should be able to withdraw at will your
sense-organs from their objects and direct the mind towards the Lord seated in
the heart. When the mind is perfectly steady, when it is unwaveringly fixed to
the feet of the Lord, just as the flame of a lamp placed in a room where the
air is still does not waver, then the Lord will reveal Himself to you.
Remember this: your duty is to
purify your heart and to make it fit for the reception of Divine Light. For
this, selfless service is necessary. Japa, Kirtan, Swadhyaya and practice of
divine virtues are all necessary. Then you will have to wait patiently till He
reveals Himself to you. You will have to pray to Him as Arjuna prayed, ‘Oh
Lord! If you think that I may see Thy Glorious Form then kindly reveal Thyself
to me." Self-surrender alone can earn for you the Lord’s Grace very
quickly.
The Lord is the giver of Light
and the dispeller of the darkness of ignorance. He is the Light of lights. He
alone can dispel the darkness of ignorance that envelopes the light of the Self
that shines in your heart. So long as your individuality lasts, you cannot realize
Him. So long as your own ego persists His Light will not descend. You will
first have to burn up your ego if He is to reveal Himself. In the Gita, the
Lord makes it very clear till man loses his identity in His Universal Nature,
He cannot be realized. That is why he declares: "All beings are in Me; but
I am not in them!" There is a great truth in this. You will have to ponder
deeply over this utterance of the Lord. The Lord dwells in your heart, it is
true, but He dwells there as the Self of all. He is not confined to anyone’s
heart; He is not the Self of any one man. He is the Self. That is what He emphasizes
again and again.... "Ahamatma Gudakesa Sarvabhutashayasthitah." Therefore
till this ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ are annihilated, one cannot know Him in reality. You
should aspire for His grace. That Grace will illumine your Heart. Then He will
reveal Himself to you.
How does one act to whom the
Lord has revealed Himself? He sees his own Self in all beings, and he sees all
beings in his own Self. He engages himself in the service of all; he is ever
intent on the welfare of all. He has nothing more to achieve. He has no
individuality of his own. He has become a true instrument in the hands of the
Lord. The Lord’s will works through him. He is not bound by actions.
Atma Yoga is the Self
Revelation. Atma Vibhuties are the manifestations of the Lord. These
Atma-Vibhuties of the Lord are the fruits of His Atma Yoga. You should read the
tenth chapter of the Gita daily. You should understand it clearly. The Lord has
chosen to name only the best among the things as Himself. He had no time to
enumerate everything. In the end He says: "I am the gambling of the
cheat". Here is the Lord’s hint. You will have to understand by this that both
good and evil are the manifestations of the Lord Himself. Evil is only a mode
of your own thought. You will have to remove the Vritti of evil from your mind,
then you will see good alone everywhere. Then you will see God and God alone
everywhere. Then you will become immersed in the love of God. You will become
an illustration of the Great Utterance of the Lord: "Manmanaa Bhava
Madbhakto Madyaajee Maam Namaskuru Maamevaishyasi Yuktvaivamaatmaanam
Matparayanah". You will shine as a great Jivanmukta or Sthitaprajna.
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