(Jan 22,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – Thinking as God Thinks by Swami Krishnananda

Thinking as God Thinks

Divine Life Society Publication: Thinking as God Thinks by Swami Krishnananda

(Spoken on May 10,1997)

Aloneness in this world… Even the state of liberation is called aloneness. Because of that term, it is called kaivalya moksha in Sanskrit. To be alone is to be in a state of liberation. That is called moksha.

But what is the meaning of being alone? Suppose a person has no relations, no father and mother, no children; that person may feel he or she is alone. They complain, “I have nobody. I am alone.” That is one kind of aloneness. There is another kind of aloneness. A person has lost all property; all his belongings have gone. There is nothing. He feels alone. Sannyasins who renounce everything go to Uttarkashi, to a mountain top, sit there and calmly meditate. They feel alone.

But there is a strange type of aloneness which is connected with our freedom. A limited aloneness and an unlimited aloneness are two kinds of aloneness. A perfectly free person has no limitations of any kind. He has got wealth, he has got family, he has got authority. Nobody interferes with that person. He is enjoying life alone.

There are some people who lose their sense of individuality and want to die immediately, to commit suicide. These are all tentative, empirical, pragmatic types of aloneness, through which practically everyone passes. If today it is one kind of aloneness, another day it is another kind of aloneness.

But why is moksha, liberation, called aloneness? It is something quite different from the other types of aloneness which I mentioned just now. Moksha means perfect freedom. Perfect freedom is not possible if there is another thing sitting near you. Two persons cannot have one hundred percent freedom.

We are a free society. Everybody is free to the extent that the free person gives equal freedom to other people also. So this also is not perfect freedom because it is limited by the freedom to be given to other people. But moksha is none of these things. It is the non-existence of another thing beside me. It is not that I am unaware of the existence of another thing beside me; it does not exist at all.

The Sankhya philosophy made a mistake in thinking that pure consciousness attains the liberation of its own existence if it is detached from the consciousness of another thing, outside which is called prakriti, or matter. But unconsciousness of the existence of something is not freedom. The snake is crawling, and you are unconscious of the existence of the snake. It is not a very happy thing. You must be conscious of the non-existence of the snake. They are two different things.

Sankhya imagines, that, when the detachment of consciousness from its awareness of another thing called matter, or prakriti, is achieved, it is free. It cannot be free because there is another thing. Just because you are unaware of a trouble, it does not mean the trouble does not exist. This kind of aloneness propounded by Sankhya is also not correct. It should be absolute aloneness.

There is a difficulty in understanding this. We have never had any experience of this kind of aloneness. If you are spiritually inclined and are doing meditation in an isolated place with nobody around you for five hundred miles, you may say, “I am alone.” But even the consciousness of space outside is a limitation to that aloneness. Our consciousness that we are existing is due to the limitation imposed upon us by space and time. They also should go.

Can anybody search one’s consciousness in such a way that space and time also are included in consciousness itself? “I am aware, not as one person among many other people, but as the only person.” You may say there is no such thing as ‘the only person’. This difficulty in knowing what can be in being the only person arises on account of an eternal limitation imposed upon us by the extension of space outside. This space outside is terrifying us. It divides everything. It creates distance. Even if no one is there around us, at least the stars are there. They also cause limitation. The sun and moon are there. The mountains and rivers are there. They also should not be there. There should not be even the utmost possibility of something being there outside us.

This great technique of meditation is the ultimate solution for our misery in this world. Our misery is not due to poverty of money, land, and all that. Our misery is due to the terrible, inextricable bondage of limitation created by space and time; that is all. Can you include space in your consciousness so that you will never feel that there is space outside you? Here, you have to exercise your will very powerfully.

Space is conscious of its being: I am space. If that unlimited expanse of being (space) becomes conscious of itself, what will be the experience at that time? Meditate like this: “I am not conscious of the space; I am myself space. And who is this ‘I’? It is space itself. Where is space? Unendingly expanded everywhere. So on what am I meditating?” A shocking answer will come.

It is said moksha is a shocking experience. It abolishes every kind of convention, every kind of logic. Any kind of calculation will not work there. Nothing that has any sense in this world has sense there. All the values of life are abolished at once. Everything that you consider as meaningful in this world ceases to exist there. Then you will say, “Oh, I will lose everything.” The mind is such a trickster. Whatever you do, it will put an obstacle.

This kind of thinking is actually God thinking. If you want to reach God, you have to think like God. You cannot go on thinking like a foolish person and then attain God. Only equals meet each other, unequals cannot meet each other; and if you are equal to God, you will meet God. You will be terrified: “How I will be equal to God?” because you forget that you are included in God. If God is everywhere, you are also inside Him.

Your whole body will tremble if you try to think like this. No virtue, no good work, no charitable deed, no philanthropy can equal this thought. This one thought is equal to all charity. All goodness and any service that you do will pale into insignificance before this tremendous earth-shaking thought. It will shake up all your karmas, all the sins that you committed in all the world, and the whole thing will be wiped out like the debt that you incur in the dream state gets wiped out in the waking condition.  By the very fact of waking, you have paid the debt.

No human being will be able to think like that. You cease to be a human being. Otherwise, this thought cannot arise. A human being’s thought cannot contact God-thought. It is only God-thought that can contact God-thought. Nobody can imagine such things. If this can continue, if you do not forget this idea and are drowned in this thought, in this birth itself you will get liberation. There is no need for japa, yatras or pilgrimages. The whole world will melt into you, and the doors of heaven will be opened instantaneously.

The body may continue due to the persisting old prarabdha, which has given birth to this body. Even a liberated soul cannot shed the body because liberation is a conscious condition. The body is the result of the karmas that you performed in the previous birth. That has to exist and continue until the time when the effect of those actions which have given birth to this body cease and the body is shed automatically. But you are liberated.

You will be overjoyed. You will sing and dance. You will smile. “Oh, wonderful!” The Upanishadic seers used to say, “Oh, wonderful! Oh, wonderful!” They had no words.

So here is the glory before us. We are not simply meaningless persons. There is a great heritage hidden inside us. God is calling us, and everything will be well. So be happy.

Excerpts from:

Thinking as God Thinks 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:

eneralsecretary@sivanandaonline.org

(Jan 18,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Practice of Yoga by Swami Krishnananda

The Practice of Yoga

Divine Life Society Publication: Kathopanishad – The Science Of The Inner Life by Swami Krishnananda

This Atman is not seen through the eyes, nor is it perceived through any of the other senses, as it never becomes an object of itself. It is known only when the center of personality is dissolved through the absorption of the factors causing individuality, viz., the mind and the intellect, into the Atman. Equanimity of inner vision is the same as spiritual knowledge, and it cannot be had as long as the mind and the intellect function in their own fashion. The Atman cannot be sought in external conditions, but it can be known and realized through a reverting from externals to eternal being. It is this introversion that enables one to enter into the very substance of being. This state of spiritual equilibrium is attained when the five senses of knowledge rest together with the mind, and when the intellect does not perform its functions of objective knowledge.

Yoga consists in the withholding of all individual functions, beginning from the physical body and ending in the intellect, and the directing of the whole energy to the apperception of consciousness. It is, in other words, a steadying of the power of consciousness and making it rest in itself, in the state of perfection and motionlessness.

Yoga and Jnana differ from each other in the sense that the former is the negative process of the annihilation of personal consciousness, whereas the latter is the positive realization and experience of infinite consciousness. In a general sense, Yoga may include Jnana also, if Yoga is taken to mean the method of the attainment of the Brahman. In the practice of Yoga, one should become very vigilant, and not become proud or heedless. Yoga comes and goes. It does not rest for long, unless great care is taken in the maintenance of that consciousness of Oneness. Yoga is the separation from contact with pain. In this state, the powers working through the external senses and the internal senses are made to go back to their source, viz., the power of Self-consciousness, where they rest in perfect peace. The noise of the senses ceases, and, as a consequence of this, pain and sorrow also are negated.

Brahman should be conceived of as existence, between the two logical conceptions of existence and non-existence. Existence is the correlative of non-existence, and, hence, even non-existence may appear to have as much validity as existence. But the conception of non-existence, though logically deducible, is practically impossible, as the conception of Brahman as non-existence involves the negation of the consciousness of one's own existence, also. Therefore, Brahman should be known as existence, though from the highest standpoint this, too, is a limited conception. As far as the human being is concerned, the conception of existence is not limited in the ordinary way, because, it is not possible to set boundaries to existence. The idea of existence leads to the realization of the transcendental Truth which includes and goes beyond the ideas of existence and non-existence.

When all the desires that are lodged in the heart are cast off, the mortal experiences the Immortal, and one becomes Brahman, here itself. Moksha is the realization of that which exists always and everywhere. Therefore, it can be realized at any place, provided the obstructions to this realization are removed. These obstructions are desires for objective experience. Removal of desires is the same as the destruction of mind. The realization of the Self does not involve a movement towards any external condition, but it is the extinction and transcendence of personality in the Absolute. It is like a drop dissolving in the ocean, or rather, the ocean itself becoming aware that it is ocean.

The Yogavasishtha makes reference to two methods of overcoming and transcending the mind, which is the stuff of individuality – Yoga and Jnana. Vasishtha defines Yoga as Vrittinirodha or inhibition of psychological functions, and Jnana as Samyagavekshana or right perception. Generally, Yoga is to be understood in the sense of that Integral Method whereby the individual is attuned to the Supreme Being. It is neither a creed nor a tradition, but the law governing the universe, and made manifest in the conscious activity of the individual.

Yoga is the process of the evolution of the finite to the Infinite, consciously and deliberately systematized, and thus accelerated. In Yoga, the experiences of several future possible lives are compressed into those of one life or the least possible number of lives. Yoga is, therefore, nothing out-of-the-way or unconnected with the normal life of man. Truly, it is the only normal life, and a life bereft of the consciousness of Yoga, in some degree at least, may be said to be below the normal. To be forced to be something and to act in certain ways, instinctively, without the conscious and volitional activity of oneself, is not the glory of man. Yoga is to know the real relation which man bears to the universe as a whole, and to the Divine Being which is his Higher Self. Not to know this relation is to grope blindly in darkness and to be merely confined to the animal consciousness of subhuman beings. Yoga is not cutting oneself away from the reality of life in the world, but it is the understanding and realization of the real meaning of existence in order to live a life of the essential freedom and bliss of one's deepest consciousness. In other words, it is to be a friend and citizen of the whole universe, to feel oneself in all beings, to absorb into oneself the whole constitution of the universe, to be the Soul of the universe. This is the meaning of Yoga, understood in its general sense.

But Yoga has also a special and particularized meaning, as mentioned by Vasishtha and is identical with the technical Yoga system of Patanjali. In this system, the faculty which plays the most important part is the will, not so much the understanding or the feeling. By sheer dint of determination and decision based on faith in the holy tradition and the instructions of the teacher, one fixes one's consciousness on the ideal of one's attainment.

All Vrittis or psychoses are resolutely banished from consciousness by resort to various methods, such as thinking of the opposite of the obstructing psychosis, cultivation of virtuous qualities, practice of the abandonment of objects and enjoyments both seen and heard, complete restraint of the senses, fast, continence, positive love for all beings, truth-speaking, non-covetousness, cleanliness of body and of internal motive, contentment. with what one obtains independent of effort, austerity, study of sacred scriptures, recitation of the Name of God, prayer, self-surrender, steady posture of the body, harmonization of the vital energy, etc. By these methods the Yogi withdraws his senses from their respective objects, and concentrates his mind on the Supreme Being. Before the attainment of actual concentration on God, one may pass through various lower stages of concentration on grosser objects which are more easily comprehended and taken as means of steadying the activities of the mind. Thus, with a negative method of abstraction of the functions of individuality, one attains That which is at the background of all individual functions.

Jnana is Samyagavekshana, or right vision of things. It is to behold the world as it is really, not merely as it appears to the individual functions of knowledge. It is to fix the consciousness on the Universal Substance, of which all things are made. Jnana is the knowledge that the Self is the All, and that All is the Self. This Self is not the individual subject of knowledge, but the Self of the whole universe, the Consciousness to which the whole universe can be reduced. Jnana is to experience nothing objective, nothing external to one's consciousness, and to have the direct realization of Eternity and Infinity. Jnana is the constant awareness of the Immortal Brahman. This awareness has an empirical as well as an absolute aspect. Empirically, it is called Brahmabhavana or Brahmabhyasa, which consists in ceaselessly thinking of and feeling the presence of Brahman, speaking of Brahman, discoursing with one another on Brahman, and totally resting in the consciousness of Brahman, in all activities of life. In its absolute aspect, it is to be merged in Brahman, to be in the state of perpetual Samadhi or Kaivalya, to be perfectly free from the consciousness of a second to oneself, to glory in the Absolute, and to be supremely blessed. This latter stage follows the former logically, when all the impressions of past actions are experienced and destroyed, when the body drops, and the individual enters the Absolute, as a river enters the ocean. This 'entering the ocean' is, of course, an analogy from the human standpoint, for, really, there was never a river, never is, and never will be. There was, is and will be only the ocean, and the ocean has to know that it is. Only the Absolute can be, and is, and liberation is the consciousness of the Absolute. Yoga and Jnana aim at this supreme beatitude.

Excerpts from:

The Practice of Yoga - Kathopanishad – The Science Of The Inner 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

(Dec 19,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Causal Law as a Limitation by Swami Krishnananda

The Causal Law as a Limitation

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 9 An Analysis of the Brahma Sutra by Swami Krishnananda

When you say 'we want moksha – Liberation', liberation from what? Where is the bondage? Can anyone of us say where lies the bondage? Has God created bondage? We all go on saying that God created the world. If God created the world, he must have created the bondage of the world also. If God cannot be attributed to have created bondage, then who else created bondage? We would not ourselves create bondage of our own selves. As this question cannot easily be answered, one cannot also easily know what Moksha is. The erroneous notion enveloping our existence is such that whatever we touch creates a difficulty for us:

Sarvarambha hi doshena dhumenagnirivavritah. (Bhagavad Gita 18.48)

"Anything that one does produces a cloud of reaction; It will not bring satisfaction!"

Actually, liberation means liberation from the notion of cause and effect, that something comes from something. As the mind is involved in the web of causal law, who will liberate the mind from the network of 'cause and effect'? This is why Jnana Yoga path is considered difficult. It is like trying to melt down one's own personality.

The three Acharyas – Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva – have their own definitions of liberation. 'You become one; – that is liberation. Now, what is the meaning of becoming one with another thing? When water is mixed with milk, the two join together and become one substance as it were; you cannot see water separately sitting in the milk, yet water is not milk. The existence of the water is merged in the existence of the milk, notwithstanding the fact that one is different from the other. Ramanuja's view is some such thing; You may feel you are one with God as water may feel it is one with milk or milk may feel that it is one with water, but they are different; though for certain purposes, they look like one. The intimate relationship between God and the soul is such that one may feel it is the same as the other, though it is not. Ramanuja's conclusion is that the soul does not get identified with God, just as milk and water do not identify themselves with each other.

Madhva's view of liberation is like loss of individuality which is possible by getting mixed up with other individualities. Say, there are grains of rice and grains of sesame (til), – if sesame seeds and rice seeds are mixed together, each seed may think that it has lost its individual existence by communicating itself with other seeds – til with rice and rice with til. This is Madhva's idea of 'union' with Reality, but yet til cannot become rice; rice is quite different from til. In the case of milk and water at least, there is an appearance of identity but in til and rice, there is no such question at all. Here is the difference between Ramanuja's opinion about moksha, and Madhva's.

But in the case of Sankara, moksha is like 'water mixing with water'; It is total oneness. If hundred drops of water unite themselves, they become one drop only. But, mixing up one hundred rupee coins together would not convert them into one big rupee – they remain one hundred only. But here in the case of water, it is not like that. Any number of drops of water mixed together will become just one big drop. Finally it can become one huge drop like the ocean. This is Sankaracharya's standpoint, basically.

What does Brahma Sutra say? It does not say clearly anything! There are indications that all the three are correct from different points of view. The Upanishads have passages corroborating all these views.

Whether something exists really or not is not important. Does the consciousness believe that something is existing, or not, is what is important. Bondage is the belief of consciousness in the existence of certain factors which are binding. 'The world is binding; all people are sources of trouble and limitation' – this notion of the individual has to be overcome in order that the 'trouble-creating' elements may depart from the soul that is troubled, which is possible if the individual cuts itself off from the causal world completely or identifies itself with the world totally. The individual cannot cut itself off from the world as it is a part of the world; the only way is to unite itself with the world. The first attempt is ostensibly dangerous and unpractical. The second is laudable, and is the proper way of self-integration.

Excerpts from:

The Causal Law as a Limitation – Chapter 9 An Analysis of the Brahma Sutra by Swami Krishnananda
Archives - Blog

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

Mumukshutva - Intense desire for liberation by Swami Sivananda

Mumukshutva is intense desire for liberation or deliverance from the wheel of births and deaths with its concomitant evils of old age, disease, delusion and sorrow. If one is equipped with the previous three qualifications (Viveka, Vairagya and Shad-Sampat), then the intense desire for liberation will come without any difficulty. The mind moves towards the Source of its own accord when it has lost its charm for external objects. When purification of mind and mental discipline are achieved, the longing for liberation dawns by itself.

Excerpts from:

Jnana Yoga by Swami Sivananda

(Aug 15, 2013) Liberation

Space-Time and Liberation

Divine Life Society Publication: Universality of Being by Swami Krishnananda

The relativity of space and time is the reason why it is possible for everyone to transcend space and time and attain realization of the Ultimate Reality. Inasmuch as the whole world, including our body, is a product of the space-time operation, there is only space-time, and there is nothing else anywhere. Some philosophers say that we are totally caught within the phenomena, and there is no possibility of contacting the Ultimate Reality. If that is the case, we are doomed forever.

But it is also said that space and time are relative. If one thing exists because of another thing, neither of them exists independently. As there is a borrowed existence on both sides, no side can exist entirely independently. Time is necessary for space; space is necessary for time. Hence, modern thinkers call it space-time.

As we are also the product of this relative interaction between space and time, the whole world-stuff being that, there is nothing permanently existing anywhere—neither our body, nor the world of nature, nor the sun, moon and stars.

If we are mere puppets, products of this indescribable phenomenon of the space-time complex, then there is nothing more to say. It is like living in a concentration camp without knowing where we are staying, why we have come, and what we are supposed to think. It is a complete blockage of even the process of thinking, because of space-time intervening even in the process of thinking. Philosophers who are very acute in this matter concluded that even the mind cannot act without space and time. So who is going to think of that which is above space and time?

But Self-realization is a great possibility. How?

Yesterday can become tomorrow; tomorrow can become present. There is no systematic arrangement of the order of space and time existing permanently everywhere in the cosmos. This idea of past, present, future is connected with the way in which the consciousness perceives the operation of space-time outside, and in the operational process of any individual observer being conditioned by the space-time there is an interaction of relativity between seeing and the nature of the object, so that you cannot know what is actually happening. But if this relationship of the observer and the observed phenomena of space and time changes during the process of evolution, then immediately today becomes tomorrow, and a person can come tomorrow and leave yesterday. In this circumstance of there being an infinite number of space-time relations on the basis of infinite types of connections between the seer and the seen, there are infinite universes, and infinite gods are ruling these infinite universes.

Understand that there is nothing whatsoever existing independently. Neither are you existing, nor  the world. If you are involved in the world of space and time, you cannot make any reference to the world of space and time because that reference will apply to you also. No one can say, 'I am here' or 'that is there' because this 'I' is vitally connected to the existence of that, and 'that' is vitally connected to the existence of this. What do you understand from this? Everything is interrelated in such a way that nothing can exist independently. Everything exists by the operation of all the things that are taking place in the universe, so that every individual, so-called, is a universal unit."

Nothing is in one place. That idea of space is again due to the involvement of the operation of space-time, of which you are also made.

The conclusion is that nothing is going to obstruct you in your Self-realization. There is nobody so daring that they can put a stop to your attempt, because there is no 'you', and also there is no separate effort. The whole universe in its totality is aspiring for itself in its highest possibilities. Sadhana is done by the universe, not by you, me, or anybody. Neither you nor I exist there. It is like everything being everywhere. You do not know what is where. It is sufficient for you to illumine yourself and awaken from the dream of this world perception.

This is why every action is a total action. Nobody does anything anywhere, and anybody who thinks that he or she is doing something is a fool because somebody else is operating in a total fashion at the back of this so-called individuality.

"Everything has been done by me," Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavadgita. "I have already done what you are trying to do now." Here again is the question of relativity. Even before the Mahabharata war took place, Lord Krishna said, "I have already destroyed these people." This is the Ultimate Reality speaking to everyone involved in space and time. This is the foundation through which you have to operate your mind.

The whole misery of life is due to the wrong belief that there are permanent things, solidly existing like a stone wall. There are no stone walls here. They are all like mist appearing as a pillar, which will melt into nothing by the rise of the sun of knowledge.

Before you start anything, you must have a clear understanding, viveka. Viveka means clear understanding of the nature of things—the capacity to discriminate between what is really there and what is not there. If this is known, you will know that you cannot have any kind of inward longing for anything in this world. Vairagya automatically follows, as sunlight is automatically followed by the departure of the darkness of night. Vairagya—detachment and desirelessness—need not be exercised with effort. They automatically follow, and then the structure of the whole universe is known. So viveka and vairagya are considered to be primary qualifications. They are not two things, just as space and time are not two things. They are one only. This is rational conviction, which consists of the illumined perception of things through viveka and an automatic detachment from all conditions which cause attachment.

But there is also a need for emotional training. Generally, the intellect and the emotion do not act together. Often the intellect defeats the purpose of the emotion, and the emotion defeats the purpose of the understanding. People live a torn life, and have a dual personality. On one side they are very intelligent, and on the other side they are very foolish. It should not be this way.

Your feelings and longings, and the operation of your emotions should be harmonized with what you have concluded with your reasoning and understanding. Then this combination of reason and feeling, like a chemical action of two substances, bursts forth into what is called intuition, which is nothing but the blend of understanding and emotion. When they are blended together into a coherent totality, there is a bursting of the intuition directly into the nature of things. This is the second qualification. The last one is intense longing for liberation. If you have a longing for liberation, you have done your duty. That longing itself will take you to moksha.

Continue to read:

Universality of Being 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

(August 3,2013) Weekly Svadhyaya - 'I' is the Greatest Bondage - by Swami Chidananda

 ‘I’ is The Greatest Bondage

The entire question of Bondage and Liberation, of human consciousness and Divine Consciousness, of sorrow and Joy, hinges upon this crucial point, namely, what is your relationship with the mind? In the ultimate analysis, your entire life and its struggle is in this area only. The outer manifestation has its root and cause inside. So, ultimately, it is only the solution that is inside that will have a lasting effect.

The ancient Buddhist texts say: “Mind is the slayer of the Atman, Slay this slayer and attain the light.” This means that we are all prey to the tyranny of our inner, latent tendencies, which are the very essence of the individual’s behavior pattern. The mind is only a bundle of vasanas. The crux of the whole problem of Bondage and Liberation is explained in a simple way in Yoga Vasishtha: “Liberation is attained when there is manonasha (the cessation of mind activities).” When the vasanas are dormant, the mind is not there. The mind sinks and subsides in the state of deep sleep. ‘I’ is eliminated together with the mind. ‘I’ is the mind; mind is the ‘I’. In deep sleep vasanas are in a state of dormancy. When the latent tendencies are in a state of dynamic manifestation in the active state, you find that the mind becomes a tyrant. Vasishtha has summed up the whole process of Liberation as a process of destruction of vasanans. Ultimately, the final blow that is given destroys the mind itself. People will say, “Oh, that is a very fearful prospect. With what will I think ‘I am’?” This is a great delusion. We cling to this delusion, this evil, this little filth of limited consciousness. The annihilation of the ‘I’ is the grandest and the greatest and the greatest good fortune. The best thing that can ever happen in life is for ‘you’ to be gone. You are the kingpin of the whole problem of Bondage.

‘I’ is the greatest bondage. It is the opposite of light, bliss, peace, perfection, wholeness, truth. The practice of Yoga, results in gradual thinning of our vasanas, which spring out from this little I-consciousness, and ultimately the mind itself vanishes. Mind is the myth. But when it is there, it seems to be everything. Your essential being is Satchidananda. You are a wave of Ananda upon that ocean of Paramananda. That is real identity. It is pure Consciousness. This pure Consciousness, disassociated from any limiting adjunct, is pure bliss. “I am Existence filled with awareness. I am this wave.” The wave is never apart from the ocean. Merge into the vastness and become one with the vastness. “I am the ocean, immeasurable. My depth cannot be fathomed.”

Continue to Read:

Self-Knowledge by Swami Sivananda

Nature of the Mind – Moksha Gita by Swami Sivananda, commentary by Swami Krishnananda

The Cause of Bondage by Swami Krishnananda
Brahman as Consciousness or Intelligence by Swami Krishnananda
The Self as the Universal Whole by Swami Krishnananda

(May 13,2013) The Indian Concept of the Divine Mother (Mother’s Day Message)

The Indian Concept of the Divine Mother by Swami Sivananda

Divine Life Society Publication: God as Mother

Since the dawn of civilisation, when the primitive man lived in a matriarchal society, the worship of the Divine Mother came into practice. Later on, as civilisation progressed, the matriarchal pattern gradually faded out, and the father became the head of the family unit, where he was treated as the man in authority and to whom everyone looked for guidance and approval. Consequently, there was a change in the concept of God as such; the Fatherhood of God was established. But Mother worship persisted simultaneously, since this concept was psychologically more appealing to the devotee, the mother being nearest in filial affection to the child. Subsequently, a synthetic harmony between the Motherhood and Fatherhood of God was developed by the Hindu religion; the people worshipped Sita and Rama, or Radha and Krishna together.

The concept of the human mind is based on relative experience. Subjective idealism, therefore, in its initial stages, takes the aid of objective and relative analogies. God is neither limited to abstract or concrete concepts. But it is easier to establish a conscious relationship with the Providence in terms of benevolent fatherhood or affectionate, kindly motherhood than by the concept of an unfathomable void. God is devoid of qualities, in reality, but a relative superimposition of the positive ideals of goodness and virtue is essential for self-culture and spiritual progress of the aspirant.

Mother is very kind to her child. You are more free with your mother than with anybody else. It is the mother who protects you, nourishes you, consoles you, cheers you and nurses you. She is your first preceptor. She sacrifices her all for the sake of her children. In the spiritual field also, the aspirant has very intimate relationship with the Divine Mother.

The Upasana or the worship of the Universal Mother leads to the attainment of knowledge of the Self. The Yaksha Prasna in Kenopanishad supports this view. Approach Her with an open heart. Lay bare your mind with frankness and humility. Lay your thoughts be pure and sublime. Become as simple as a child. Pulverise your individual entity, the egoistic nature, cunningness, selfishness and crookedness. Make a total, unreserved, ungrudging self-surrender to Her. Chant Her Mantras. Worship Her with faith and devotion.

Intense Sadhana and worship leads to the victory of the higher, divine forces over the lower, negative qualities that find their expression in injustice, oppression, aggrandisement, greed, selfishness, hatred and a host of other undivine forces that add to the suffering of man.

Worship the Mother in all Her manifestations. She is the creative aspect of the Absolute. She is symbolised as Cosmic Energy. Energy is the physical ultimate of all forms of matter and the sustaining force of the Spirit. Energy and Spirit are inseparable. They are essentially one. The five elements and their combinations are the external manifestations of the Mother. Intelligence, discrimination, psychic power and will are Her internal manifestations. Humanity is Her visible form. Service of humanity is, therefore, the worship of the Divine Mother.

Feel that the Mother sees through your eyes, hears through your ears, and works through your hands. Feel that the body, mind, Prana, intellect and all their functions are Her manifestations. The one, universal life throbs in the heart of all. How can there be any room for hatred and selfishness, when by hating another you are but hating the Mother, when by being selfish to another you are but denying your own self. Drive deep this consciousness within your heart. Always meditate and practise this ideal of divine oneness.

Mother’s grace is boundless. Her mercy is illimitable. She is pleased with a little purity of heart. Make a definite and sincere attempt to obtain the grace Of the Mother. She will transform your entire life, and bless you with the milk of divine wisdom, spiritual insight and Kaivalya!

 Continue to read:

The Indian Concept of The Divine Mother by Swami Sivananda (Navarathri Durga Pooja)

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 9,2013) Jnana Yoga – Brahman and Maya

Jnana Yoga – Brahman and Maya

Divine Life Society Publication: by Swami Sivananda

Brahman is Sat, the Absolute, Reality. That which exists in the past, present and future; which has no beginning, middle and end; which is unchanging and not conditioned by time, space and causation; which exists during the waking, dream and deep sleep states; which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence, is Sat. This is found in Brahman, the Absolute. The scriptures emphatically declare: "Only Sat was prior to the evolution of this universe."

This phenomenal universe is unreal. Isvara created this universe out of His own body (Maya), just as a spider creates a web from its own saliva. It is merely an appearance, like a snake in a rope or like silver in mother-of-pearl. It has no independent existence.

It is difficult to conceive how the Infinite comes out of Itself and becomes the finite. The magician can bring forth a rabbit out of a hat. We see it happening but we cannot explain it; so we call it Maya or illusion.

Maya is a strange phenomenon which cannot be accounted for by any law of Nature. It is incapable of being described. Its relation to Brahman is like that of heat to fire. The heat of fire is neither one with it nor different from it.

Does Maya really exist or not ? The Advaitin gives this reply: "This inscrutable Maya cannot be said either to exist or not to exist".

If we know the nature of Brahman, then all names, forms and limitations fall away. The world is Maya because it is not the essential truth of the infinite Reality - Brahman. Somehow the world exists and its relation to Brahman is indescribable. The illusion vanishes through the attainment of knowledge of Brahman. Sages, Rishis and scriptures declare that Maya vanishes entirely as soon as knowledge of the Supreme Self dawns.

Brahman alone really exists. The Jiva, the world and this little "I" are false. Rise above names and forms and kill the false egoism. Go beyond Maya and annihilate ignorance. Constantly meditate on the Supreme Brahman, your divine nature.

The world is unreal when compared to Brahman. It is a solid reality to a worldly and passionate man only. To a realized sage it exists like a burnt cloth. To a Videhamukta (disembodied sage) it does not exist at all. To a man of discrimination it loses its charm and attraction.

Do not leave the world to enter a forest because you now read that the world is unreal. You will be utterly ruined if you do this without proper qualifications. Be first established in the conviction that the world is unreal and Brahman alone is real. This will help you to develop dispassion and a strong yearning for liberation. Stay in the world but be not worldly; strive for liberation by the practice of Sadhana Chatushtaya.

 Continue to read:

Jnana 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 2,2013) ‘I’ is the Seed of the Tree of Mind

‘I’ is the Seed of the Tree of Mind

From Divine Life Society Publication “Easy Steps to Yoga” by Swami Sivananda

The mind is like a wheel which revolves endlessly with tremendous velocity. It generates new thoughts with every revolution. This wheel is set in motion by the vibration of psychic Prana or subtle Prana.

The idea of ‘I’ is the seed of the tree of mind. The sprout which at first germinates from this seed of Ahamkara originates without form and is ascertainable only by internal experience. This sprout is Buddhi or intellect. From this sprout the ramifying branches called Sankalpas or thoughts take their origin.

Mark how one Sankalpa expands into many Sankalpas (Vistara) in a short time. Suppose you get a Sankalpa to have tea-party for your friends. One thought of tea invites instantaneously the thoughts of sugar, milk, tea-cups, tables, chairs, table cloth, napkins, spoons, sweetmeats, salted things, etc. So this world is nothing but the expansion of Sankalpas. The expansion of thoughts of the mind towards objects is bondage. Renunciation of Sankalpas is liberation (Moksha). You must be ever watchful in nipping the Sankalpas in the bud. Then only you will be really happy. Daily chop off the branches of this dire tree of mind and finally destroy the tree at its root completely. If you destroy the idea of ‘I’ at the root of the tree (mind), then it will not again spring up. The chopping off of the branches is only a secondary thing. The primary thing is the eradication of the tree at its root.

Sankalpa only is Samsara. Its destruction is Moksha. It is only Sankalpa destroyed beyond resurrection that constitutes the immaculate Brahmic seat. As the cause of bondage is Sankalpa you should root it away from you as completely as possible. This destruction of Sankalpa should be intelligently practiced. Do not become of the form of objects or the knower enjoying the same. Where there exists conception of the objects and the enjoyer of the same, you should gradually and at all times destroy this Sankalpa. After destroying all Sankalpas become That which remains.

Thoughts gain strength by repetition. If you entertain an evil thought or a good thought once, this evil thought or good thought has a tendency to recur again. Thoughts crowd again. Just as the birds of the same feather flock together, so also if you entertain one evil thought all sorts of evil thoughts join together and attack you. If you entertain any good thought all good thoughts join together.

Like attracts like. If you entertain an evil thought that thought attracts all sorts of evil thoughts from others. You pass on the thoughts to others also. Thought moves. Thought is a living dynamic force. Thought is a thing. If you allow your mind to dwell on a sublime thought this thought will attract good thoughts from others. You pass on that good thought to others. You pollute the world with your bad thoughts. You help the world with your good thoughts. When you reach the spiritual summit of thoughtlessness you will reach the abode of Immortality and eternal peace and supreme bliss.

Therefore this ‘I’ should be identified with that which remains after eliminating all the above five illusory sheaths. It is by nature Sat-chit-ananda. This is the Immortal Soul, Atman or Brahman. Through ignorance, through superimposition you have mistaken these five illusory sheaths for the pure immortal Atman. Transcend the five sheaths by attaining knowledge of the Self and be free. Rest in your own Sat-chit-ananda Svarupa by knowing ‘Who am I?’

Continue to read:

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