(May 19,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – Meditation on Mahavakyas by Sri Swami Sivananda

 Meditation on Mahavakyas

Divine Life Society Publication: - Meditation by Sri Swami Sivananda

Mahavakyas are the sacred sentences of the Srutis. They are four in number:

1. 'Prajnanam Brahma.' – Consciousness is Brahman (Aitareya Upanishad of Rig-Veda)

2. 'Aham Brahma Asmi.' – I am Brahman (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of Yajur-Veda)

3. 'Tat Tvam Asi.'- That Thou Art (Chhandogya Upanishad of Sama Veda)

4. 'Ayam Atma Brahma.' – This Atman is Brahman (Mandukya Upanishad of Atharvana Veda)

The first is a Lakshana Vakya which gives a definition of Brahman and imparts Tatbodha-Jnana. The second is an Anubhava Vakya that gives Sakshi-Jnana. Third is Upadesha Vakya and bestows Siva Jnana. Guru instructs the disciple. Fourth is Sakshatkara Vakya which confers Brahma-Jnana. You can take any Mahavakya and meditate on it as you do on OM.

Meditation on Aham Brahma Asmi: Constantly feel that you are the Suddha Sat-Chit-Ananda Vyapaka Atman (Pure, Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute, All-Pervading Brahman), when you repeat mentally: "Aham Brahma Asmi." Lip repetition will not produce much benefit. You must intensely feel from the subjective heart. Gradually, you will be taken to superconscious state through deep feeling.

Sit in your Asana on a fourfold blanket. Face North or East and constantly feel:

1. Infinity I am.

2. Eternity I am.

3. Immortality I am.

Meditation on Mahavakyas is tantamount to meditation on OM. You can take either 'Aham Brahma Asmi' or 'Tat Tvam Asi' Mahavakya, and meditate on its significance. Negate or throw out the Koshas yourself and identify with the one essence that lies behind them.

Meditate. Purify your mind. Practise concentration in a solitary room. Then squeeze out the Upanishads and the Gita from your heart. Do not depend upon imperfect commentaries. If you are sincere, you will understand the real Sankalpa of the Rishis of the Upanishads and Lord Krishna, you will know what they really meant when they uttered those wise Slokas.

Unfold the Divinity that is lurking in your heart by concentration and meditation. Do not waste your time. Do not waste your life.

Negative Meditation

"I am not the body. I am not the mind. I am Sat-Chit-Ananda Svarupa." Meditate on the above ideas constantly. Feel you are the Sat-Chit-Ananda Svarupa always, all through twenty-four hours. Negate the body-idea. Incessant Sadhana is necessary to remove Deha-Adhyasa which is due to Anadi Samskaras (beginningless impressions). If you can go above the body-consciousness, if you can leave the body at will, three fourths of your Sadhana is over. There is a little balance only. Then, there remains only the drawing of the curtain, removal of the veil of Avidya. That can be done quite easily. Even when you move about, even when you are at work, always feel that you are all-pervading, infinite Brahman. This is important. Thinking, concentration and efforts to separate yourself from the body should go together. In negative meditation, the Jnani dwells in Suddha, Nirguna Brahman. He has no consciousness of the world.

Positive Meditation

1. I am the All (Sarvatva)

2. I am in All (Sarvatmaka) 

Meditate on the above ideas. In this meditation, the body and the world are taken as Brahman. As expressions of Brahman they are included. It is highly preposterous to think that Brahman is by itself full of Ananda and that which is expressed out of Brahman is full of misery, pain and sorrow. Pessimism should be shunned. It is the Jiva Srishti that is at the bottom of all pain and misery. There is nothing wrong in Isvara Srishti. Isvara Srishti does not give the least pain. On the contrary, it is Kama, Krodha, idea of mine, thine, "I am the doer" etc., that cause all trouble. This is due to Ajnana which causes identification with the limited mind.

Repeat the above idea mentally at all times. Feel you are the All. Feel that your Shakti is working in all bodies. Constantly dwell on these ideas: "The whole world is my body. All bodies are mine. All lives are mine. All pains are mine. All joys are mine." Jealousy, anger, hatred, egoism all will vanish. In the Samadhi of positive meditation, the Jnani sees within himself the world as a movement of ideas. He is both Saguna and Nirguna.

Excerpts from:

Meditation on Mahavakyas by Sri Swami Sivananda

 

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(Jan 4,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Mandukya Upanishad – An Introduction

The Mandukya Upanishad – An Introduction

Divine Life Society Publication: The Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

The theme of the Mandukya Upanishad is an exposition of the Mystic Syllable, Om, with a view to training the mind in meditation, for the purpose of achieving freedom, gradually, so that the individual soul is attuned to the Ultimate Reality.

The basis of this meditation is explained in the Vidya (meditation), known as the Vaisvanara Vidya. This is the secret of the knowledge of the Universal Being, designated as Vaisvanara. Its simple form of understanding is a transference of human attributes to the Divine Existence, and vice versa. In this meditation, one contemplates the Cosmos as one's Body and the consciousness is to be transferred to the Universal Being. Instead of one contemplating oneself as the individual body, one contemplates oneself as the Universal Body. The limbs of the Cosmic Person are identified with cosmic elements, and vice versa, so that there is nothing in the cosmos which does not form an organic part of the Body of the Virat, or Vaisvanara. When you see the vast world before you, you behold a part of your own Body. When you look at the sun, you behold your own eye. When you look above into the heavens, you are seeing your own head. When you see all people moving about, you behold the various parts of your own personality. The vast wind is your breath. All your actions are cosmic movements. Anything that moves, does so on account of your movement. Your breath is the Cosmic Vital Force. Your intelligence is the Cosmic Intelligence. Your existence is Cosmic Existence. Your happiness is Cosmic Bliss.

Though the Mandukya Upanishad gives certain symbolic instances of identification of limbs with the Cosmic Body, the meditator, in fact, can choose any symbol or symbols for such form of identification. The creation does not consist merely of the few parts that are mentioned in the Upanishad. So, we can start our meditation with any set of forms that may occur to our minds. We may be sitting in our rooms, and the first things that attract our attention may be the objects spread out in the rooms. When we identify these objects with our Body, we will find that there are also objects outside these, in the rooms. And, likewise, we can slowly expand our consciousness to the whole earth and, then, beyond the earth, to the solar and stellar regions, so that, we reach as far as our minds can reach. Whatever our mind can think, becomes an object for the mind; and that object, again, should become a part of the meditator's Body, cosmically. And, the moment the object that is conceived by the mind is identified with the Cosmic Body, the object ceases to agitate the mind anymore; because that object is not any more outside; it becomes a part of the Body of the meditator. The object has become the Cosmic Subject, in the Vaisvanara meditation.

The Vidya has its origin, actually, in the Rig-Veda, in a famous Sukta, or hymn, called the Purusha-Sukta. The Purusha-Sukta of the Rig-Veda commences by saying that all the heads, all the eyes, and all the feet that we see in this world are the heads, eyes, and feet of the Virat-Purusha, or the Cosmic Being. With one head, the Virat nods in silence; with another face He smiles; with a third one, He frowns; in one form, He sits; in another form, He moves; in one form, He is near; in another form, He is distant. So, all the forms, whatever they be, and all the movements and actions, processes and relations, become parts of the Cosmic Body, with which the Consciousness should be identified simultaneously. When you think, you think all things at the same time, in all the ten directions - in every way.

The Chhandogya Upanishad concludes this Vidya by saying that one who meditates in this manner on the Universal Personality of Oneself as the Vaisvanara, becomes the Source of sustenance for all beings. Just as children sit round their mother, hungry, and asking for food, all beings in creation shall sit round this Person, craving for his blessings; and just as food consumed by the body sustains all the limbs of the body at once, this meditator, if he consumes food, shall immediately communicate his blessings to the whole cosmos, for his Being is, verily, All-Being.

We may recall to our memory the famous story of Sri Krishna taking a particle of food from the hands of Draupadi, in the Kamyaka forest, when she called to Him for help, and with this little grain that he partook of, the whole universe was filled, and all people were satisfied, because Krishna stood there tuned up with the Universal Virat. So is also the case with any person who is in a position to meditate on the Virat, and assume the position of the Virat. The whole universe shall become friendly with this Person ; all existence shall ask for sustenance and blessing from this Universal Being. This meditator is no more a human being; he is veritably, God Himself. The meditator on Vaisvanara is himself Vaisvanara, the Supreme Virat.

Excerpts from:

The Mandukya Upanishad – An Introduction by Swami Krishnananda

Invocation and verses - The Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
 

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(Nov 6,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Summoning Consciousness into Itself

Summoning Consciousness into Itself

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 3 The Universality of Being by Swami Krishnananda

We belong to two worlds together: the empirical world of space and time, and the eternal world of the transcendent Absolute. So we are pulled simultaneously from two different directions. The world of empirical perception, motivated by the power of the sense organs, drags us out of ourselves, and we always want to see that which is outside us. But, at the same time, the perishable nature of this perception reminds us that this is not going to be a worthwhile exercise because even if we obtain the whole world of contact it will perish, and nothing will remain. Nobody wants to perish. The imperishable aspiration collides with the perishable nature of things, so we are partially lovers of an eternal life and partially involved in sense activity and conflict of every kind.

This conflict has to be eradicated by introducing an element of infinity into every thought that arises in our mind, every work that we do, and every word that we speak. This is what is called karma yoga. Action charged with the character of infinity becomes karma yoga, whereas action which is purely material and finite, arising from the motivations of the sense organs, is finite. The whole of the Bhagavadgita is simply this much. All action is wonderful; it is a cosmic action, provided that which looks like a movement in the form of activity is the activity of consciousness itself. In all activity, consciousness acts within itself; it is not somebody doing something else. If karma, or action, is considered to be the process of somebody doing something, it will react in the form of the bondage of karma. But if it is the all-knowing cosmic mind working in the form of the so-called individualities of activity, there will be no reaction because there is no object before this action.

Cosmic action has no object outside itself. Therefore, one who works like a cosmic person in the form of the true karma yoga of the Gita will never suffer reaction and rebirth, whereas if it is you that are doing something outside you, totally unconnected with your mode of action, it will react. Actually, what is called the reaction of karma is nothing but the Infinite kicking you back for the wrong attitude that you developed towards it. Here is a philosophy, a psychology, and a mode of practice, all which is yoga. Yoga is a practice, a psychology, a metaphysics, and the highest philosophy.

All yoga is eternity operating through every one of us. It is going to be perfectly successful, and you need not have even the least doubt that you will be benefitted by it because the whole of eternity—that is what is called God or the Absolute—is behind you, propelling you. An immediate action takes place. Because the Absolute is timeless and spaceless, it is just now and here.

As the sensory organs prevent you from thinking like this, first of all you must find a place to sit comfortably where the tantrums of sensory objects will not irritate your mind. You cannot find a cosy place anywhere in this world; everywhere there is noise, irritation, and distraction of mind. Considering the facts as they are in today’s world, you have to do your practice in your own room. You cannot find a beautiful place somewhere outside; there is no such thing as a beautiful place anywhere in the world. Everywhere there are people. Therefore, confine yourself to your room.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Chant Om. Go on chanting like this for fifteen minutes, until the mind feels deeply engrossed in this beautiful music of your recitation. It is not merely music in the ordinary audible sense; it is a vibration that you are creating.

The whole world is nothing but vibration. The so-called solidity of things is a condensation of impersonal vibrations in space and time. Nothing is outside you, and this vibratory chant of Om enables you to reduce your so-called solidity of personal existence into a point of vibratory center which, when liquefied, as it were, comes in contact with all other things, which are also of the same nature. You enter into a sea of power, an ocean of force, a cosmic vibration which, perhaps, is the beginning of the universe.

The whole universe is a concretized form of spatiotemporal objects. It has to be melted down, back to its own source. There is no distance between the universal center and your existence here. There is no such thing as distance at all. It does not exist. Everything touches everything else. This possibility should be introduced into your mind by a deep chanting of Om in the manner I mentioned.

This recitation, this concentration, this satisfaction will act like a philosopher’s stone that converts all iron into gold, so that you live in joy, perceive joy, contact joy, and you are in a deep bliss of self-complete perfection.

Excerpts from:

Summoning Consciousness into Itself - Chapter 3 The Universality of Being by Swami Krishnananda
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(Sep 16,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Atman as the Pranava (OM)

The Atman as the Pranava (OM)

Divine Life Society Publication: Section7 The Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

 

The three syllables, A, U, M, may be compared with the three states described of the Atman – Jagarita (waking), Svapna (dream), Sushupti (sleep). And, also, just as there is a fourth transcendent state beyond the three states of the Atman, there is a transcendent state of Om, too, beyond the three syllables, A, U, M. As there are four states of consciousness, there are four states of Omkara, each one, respectively, comparable with its corresponding counterpart. All these comparisons are symbolic, and we should not take them literally. All meditations are symbolic; all Vidyas of the Upanishads are symbolic.

What is the first state of the Atman? The Jagaritasthana, or the waking condition of the Atman, called the Visva, or Vaisvanara, is the first syllable of Om – Akara. From the point of view of the Jiva – not from the point of view of Isvara – the waking condition is the cause, and dream and sleep may be regarded as its effects. Ya evam veda: One who knows this secret of meditation on the harmony between Akara and the waking state of the Atman, becomes a master over all things, a perfected Siddha does he become, and he is an adept in Yoga.

Ukara is the second syllable of Om, which can be compared with the second Pada or foot of the Atman. Taijasa or dream-consciousness comes as an effect of the waking experience; proceeding from the waking experience, existing midway between waking and sleep. One who meditates in this manner, rises in his status of knowledge and becomes an equalizing factor in society and in all creation. One has peace within oneself, and creates peace outside, too, on account of the radiance of peace emanating from oneself.

Makara is the third Matra of Om, and it is comparable with Prajna (deep sleep state of consciousness), the third state, causal, of the Atman. It is the measure of all things, and it is the dissolver of all things. When we chant Om, Akara and Ukara merge in Makara, as all the impressions of waking and dream merge in Prajna, deep sleep, the causal state. Deep sleep is the cause, and all experiences in waking and dream are its effects. As Isvara is the cause of all things, the deep sleep state seems to be the cause of our waking and dreaming, in one sense, namely, that we wake up from sleep on account of unfulfilled desires. If all our desires are fulfilled, we would not be waking up from sleep, at all. 'A' and 'U', merge themselves in 'M'. One, who meditates thus, has the capacity to measure all things, that is, to know everything – he becomes Sarvajna. He becomes Isvara Himself. Everything merges in him; as the verse in the second chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita says, everything enters into him, as rivers enter the ocean. Isvara is the Merger of all creation, and when you become Isvara, the whole creation merges in you. You realize this state by this meditation on the unity of Makara and Prajna, the causal state of Pranava and the causal state of Consciousness, both individually and cosmically.

Now, as there are three relative conditions of the Atman, Jagrat, Svapna and Sushupti – waking, dream and deep sleep – Akara, Ukara, and Makara of Pranava, or Omkara, may be regarded as its relative conditions. But, just as there is a transcendent state of the Atman, there is a transcendent condition of Pranava, or Omkara, which is not constituted of Matras or syllables, but is Amatra, without any measure or syllable. Even as we cannot designate the Atman as either this or that, so we cannot specify this Amatra condition of Om as either this or that. It is a vibration of being, and not a state of sound, and there is no material content in this vibration. It transcends the physical, the subtle and the causal states, and it is not even merely the vibration which sets creation in motion. It is subtler than even the causal vibration with which creation commenced. The only word the Upanishad uses to name this state is Amatra, immeasurable. As the Atman is ungraspable, unrelatable, indescribable, unthinkable, so is this Amatra condition of Omkara measureless in every way.



Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva within OM

This Om, in its fourth or transcendent state, is Atman itself. There is a soundless state of Pranava that is Existence itself. All sounds and vibrations merge into Existence, and Existence is One. We may call it Pranava in its Amatra state or as Atman in its indescribable state of Being. Pure Existence is the merging together of Pranava and the Atman. The fourth state of Pranava is that with which we cannot have any dealings, as with objects, words or sounds, such as in connection with usages in language. All the world of sound ceases here in this soundless state of Pranava. It is most auspicious, blessed and non-dual like the Atman, because it is The Atman. This Omkara which is soundless and transcendent is the Atman itself. Creation and the Creator become one here. The merger of Om in the Atman is the merger of creation in the Absolute. There is no creatorship also, because there is no created. There is no sound that is supposed to be the first vibration of creation. Sound reaches the soundless state. It becomes, then, relationless. One, who knows this secret, by deep meditation, enters the Atman by the Atman. Sounds merge in Pranava; it becomes the Atman.

The Atman alone is. When the Atman becomes the Atman through the Atman, it is called Atma-sakshatkara – realization of the Atman. It is also Brahma-sakshatkara – realization of Brahman. From the point of view of the Atman animating the individual states, we call this achievement Atma-sakshatkara. From the standpoint of this very same Atman animating the whole cosmos, we call it Brahma-sakshatkara. It is Self-realization and God-realization at one and the same time. It is Existence, it is Consciousness, it is Power, it is Bliss, it is Perfection, it is Immortality, it is Moksha, it is Kaivalya. This is the Goal of life, the path to which is beautifully described in the Mandukya Upanishad.

Excerpts from:

The Atman as the Pranava - Section7 The Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

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The Mandukya Upanishad – Invocation and Verses by Swami Krishnananda

The Mandukya Upanishad – Invocation and Verses

Divine Life Society Publication: Invocation and verses - The Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

The Mandukya Upanishad

by Swami Krishnananda

Invocation

Om! Bhadram karnebhih s'rnuyāma devāh
bhadram pasyemākṣabhiryajatrāh
sthirairangaistushtuvam sastanūbhir
vyaśema devahitam yadāyuh
svasti na indro vriddhaśravāh
svasti nah pūṣhā viśvavedāh
svasti nastārkṣyo ariṣtanemih
svasti no brihaspatirdadhātu
Om śāntih; śāntih; śāntih

"Om. Shining Ones! May we hear through our ears what is auspicious; Ye, fit to be worshipped! May we see with our eyes what is auspicious; May we, endowed with body strong with limbs, offering praise, complete the full span of life bestowed upon us by the divine beings; May Indra, of enhanced fame, be auspicious unto us; May Pushan, who is all-knowing, be auspicious unto us; May Tarkshya, who is the destroyer of all evils, be auspicious unto us; May Brihaspati bestow upon us auspiciousness!  

Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!

Verses

aum ity etad akṣaram idam sarvam, tasyopavyākhyānam 
bhūtam bhavad bhaviṣyad iti sarvam auṁkāra eva
yac cānyat trikālātītaṁ tad apy auṁkāra eva. 

1. OM! – This Imperishable Word is the whole of this visible universe. Its explanation is as follows: What has become, what is becoming, what will become, – verily, all of this is OM. And what is beyond these three states of the world of time, – that too, verily, is OM.

sarvaṁ hy etad brahma, ayam ātmā brahma 
so’yam ātmā catuṣ-pāt.

2. All this, verily, is Brahman. The Self is Brahman. This Self has four quarters.

jāgarita sthāno bahiṣ-prajñaḥ saptāṅga

ekonaviṁśati-mukhaḥ sthūla-bhug vaiśvānaraḥ
prathamaḥ pādah.

3. The first quarter is Vaiśvānara. Its field is the waking state. Its consciousness is outward-turned. It is seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed. It enjoys gross objects.

svapna-sthāno’ntaḥ-prajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonavimśati-mukhaḥ

pravivikta-bhuk taijaso dvītiyaḥ pādah.

4. The second quarter is taijasa. Its field is the dream state. Its consciousness is inward-turned. It is seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed. It enjoys subtle objects.  

yatra supto na kaṁ cana kāmaṁ kāmayate

na kaṁ cana svapnam paśyati tat suṣuptam
suṣupta-sthāna ekī-bhūtaḥ prajñānā-ghana evānanda-mayo
hy ānanda-bhuk ceto-mukhaḥ prājñas tṛtīyaḥ pādah. 

5. The third quarter is prājña, where one asleep neither desires anything nor beholds any dream: that is deep sleep. In this field of dreamless sleep, one becomes undivided, an undifferentiated mass of consciousness, consisting of bliss and feeding on bliss. His mouth is consciousness.

eṣa sarveśvaraḥ eṣa sarvajñaḥ, eṣo’ntāryami eṣa

yoniḥ sarvasya prabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām. 

6. This is the Lord of All; the Omniscient; the Indwelling Controller; the Source of All. This is the beginning and end of all beings.

nāntaḥ-prajñam, na bahiṣ prajñam, nobhayataḥ-prajñam
na prajnañā-ghanam, na prajñam, nāprajñam;
adṛṣtam, avyavahārayam, agrāhyam, alakṣaṇam,
acintyam, avyapadeśyam, ekātma-pratyaya-sāram, 
prapañcopaśamam, śāntam, śivam, advaitam,
caturtham manyante, sa ātmā, sa vijñeyaḥ. 

7. That is known as the fourth quarter: neither inward-turned nor outward-turned consciousness, nor the two together; not an indifferentiated mass of consciousness; neither knowing, nor unknowing; invisible, ineffable, intangible, devoid of characteristics, inconceivable, indefinable, its sole essence being the consciousness of its own Self; the coming to rest of all relative existence; utterly quiet; peaceful; blissful: without a second: this is the Ātman, the Self; this is to be realised.

so’yam ātmādhyakṣaram auṁkaro’dhimātram pādā mātrā

mātrāś ca pādā akāra ukāra makāra iti.

8. This identical Ātman, or Self, in the realm of sound is the syllable OM, the above described four quarters of the Self being identical with the components of the syllable, and the components of the syllable being identical with the four quarters of the Self. The components of the Syllable are A, U, M.

jāgarita-sthāno vaiśvānaro’kāraḥ prathamā

mātrā’pter ādimattvād vā’pnoti ha vai
sarvān kāmān ādiś ca bhavati ya evaṁ veda.

9. Vaiśvānara, whose field is the waking state, is the first sound, A, because this encompasses all, and because it is the first. He who knows thus, encompasses all desirable objects; he becomes the first.

svapna-sthānas taijasa ukāro dvitīyā
mātrotkarṣāt ubhayatvādvotkarṣati ha vai
jñāna-saṁtatiṁ samānaś ca  bhavati
nāsyābrahma-vit-kule bhavati ya evam veda.

10. Taijasa, whose field is the dream state, is the second sound, U, because this is an excellence, and contains the qualities of the other two. He who knows thus, exalts the flow of knowledge and becomes equalised; in his family there will be born no one ignorant of Brahman.

suṣupta-sthānaḥ prājño makāras tṛtīya mātrā 
miter apīter vā minoti ha vā idaṁ
sarvam apītiś ca bhavati ya evaṁ veda. 

11.Prājña, whose field is deep sleep, is the third sound, M, because this is the measure, and that into which all enters. He who knows thus, measures all and becomes all.

amātraś caturtho’vyavahāryaḥ prapañcopaśamaḥ sivo’dvaita
evam auṁkāra ātmaiva, saṁviśaty ātmanā’tmānaṁ ya evaṁ
veda ya evaṁ veda.

12. The fourth is soundless: unutterable, a quieting down of all relative manifestations, blissful, peaceful, non-dual. Thus, OM is the Ātman, verily. He who knows thus, merges his self in the Self; – yea, he who knows thus.

Om śantih; śantih; śantih 

Om Peace! Peace! Peace!

Continue to read:

Invocation and Verses – Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

  

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