(June 27,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – Pratyahara (abstraction)

Pratyahara

Divine Life Society Publication: Paths of the Yoga by Swami Sivananda

What Is Pratyahara?

Pratyahara or abstraction is that by which the senses do not associate with their own objects and imitate, as it were, the nature of the mind-stuff (Chitta).

NOTES

Pratyahara is abstraction. It is the withdrawal of the Indriyas from the objects. The senses are assimilated in the mind which is rendered pure through the practice of Yama, Niyama and Pranayama. The mind becomes more calm now. The nature of the Indriyas is to have always connection with the objects. Where the vision is turned outward (Bahirmukha Vritti), the rush of fleeting events engages the mind. The outgoing energies of the mind begin to play. When they are obstructed by the practice of Pratyahara, the other course for them is to mix with the mind and to be absorbed in the mind. The mind will not assume any form of any object. Hitherto, the Indriyas were following the mind like the other bees which follow the queen bee. Just as the bees fly as the queen bee flies, and sit as it sits down, so also, the Indriyas become restrained as the mind is restrained.

Pratyahara itself is termed as Yoga, as it is the most important Anga in Yoga Sadhana. This is the fifth rung in the Yogic ladder. The first four rungs deal with ethical training and purification of body, mind and Nadis. Now with Pratyahara, proper Yoga begins which eventually culminates in Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Hence in Kathopanishad also in Part VI, Sloka 11, you will find: That firm control of the senses, they regard as Yoga. Again in the same Upanishad it is stated in Part IV, Sloka 1: The Self-existent created the senses outgoing, therefore, one sees outside and not the Atman within. Some intelligent man, with his senses turned away from their object, desirous of immortality, sees the Atman within.

Benefits of Pratyahara

Thence (from the practice of Pratyahara), comes the supreme mastery over the senses.

NOTES

Yogins enjoy sound, etc., without Raga and Dvesha. Worldly persons enjoy with Raga and Dvesha. This is the difference. The Yogi, not becoming a slave of the Vishayas, enjoys as a master out of his own free will. The Yogi enjoys by remaining as Tatastha (quite indifferent) with Raga and Dvesha experiencing the effects viz., pleasure and pain. The Indriyas cannot grasp the objects even though they are placed before them. This is Indriya Jaya. There is a difference between control and supreme control. By controlling one Indriya alone, the other four will not come under your control. When the mind is rendered pure and one-pointed and when it is turned inwards towards the Purusha, then and then alone supreme control of all organs follows.

He who has practised Pratyahara can have good concentration and meditation. His mind is always peaceful. This demands patience and constant practice. It takes some years before one is well-established in Pratyahara. He who has mastery over Pratyahara will never complain of Vikshepa or distraction of mind. He can sit in a place in a busy city where four roads meet and meditate whenever he likes. He does not want a cave for meditation. Just as the tortoise draws in on all sides its limbs, so also, the Yogi withdraws all his senses from the objects of sense through the practice of Pratyahara. Pratyahara gives power to the practitioner. When the Indriyas are withdrawn from the objects, then you can fix the mind on a particular point. It is Dharana or concentration which is dealt with in the next chapter. Pratyahara and Dharana are interdependent. You cannot practise one without the other.

Continue to read:

Paths of the Yoga by Swami Sivananda
Pratyahara or Abstraction by Swami Krishnananda
 

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(May 21,2013) Shun the Ego by Swami Krishnananda

Shun the Ego

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

·         When we get irritated or annoyed in the midst of work, for any reason, it is to be taken as a caution that our personality has entered into it, and the ‘unselfishness’ of the work has been adulterated with that undesirable and vitiating factor, the ego. When the work is ‘not mine’, there is no reason for internal disturbance.

·         If the hydrogen and oxygen that are in the entire atmosphere get mixed up in the proportion of H2o, what will happen to us? And why should it not happen? Who controls the atmosphere and prevents such a combination? What is this mystery and this precariousness of life? Where then is the need for man to be proud of his powers?

·         It is futile on the part of a sadhaka to attempt at sense-control when he or she is in the vicinity of objects of enjoyment. It is necessary that one should be wary of this truth of sadhana, a truth which most people do not recognise due to vanity and foolishness.

·         There are ups and downs in spiritual life, even if one might have reached a high stage of development. The prominent hurdles are lust and ego. There has not been one who could overcome both these forces completely. Whatever caution we may exercise in this regard, we will find, when the time comes, that it is insufficient.

·         “Man proposes; God disposes,” says an old adage. It does not mean that God is perpetually opposing whatever man does. What really happens is that when man exerts through his egoism in a manner which violates the eternal law of God, he naturally feels frustrated, being beaten back by the law of Truth.

·         It is difficult to live in society with mental peace, because it is difficult to be charitable in nature. Charity of things is of less consequence than possession of charitable feelings, and resorting to charitable speech, charitable demeanour, and charitable actions through a general charitable temperament. This is, in short, what is called self-sacrifice, for it involves parting with some part of the delights of the ego.

·         The notion of oneself being identical with the body is the cause of egoism. It is this egoism that entangles all judgments of value in the preconception that knowledge is acquired through the senses and the mind or the intellect. This prejudice of egoism is Samsara, the persistent idea that all knowledge is in terms of space, time and externality.

·         What ‘happens’ is done by God. What is ‘initiated’ is done by the jiva. We should be able to distinguish between what happens without our interference and what is done with it.

·         One’s life-span, actions, wealth, education and death are all determined even while in the womb of the mother. The Omniscience of God is proof enough of the predetermination of everything. Human effort is a part of the way in which the universal plan works. Any egoism of man is thus sheer vanity.

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

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(May 16,2013) God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

Practical Wisdom – God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

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

• A Sultan asked an astrologer to tell something about his future. The astrologer said: “Your highness will live long to see all your sons dead.” The Sultan was enraged and ordered the astrologer’s arrest and imprisonment. He consulted another astrologer on the same point. This second astrologer said: “Your highness will enjoy a long life and outlive all your family.” The Sultan was highly pleased and gave him rich presents. Both the astrologers knew the truth, but the latter knew the Sultan.
• ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ But we have to help ourselves in terms of God’s law which requires that we sacrifice ourselves in every one of our acts in such a manner that our acts help in exceeding the lower personality by degrees, and approximating God’s existence.
• What you have enjoyed yourself and what you have given over to others in charity or as gift is really yours. Everything else is of doubtful nature and you are merely a protector thereof.
• In your dealings with another person, try first to think through the feelings of that person and then try again to overcome the limitations of those feelings by rational methods of approach. This will avoid much of the unnecessary tangles in which social life is caught up every day.
• Do not keep anything which you will be afraid of showing to others.
  Do not do anything which you would not like others to know.
  In spiritual life secrecy has no place except in regard to one’s sadhana (spiritual practice).
• “Even this will pass away.” This is a good maxim to remember that our joys and sorrows are not permanent, and that we should always be therefore unattached and hopeful of a better future.
• We can judge ourselves as to the spiritual progress we make by the extent to which we are free from seeing defects in others. The wider we grow, the narrower becomes the eye which sees defects in the world.
• When we come in conflict with things, we are likely to think that the things are against us. But this would be like imagining that a stone is against us because it is thrown at us by someone. The things and circumstances are only instruments in meting out our dues.
• Often, what matters most is not the words that are said but the way in which they are said. People either bore or irritate others with what they regard as wisdom, when it is wrongly uttered or expressed at the wrong moment or told to the wrong person, though the intention behind it may be good. Judgment of circumstances is necessary to bring about the requisite result. Else effort may become a waste or even harmful.
• The distance between you and God is the same as the extent of your desire for the world.
• Our joys and sorrows are just sensations or experiences and cannot be called either good or bad, even as we cannot say whether the heat of the sun or the coldness of water is good or bad. Goodness and Badness of things are personal evaluations of situations which are themselves impersonal.
• Often it so happens that our contemplation on a vice which we feel we have and which we wish to avoid leads us more deeply into it until it is too late to recover from the shock of this knowledge of the fact about us. It is better not to think of a vice, even if we have it, and concern ourselves only with positive virtue and spiritual conduct.
• “Love all, but trust a few” is a good policy in social dealings. To trust a few is, of course, not to be suspicious of everyone, but to be vigilant in every case, even when things are entrusted to others for execution or when some situations are involved in other personalities. One should not trust even one’s own self when the senses are in the proximity of their desired objects.
• Dirt is matter out of place. Weed is a plant out of place. Nuisance is action out of place. Even those things, acts or words which are normally good and useful become bad, useless and even harmful when they are out of place, time and circumstance. Knowledge of this fact is an essential part of wisdom.
• Material amenities and economic needs and the satisfaction of one’s emotional side are permissible only so long as this law and order of this eternal truth of the liberation of the Self in universality of being regulates their fulfillment.
• The temptation from the evil one comes, first, in the form of unsettled thinking which makes one immediately forget the Presence of God. This is at once followed by the implementation of the evil move, whether in the shape of passion or anger. When the deed is done and the matter has ended, the remembrance of God might come in, but it rarely appears in the presence of things which we either love or hate.
• They say that procrastination is the thief of time, postponing a work which needs to be done immediately. There is no use committing the same mistake again and again and resolving every day to avoid it, but with no success. Something positive has to be done with strength of will.
• Where either the question of self-respect or sex is involved, the spirit of service goes to the winds.
• When you have inadvertently done a wrong, switch on the situation, person or thing involved to the Absolute and concentrate on the former as an inseparable part of the latter. The wound shall then be healed and the determination to refrain from repeating the act shall make you stronger than before.
• That is wisdom which can reconcile itself with actual life. When the realities of practical life conflict with or stare at the knowledge we possess, it should be remembered that such knowledge is immature and is a mere theory. Moreover, it is not knowledge ‘of’ life that we need; we require knowledge which ‘is’ life, and is inseparable from its daily vexations. We have to view ourselves in a Universal context and then live life, not look upon ourselves as individuals who have to be at war with the world in our everyday life.
• Thus did a wise man pray: ‘Give me the will to change what I can, the strength to bear what I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ This is the secret of worldly wisdom, that which decides the nature of one’s success in life.
• The vision of God seems to be as far from us even now as it was many years back, and there is no proper yardstick with which the progress made on the path can be measured. There is much difference of opinion as to this matter among wise men, and the wisdom of one does not seem to tally in all details with that of another. Perhaps self-confidence, coupled with goodness and an immense capacity for adjustment, as well as continuous delight, form a good touchstone.

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Practical Wisdom – Part I from “Thus Wakens the Awakened One” by Swami Krishnananda

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(May 15,2013) The Mind is Universal

The Mind is Universal

Divine Life Society Publication: Your Questions Answered by Swami Krishnananda

What is the special kind of relation (if there is a relation) between the knower and what is to be known?

SWAMIJI: Between the knower and the known there is a knowledge process. Finally, the Atman is the knower, and what It considers as outside is the known. By "knowing," you mean that you become aware of something other than what you are. Generally, when people say that they know something, they don't mean they are knowing themselves. The idea generally in the minds of people when they say they know something is that they know something other than themselves; the knower is different from the known in the ordinary process of knowledge. But if you analyse this whole process, you will realise that the knower and the known are connected by an intelligence, a consciousness; otherwise, the knower cannot come in contact with the object of knowledge. You can know even a mountain in front of you; the mountain is far away from you, yet you know that the mountain is there. How do you know that the object is there in front of you when there is actually no visible connection between you and the object?

If the mind that knows a thing is inside your body, then it is locked up inside the body and cannot know anything outside, beyond its own body. You cannot know another person sitting in front of you if your mind is only inside the body. How do you know?

The mind which appears to be inside your body for all practical purposes is basically a universal pervading intelligence. Your so-called individual mind gets connected with that universal mind in the process of knowledge, as in a broadcasting process, for example. In a broadcasting station, somebody speaks and a sound is made. This sound gets converted into an ethereal universal medium. What travels in space is not sound; it is a mysterious energy content that travels in space and is received by a receiver set somewhere else, where this ethereal thing gets reconverted into sound, and then you hear a sound here. It doesn't mean that the sound is travelling in space. There is a universal principle connecting two terms of relation (the receiver set on one side, and the broadcasting station on another side).

In a similar manner, there is an unknown medium between the subject and the object. You can see the broadcasting station, you can see the receiver set, but you cannot see what is happening in between; it is invisible. In a similar manner, you can see yourself, you can see a mountain, but you cannot know what is happening between them. That "between" is a very important item. The mind that is universal operates between you and the object outside, and connects the individual mind with the object outside through the medium of its universality. If that universal principle is not to operate, you will never know anything outside your body. You would be locked up inside yourself only.

So, there is a universal mind operating everywhere, of which you are a part, of which the object also is a part. Finally, you must say that only one thing exists, which is the Universal Mind. If you can deeply concentrate on this essential fact, you will be thinking like a cosmic man and will no longer be thinking like an individual person. You will become a superman. This is how a yogi or God-man thinks.

Your problem is yourself only; you have no other problem. You require to be saved from yourself. The greatest problem is one's own self. Nobody else gives you trouble. Your ignorance, your foolishness, your individuality, your finitude, these are the problems, and they constitute what you really are. So, you have to be saved from that. One has to be saved from one's lower self, for the sake of attaining the higher Self. In the Bhagavad Gita's sixth chapter, the higher Self is said to save the lower self.

 Continue to read:

Your Questions Answered by Swami Krishnananda

The Mind and Its Functions by Swami Krishnananda

Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Swami Sivananda

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(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!

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

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(March 16,2013) Spirituality and Life by Swami Krishnananda

Spiritual message of the day: Spirituality and Life by Swami Krishnananda

 (A Message issued on the occasion of Swamiji's 54th Birthday in April, 1976.)

The philosophy and culture of India is one of Ananda or Bliss. "From Bliss-Absolute we have come; in Bliss-Absolute we are rooted; and to Bliss-Absolute are we destined," says the Taittiriya Upanishad. It is not a message of pain, agony and distress. Pessimism is unknown to India's culture. It is a culture of exuberant positivity of approach, an approximation to God in the end, who is the greatest of positivities. Life is held to be a movement from joy to joy, and it is this that we call the evolutionary process of the soul. It is movement from a lesser truth to a higher truth.

Everything is as a relative representation of God's perfection and so everywhere, even in the so-called erroneous movements of material, psychological and social forces, there is an element of God present, urging all these processes towards Perfection. To our culture, which is the culture of God, the culture of Perfection, all the duties of life become a manifestation of happiness. The glorious gospel of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita, which may be regarded as the tripod of India's message to mankind, provides us with the hopeful exhortation that we can never be helpless at any moment of our life. Our culture is the blossoming full-moon, the real 'Purnima' of hope after hope; aspiration after aspiration. May we recall to our minds, once again, the message of the saints and sages of all times and climes, who have plumbed into the depths of the Great Reality of the universe, that we exist in God, live in God, breathe in God, move in God and perform the functions of our life in the Kingdom of God.

The whole cosmos is vibrating within every cell of our personalities. Everything that is everywhere is also within us and is inseparable from us. This was the foundation of the doctrine of God's supreme perfection given to us by Acharya Sankara also, on the basis of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita and the Brahma Sutras. Everything we need is in us. Everything required by us for our existence, every movement in evolution towards perfection, is implanted in our being. When we were born we brought with us everything that is necessary for us and we carry all these necessities with us wherever we move in this world. We cannot be separated from these needs or standing necessities; they are inseparable from our vital existence. The cosmic consciousness realises that the cosmos is itself. This is the spirit of true spirituality.

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“Spirituality and Life” by Swami Krishnananda  http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/disc/disc_43.html

 inspiring messages from Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India

(March 14,2013) Spiritual culture by Swami Sivananda

Spiritual message for the day- From Sadhana Tattva or The Science of Seven Cultures for quick evolution of the Human being by Swami Sivananda

SPIRITUAL CULTURE

v  Go to bed early. Get up at four o'clock. Answer calls of nature, clean your mouth and take a bath.

v  Recite some prayers and Kirtan Dhvanis (devotional songs). Practice Pranayama (breathing exercises), Japa (repetition of the Divine Name of God) and meditation in the early morning. Sit on Padma, Siddha, or Sukha Asana throughout, without movement, by gradual practice. While you meditate, forget the outside world totally. Gradually increase the period of meditation. 

v  Perform the daily prayers of your religion. Do not fail to fulfil your obligatory duties.

v  Write your favourite Mantra or Name of God in a notebook for ten to thirty minutes, daily.

v  Sing the Names of God (Kirtan) and pray for half to one hour at night with family and friends.

v  Make annual resolves on the above lines. Regularity, tenacity and fixity are essential. Record your Sadhana in a spiritual diary daily. Review it every month and correct your failures.

Notes: (a) An ounce of practice is better than tons of theory. Practice Yoga, Religion and Philosophy in daily life and attain Self-realization.

(b)These (thirty-two) instructions give the essence of the Eternal Religion (Sanatana Dharma) in its purest form. They are suitable for modern busy householders with fixed hours of work. Modify them to suit your convenience and increase the period gradually.

(c) In the beginning take only a few practicable resolves which form a small but definite advance over your present habits and character. In case of ill-health, pressure of work or unavoidable engagements replace your active Sadhana (spiritual practice) by frequent remembrance of God.

Additional reading at Divine Life Society website

(March 13,2013)Consciousness by Swami Krishnananda

The Significance of the Heart in the Field of Spiritual Living by Swami Krishnananda

(Spoken during Sunday night satsang on January 24, 1982)

In this world, everything is conditioned by consciousness. If you are rich, it only means that you are conscious that you are rich. A richness minus consciousness of being rich is no richness. If you are rich and not conscious that you are rich, you cannot be called rich. If you are anything and you are not conscious that you are that thing, you are not that thing. If you have a lot of money with you but you are not conscious that you have money, you have no money. Everything is consciousness. If you subtract consciousness from anything, you will find it is a nihil, a zero. Thus, the very existence of things is consciousness.

Existence is the supreme value, and minus consciousness, existence is not. Therefore, consciousness, existence, is the supreme value. That is the heart of things. Here is the freedom of the individual, the freedom of all beings; and freedom is bliss.

Thus, existence and consciousness and freedom go together, and if freedom is bliss, sat-chit-ananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss is the heart of things. On this may we meditate.

For additional reading visit http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/

Divine Life Society, Rishikesh