(Dec 11,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Beauty of God and the Glory of Meditation

The Beauty of God and the Glory of Meditation

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 4- A Brief Outline of Sadhana by Swami Krishnananda

The apex of sadhana, is dhyana, or meditation. It is a penultimate stage of the eight limbs of yoga, culminating in divine absorption. Meditation is not the beginning; it is the end of the spiritual endeavor. Meditation is not a religious exercise but one step below divine communion.

The fullness of achievement that is expected in meditation is practicable only if there is a fullness of aspiration. The means evolves gradually to the end, and the end, the divine experience, determines the nature of the means.

The object of meditation is very aptly designated as ishta, or the most beloved. It is not just an object; it is a beloved deity for the purpose of concentration of the whole spirit within us. An ishtadevata is a permanently dear thing and is not anything that is available in the world. It is a form, a symbol, an item which is invested with the highest values of life. The divinity, the deity of our concentration, is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-pervading. It is most beautiful.

God is always depicted as a judiciary in the cosmic court, a terrorizing parent, a lawgiver and a lawmaker, but no one can think that God is beautiful because we have an inveterate habit of considering God as old. But God is beautiful. If He is not beautiful, the mind cannot be pulled towards Him.

The might, the glory of God, His happiness is described in the Vedas and the Upani­shads, not His beauty. A flood of bliss will inundate our person­ality if the vision of God becomes practical (Bri. U. 4.3.32).

As unseen things cannot be conceived in the mind, God’s beauty also cannot be conceived. Beauty is a conditioned complex arising in the mind under given circumstances in the process of evolution. It is only in the Srimad Bhagavata that we hear that God can be the highest beauty. Sākṣān manmatha-manmathah (Srimad Bhagavata 10.32.2) says Vyasa. But great effort is necessary to pursue it ourselves that God is beautiful, powerful, all-pervading, and immortal. This object that we choose for meditation should be invested with this power.

The usual practice in India of receiving a guest is to offer holy water to wash his feet, give him a beautiful seat so that he may be seated, wave a holy arati, give everything we would generally give to a king, and arrange for music and dance to celebrate the festival of a king’s coming to our house.

Each one should feel in the heart what our feeling would be if God comes and stands before us. These wondrous qualities of immortal inclusiveness and perfection should be invested upon the deity by mental invocation. Sometimes mantras are chanted. Place the power of God on that idol, and feel it is vibrating with the divinity.

The choice of the object of meditation, the ishtadevata, should be such that there should be no need felt to change the object. If we want to dig a well, we do not go on digging in a hundred places, little by little. We will not find water anywhere. We have to dig in one place only; then, we may find it. So allowing the mind to move from various conceptualized objectives will not bring anything worth the while. There should also be a certainty in the mind that this is going to bring the desired result.

Actually, the force that is invested in the object of meditation arises from one’s own self. It is the power of the mind that is working when such investiture is performed to the object of meditation. Our thought of divinity, our thought of inclusiveness, our thought of intense concentration and positivity charges itself upon the object, and it vibrates by the power of thinking.

The mind is all powerful. Incalculable is the speed and also the strength of the mind. A very intense assertion by the mind materializes itself according to the proportion of the mind’s strength. If the strength is a hundred percent, the objective should be realized in this life itself. If it is mild, it will be realized in the next birth.

Arjuna speaks to Bhagavan Sri Krishna in the sixth chapter of the Bhagavadgita, “All this is very difficult. The mind is fickle” (Gita 6.34). And Bhagavan replies, “It is true that the mind is uncontrollable, but repeated practice will bring it under control” (Gita 6.35). Even if there is no expected achievement in this life, there should not be any disappointment. The practice of this birth will be carried forward to the next birth. Automatically, the reborn individual will be prompted along the lines of the same practice which was done earlier in the previous life. Though no one remembers their previous life, a spontaneous impulsion will be there, right from the beginning of one’s life, towards this practice (Gita 6.44).

The impediments caused by rajasic and tamasic prarabdhas will be transferred to another condition of sattvic motivation by the power of the mind. There is also compassion and goodness in the world, along with law and order. Any good intention is rewarded because the heart has greater force and power than mere intellectual motivation. It is possible that in one birth itself the realization may take place.

With this conviction, one may be seated in meditation. Finally, we are our own guide in the advanced stages of meditation. Tīvra saṁvegānām āsannaḥ (Y.S. 1.21): The achievement is very near to those whose ardor of longing is sufficiently intense.

“I want it, and I must get it.” This is the highest qualification required of a spiritual seeker. Every other requirement is subordinate to this great ardor called mumukshutva.

The mind is fickle; this is well known. When it concentrates itself on the chosen ideal, it is very eager to exclude certain other thoughts, not knowing that the thought of excluding another thought also is a thought itself. So two thoughts are operating, even at the time when one is imagining that there is only one thought.  We have to bring all the thoughts into the focus of the attention of a single thought. Then, the thought becomes what we call cosmic thought. That thought which is cosmic in its nature is called brahmakara vritti. All other thoughts in our mind are object-motivated thinking, call the vishayakara vritti. When the universe becomes the object of meditation, the thought assumes a vritti called brahmakara vritti, the total vritti of everything. A single thought is a binding vritti, and all the thoughts joining together, like an army marching as a single force, as it were, in a given direction, is brahmakara vritti. The whole world cooperates at that time.

Service does not mean running about here and there. A total being of our mind – that is the greatest service. Contemplation is action when it reaches the highest stage. Those who are engaged in this kind of total concentration of mind touch the corners of creation and have done the greatest service to humanity, much more than all the social workers can imagine anywhere in human history. Hands and feet do not do any service; it is the mind that does the service. A powerful blessing that emanates from our mind is a redeeming service, more capable in its potency than what we can give in the form of service through hands and feet.

Nothing equals meditation. The whole world of humanity is served at one stroke in a moment by this non-active activity of the cosmic endeavor of the spiritual seeker. Words fail here. It is non-active adventure, but it is all activity blended together into a total focus of concentration.

These are some of the preliminaries in meditation. Glory, Wonder, Treasure, magnificence and blissful experience are the words we can use to designate meditation. The world wants us more than we want the world, because that is the cause and we are the effect. The effect pulls itself towards the cause, and the cause exerts its influence on the effect.

These words that I have spoken themselves constitute a kind of meditation because if you have listened to me properly you would be in a state of great attention, bereft of any kind of distractive thoughts in your mind, and you will be enthused inordinately to take upon yourself this divine task of achieving divine perfection, which is the highest goal of life.

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The Beauty of God and the Glory of Meditation –Chapter 4 A Brief Outline of Sadhana by Swami Krishnananda
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(Nov 30,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Dhyana (Concentration) by Swami Krishnananda

Dhyana (Concentration)

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 3 The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

Dhyana, concentration, is beyond even ordinary memory. It is a superior faculty. The more you are able to concentrate your attention, rather to meditate in the proper sense of the term, to that extent you become superior to others. Concentration is fixity of mind. Wherever we find stability of any kind, fixity of any kind, we will discover the presence of concentration. Here, the passage of the Upanishad goes on to say that the earth contemplates, as it were, on account of its stability and fixity of character. We do not see any kind of chaotic activity in nature. There is a stability maintained by the various things of nature.

The heaven and the earth themselves are contemplating or meditating, as it were, in a fixed form without creating any kind of confusion between themselves. We see the earth and the heaven and the waters, even the oceans, the sun and the moon, the stars, all maintain their position due to a concentratedness of their purpose inherent in their very nature brought into action by forces, of course, which are superior, to be mentioned further on. Whoever has attained any kind of greatness in life has achieved it only through the power of concentration. Whether he is a god or a human being, success is due to the power of concentration of the mind, inherent applicability of the mind. The application of thought in a particular direction is the cause of success. The tenacity of the mind in a given direction and a persistent effort in that direction alone, without deviating the mind from the given thought, is concentration. The whole-souled absorption of thought on a particular object, to the exclusion of any other thought, is concentration. This is dhyana.

It is by this action of the mind that people have attained greatness in this world, not by distracted thinking. If we start thinking of a hundred things, we will achieve nothing. We should apply ourselves to one thing only at a time, apply our soul and heart to it and then we see that we succeed. This is the importance of the power of concentration. Those who lack the power of concentration and application of thought are the quarrelsome people of this world. They are the disturbers of society. They are the people who carry tales. They are the dregs of human society. Not so are those who have power of concentration of the mind. They apply wholly to their purpose to such an extent that they have no time at all to engage themselves in useless activity. Those who have the capacity to concentrate, they are the great ones. Therefore, one should always apply oneself to concentration and meditation.

It is difficult to explain the grand nature of the result that will follow by the practice of concentration. As a matter of fact, Yoga practice is nothing but concentration in various degrees of its manifestation. And as the Upanishad has beautifully put it, nothing in life has any sense or meaning when concentration is absent. One becomes free, liberated from bondage, and succeeds in life to the extent of success one has in the practice of concentration of mind.

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Dhyana (Concentration) – Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
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(July 12,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – The Realization of the Absolute

The Realization of the Absolute

Divine Life Society Publication: A Treatise on the Vedanta Philosophy and Its Methodology by Swami Krishnananda

Conclusion

 

A study of the Ultimate Reality of things reveals to us that their truth being one, their forms must be false. That which is one can appear as two or many only through imagination. Both the individual that perceives and the world that is perceived can only be projections of a powerful Universal Thought, while, in truth, there is only the undifferentiated Pure Being. The main points discussed in these pages, are: (1) Brahman or the Absolute is the only Reality. (2) It is Undifferentiated, Non-Relational, Supra-Mental, Transcendental, Consciousness, without the distinctions of knower, knowledge and known. (3) It is immaterial, so far as practical empirical life is concerned, whether Brahman is Impersonal or Personal, Nirguna or Saguna, so long as there is nothing second to Brahman, so long as there is no objective reality and no externalized knowing. In the process of philosophical meditation, however, the Absolute is envisaged in its pure perfection, free from superimposed attributes, as an ‘other’ of every form of thought, as the supra-cosmic, eternal consciousness. (4) The universe is an appearance of the Absolute, and, being of a presented or objective character, it is relative, transitory, unintelligible, and a perversion of Reality. (5) There is, in fact, neither the individual nor the cosmos, neither the subject nor the object because these are merely experiential standpoints of viewing the one undivided existence. (6) If God is taken to mean something different from the universe and its contents, that is, if God is a subject or an object of something—then, such a God would be as transitory as any mortal being. (7) The only purpose of the life of every individual is the realization of the Absolute. (8) Knowledge and meditation are the two main ways to attain Perfection. Knowledge is jnana or anubhava of the Nirguna Brahman, and meditation is dhyana or upasana on Saguna Brahman.

The whole theme of the Upanishads is centred in two fundamental conceptions of Reality—Brahman and Atman. Both words are often used to mean the same thing. “This Atman is Brahman” (Mand. Up., 2.). The further implications of this statement are the different theories of spiritual philosophy. The philosophy of the main declarations of the Upanishads, however, consists essentially of the eight conclusions drawn above. This is the Ultimate Truth, transcending empiricality, extending beyond the egoism of human nature. The whole process of the realization of Truth is, therefore, a sacrifice of the ego, and is a great pain. Suffering in the process of the experiencing of Infinitude cannot be abolished for the individual so long as the individual itself is inconsistent with the Infinite. Hence, the attempt towards the attainment of the perfectly Real is generally looked upon with a sense of fear, disgust and even hatred.

The human being is always attached to the immediate concerns of life. He has no eye to look to the beyond. He is grieved about the past, doubtful about the future and worried about the present. He is ever diseased in his spirit due to his violation of the eternal law. He is caught in the whirl of ignorance, passion and sin, and is constantly dashed by the huge waves of uncontrollable sorrow. Every moment he finds himself in a fix. He ceaselessly dies to himself in time, and seems to recover new sense just then and there. His whole life is a flux of states—now destroyed, now renewed. He has no idea of anything besides himself, anything that is vaster and truer. He is imprisoned within his fragile body, within his whimsical mind, within his childish intellect, within his conceited individuality. A shower of superphysical knowledge upon him seems to be music played before the deaf. He thinks too highly about himself.

The Upanishads are not unaware of the futile attempts of man to grasp the Limitless Being, and they warn him that it is not to be comprehended through logic, but to be heard from the wise one (Katha Up., II. 8, 9). Reason is meant to strengthen belief in what is heard from reliable sources, and not to walk unaided. It is an empty pride to think that one can depend totally on oneself and reach the Eternal. Reason and faith should go hand in hand if the desired fruit is to be reaped. That which is agreeable at present does not remain so the next moment, nor does the disagreeable appear so forever. The immutable Reality is unperceived and unfelt, and the apparition seems to give us life, light and joy. The sole purpose of the Upanishad teaching is to disentangle man from the chain of samsara, to show him the way to the Glorious Light that shines within himself. Man is not a sinful mortal creature in truth; the Upanishad calls him “son of the Immortal”— amritasya putra (Svet. Up., II. 5). But he can know himself only through sacrificing himself. The highest sacrifice is the offering of the self to the Absolute. The greatest yoga is the sinking of the self into unity with the Absolute, by denying the separate, and asserting the One.

Such an act which refuses to feed the individual self-sense with its diverse requirements, compels the relative self-interest to dissolve itself in the Absolute-Interest, which soars high above the limitations of Space and Time, and engages itself in its establishment in the perfect satisfaction and uncontradicted experience of completeness and utter Reality. The awareness of the state of the Pure Self unimpeded by phenomenal laws or separative restrictions, and the infinite rejoicing in the free flow of the law of the Spirit, is the life of the exalted Self-realized one. He exists as the Divine Being, which is the supreme condition of the fullest freedom of Eternity. Without such a knowledge of the fundamental nature of existence, life becomes intense with conflict and war between the opposing forces. It is impossible for the individual to blossom into Infinity in the midst of such a heated strife among disturbant powers of Nature, without reconciling and pacifying them in a more expansive consciousness and a higher order of reality where they disclose their inner truths and melt into the bosom of Being with a fraternal embrace. The difficulties in coming to any settled opinion of things as they are the miseries of everyday experience, the quandaries in determining the essential truth and falsehood of life, the concomitant selfish desires, the failures, the kicks, the blows, the burning anxieties, the vain beliefs, the mocking expectations and hopes that confront the human being in his struggle for existence, give him opportunities to discriminate the Eternal, and direct him on the way that leads to the realization of the Absolute.

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A Treatise on the Vedanta Philosophy and Its Methodology by Swami Krishnananda

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(July 8,2013) Guide to Samadhi by Swami Sivananda

Guide to Samadhi

Divine Life Society Publication: Raja Yoga by Swami Sivananda

CHARACTERISTICS OF SAMADHI

When the mind is completely absorbed in one object of meditation, it is termed Samadhi. The mind identifies itself with the object of meditation. In Samadhi, there is neither Dhyana nor Dhyata (neither meditation nor meditator). The meditator and meditated, the thinker and the thought, the worshipper and the worshipped become one or identical. The Triputi (triad) vanishes. The mind loses its own consciousness and becomes identical with the object of meditation. The meditator has dissolved his personality in the sea of God, drowned and forgotten there till he becomes simply the instrument of God. When his mouth opens, it speaks God's words without effort or forethought through direct intuition and, when he raises his hand, God flows again through that to work a miracle.

In Samadhi, there is neither seeing nor hearing. There is neither physical nor mental consciousness. There is only spiritual consciousness. There is only Existence (Sat). That is your real Svarupa. When the water dries up in a pool, the reflection of the sun in the water also vanishes. When the mind melts in Brahman, when the mind-lake dries up, the reflected Chaitanya (Chidabhasa) also vanishes. The Jivatman (personality) goes away. There remains Existence alone.

Turiya is the spiritual condition where there is no play of mind, where the mind is dissolved in Brahman. It is the "fourth dimension," where there is infinite Brahmic bliss. It is not a condition of inertia, forgetfulness or annihilation. It is a state of absolute consciousness which baffles all attempts at description. It is the final goal of all. It is Mukti. It is Moksha.

Generally, when you have what you call dreamless sleep, it is one of two things; either you do not remember what you dreamt of or you fell into absolute unconsciousness which is almost death-a taste of death. But, there is the possibility of a sleep in which you enter into an absolute silence, immortality and peace in all parts of your being and your consciousness merges into Satchidananda. You can hardly call it sleep, for there is perfect "awareness." In that condition, you can remain for a few minutes or hours or days; but, these few minutes give you more rest and refreshment than hours of ordinary sleep. You cannot have it by chance. It requires a long training.

Samadhi is not a stone-like inert state as many people imagine. A life in the spirit (Atman or Divine) is not annihilation. When the self is bound down to its empirical accidents, its activities are not fully exercised and, when the limitations of the empirical existence are transcended, the universal life is intensified and you have enrichment of Self. You will have a rich inner life. You will have an expanded cosmic life and supra-cosmic life, too.

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SAMADHI

A Raja Yogi gets Nirodha-Samadhi through Chitta-Vritti-Nirodha (by restraining the mental modifications). A Bhakta gets Bhava-Samadhi through Prema of the Lord. A Vedanti gets Bheda-Samadhi through Mithyatva-Buddhi and concentration on the idea of the Asti-Bhati-Priya (the Anvaya method).

It is only the Raja Yogi who attempts the annihilation of the Vrittis, the Nirodha Samadhi ("Yogaschittavrittinirodhah" -Patanjali Yoga Sutras, I-2). A Vedanti has always Atma-Bhava, Brahma-Bhava whenever he comes across objects. So he does not try to annihilate the Vrittis. There is no Pratyahara for him. There is no Bahirmukha Vritti for him. He rejects Nama-Rupa and takes Asti-Bhati-Priya (Bheda-Samadhi). A Bhakta sees Narayana or Krishna in all objects. He also does not check the Vrittis. He, like the Vedanti, changes his mental attitude. It is the mind that creates all the differences and separateness. The world is all Ananda, only if you change your angle of vision, your mental attitude. You will find heaven on earth.

YOGIC SAMADHI AND VEDANTIC SAMADHI

There is a difference between the Nirvikalpa state of a Yogi and the Nirvikalpa state of a Vedantin. The former concerns the mind. The latter concerns the pure Atman or Brahman only. In Yogic Samadhi, Dhyeya remains. Dhyeya means the object of meditation. In Vedantic Samadhi, Kevala Asti (Existence alone) remains.

SAVIKALPA SAMADHI AND NIRVIKALPA SAMADHI

The ground floor represents the life of passion in the sense-universe. The first storey corresponds to Savikalpa Samadhi. The second storey is tantamount to Nirvikalpa Samadhi. The third storey represents the Sahajavastha or a Jivanmukta. The moving of a bullock cart can be compared to Savikalpa Samadhi. It stops. This is Nirvikalpa Samadhi. The bulls are detached. This is Sahajavastha. When the Yogi has reached the last perfect stage of meditation and Samadhi, the fire whereof burns surely all the residue of his actions, he at once gets Liberation (Jivanmukti) in this very life.

In Savikalpa Samadhi, there is Triputi or the triad- Dhyata (the meditator), Dhyana (meditation) and Dhyeya (object of meditation). In Nirvikalpa Samadhi, this Triputi vanishes (Triputirahita). Nirvikalpa means "free from all sorts of modifications and imaginations." The mind completely melts in Brahman. The happiness or bliss that you get in Savikalpa Samadhi is termed Rasasvada. This is also an obstacle (Pratibandha or Vighna) for further spiritual progress. It makes you stop here. It cannot liberate you. You must further march onwards to attain the highest Nirvikalpa state wherein lies your whole freedom.

CONTEMPLATION-FILLING-IDENTIFICATION

Mark the three processes that take place in the mind during meditation. These are: CONTEMPLATION, FILLING, IDENTIFICATION. This is another triplet. Remember these three word-images. Repeat them mentally while doing Sadhana. It will help you a lot really.

Contemplate on Atman. Fill the mind with Atman. Then the mind becomes identified with Brahman in accordance with what is known as the Bhramarakitanyaya (analogy of wasp and caterpillar). As you think, so you become. Think you are Brahman; Brahman you will become.

When the mind is withdrawn from the objects and deep reflection sets in, the objective consciousness is shut up; Savitarka Samadhi commences. Ratiocination, analysis and synthesis (a priori and a posteriori ways of reasoning), investigation and abstract reasoning take place. This is Samadhi with reasoning. Evil thoughts cannot enter now. The mind is Sattvic.

Deep study of philosophical works with Chitta Suddhi is itself a form of Samadhi. The mind here is free from worldly thoughts.

When your meditation becomes deep, you generally operate through the subtle Karana Sarira only. The Karana-Sarira consciousness becomes your normal consciousness. Yogis have a normal Karana-Sarira consciousness.

HOW TO ATTAIN SAMADHI THROUGH VEDANTA

Purify the mind by Japa, Pranayama, Satsanga, Svadhyaya, Dana, Yajna, Tapas and selfless service. Then fix it on God. Destroy Sankalpa-Vikalpa of the mind. Unite the currents of the mind with the spiritual current. Abandon the idea or notion of "I," "he," "thou," Ghata (pot), Pata (cloth), i.e., Nana-Bhava, Dvaita-Bhava. Have Brahma-Bhavana instead. Then Samadhi or superconscious state will supervene automatically.

There are four ways of destroying the ego or Ahankara, viz., two Advaitic methods (positive and negative), one Bhaktas' method of ungrudging, unreserved, absolute self-surrender (Atmanivedana) and the fourth, complete self-sacrifice of Nishkama Karma Yogis.

The negative Vedantic method is denial: "I am not the body, I am not the mind." "Brahma satyam jaganmithya jivo brahmaiva na-aparah:-Brahman alone is real. The world is unreal. Jiva is identical with Brahman." World includes the body. Meditate on this idea. Aham will vanish. The positive method is that everything is Self only: "Sarvam khalvidam brahma-All is Brahman. There is nothing but Brahman."

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Raja Yoga- Guide to Samadhi by Swami Sivananda

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June 29,2013 Meditation: A discipline of Self-Integration by Swami Krishnananda

Meditation – A Discipline of Self-Integration

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 7: The Teachings of the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda

The discipline of yoga culminates in meditation, dhyana, which is the subject of the sixth chapter of the Bhagavadgita. The art of yoga is principally the process of self-integration by degrees through the levels of the constitution of one's personality, such that when we reach the point of meditation proper there is a total concentration of the whole of one's being in the direction of the whole of that which one aspires for through this discipline we call 'yoga'. Last time we noted that essentially this is a technique of communing the lower self with the higher self.

The process of meditation is not a struggle in the sense of a fighting with nature, or with what we call the odds of life; it is an establishment of a harmony rather than a conflict, with the powers that be in which we are engaging ourselves. There are stages by which the senses and the mind have to be weaned from the points of distraction, and the highest method should not be applied when one is in the lower stage of evolution.

According to great teachers of yoga such as Patanjali, for instance, true meditation begins only when we contact reality, at least in one of its degrees. At present, we are out of touch with reality. That explains our misery in life, our sorrows, and our difficulties even in understanding what the world is made of. We live in the world of pure sensory operations or are cut off totally from the contact with reality due to our involvement in the externalising feature called space-time.

Thus, when we are seated for the purpose of this great objective of human life – encounter with Reality – in the earlier stages we guard ourselves, as we put up a fence around our field when we want to grow a harvest, or tend a garden, or grow fruits or vegetables, a fencing, a protection is necessary. We put up a protective fencing around ourselves by means of a dual action on our part – namely, the withdrawal of consciousness from sensory contact with distracting objects, and, at the same time, a focusing of this enriched consciousness upon the chosen ideal of meditation, which perhaps is the essence of vairagya and abhyasa.

 

In the process of pratyahara, the earlier or earliest stage of meditation, there is a need, first of all, to be conscious of what things there are which will distract your attention. What are your loves and hatreds? What are your inner tensions or frustrations, longings? They have to be dealt with very carefully. You have to know your strengths and you have to know your weaknesses also. Generally your weaknesses are your desires which, somehow or other, seek fulfillment by any means, fair and foul. You should be a physician of your own soul, a judge of your own self.  Meditation is a healing process that you are trying to undergo inwardly for your own ultimate blessedness, so you are concerned here with yourself and not with anything else.

Pratyahara means – the coming together of the energy of the senses with the concentrating activity of the mind. When the senses unite with the mind, you have achieved the process of total withdrawal, pratyahara, and the mind gets concentrated.

Place, time and method – these are the three techniques of concentration. The place of meditation therefore should be, as far as possible, free from nearness to those objects, persons, and circumstances which may draw your attention, either by like or dislike. A suitable time also is necessary.  The mind should be amenable to this task of concentration of consciousness. It should not be repellent – it should not be revolting for any reason. These distractions have to be dealt with in their own way – and as long as they are not fulfilled or handled in an intelligent way, your concentration of mind, spiritually, will not be a success.

The time that you choose for meditation should, therefore, be conducive as the place is. The method of meditation is perhaps more important. You have to be first of all in harmonious condition with your atmosphere, with society, with your daily routine etc., outwardly, and also in a harmony with your body and your personality. So, here comes the necessity for a spiritual initiation by a competent Guru.

The asana should be a seated, consistent posture. And then the breathing process gradually, together with the systematic, harmonious, calm process of chanting of OM, pranava will create within yourself a vibration.  This chanting of OM may done every day, for fifteen minutes, before your concentration on the object of your meditation.

Now, for the purpose of your spiritual meditation, the object - the God of your meditation is 'that something' which is the whole reality for you. So, the object of your meditation should have a double characteristic. One: outside which nothing can be, nothing has to be – it is the only thing before you. Secondly: it is the object of your emotional satisfaction. Remember: “ God is something outside which nothing exists.”

The art of meditation is the final touch you give to the whole process of spiritual practice. Spirituality is a positive art – it is not a runaway attitude of consciousness. In spiritual meditation, you are not moving away from the problems of life, you are not shirking your duties, but communing yourself with the substance and the very causative factor of every problem in life, and handling these forces as a master rather than as a slave who runs away from difficulties. A spiritual seeker is not a coward – he is a scientist in the highest sense of the term who tries to understand and control the forces of nature, rather than a person who would like to be ignorant of their existence and close their eyes to them, like an ostrich. Thus the art of spiritual living, which culminates itself in meditation, is the highest positivity of approach to Reality by a human being who is fully integrated for this purpose in a most healthy manner.

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Meditation – A Discipline of Self-Integration by Swami Krishnananda

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(April 16,2013) Be in a State of Sahaja Samadhi

Be in a State of Sahaja Samadhi

From Divine Life Society Publication “The Process of Yoga” by Swami Krishnananda

Most of our experiences are emotional. We feel exhilarated on the possession of objects and depressed at the loss of them. Yoga psychology deals effectively with these two aspects of human experience – emotion and pure psychological observations of objects through - vairagya and abhyasa.

Vairagya is the emotional detachment of the personality from objects. Raga and dvesha, affection and the opposite of it, are inseparable from our emotional relationship with objects. When we are possessed of emotion, we lose control over ourselves and also lose control over the principles of ethics, morality, and understanding.

The spiritual path is a path of hardship, in the sense that, it is one of discipline(self-control), because it is a voluntary submission of oneself to the demands of the soul, which aspires to be absolutely independent, rather than the desires of the mind, which is always connected with the objects of sense.

Samsara is a mental phenomenon, not a physical connection. Birth and death are experiences of the mind, not of the body; therefore, the liberation that is achieved is also a mental phenomenon, not a physical phenomenon. The body is not connected with your pleasures and pains. It is the mind that enjoys and suffers, so what the mind does is more important.

The first method that you can adopt when the mind thinks of an object of pleasure is to think of the opposite. Pratipaksha­bhavana is the method of substitution, of replacing one emotion with another emotion, the vicious one with the virtuous one, the lower with the higher. Raga ceases by the thought of masters like Hanuman and Bhishma, and dvesha ceases by thinking of masters like Buddha.

The other method which you can adopt is to think of the consequences of the control of the senses. Behind the individual subject there is the universal subject, which pulsates through every mental activity of the individual subject. The wave on the surface of the ocean may be regarded as an individual subject, but behind it and at the bottom of it is the universal subject which is the ocean. Control of the senses is nothing but making the wave subside into the ocean.

Do not try to run after the objects of the world and try to please people in the world. So do not be under the impression that when you are virakta or when you practise vairagya, self-discipline – when you detach yourself from objects of pleasure – you are going to be a loser. You are going to be an immense gainer by spiritual practice.

The third method is the entire sublimation by direct meditation, which is abhyasa.. The sublimation of all emotions and mental activities of every kind is the direct practice of yoga. While the first stage is the control of emotions, the second stage is an attempt at the cessation of every mental activity, even the direct impersonal perception of things. You will not even be conscious of the existence of objects, let alone be attached or averse to them. Abhyasa, which is meditation on reality, is the outcome of vairagya.

The practice of yoga is meditation. In meditation, the mind fixes upon a given concept or an object, by which it is automatically abstracted by way of pratyahara from objects of sense. Pratyahara, dharana and dhyana go together as a concentrated focus of mental activity. Meditation is not merely thinking. You contemplate the whole world through that object. A flag represents the nationality to which we belong, though the flag itself is not nationality. Likewise, the image or the symbol that you use in meditation is not a selected isolated object but a representation of the entire cosmos.

Savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, nirvichara, sananda, sasmita, etc., are called samadhis, or stages of meditation by which the mind ascends into the higher ladders of objectivity from a single given concept or a form or an image to a wider expression of it, until you reach the whole cosmos of the five elements and their subtle background in the form of the tanmatras, and go still higher into the mahatattva; and finally, Isvaratattva itself becomes the object of your meditation.

The object of your meditation is to rise from the world of phenomena to the world of noumena or reality. Cut short all unnecessary activities. Your daily program should consist only of those items which are absolutely essential for the maintenance of your life socially and spiritually. By awakening ourselves into the realities of a higher life, we tread the path of spirituality and become blessed even in this very life.

In conclusion, may I request you all to contemplate a little more profoundly than you have been doing, up to this time? Be a disciplined person, be a good person, be a spiritual person, be an aspirant of the Reality rather than the phenomena which pass before the eyes. Have the yogic experience of eternity and infinity blending together and be in a state of sahaja samadhi, seeing the Truth everywhere, Reality everywhere. This is spirituality. This is yoga. God bless you.

(March 31,2013) Ashtanga Yoga by Swami Sivananda

Ashtanga Yoga by Swami Sivananda

From Divine Life Society Publication “Yoga in Daily Life” by Swami Sivananda

Patanjali's Raja Yoga is generally termed the Ashtanga Yoga or the Yoga of Eight Limbs, through the practice of which freedom is achieved. These eight limbs are:

1. Yama or Eternal Vows:
• Ahimsa (non-violence)
• Satya (truth)
• Asteya (non-stealing)
• Brahmacharya (continence) and
• Aparigraha (non-avariciousness);
2. Niyama or Observances:
• Saucha (purity)
• Santosha (contentment)
• Tapas (austerities)
• Svadhyaya (study) and
• Ishvarapranidhana (surrender to God);
3. Asana (firm, comfortable meditative posture);
4. Pranayama (the regulation of the Vital Force);
5. Pratyahara (abstraction of the senses and mind from objects);
6. Dharana (concentration);
7. Dhyana (meditation); and
8. Samadhi (superconscious state or trance)

These eight limbs have been scientifically arranged and dealt with. They are the natural steps in the ladder which takes man from his human to the real divine nature. From the gross to the subtle, all the chords that bind the Purusha to Prakriti are cut asunder. This snapping of the ties releases the Purusha to enjoy his Independence, Kaivalya Moksha. This is the goal of Raja Yoga.

Yama and Niyama purify the individual's actions and make them more Sattvic. Tamas and Rajas which are the pillars of Samsara are pulled down through the practice of the Ten Canons of Yama and Niyama. Inner purity is increased. The individual's nature itself is made Sattvic. Asana gives the individual control over the Rajasic impulses; and at the same time it forms the foundation of the grand structure of Antaranga Sadhana, or the Inner Yoga-process. Pranayama brings the aspirant face to face with the Life-Principle. Control of this Life-Principle gives him an insight into its motive force. He is made aware of the fact that it is desire that sustains the life-force. Desire is the cause of externalization of the mind. Desire is the bed of Vrittis. Vrittis together form the mind, and it is the mind that links Purusha with Prakriti. The mind or the Chitta is the subtlest form of Prakriti's manifestations.

If mind is to be destroyed, Vrittis are to be eradicated. If Vrittis are to be eradicated, desire is to be rooted out. The Yogi than rapidly withdraws all the rays of the mind from their external propulsion (Pratyahara). To find the root of the mind, the Seed-Desire, he needs the light of the whole mind. At the same time, prevention of the externalization of the mind breaks the vicious circle, as desire is deprived of its active manifestation. This concentrated beam of light is then directed towards the root of the mind itself (Dharana); and the mind is held in check. Now the consciousness which had so long been flowing outward collects itself and flows back into its source - the Purusha within, which is Dhyana. The link with Prakriti is gone. The Purusha experiences the transcendental state of independence - Kaivalya - in Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Now ignorance is destroyed. The Purusha realizes that it was only His consciousness that gave Prakriti its power to please Him, to give Him joy, to delude Him, and to bind Him. He enjoys the bliss of His own nature and remains for ever independent and blissful. All thought ceases once for all in Nirvikalpa Samadhi. The seeds of Desire and Vasanas and Samskaras are fried in toto; this is Nirbija Samadhi. The Yogi in this supreme state loses all external consciousness, all awareness of duality and multiplicity; he loses even the I-idea (Asmita) in Asamprajnata Samadhi. That is the Supreme State where the Seer (Purusha) is established in His own Svarupa.
Do not imagine that you are an Uttama Adhikari and that you have only to sit in meditation and enter into Samadhi. You will have a terrible downfall. Even after years of practice you will find you have not progressed an inch forward, because there are deep within you lurking desires and cravings, evil Vrittis which are far beyond your reach. Be humble. Make a searching analysis of your heart and mind. Even if you are really a first-class aspirant, think you are an aspirant of the lowest class and practice the eightfold Sadhana prescribed by Raja Yoga. The more time you spend in the first two steps, viz., Yama and Niyama, the less will be the time needed to attain perfection in meditation. It is the preparation that takes very long. But do not wait for perfection in Yama and Niyama, in order to take up the higher practices of Asana, Pranayama and meditation. Try to get established in Yama and Niyama, and at the same time practice Asana, Pranayama and meditation as much as you can. The two must go hand in hand. Then success will be rapid. You will soon enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi and attain Kaivalya Moksha. What that supreme state is no one has described, and no words can describe. Practice, O bold aspirant, and realize it for yourself. May you shine as a Yogi in this very birth!

Continue to read:

Yoga in Daily life by Swami Sivananda

Sadhana Tattva or the Science of Seven Cultures by Swami Sivananda

Raja Yoga by Swami Sivananda

(March 30,2013) Course of Sadhana by Swami Sivananda

Course of Sadhana by Swami Sivananda

From Divine Life Society Publication “Yoga in Daily Life” by Swami Sivananda

1. BRAHMA MUHURTA - Get up at 4 a.m. Answer calls of nature. Clean your teeth and wash your mouth. Take bath where possible. Arrange to sit for Dhyana as quickly as possible, for Brahma Muhurta is extremely favourable for meditation on God.

2. ASANA - Practise to sit in one Asana only, preferably Padmasana or any convenient pose in which you will be able to sit for long hours without physical strain. Sit erect with body, head and neck in a straight line. Sit for at least one hour from 5 to 6 a.m. at a stretch without any physical movement.

3. PRAYER - Offer mental prostrations to Acharyas, your own Guru and Ishta Devata. Pray that all beings be happy, peaceful and blissful. Recite a few prayer Slokas that will produce sublime thoughts. Pray for knowledge and devotion only.

4. JAPA - Do Japa of Ishta Mantra mentally from 5 to 10 Malas (of 108 beads) daily.

5. DHYANA - Before going to actual meditation, practise simple Pranayama for two minutes. Feel the indwelling presence of the Lord and his form in you. Think of the attributes of the Lord, such as purity, love, perfection, all-pervading intelligence, bliss-absolute, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience of Him in and around you. Meditate now on the form of Ishta Devata. When the mind runs away from the object of meditation, repeat Ishta Mantra. This will steady the mind. Have another sitting for meditation at night. Do not neglect meditation as it is most important. Regularity in the practice of meditation is divinising of oneself for God-realisation.

6. SVADHYAYA - Read one chapter or ten verses of the Bhagavad Gita with meaning and any holy text which will increase your psychic and spiritual culture, daily.

7. PHYSICAL EXERCISE - Practise Asanas, Surya Namaskara or any useful exercise for physical movement of the body in any form best suited to you.

8. FOOD - Take light simple food. Have a balanced diet. Fast on Ekadasi days or take milk and fruits or root only. Offer to God every food you take.

9. SEVA - Do some selfless service for one hour daily or for one or more hours on Sundays and holidays.

10. ENERGY - Practise abstinence from speech and also be free from worldly thoughts for two hours daily and four to eight hours on Sundays and holidays. Observe celibacy according to your age and circumstances. Restrict the indulgence to once a month. Decrease it gradually to once a year. Finally take a vow of abstinence for whole life.

11. SLEEP - Go to bed early or not later than 10 p.m. A rest for more than six hours is not necessary.

12. SPIRITUAL DIARY - Maintain a regular diary from the day you begin Sadhana. Stick to your daily routine at any cost, never say tomorrow, for that tomorrow never comes. In your practice of Sadhana in seclusion, the spiritual diary maintained, takes the place of an absentee Guru, for, it reminds you to be regular in your daily habits and spiritual practices.

Continue to read:

Yoga in Daily life by Swami Sivananda

Gayathri Japa by Swami Sivananda

Guide to Sadhakas by Swami Sivananda