Silence

 

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Silence

The Divine dwells within our space of stillness. Silence contains all of the answers to our search for Truth, because in the presence of silence all questions, as well as the questioner, disappear. The Truth is already within ourselves, it is already ours and has always been ours. It lies within us, waiting to be discovered, we simply need to stop both chasing the truth or running away from it. Silence is the contemplation of our inner Truth.

When we interrupt the flow of our thoughts and break free from our inner noise, we enter our sacred inner space of silence. We begin by visiting our inner temple whenever we feel the desire to be there until it becomes our natural dwelling place.

Silence is beautiful only if it is rooted in awareness; if it is not rooted in awareness, then it is utterly empty. With awareness silence has a depth, a plenitude, a fulfillment, a contentment, an overflowing joy. With awareness silence blooms, releases great fragrance; without awareness the silence is utterly empty and dark, dismal, sad.

Silence can be either of the cemetery or of a sunrise. Silence can be of a bird on the wing, or it can be that of a corpse. Both are silences, but diametrically opposite. The silence of a corpse has to be avoided; the silence of a flower has to be imbibed. The silence of the flower will make you a flower, the silence of the corpse will make you a corpse. Both look the same from the outside. Don’t be deceived by appearances — always look for the essential, for the very core.

Two things can appear similar from the outside and may be just the opposite of each other. The seeker has to be very cautious, very conscious on each step; because the false is easy to attain. It is very easy to become dead, and very difficult to be overflowing with life.

Just by being silent nothing changes; one remains the same. Transformation comes through awareness. Awareness brings a silence of its own, very alive, throbbing with eternity, full of a song. It is not sad and not serious because it is not dead, it has a dance to it. It is tremendously beautiful, it is positive, existential. It does not make one just a hollow thing. It fills one to the extent that one starts overflowing with joy. One becomes so fulfilled that one cannot contain one’s contentment within oneself, it has to be shared. 

Very rare persons come to know the difference between the real silence and the unreal silence. In real silence one is in touch with one’s being, one’s very existence. The silence is profound and deafening – it is truly the golden silence. It has to be experienced to be believed. Pray that all of us find our real silence!

The World is a Stage

 

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The World is a Stage

Shakespeare in his play ‘As You Like It’ had said – ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’. If you have gone through the play, you will know that Shakespeare is talking about the seven roles a person plays from infancy to old age, defining each role in poetic verse in his inimitable style.

If you look closely at what Shakespeare is trying to say you will understand that man shifts through various roles and wears different masks from childhood to old age. Actors too play different roles during the course of their career and some of them go so deep into the role that they actually become the person whose role they are playing. Thus, for actors’ spirituality comes easily. Role play is something they keep doing all the time and then they have to come home to be themselves.

In one’s childhood one passes through a stage of being a child, but you were not identified with it. If you were actually the childhood itself there would be no room for the next stage of being a youth. The child could then not become a youth and would remain just a child. But you were not the child and you passed on to the stage of being a youth. This is again another stage; you are not one with it. If you are one with it you cannot grow old. You will pass through it also - it is a phase.

The first three stages are just like the waking state of the mind, the surface of your personality – just a fragment, the part where waves exist. As you grow up and enter the fourth and fifth stages, you find that these are deeper than the surface. They are like the dream state of the mind, where for the first time you are no longer in contact with the outer world. The outer world has ceased to be, you live only in your dreams. You enter subjectivity – the objective has disappeared but the subject remains.

The sixth stage is still deeper, just like the dreamless sleep – the third state of mind – where even dreams cease to be. Where objects have disappeared, now subjects too, disappear. The world is no more, even the reflections of the world in the mind have ceased to be. You are now fast asleep with no disturbance, not even a ripple. These are three stages of the mind and the spiritual seeker has to pass through parallel stages on the spiritual path also.

The seventh is like the fourth. The Upanishads have not given it any name, because no name can be given to it. The first is waking, the second is dreaming, the third sleep – but the fourth has been simply left as the fourth, it has not been given any name. It is symbolic. The Upanishads call it turiya. This simply means the fourth, it doesn’t say anything more. It is nameless because it can’t be defined Words cannot express it, it can only be indicated. The seventh stage of the seeker’s consciousness is like the fourth stage of the mind.

Before we enter the seventh stage and try to penetrate its mysteries, a few things help create a base for something that is most difficult to understand. The first six are stages, but the seventh is not really a stage. It is called a stage, simply because there is no other way to call it. The first six are stages and the seventh is you. The seventh is not a stage, it is the state of your very being, your very existence, your very nature!

Be Mindful of the Mind

 

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Be Mindful of the Mind

Our mind, our intellect is very tricky – when the mind is caught up in desires, the direction emanating from the heart is not reliable because it could be just to fulfill our desires! It is extremely tough to differentiate between what is coming from the heart or from the mind, which is hell-bent in fulfilling the body’s desires and therefore is always finding excuses. The only way for one to distinguish is to watch what it is saying – is it clear-cut? Or is it dependent on some desire that one is trying to fulfill. One needs to watch this in complete awareness (takes time to learn) and one may need the help of a spiritual Master to find out whether the thought coming from within you is pure inspiration from the heart, or it is laced with some hidden subconscious selfish desire.

Many times, we are unable to discriminate when we think we are repeatedly called to do something which may not be always right. In such situations we need to watch carefully. Our mind is very funny and has the power to convince us that whatever is coming is from a ‘higher source’. May not be true always, but the possibility exists. The way to find out is whether it leads you to the Truth and not towards getting caught up in the untruth.

We are all aware that the intellect is useful up to a point and beyond that the intellect does not work. At higher levels of consciousness, the intellect has no role to play – in fact you go to those levels only when your mind becomes quiet, an ocean of peace, that’s when you reach higher levels! But without the intellect we cannot function in the material world – what I am writing will not be possible without a functional intellect, nor will it be possible for you to read what has been written! So, intelligence should not be abandoned, but in one’s spiritual search, at some point, one realises that the intellect cannot take us to the deeper, higher levels of consciousness – it has its limitations.

When one sits down to meditate, thoughts do enter the mind, just watch them like you are watching a movie, don’t hold on to them. Watch them come and go, come and go….slowly…slowly the gap between thoughts increases and you find yourself going from a state of mind to no-mind.

In a state of no-mind, during meditation we are likely to get spiritual experiences – hear the celestial sound, get divine fragrances, sense cold drops of consciousness – these all happen from within you at a very subtle level – your sense of this phenomena is very real – it is happening but, in another dimension, and not on the physical plane.

A great Master once said, “When you leave your shoes out there and come in to meditate, leave your personality behind and come. When you return, you have to function in the world, so put them back on again.” So, just be mindful of the mind!

Right Conduct

 

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Right Conduct

In a global world, we are in search of universal values—values based on a contemporary understanding that unifies us as human beings beyond the divisions of religions, nations, and race.

When it is said, ‘right conduct’, it means right relationship with others. You need not be false. When you can be true without hurting anybody, be true. But if you feel that your truth is going to hurt many and is unnecessary, it can be avoided, then avoid it, because it is not only going to hurt others, it will create patterns of cause, and those causes will return as effects on you, they will become your karmas. Then you will get entangled, and the more entangled you are the more you will have to behave in wrong ways.

Just stop. Just see the situation. If you can be true without hurting anybody, be true. To me, love is greater than truth. Be loving. And if you feel that your truth will be hurtful and violent, it is better to lie than to be true. Wait for the right moment when you can be true, and help the other person to come to such a state where your truth will not hurt him. Don’t be in a hurry.

And life is a big drama; don’t take it too seriously – because seriousness is also a disease of the mind, seriousness is part of the ego. Be playful, don’t be too serious. So, sometimes you will have to use masks, because there are children around you and they like masks, they like false faces, and they enjoy. Help them to grow so they can face the real face, they can encounter it. But before they can encounter it, don’t create any trouble. Right conduct is just consideration for others.

When you lie, you lie for yourself. If you need, and if you feel the need to lie, only lie for the consideration of others. Never lie for yourself, don’t use any mask for yourself. But if you feel it is going to help others, it will be good for them, use the mask. And inside remain alert that this is just a game you are acting, this is not real.

Right conduct means just the right rules of behaviour with others. You are not going to be here forever. You cannot change the whole world; you cannot change everybody; you can at the most change yourself. So, it is better to change yourself inwardly, and don’t try to be in a continuous fight with everybody. Avoiding fights – and faceoffs can be helpful. Avoid unnecessary struggle, because that dissipates energy. Preserve your energy to be used for the inner work. And that work is so significant and it needs all your energy that you can give to it, so don’t waste it on unnecessary things.

 

 

Become a Useful Instrument

 

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Become a Useful Instrument

For us to become useful instruments for whatever purpose we need to be healthy. Our health defines the way our body can be used for whatever purpose we choose for it. If we want to be sports-persons we need to train our body and also maintain a diet which makes our body fit for whatever sport we are training for.

Our body is a very complex machine and like any machine it needs to be maintained. All of us always try to look good, beautiful, handsome – these are all external appearances. To do this a lot of facilities are available – apart from the gym, we have beauty salons where all kinds of treatments are given to make us look good.

While looking good is important, feeling good is far more important. One can feel good only if we are at peace within ourselves. This inner peace comes through meditation under the guidance of a realised Master. Yoga and meditation are the tools that take us towards inner peace while keeping the body and mind healthy.

Exercise not only makes one live longer, but it also makes one live better. It may boost our mental and emotional functioning, as well as our productivity and interpersonal connections, in addition to strengthening our heart and muscles and warding against a variety of ailments.

The benefits of physical activity are many, but perhaps most important is that it's good for our mind. Physical exercise has been shown to increase cognitive function and prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It also promotes mood stability, which helps control anxiety and depression.

In addition, being active can help one lose weight if you want to. Exercise is one of the best ways to control one’s appetite and reduce one’s craving for sweets. Regular activity also increases levels of serotonin, which makes one feel happier.

Finally, exercise complimented with yoga and meditation is necessary for healthy living. We should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week or its equivalent in other activities. In addition, muscle-strengthening activities such as lifting weights provide benefits that last after the workout is over. These activities promote bone strength and balance, which are essential for preventing injury and old age disability.

The essence of Yoga and all the faiths and traditions is to be easeful in body, peaceful in mind and useful in life. The aim of Yoga is to make the body healthy and the mind tranquil and pure. With a pure mind and a healthy body, ne become a useful instrument for God.

Real Love

 

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Real Love

Love is intrinsic to humanity – it is actually human nature! We live in society and the concept of love in society is a bit different – it is defined by relationships – mother/father-children, husband-wife, brother-sister, teacher-student and so on. This love is based on emotion and attachment to the other person. And if you truly introspect, you will find that this attachment itself becomes the noose around your neck.

The attachment leads to extreme emotions - jealousy, anger, hatred, and so on – all this from tainted love. Fear dominates attachment giving rise to ‘what if?’ questions! The mind is so powerful and imagination such a movie maker that it never lets you rest in peace.

One needs to get beyond love which is in a binary relationship with attachment. Love within has to become universal without any attachment. Once love starts flowing through your very being it truly implies that you have learnt to love your ‘self’ – this comes from meditation and practicing mindfulness. When one connects deep within one’s self, one finds the silence and peace which gives rise to the feeling of universal love. This sense is something which cannot be defined.

I experienced this strong love vibration when I was sitting with Swamiji at Marine Drive and he went into meditation for a few minutes. I got enveloped in his aura and the sense of unconditional love which enveloped me is beyond words. I just cannot describe it!

Love should be like breathing. It should be just a quality in you – wherever you are, with whomsoever you are, or even if you are alone, love goes on overflowing from you. It is not a question of being in love with someone – it is a question of being love.

With regular meditation, cleansing of one’s chakras and particularly the heart chakra this sense of universal love starts flowing from within you. Extreme emotions dissipate and people who meet you experience the serenity and love which is subtly emanating from your being.

Love is not dependent on the object, but is a radiation of your subjectivity – a radiation of your soul. And the vaster the radiation, the greater is your soul. The wider spread are the wings of your love, the bigger is the sky of your being.

Your union with the divine deep within you gives rise to real love. This love is not physical in nature, nor is it emotional – it is unconditional and it affects all those around you – whether human or otherwise.

Spirituality and Free Will

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Spirituality and Free Will

Sri Ramana Maharshi accepted the validity of the laws of Karma but said that they were only applicable as long as a person imagined that he was separate from the Self. At this level (the level of the agyani or the ignorant) individuals will pass through a series of pre-ordained activities and experiences, all of which are the consequences of previous acts and thoughts. Every act and experience in a person’s life is determined at birth and that the only freedom one has is to realise that there is no one acting and no one experiencing. However, once one realises the Self there is no one left to experience the consequences of actions and so the whole structure of Karmic laws then becomes redundant.

If the agent, upon whom the Karma depends, namely the ego, which subsists between the body and the Self, merges in its source and loses its form, how can the Karma, which depends upon it, survive? When there is no ‘I’ there is no Karma. The essence of Karma is to know the truth of oneself by enquiring - ‘Who am I, the doer, who begins to do Karmas?’ Unless the doer of Karmas, the ego, is destroyed through enquiry and introspection, the perfect peace of supreme bliss, which is the result of Karma Yoga, cannot be achieved.

What then is free will? Whose will are we talking about? So long as there is the sense of doer-ship, there is the sense of enjoyment and of individual will. But if this sense is lost through the practice of self-enquiry (introspection) and one becomes self-realised, the divine will act and guide the course of events. The free will holds the field only in association with individuality. As long as individuality lasts there is free will. All the scriptures are based on this idea and therefore advise us to direct the free will towards right goals.

There are only two ways to conquer destiny or be independent of it. One is to enquire for whom is this destiny and discover that only the ego is bound by destiny and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent. Destiny is the result of past action. It concerns the body. Let the body act as may suit it. Why should one be concerned with it? Why should one pay attention to it? Should anything happen, it happens as a result of past actions, of divine will and other factors. This idea is embedded in the common term ‘namaste’ we use in our day-to-day social interactions. This word can be split up as na+ma+te+astu meaning thereby – ‘I am not’ (na ma); ‘You are’ (te astu) implying a complete wiping out of the notion of ‘I-ness’ and ‘My-ness’ and surrendering to ‘Paramatma’.

The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to Paramatma, by realising one’s helplessness and saying all the time, ‘Not I but Thou, O Paramatma’, giving up all sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and leaving it to Paramatma to do what He likes with you. Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as the devotee wants this or that from Paramatma. True surrender is love of God for the sake of love and nothing else, not even for the sake of liberation. In other words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny. It is immaterial whether you achieve this effacement through Gyan Marg - self-enquiry or through Bhakti Marga - path of devotion.

Marriage and Spirituality

 

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Marriage and Spirituality

We had not seen so many marriages breaking up in India in the past as compared to today. Most marriages are happening out of companionship and lust or potential future wealth creation rather than pure love. Divorces take place for the flimsiest of reasons and most of them end up as contested divorces with a lot of bad blood between the couple and their families.

The most important thing is that we have stopped marriages resulting from pure love, that marriages are happening without love. A marriage devoid of love does not create a spiritual bond – a bond which is only possible with the presence of love. The harmony, the rapport, the music that is required to give birth to a great soul is not created between the man and the woman. The love between them is merely cosmetic and as a consequence there is no meeting of souls in their love, none of the movement that brings two beings together into oneness.

The disharmony in the world today is because of millions of souls taking birth as a result of loveless marriages or unwanted births or pregnancy resulting from rape. The quality of souls is not high and hence there is always an underlying tension that is prevailing on earth.

Children born of a marriage without love can never be loving, can never be godlike. They will be more like ghosts and evil spirits; their lives will be filled with anger, hatred and violence. Even a little thing makes the difference, an incredible difference if there is no harmony, no rapport, no connection between the man and the woman.

One of our Master’s missions is to give birth to pious souls on earth. To that end he conducts marriages of couples whom he scrutinises at the subtle level to see their level of spirituality and purity before blessing the couple on their wedding day. He has been conducting this ceremony once a year for the last twenty years and several couples have given birth to advanced spiritual souls.

Harmony between souls is an absolute must to make marriages last. Swamiji has guided couples on how to balance their individual states before making love so that, once pregnancy occurs, then invited souls can enter the womb. This may sound a bit abstract, but I have seen at least four couples who have gone through this process and have given birth to highly developed, spiritual and intelligent children.

There are several spiritually advanced people who have no give and take balance from the previous birth carried forward – these people don’t marry and can easily progress on the path to liberation under the guidance of a Master. There is no need for such people to feel bad or guilty – for them that is the way it is!

Life should be Challenging

 

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Life should be Challenging

There is a poem by Robert Frost ‘The Road Not Taken’, which ends, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” Always choose the new, the less travelled road, the unknown path and that is life’s real challenge.

Everyone follows the easier path when life arrives at a fork – the easy and the difficult, most choose the easy, the tough is chosen by a very few people. Life grows only by choosing challenges, by walking into the approaching storms, by taking risks most would run away from.

To take up meditation and become a sanyasi one needs courage. In the earlier days people expected the sanyasi to become a recluse and renounce the world. In those days one went into a monastery, lived there – undisturbed, undistracted by the world. Meditation became one’s whole life with no other distractions – life became monotonous! The words monastery and monotony come from the same root, so does the word monk. Life was settled, repetitive, monotonous and the same, and the real world was left far behind. This was easy.

Not so today! Today, it is not so easy to go into the jungles or into the Himalayas. Here, everyone in society is connected and the challenge is to remain in society and even then, not remain in society. You have to live in the marketplace and yet live as if you are living in an ashram or monastery. You have to accept all life’s distractions and yet remain unaffected and undistracted. You have to live in the world and not be in it.

Life must be a challenge. Only then is it exciting. In an obstacle race, you are forced to surmount all the obstacles: to jump over the hurdles, go through barrels, crawl under rugs, climb over walls. What would happen if, to avoid all that, you went around all the obstacles and asked for the winner’s cup? Would they give it to you? No. They would say, “You must go back and face all the obstacles.” “Why?” you might ask. “If you are interested in giving me the cup, just give it.” “Sorry. You have to prove that you deserve it, that you worked for it.” Life is also a game, and we are proving ourselves. The challenge itself is joyous.

Make your life as exciting as possible, but always think of it as fun. The adversities, as well as the harmony, should be enjoyable. Don’t be sombre and morose and have a castor oil face in the name of spirituality. Just be happy. Jump with joy. Even if you make a mistake, say, “Hey, I did this? Great! What a wonderful lesson I learned!” If you really want to, you can make everything fun – even meditation!

Understanding ‘God’

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Understanding ‘God’

The greatest misunderstanding is that God is a person, a supra-natural being, and it has prevailed for such a long time that it has become more or less a fact in the minds of people. When a lie is repeated continuously over centuries it is bound to appear as if it is a truth. The Sanatan Dharma does not subscribe to this concept, according to the sanatan dharma God is omniscient, omnipresent and exists in every being.

God is a presence, not a person. Hence all worshipping is meaningless. Prayerfulness is needed, not prayer. There is nobody to pray to; there is no possibility of any dialogue between you and God. Dialogue is possible only between two persons, and God is not a person but a presence – like beauty, like joy.

God simply means godliness. It is because of this fact that Buddha denied the existence of God. He wanted to emphasise that God is a quality, an experience – like love. You cannot talk to love; you can live it. You need not create temples of love, you need not make statues of love, and bowing down to those statues will be just nonsense. And that’s what has been happening in the churches, in the temples, in the mosques.

Man has lived under this impression of God as a person, giving result to two concepts. One is the so-called religious man, who thinks God is somewhere above in the sky and you have to praise him to persuade him to confer favours on you, to help you to fulfill your desires, to make your ambitions succeed, to give you the wealth of this world and of the other world. And this is sheer wastage of time and energy. And on the opposite pole the people who saw the stupidity of it all became atheists; they started denying the existence of God. They were right in a sense, but they were also wrong. They started denying not only the personality of God, they started to deny even the experience of God. Both these views are wrong.

God is the ultimate experience of silence, of beauty, of bliss, a state of inner celebration. Once you start looking at God as godliness there will be a radical change in your approach. Then prayer is no more valid; meditation becomes valid.

Buddha is far closer to the truth: you simply drop all chattering of the mind, you slip out of the mind like a snake slipping out of the old skin. You become profoundly silent. There is no question of any dialogue, no question of any monologue either. Words have disappeared from your consciousness. There is no desire for which favours have to be asked, no ambition to be fulfilled.

One is now and here. In that tranquillity, in that calmness, you become aware of a radiant quality to existence. Then the trees and the mountains and the rivers and the people are all surrounded with a subtle aura. They are all radiating life, and it is one life in different forms. The flowering of one existence in millions of forms, in millions of flowers.

This experience is God. And it is everybody’s birthright, because whether you know it or not you are already part of it. The only possibility is you may not recognise it or you may recognise it. The difference between the enlightened person and the unenlightened person is not of quality – they both are absolutely alike. There is only one small difference: that the enlightened person is aware; he recognises the ultimate pervading the whole, permeating the whole, vibrating, pulsating. He recognises the heartbeat of the universe. He recognises that the universe is not dead, it is alive. This aliveness is God!

Accessing Bliss from the Soul

 

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Accessing Bliss from the Soul

In the course of the process of our spiritual evolution we acquire the ability of going within and gaining access to the Bliss from our soul. Every one of us is at different stages of spiritual evolution. The quality and quantity as well as the duration of the experience of the Bliss are directly proportional to the stage of our spiritual evolution.

When we look in the mirror every morning, we are so used to seeing the image of ourselves. But have you ever wondered what you would look like if you could see an image of your soul?

We can have the most brilliant of lights within us, that is the soul, but even the brightest of lights if covered with thick blankets would be hidden from view. This darkness that surrounds our soul is the ‘spiritual ignorance’ of our true state that is Bliss. This spiritual ignorance refers to our inability to see beyond our five senses, mind and intellect and perceive the soul within. When we (the embodied soul) undertake/do spiritual practice then gradually the darkness reduces and we are able to perceive the soul and experience the Bliss from it. Externally, we clean our homes and bathe our bodies daily because the dirt outside us is easily visible. However internal spiritual cleansing is another matter and is rarely undertaken.

We call it embodied Soul according to the science of spirituality as it has lost cognizance of itself as the 'Soul' and thinks of itself in terms of the five senses, mind and intellect instead. The Soul of the subtle body (i.e. minus the physical body after one dies) is also known as the embodied Soul or jiva.

As we get regular with our spiritual practice, we begin to get flashes of the wondrous experiences of the Divine which are known as spiritual experiences. 

The final state is of Shivdashā (i.e. a state of oneness with God or constant communion with God). This final state comes when the covering has completely dissolved and the pure soul can shine through with no filters of ‘spiritual ignorance’ to block its radiance. When one reaches this state the radiance of the soul reflects on the physical body – the physical body emits a kind of glow, a radiance. People start commenting on how you are ‘glowing’ and so on.

The state of perpetual bliss which is that of the soul becomes a self-realised person’s state of being. The bliss becomes permanent – there may be variations based on what happens during the day – but this state of bliss remains and helps the physical body happily overcome whatever situation it faces in life.

Human Beings – A Spiritual Perspective

 

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Human Beings – A Spiritual Perspective

Modern science has gone in some depth into understanding the physical body. Yet its understanding of the other aspects of human existence is still very limited. The human being is made up of the following bodies according to spirituality – the gross body, the vital body, the mental body, the intellect or causal body, the subtle ego or supra-causal body and the soul or God principle in every human being – the Atma.

The gross boy or the physical body is best known to us. It comprises of the skeletal framework, muscles, tissues, organs, blood, 5 sense organs, etc. The vital energy body or the prana-deha provides the vital, life sustaining energy for all the functions of the physical as well as the mental body. There are five types of vital energies or praana: Prāna: Energy for the activity of inhalation; Udāna: Energy for the activity of exhalation and speech; Samāna: Energy for the activity of the stomach and intestines; Vyāna: Energy for voluntary and involuntary movements of the body; Apāna: Energy for urination, excretion, ejaculation, childbirth, etc. At the time of death, the vital energy is released back into the Universe and also helps in propelling the subtle body in its onward journey.

The mental body or the mind is the seat of our feelings, emotions and desires. It carries in it countless number of impressions from this life and previous lives. It is made up of three parts: The conscious mind: It is that part of our thoughts and feelings that we are aware of. The sub-conscious mind: It contains all the impressions required to complete our destiny in our current lifetime. Thoughts from the sub-conscious mind sometimes emerge into the conscious mind from time to time either in response to some external stimulus or at time even without it. For example, during the course of one’s day one gets a random and unrelated thought about some vague incident in one’s childhood. The unconscious mind: This is the aspect of our mind that we are completely unaware of. This contains all the impressions that are associated with our accumulated account. The sub-conscious mind and unconscious mind together are known as the Chitta. Sometimes we also refer to an aspect of the mental body as the desires body or vāsanādeha. This is the aspect of the mind that contains all the impressions of desires. The physical organ associated with the mental body is the brain.

The causal body or the intellect body is the body which deals with the decision-making process and reasoning ability. The physical organ associated with the intellect body is the brain.

The subtle ego or the supra-causal body is the final vestige of the nescience and is the feeling that we are separate from God.

The soul is the God principle within us and is our true nature. It is the main component of the subtle body which is a fraction of the Supreme God Principle with the qualities of Absolute Truth (Sat), Absolute Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ānand). The soul is unaffected by the ups and downs in life and is in a perpetual state of Bliss. It looks at the ups and downs of life in the Great Illusion (Maya) with an observers stance. The soul is beyond the 3 subtle basic components; however, the rest of our consciousness like the physical body and the mental body is made up of it.

The subtle body is defined as that part of our being or consciousness that leaves our physical body at the time of physical death. It comprises of the mental body, the causal body or intellect, the supra-causal body or subtle ego and the soul. What is left behind at the time of physical death is our physical body. The vital energy is released back into the Universe. A couple of aspects of the subtle body: Subtle sense organs: By subtle sense organs we mean the subtle aspect of our 5 sense organs by which we are able to perceive the subtle realm. For example, we are able to perceive a subtle fragrance such as jasmine without there being any stimulus to cause it. Also, the fragrance may only be experienced by one person and not by the others in the same room. Subtle motor organs: By subtle motor organs we mean the subtle aspect of our physical motor organs such as our arms, tongue, etc. All activity is initiated first in subtle motor organs and then executed in the physical dimension by one’s gross motor organs.

All the other aspects of our being other than the soul are part of the Great Illusion. It is called Nescience or Avidyā which when literally translated means absence of knowledge. The word Nescience stems from the fact that we identify ourselves with our gross body, mind and intellect and not with our true nature which is the soul or the God principle within us.

Kundalini or Latent Serpent Energy

 

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Kundalini or Latent Serpent Energy

The universe is sustained by God’s mere presence. According to the Path of Kundalini awakening, God’s energy that is used in the running (i.e., creation, sustenance and destruction) of the universe is Divine consciousness (Chaitanya). With respect to a person, this Divine consciousness is known as chētanā and it is that part of God’s energy required for the functioning of a human being.

This chetana is of two types and, depending on its state of activity, it takes on two different names. Active chetana – also known as Vital energy (Prāṇa–shakti). The Vital energy sustains and gives energy to the gross body, mind, intellect and subtle-ego. It is distributed through subtle energy channels known as nāḍīs. These energy channels are prevalent throughout the body and supply energy to the cells, nerves, arteries, lymph etc. Non-active chetana – which is known as the Kundalini. This Kundalini lies dormant at the base of the spinal column in a person until kundalini awakening takes place.

The Kundalini or non-active chetana is used primarily for spiritual growth. It is not used for, nor does it take part in, day-to-day bodily functioning. Kundalini awakening happens through spiritual practice or spiritual transfer of energy. This includes practices that come under generic spiritual paths to God such as Karmayoga, Path of Devotion (Bhaktiyoga), Path of Deliberate Rigour (Haṭhayoga) and Path of the Guru’s grace (Gurukrupāyoga). The practices in the Path of Deliberate Rigour include celibacy, breathing exercises (prāṇāyām) and yogic exercises and other spiritual practices. Some people try to force Kundalini awakening by efforts through the Path of Deliberate Rigour. However, this can lead to deleterious effects. Some can even become insane from it.

Whatever the spiritual path, when there is spiritual growth the Kundalini rises. Here the unmanifest Guru Principle or the Teaching Principle of God itself awakens the Kundalini. As it is awakened by the Guru’s grace then it automatically travels upwards and transforms the seeker spiritually. To better understand this let us take the help of an analogy. Employing one’s own efforts in regular spiritual practice is like working hard and then amassing a fortune. Kundalini awakening by the direct transfer of energy through a Guru is like being born to a billionaire where the father provides the son with instant money. Out of the two, having earned wealth (spiritual wealth) through hard earned means is always a more sustainable and a surer option for future growth.

Just as the heart is the principal centre (organ) of the circulatory system and the brain of the nervous system, similarly the subtle energy system has various chakras, channels and ducts.

There are 72,000 subtle-channels. Of these channels, the three main subtle-channels are - Sushumnānāḍī, that is, the central channel that extends from base of spine to the top of the head; Pingalānāḍi or the Sūryanāḍi (sun channel), that is, the channel that runs to the right of the Sushumnanadi, and the Chandranāḍī (moon channel), that is, the channel that runs to the left of the Sushumnanadi.

The Vital energy is transmitted in the body through the Sun channel and the Moon channel and the other smaller channels. The vital energy flow alternates between the Sun channel and Moon channel.

The Kundalini is spiritual energy and it generally lies dormant, coiled at the base of the Sushumnanadi for an average person. Through spiritual practice it begins to rise from the base of the spine through the Sushumnanadi right till the top of the head. While it does so, the Kundalini awakens each of the chakras along the way.

As the Kundalini passes each chakra along the Sushumnanadi, there is a thin subtle-valve that it needs to push through at each chakra to make its onward journey upwards. As it keeps pushing through the wall there is sometimes an increase in the amount of spiritual energy from the Sushumnanadi at that chakra. Having nowhere to go, it sometimes flows out through the surrounding subtle-ducts and becomes converted into Vital energy (Prāṇa–shakti). For that period of time, the concerned person may experience a heightened activity associated with that area. 

Chanting for Health

 

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Chanting for Health

Problems that have their root cause in the spiritual dimension can best be overcome by spiritual practice and other spiritual healing methods. In the current era, the recommended form of basic spiritual practice is the chanting of the Name of God according to the religion of one’s birth. Chanting brings about physical, psychological and spiritual well-being.

Understanding the root cause of a disease, the spiritual reasons behind it and the percentage of the spiritual cause is all part of the spiritual or subtle-dimension which is difficult to understand. In addition, the availability of a person who understands the subtle-dimension and can tell us the remedy for it is not always possible. Therefore, one is not always able to understand exactly which organ is affected, what spiritual remedies (chant, mudrā and nyās) can be done to make it stronger in order to reduce the disease to a considerable extent. Patients along with taking advantage of the given spiritual remedies should complement their treatment with modern medicines. Swamiji in his discourses has mentioned that he is writing a book on Aura Science and in that he will be writing how to prevent diseases from occurring. He has said that modern medical science only treats the symptoms whereas the root cause lies elsewhere. He will be writing about treating the root cause and how to go about it by eliminating the other collateral reasons before finding the root cause.

When chanting is specifically required for spiritual healing, it is important to understand an important spiritual principle. Every organ in the body is governed by a certain aspect of God known as a Deity. When one’s organs are affected by a certain ailment due to a spiritual reason, chanting the Name of a specific Deity related to that organ and illness is more likely to result in a positive outcome. The Divine consciousness (Chaitanya) of the specific Name of God strengthens the organ at a spiritual level and the person’s ability to combat the disease increases. The more specific is a spiritual healing chant for a given disease, the sooner are results seen and in a larger proportion.

Chanting with concentration: When one chants with concentration, there is a protective sheath of sāttvik vibrations created around the diseased cells. After a certain period of time, the possibility of the disease recurring is minimised.

Chanting with spiritual emotion (bhāv): When one chants with spiritual emotion, Divine energy is awakened in the organs. As a result, the cells in the organs are infused with the strength of Divine consciousness. Due to this increased spiritual positivity the distressing vibrations, in the form of germs causing the disease, are destroyed and the cells of that particular organ are re-energised.

Chanting with prayer: The effectiveness of chanting is increased manifold when prayers are said intermittently while repeating the Name of God. In fact only when one prays intensely with spiritual emotion, are the vibrations of that particular Deity Principle in the Universe attracted towards the person. The Divine vibrations saturate the person’s consciousness, thereby destroying the distressing vibrations of the disease. Chanting without prayers filled with spiritual emotion is not qualitative, but merely quantitative and of lesser benefit to the patient.

Reality of Life

 

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Reality of Life

Spiritual research has shown that worldwide, the average human being is happy only 30% of the time, while 40% of the time he or she is unhappy. The remaining 30% of the time, a person is in a neutral state where he or she does not experience happiness or unhappiness. For example, when a person is walking on the road or doing some mundane task and, not thinking happy or unhappy thoughts.

One of the contributing factors to this dilemma of more unhappiness in our lives is our educational system. The system is set up to teach students a vast array of subjects, but it does not teach students the subject of lasting happiness in its curriculum. We are not formally taught how to be happy irrespective of the situation we may face in life.

You could have a suave gentleman with an impressive business card who feels depressed and suicidal should he face some kind of financial loss. You could have a woman who is applauded at her workplace for her tremendous contribution to the growth of an organisation, but who is victimised by a spouse who belittles her and plays on the fact that she feels emotionally insecure.

One studies hard and appears for many exams to get a head start in life, to get that perfect job that would ensure a comfortable lifestyle, so as to attain happiness. But are we looking in the right direction? Does a job really ensure we are happy? Does being a family person always ensure that we are happy? As much as people would love to be happy, we find that unhappiness plagues the uneducated as much as it plagues the highly educated.

So maybe we need to explore new avenues that would give us non-stop happiness, regardless of our worldly situation. Now some of you may be thinking, “I do not think this is for me, as I am generally a happy person.”

For such individuals, the following three reasons are important:

Life is in a constant state of flux. You cannot guarantee that all aspects of your life will remain constant and unchanging – such as your job situation, your financial situation, your family, and your relationships.

You need to learn how to develop a technique that allows you to build great reservoirs of inner strength to face bad times, as one never knows when in life one will turn the corner and be presented with a not-so-nice life situation.

There is a saying, “Don’t wait to dig a well when you are thirsty, rather dig it well in advance so that when you are thirsty, you have water to drink.”