By
SRI SWAMI CHIDANANDA
A DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY PUBLICATION
First Edition: 1976
Second Edition: 1984
Third Edition: 1996
(3,000 copies)
World Wide Web (WWW) Edition : 1999
Website: http://www.divinelifesociety.org/
This WWW reprint is for free distribution
© The Divine Life Trust Society
ISBN 81-7052-123-8
Published By
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
P.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192
Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttaranchal,
Himalayas, India.
CONTENTS
Human life is a rare gift. It is a gift from the Lord. Three things
are very difficult to obtain in this mortal world,—birth as a human
being, desire for liberation and association with the wise ones,—and
they are obtained only through the blessings and grace of God. Of the
three, human birth is a very precious gift that has been put first and
foremost. It is that state of existence where alone the Jiva becomes
endowed with intellect and the extremely rare faculty of discrimination.
Therefore, human birth is considered as a very rare gift of God.
The purpose of life is to know your own essential nature or Atman by
knowing which you have nothing more to know. Every one must know that
the Divine is within him. God is within you and you are in Him. Attainment
of God is the Supreme purpose of life. Without this aim in life, the
life of an individual is a mere waste. It is essenceless.
In order to progress in this spiritual path one should know the fundamentals
of spiritual life. This book “Guidelines to Illumination”
serves the purpose of giving some practical and useful information in
this direction. It contains the essentials of spiritual life. This entire
book constitutes a sincere attempt to serve earnest seekers after spiritual
Truth and to spread spiritual wisdom that is likely to be of benefit
to mankind. Unlike other books containing one subject-matter, this book
“Guidelines to Illumination” contains many practical
hints useful to seekers in the spiritual path. It is culled from my
speeches given abroad during 1969-70, in various places. I place this
book in the hands of seekers who wish to know some of essentials of
spiritual life and earnestly hope that it will serve that purpose well.
I am grateful to Sri Swami Vimalanandaji (formerly known as Sri S.
Nagarajan) for collecting the material for this book and also to Sri
Bill Eilers (Sri Swami Atmaswarupanandaji) of Vancouver, B.C., Canada,
for going through the entire manuscript and suggesting the excellent
title for this book.
I offer and dedicate this book at the feet of holy Master Sri Swami
Sivanandaji, who is no more physically, but whose invisible spiritual
presence is guiding me even now.
Swami Chidananda
Sridhar Rao, as Swami Chidananda was known before taking Sannyasa,
was born to Srinivasa Rao and Sarojini, on the 24th of September, 1916,
the second of five children and the eldest son. Sri Srinivasa Rao was
a prosperous Zamindar owning several villages, extensive lands and palatial
buildings in South India. Sarojini was an ideal Indian mother, noted
for her saintliness.
At the age of eight Sridhar Rao’s life was influenced by one Sri
Anantayya, a friend of his grandfather, who used to relate to him stories
from the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Doing Tapas, becoming a Rishi,
and having a vision of the Lord became ideals which he cherished.
His uncle, Krishna Rao, shielded him against the evil influences of
the materialistic world around him, and sowed in him the seeds of the
Nivritti life which he joyously nurtured until, as later events proved,
it blossomed into sainthood.
His elementary education began at Mangalore. In 1932 he joined the
Muthiah Chetty School in Madras where he distinguished himself as a
brilliant student. His cheerful personality, exemplary conduct and extraordinary
traits earned for him a distinct place in the hearts of all teachers
and students with whom he came into contact.
In 1936 he was admitted to Loyola College, whose portals admit only
the most brilliant of students. In 1938 he emerged with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. This period of studentship at a predominantly Christian
College was significant. The glorious ideal of Lord Jesus, the Apostles
and the other Christian saints had found in his heart a synthesis of
all that is best and noble in the Hindu culture. To him, study of the
Bible was no mere routine; it was the living word of God, just as living
and real as the words of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita.
His innate breadth of vision enabled him to see Jesus in Krishna, not
Jesus instead of Krishna. He was as much an adorer of Jesus Christ as
he was of Lord Vishnu.
The family was noted for its high code of conduct and this was infused
into his life. Charity and service were the glorious ingrained virtues
of the members of the family. These virtues found an embodiment in Sridhar
Rao. He discovered ways and means of manifesting them. None who sought
his help was sent away without it. He gave freely to the needy.
Service to lepers became his ideal. He would build them huts on the
vast lawns of his home and look after them as though they were deities.
Later, after he joined the Ashram, this early trait found in him complete
and free expression where even the best among men would seldom venture
into this great realm of divine love, based upon the supreme wisdom
that all are one in God. Patients from the neighbourhood, suffering
from the worst kinds of diseases came to him. To Sridhar Rao the patient
was none other than Lord Narayana Himself. He served him with tender
love and compassion. The very movement of his hands portrayed him as
worshipping the living Lord Narayana. Nothing would keep him from bringing
comfort to the suffering inmates of the Ashram, no matter what the urgency
of other engagements at the time.
Service, especially of the sick, often brought out the fact that he
had no idea of his own separate existence as an individual. It seemed
as if his body clung loosely to his soul.
Nor was all this service confined to human beings. Birds and animals
claimed his attention as much as, if not, more than, human beings. He
understood their language of suffering. His service of a sick dog evoked
the admiration of Gurudev. He would raise his finger in grim admonition
when he saw anyone practising cruelty to dumb animals in his presence.
His deep and abiding interest in the welfare of lepers had earned for
him the confidence and admiration of the Government authorities when
he was elected to the Leper Welfare Association, constituted by the
state—at first as Vice-Chairman and later as Chairman of the Muni-ki-reti
Notified Area Committee.
Quite early in life, although born in a wealthy family, he shunned
the pleasures of the world to devote himself to seclusion and contemplation.
In the matter of study it was the spiritual books which had the most
appeal to him, more than college books. Even while he was at the college,
text books had to take second place to spiritual books. The works of
Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Gurudev took precedence over
all others. He shared his knowledge with others, so much so that he
virtually became the Guru of the household and the neighbourhood, to
whom he would talk of honesty, love, purity, service and devotion to
God. He would exhort them to perform Japa of Rama-Nama. While still
in his twenties he began initiating youngsters into this great Rama
Taraka Mantra. He was an ardent admirer of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami
Vivekananda. He visited the Ramakrishna Math at Madras regularly and
participated in the Satsangas there. The call of Swami Vivekananda to
renounce resounded within his pure heart. He ever thirsted for the Darshan
of saints and Sadhus visiting the metropolis.
In June 1936, he disappeared from home. After a vigorous search by
his parents, he was found in the secluded Ashram of a holy sage some
miles from the sacred mountain shrine of Tirupati. He returned home
after some persuasion. This temporary separation was but a preparation
for the final parting from the world of attachments to family and friends.
While at home his heart dwelt in the silent forests of spiritual thoughts,
beating in tune with the eternal Pranava-Nada of the Jnana Ganga within
himself. The seven years at home following his return from Tirupati
were marked by seclusion, service, intense study of spiritual literature,
self-restraint, control of the senses, simplicity in food and dress,
abandonment of all comforts and practice of austerities which augmented
his inner spiritual power.
The final decision came in 1943. He was already in correspondence with
Sri Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. He obtained Swamiji’s permission
to join the Ashram.
On arrival at the Ashram, he naturally took charge of the dispensary.
He became the man with the healing hand. The growing reputation of his
divine healing hand attracted a rush of patients to the Sivananda Charitable
Dispensary.
Very soon after joining the Ashram, he gave ample evidence of the brilliance
of his intellect. He delivered lectures, wrote articles for magazines
and gave spiritual instructions to the visitors. When the Yoga-Vedanta
Forest University (now known as the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy) was
established in 1948, Sri Gurudev paid him a fitting tribute by appointing
him Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Raja Yoga. During the first year
he inspired the students with his brilliant exposition of Maharshi Patanjali’s
Yoga-Sutras.
It was also in the first year of his stay at the Ashram that he wrote
his magnum opus ‘Light Fountain’, an immortal
biography of Sri Gurudev. Sri Gurudev himself once remarked: “Sivananda
will pass away, but ‘Light Fountain’ will live.”
In spite of his multifarious activities and intense Sadhana, he founded,
under the guidance of Gurudev, the Yoga Museum in 1947, in which the
entire philosophy of Vedanta and all the processes of Yoga Sadhana are
depicted in the form of pictures and illustrations.
Towards the end of 1948, Gurudev nominated him as the General Secretary
of the Divine Life Society. The great responsibility of the organisation
fell on his shoulders. From that moment he spiritualised all its activities
by his presence, counsel and wise leadership. He exhorted all to raise
their consciousness to the level of the Divine.
On Guru Purnima day, the 10th of July, 1949, he was initiated into
the holy order of Sannyasa by Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. He now
became known as Swami Chidananda, a name which connotes “one who
is in the highest consciousness and bliss.”
In November, 1959, Swami Chidanandaji embarked on an extensive tour
of America, being, sent by Gurudev as his personal representative to
broadcast the message of Divine Life. He returned in March, 1962.
In August, 1963, after the Mahasamadhi of the Master, he was elected
as President of the Divine Life Society. After election, he strove to
hold aloft the banner of renunciation, dedicated service, love and spiritual
idealism, not only within the set-up of the widespread organisation
of the Society, but in the hearts of countless seekers throughout the
world, who were all too eager to seek his advice, help and guidance.
Swamiji has toured the length and breadth of India and also South Africa
and Malaysia to serve devotees of the Society.
Again in 1968, Sri Swami Chidanandaji undertook the Global Tour at
the kind request of numerous disciples and devotees of holy Master Sri
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj and visited South Africa, Rhodesia, Mauritius,
Malavi, Uganda, Kenya, Germany, Belgium, France, U.K., Greece, Italy,
Switzerland, U. S. A., Canada, Bahamas, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Fiji,
Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Wherever
he went devotees received him cordially and listened to him with rapt
attention.
Sri Swami Chidanandaji, right from the beginning is working and serving
the Divine Cause of Sri Gurudev’s Mission tirelessly and spreading
his Divine Life Message far and wide not only in Bharatavarsha but also
in countries outside.
Yoga is not only in Nirvikalpa Samadhi. It is in every moment. If a
thought comes and if you are not able to watch and put it down, you
have failed in Yoga, you have failed in the examination. In every thought,
in every action you have to assert your mastery over your Vrittis. Then
Yoga is fulfilled, divine life is lived; and what is the time taken
for this process? It is a moment. Within a split second so many frames
(cinema films) go away. Similar is the case with the mind. The entire
process takes place in a split second, starting from Samskaras and ending
with Cheshta or fulfilling of desires. From experience you get Samskara,
from Samskara you get Vasana, from Vasana you get Vritti. Imagination
makes the Vritti into a desire. Then ego attaches itself to the desire
and it becomes an urge, a Trishna. Now you are forced to do Cheshta—action—to
fulfil the desire. This process of the mind is going on.
The scientists are trying to find a perpetual motion machinery, a machinery
that never stops but is always in motion. If you have to find such a
machinery, now it is in you; it is the mind. We have to deal with the
mind. All the Vasanas and Samskaras, which you have formed, are already
there and you cannot help it. But you can at least do one thing. You
can prevent the formation of new Samskaras. And also let the past Samskaras
be not further strengthened by fresh ones. How is it possible? Daily
you get new experiences and daily you perceive so many things with your
five organs of senses. Then how can we prevent these experiences making
impressions upon the mind? Is there any technique? How did these objects
get into the mind and form Samskaras? Here is an object. You perceive
it through any one of your senses. First there is contact between the
sense and the object. That is the first thing, and then what happens?
So far only the outer fringe of man’s personality has been touched.
Supposing you are very deeply absorbed in some task, and your brother
or sister comes and lays his or her hands on you; you are not aware
although the object has contacted the sense, because the sense has not
conveyed it to the mind, and the mind is away from it. The objects have
contacted the senses, and the senses have conveyed it to the mind, but
if you are not there, if the sense of ‘I’ is not there, the
impression taken by the mind as a matter of routine, makes no meaning
to the person. So, if the ego is not there, the object does not go deep
into the mind. If the ego is engaged in some other thought, a particular
impression brought by the senses will not produce any effect. But if
the ‘I’ is there, the object goes and impinges upon your awareness;
and if this ‘I’ is in a state of heedlessness, is not vigilant,
it is in a state of illusion, a state of worldliness or Rajas, and it
will easily take these perceptions and create in you a desire for the
objects.
If you are not alert due to lack of understanding of the thought process,
the moment the thought of a lovely object arises in you, you will follow
it and the result is you want that object. You see money and immediately
you want it. Supposing it has come to this stage, there is only one
thing to be done. What can you do? You can simply burn up that desire
and reduce it to ashes. There is only one fire to burn all desires;
Nachiketas had that fire. So many attractive and alluring things were
offered by Yama. He offered money, beauty, strength, power, kingdoms
and lordships over all worlds, all Vidyas. He gave flowing descriptions
of the whole attractive and alluring worlds, but Nachiketas reduced
all such desires to ashes, because he had that one fire, and that was
Mumukshutva, aspiration. Aspiration is a positive fire in which all
desires, cravings are thrown and reduced to ashes. This is the fire
that should characterise all Sadhakas, Yogis and Vedantins who lead
the divine life.
If you want to lead the divine life, your inner heart should be a place
of aspiration and a fire of Yoga should burn in you inside always. This
blaze should be there. You cannot completely change the outward mode
of life, but inwardly there should be aspiration. This fire should burn
day and night, when you are awake, when you are sleeping, when you are
alone, when you are among men, when you are meditating and when you
are engaged in work. This fire should not be put out. This aspiration
should always form an integral part of your being. Then you are living
the divine life. If this fire is there, you need not worry what work
you are doing or in which place you are living. Because, you will be
leading the divine life. You cannot be a victim of sense-pleasures.
But you must at any time know if, in spite of your vigilance, an object
goes to the inner consciousness, how to burn it through aspiration.
If before it enters the outer threshold you have to burn it, what are
the techniques? There are two techniques. One technique is always keep
the mind indrawn. Never allow the mind to be completely extrovert, so
that even apparently when you are moving amidst objects, the senses
are not outgoing but turned inward. This is a very difficult technique,
but this has to be practised. This Pratyahara is very essential. The
ideal of the aspirant should always be to acquire this important qualification—Pratyahara.
The other thing is to be indifferent. What does it mean to you? It
does not mean anything to you at all. If a non-vegetarian goes into
the bazaar where they sell fish, poultry, etc., his mouth may water.
But supposing he is a pure vegetarian, they will not mean anything at
all, because he is not interested in them. Even so, we will have to
create an attitude within ourselves by constant reflection and constant
meditation on the Supreme Reality which will reveal the vanity of the
world, the worthlessness of earthly objects, and the perishable nature
of the entire creation. By constantly imbibing such consciousness in
one’s personality, an attitude of mind is created when all things
cease to have any meaning to you, and then, even when these things come,
there is no response from within, and this state is called Udasinata.
You are simply not interested, and when there is a thing which you do
not like, you are not aware of its existence. This attitude of not being
interested in a thing should be universalised. An aspirant should hold
an attitude of indifference when he is in the midst of objects. This
way you have to move in the world.
Day-to-day movements of men constitute the very essence of Yoga and
Vedanta. One should not commit the mistake of running away with the
idea that by merely having a great idealism that one can indulge in
every type of actions and words. Every action goes to form one’s
character even as every drop goes to form the ocean. Day-to-day movements
of men constitute the very essence of divine living, the very essence
of Yoga and Vedanta. If one is watchful of every thought and sees that
the broad principles of divine living are observed in daily life, the
principles which go to make up the foundation of spiritual life, the
edifice will come by itself.
Truthfulness, compassion, purity,—these are the broad things which
have to cover our entire life down to the minutest details. An aspirant
cannot afford to forget this detailed living of divine life, and his
whole life, at least in the beginning, should be characterised by self-restraint.
If a Sadhaka thinks that he can do anything and also meditate, he is
deceiving himself. Yoga is not a toy; which you can easily take and
play with. Therefore, every action should be done with awareness.
The whole personality should be restrained. One should live a life
of moderation. As said by our Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
in his song: “Eat a little, drink a little...” we have to
understand it in its proper sense. There are two parts of this song.
“Eat a little, drink a little, talk a little, sleep a little”;
when he says these things he means moderation. These things should not
be done too much. These are not said in the sense that they are essential.
It means that you must not overdo them. The instinctive life of eating,
drinking, talking, etc., should be kept to the minimum. The other portion
wherein Gurudev says: “Do Japa a little, do Asana a little, do
Kirtan a little,” means not that they should not be done too much,
but here it is the other way round. Sri Gurudev has said that everyone
of these items is essential, and all these items should find a place
in your daily programme. All gross things that merely pertain to the
body should be kept to the minimum and all the higher aspects of Sadhana
should be given proper place in your daily programme. This is the broad
general outline of divine life or spiritual living, for you. All these,
Japa, meditation, Kirtan, etc., form the positive side. Living a life
of restraint, and not fulfilling the undue desires of the mind and senses,
understanding that to fulfil such demands is to become greater and greater
slaves of the mind and its promptings is the other side. Always be based
upon self-restraint and inwardness and make the best use of your quiet
hours in self-study, so that your Yoga may be fulfilled. This sums up
the essential principles of Yoga.
The differences in views and opinions in matters like politics and
economics are understandable. But it is surprising that such differences
of opinion and approach exist in the spiritual field also, even though
the seekers have one common end as their aim, viz., the realisation
of the Supreme Being. What could these differences be due to? One reason
advanced is that different facets of the Ultimate Truth are presented
to different seekers. Suppose a pillar is made of gold and silver—gold
on one side and silver on the other. Viewed from one side the pillar
appears to be nothing but silver, and viewed from the other, it appears
to be only gold. The second explanation given is that different people
have got different capacities of grasping or understanding. Each one
is able to grasp according to his capacity. So there are differences
in the method of approach, like absolute monism, qualified monism, etc.,
to suit different men of different capacities. Therefore, there are
no inconsistencies in the scriptures and they deserve our faith in them.
Even with a grain or a mustard of faith you can do what is seemingly
impossible.
Where is the need for faith? Cannot man use his intellect and know
things? No, because of the limitations of the mental process (Antahkarana).
Great people both in the East and the West, after having experienced
the Highest, have stressed the need for faith, and they could not have
made a misstatement, for they had no purpose to do so. In all our experiences
of external objects, there is the person who experiences, the process
of experience and object experienced. Without these triune factors one
cannot live. Every moment of one’s life they are present. These
triple factors have to be annihilated for attaining the Supreme Experience.
Triputi Laya has to be achieved. And then Consciousness alone remains.
The Supreme Experience alone is present.
The nature of the Supreme is existence. This can be illustrated by
an example. You go to a jungle and see a tree there. The tree is. Suppose
a wood-cutter cuts the tree; it is then called ‘log’. Though
the tree has changed its form and name, its existence has not disappeared.
It exists in the name and form of the log. If the log is then made into
planks of wood, then the log is not there, but the planks of wood are,
or each plank of wood is, there. The existence aspect continues. Suppose
these planks are converted into tables or chairs; then the planks are
not there, but still the tables and chairs are there. If after some
years the tables and chairs become useless and are reduced to pieces
of wood, then the tables and chairs are not there. If these pieces of
wood are burnt, then the ashes remain. The wood now exists as the ashes.
And if the ashes are also annihilated, according to the scientists,
they still remain as atoms. Thus existence continues. The ultimate Truth
is Existence, Eternity.
But, we are not able to experience the Truth with our senses and the
mind, for they are limited in their scope. One sees an object at night
as long as there is light. But if the light is put off, in spite of
his having his eyes opened he cannot see anything. So, the eyes depend
on an external object for seeing, viz., the light. But suppose there
is too much light. The eyes cannot see. The eyes will be dazzled or
even perpetually blinded by excessive light, as for instance, of an
arc-light. Again if a curtain hides an object, the eyes cannot perceive
it. If a crystal-clear glass tumbler is filled with pure water, from
a distance it cannot be said whether it contains water or not. If you
are affected with cold, you cannot smell an object. You cannot hear
a very low sound, and a powerful sound may deafen your ears. When you
are absorbed in some thought, you cannot hear the external noises. However
delicious it may be, a third or fourth cup of milk ceases to be delicious.
If the milk was really delicious it must have been delicious always.
Then, how is it that a fourth cup of milk is not delicious, and a fifth
cup causes vomiting? So, our senses are limited in their scope. We cannot
have uniformity of experience through the senses. You cannot remember
what all dishes you took yesterday. You cannot remember the past nor
can you foretell the future. However intellectual one may be, when something
goes wrong with his brain, he has to consult a psychiatrist or go to
an asylum. One dose of opium is sufficient to make him lose his consciousness.
Such are the limitations of intellect and senses. Further, jealousy,
anger, prejudice, depression—all these cloud man’s vision.
If a man is cheerful, everything is beautiful to him. Otherwise, everything
is ugly to him. If a man is filled with hatred, everybody becomes an
enemy to him. If his mind is filled with love, everybody becomes his
friend. Thus knowledge derived through the mind can never be dependable.
Our great master-minds have tried to show that anything that we try
to perceive is only appearance of a thing, and not the essence of a
thing. Take for instance, a piece of cloth. You say it is a piece of
cloth. Suppose you remove its warp and woof. You remove all the threads.
It is no more the cloth that it was formerly. It is now called a heap
of threads. Again it can be reduced to cotton, and cotton again to atoms.
So in reality we are wearing only atoms!
Then, are the senses and intellect not useful at all? They are useful,
of course, but to a certain extent. Up to a certain stage intellect
is useful, but when that stage is reached, the intellect is no longer
useful. It is an obstacle thereafter. It should be dispensed with. Even
in Vedanta, which is mainly a process of constant enquiry and analysis,
the intellect has to be avoided when one reaches the point of meditation,
of drawing the mind inward. Master-minds knew that mind was not the
essential part of man, and so they gave a kick to the mind and intellect
and boldly took a leap into the Unknown. They had direct experience
of the Truth and enjoyed the Supreme Bliss which they wanted to share
with others. So they said, “Come ye, O seekers, we will show you
the way to eternal beatitude, where there is perennial bliss and lasting
peace.” So to believe in their words is not blind faith.
Faith is Spirit responding to the Spirit. The ultimate essence in man
responds to the Infinite. Faith does not spring from the mind and senses.
Faith is the nature of the innermost Being of man. Faith is a power.
It is a great primal power which elevates man and lifts him to the transcendental
experience.
The giant intellect, Sri Sankara, himself has laid down ‘Sraddha’
(faith) as one of the sixfold virtues in Sadhana Chatushtaya which
consists of Viveka (discrimination), Vairagya (dispassion), Shadsampat
(Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha, Sraddha and Samadhana) and Mumukshutva
(intense longing for Liberation). If everything could be understood
by analysis and enquiry, then why did he stipulate ‘Sraddha’?
Without faith, an aspirant cannot practise even Sravana (hearing). If
he has no faith in the teacher, if he doubts that what his teacher says
may be incorrect, how can he learn anything at all? Even in our daily
life, faith is indispensable. Somebody cooks food and we take that food.
We do not doubt that the cook might have put some poison in the food.
We go to a doctor for medicine and take the medicine that he gives,
without doubting that what he gives might be poison. In the spiritual
realms also, the same is the case. There have been sages who have plumbed
the depth of Truth and given out their experiences. We repose faith
in the words of persons who say that they have visited the moon. Similarly
it is reasonable to repose faith in the words of those who have seen
the Truth because they say: “We have experienced the Truth, so
you can also experience the Truth, provided you do what we have done
in order to experience the Truth. Experiment for yourself and then see
whether you attain the same result or not.” The sages give us assurance
that we can also experience the Highest Truth by following the proper
self-analysis.
Saint Tulasidas says that faith is like the handmaid of a queen. If
anyone wants to see the queen, he cannot be led by the servants of the
palace to the innermost chamber in which the queen is. Only upto the
gateway to the innermost chamber others can lead a visitor. Thereafter,
one of the handmaids of the queen alone can take the visitor to the
queen. All our reasoning, theoretical knowledge, etc., will take us
only upto a certain stage. Beyond that they cannot help us, but only
faith can help us in attaining the Supreme Experience. Faith is necessary
for all aspirants, be they Raja Yogins, Bhakti Yogins or Jnana Yogins.
May God bless you all with supreme faith to experience the Bliss.
Life is precious. Life is valuable. Do not think that life is all misery,
or all frustration, or all disappointment or all disillusionment. No.
Amidst all these passing phases of life the great and glorious fact
ever remains—that life ever beckons us to a high destiny, to a
destiny that is no less than attaining our eternal abode. Attaining
the experience of Supreme Bliss in God is our birthright.
God is the only Reality. God exists and He is the One Reality. He is
the very centre of our life and He is the most important concern in
our life. We have no other concern as vitally important and so very
absolutely indispensable for our very existence, our happiness, our
peace, our ultimate well-being as God is. He is our Goal.
It is not to get stuck in this earth-plane through which we are passing
on our way towards Him, but to make use of this earth-life to rise into
the blessedness of blissful divine communion with Him—the indescribable
experience of being one with Him, partaking of the sweetness of His
essential blissful nature. That is the great task. That is the great
business of life. That is the one great thing to be achieved in the
midst of innumerable little things. All these little things ever keep
changing, ever keep shifting and ever pass away, but this great business
of life starts with the cradle and it is not completed in the grave.
No. It is completed only when we attain Him, no matter how many bodies
we may have to take, that is the great business, the central business
amidst the passing distractions of our life here.
The present state of consciousness is a product of ignorance. Birth,
death, pain, sorrow and suffering are all due to ignorance, or the lack
of knowledge of one’s own essential Divine nature. This confined
personal identity is ignorance or egoism. This ego-consciousness of
‘I am a human being’, ‘I am a weak being’, ‘I
am full of defects and imperfections’ is the basic ignorance and
the prolific root of all sorrow, of all misery. Out of this springs
desire. Desire is born of ignorance. Likes and dislikes are born of
ignorance. Clinging to mundane life is due to ignorance, and the non-perception
of your eternal life in the Spirit, of your great destiny of perennial
life in God—Bliss Infinite—forever, is also due to ignorance.
Identification with the body is the great error of man on earth. Mistaking
this impure, inert and perishable body for the pure, immortal Atman
or Soul, is truly the great malady of this Samsaric life. Egoism, likes
and dislikes, desires, cravings and thoughts are all modifications of
this prime error only. From this prime error are created all sorts of
desires and their ramifications. To realise the objects of desire, the
human being does Karma or actions. He likes some things, dislikes others,
expect fruits of his actions which are not what he expected them to
be, and is, therefore, thus bound to the wheel of birth and death.
Attain supreme divine wisdom, or the knowledge of the Great Reality,
the wisdom of your own Supreme Self, and pain, sorrow and suffering
will cease. You will attain Bliss immortal, everlasting Peace and Perennial
Joy. You will be freed once and for all from birth and death. Discrimination,
dispassion, non-attachment, serenity, self-restraint, endurance, renunciation,
faith and devotion, cosmic love, courage, humility, truthfulness, compassion,
concentration and meditation; and burning longing for liberation are
all aids for Self-realisation, or the attainment of Brahma-Jnana (i.e.
knowledge of the Supreme, knowledge of the Eternal One).
God is Self-existent. He does not depend upon others for His existence.
He is what is called Svayam Prakasa, Svayam Jyoti. He is Self-luminous.
He does not want any other light to reveal Him. He is the Light of Grace.
God is self-proved. He does not want any proof. You do not want any
proof to know that you exist. You do not require another person to come
to you and establish the fact of your existence. Your existence to you
is self-proven but it cannot be demonstrated outside yourself. You are,
therefore you are. God does not want proof, because He is the basis
for all existence. All existence is made possible because He exists.
You are because He is. Because God is, it is possible for you to be.
He is that principle of Pure Existence or Pure Being within you. He,
Himself, is the basis for all the proof. He is Self-contained. He contains
everything within Himself—the entire universe is in Him. He knows
Himself by Himself.
There is a great deal of quibbling nowadays about God not being personal,
or being personal, and so on. Who are we to say that He should be thus
and not thus? A human being cannot dictate to God how He should be and
how He must not be. We should not quibble about all those things. It
is unnecessary. Personal or impersonal—what is all that to us?
To us He is personal. He may be impersonal to philosophers, to metaphysical
speculators. We are not in any way concerned with them. To us seekers,
to each one of us, He is intensely personal. He is close to us.
We cannot even know what is going on inside of ourselves. We do not
know how food is being digested. We do not know how blood courses through
the minutest capillary. We do not know how a bud opens to become a blossom.
And yet we would claim to know all about the nature of God and dictate
to Him how He should be. Ours is to love Him. Ours is to seek to know
Him. Ours is to approach Him. Ours is to live to get close to Him, experience
Him and enter into His very essence. That is the great goal. That is
the one thing that is worth doing.
Let us not talk about His nature. It is enough to know that He is inexpressible
sweetness—He is inexpressible sweetness—He is Bliss which
even the farthest reach of your imagination is powerless to comprehend
or conceive of. He is Bliss—He is Peace. He is wondrous Peace.
Be still and feel that Peace.
All Peace springs from Him. The highest Bliss that a human being can
think of is but a faint reflection of the illimitable. He is Bliss.
He is the marvellous Beauty of beauties, and the Radiant Light of lights.
He is the Eternal, Infinite Light—the Unchanging One. Peace, Bliss,
Radiance, Light, Eternal Being, Existence—all that He is. He is
Supreme Perfection. And more than all these—more than anything
else, He is our very own. He is your very own. Your relation to all
things upon earth has to end.
Enough of argument. Let us have no discussion—no arguments. Let
us just know God is our own and God is here and now. Time is fleeting.
Life is very short. We have to cut the knot of ignorance and experience
the Bliss of God. We are here for it and great Masters, like Swami Sivananda,
and many other Masters of both West and East, live in order to bring
you to that Fountain Source. They live in order to make the Sun of Knowledge,
the Sun of Wisdom arise in the firmament of your consciousness. They
live in order to lead you on to that great and glorious destiny. So
develop a heart of love. Remember the Saints. Serve all. See God in
all. That Inner Being alone is real. He is Blissful. We should directly
find our way to Him somehow or other through this imperfect, unsatisfactory
life on earth. Discipline the senses—discipline the eye—discipline
the tongue. Take little food, control your sense of taste, reduce your
sleep, and fill yourself with the thought of God. Fill yourself with
Love.
Overcome all your little dislikes and prejudices and disunities and
make yourself a reservoir of love, oneness, unity and good-will to all.
See no difference of race or religion or caste or creed, or barrier
of any sort. Embrace the whole universe in the arms of your cosmic love.
Remove selfishness, control anger, develop virtues. Do something substantial
while life is, while breath is in the body, and somehow pray, get His
Grace, and quickly finish this journey here and reach the heavens of
eternal delight in Him. Then alone life is fulfilled.
May God bless you!
Dharma is duty, righteousness, a life of virtue, in the fulfilment
of ethical standard in life. Dharma supports life. He who supports Dharma
is supported by Dharma. When you follow a life of virtue it brings you
face to face with God. Dharma leads to immortal bliss. Where there is
Dharma there is success, there is joy and peace. Dharma is a very unique
concept. It is the ideal—the life of idealism—that which ought
to be, things as they ought to be, not things merely as they are and
it is based upon sound science—not physical science, not material
science but upon spiritual science. No one wants to be unhappy. Everyone
wants to be happy. No one wants restlessness, fear, peacelessness, anxiety
or worry. All want the experience of happiness. Everyone seeks peace.
But very seldom people realise the absolute inseparable nature of these
two factors. Very few people know or recognise that there is an inexplicable
connection between these two factors. What is that connection? Happiness
entirely depends upon peace. Peace is the cause of happiness. Without
peace you cannot have happiness. Peace comes first. Happiness is its
spontaneous result. When incense is burnt fragrance is felt. When flower
unfolds fragrance is after it too. Happiness is the result of peace.
You cannot have happiness without peace—inner peace, peace of mind.
You can have peace without happiness because when you are perfectly
in a state of peace you wouldn’t think of happiness. Happiness
or unhappiness will have no meaning to you, because peace in the ultimate
analysis means supreme bliss. When you have a potful of honey you won’t
care for sweetness. So happiness becomes superfluous if you have true
peace because the very essence of happiness is already in peace, just
as in honey the very essence of sweetness is there. So, those who know
say: “Peace is the supreme goal”—Supreme peace, not merely
the absence of noise or absence of clash but a positive state of experience,
where even if there is noise and clash yet the peace is there that nothing
can touch, nothing can distort or destroy. Therefore, they call it an
extraordinary unique peace—a peace that cannot be understood by
human beings, peace that passeth understanding. That peace can be there
in the midst of trouble tribulation, disappointment or vexations. People
may hate you, all friends may abandon you, they may call you names,
even persecute you, but yet you will be full of peace. This is the peculiar
extraordinary peace that comes when you experience the deepest Self
within because it is a peace that nothing can touch. It is that peace
that some of the martyrs had. They said, “Our Father forgive them
for they know not what they do.” And they were able to pray for
those who were about to destroy them, because they were at peace with
themselves and the Supreme. That peace passeth understanding. It is
something which no power in the universe can affect, can change, can
alter or can take away even one little bit, because it is the only Reality.
It is a positive powerful state of experience—peace—and when
that peace is there you are the Emperor of emperors. A billionaire is
nothing for you. All the wealth of the whole universe is as dust before
you if you have that peace. That peace is the goal—Liberation;
Nirvana, Illumination, Moksha, Transcendental experience. They all mean
nothing but this great peace.
There is cessation of all desires—all delusion—no more restlessness,
no more hankering, no more craving. You are full. You are in a state
of overflowing divinity—peace. Supreme reality is profound peace
and that peace is the supreme joy. It is the Bliss-absolute of the Upanishads—That
is Brahman, that is the thing-in-itself. That is the supreme Tao which
cannot be described, attaining which there is nothing higher to be obtained.
One is in a state which nothing can equal and which is unvalued. That
is possible only in a mind devoid of restlessness. Where there is restlessness
of the mind due to desire, thoughts endless, ambitions, peculiar delusions,
in that restless mind peace is far off. If you think: “Let me satisfy
this desire, then I think I will have a little peace,” you are
the greatest deluded being. There is no greater delusion. Satisfaction
of desire will have only one result. It will intensify that desire,
because desire is an extraordinary peculiar mysterious force of Maya.
Desire is not subdued by satisfying it. Desire is subdued by transcending
it, by overcoming it and by sublimating it into a higher channel. If
you think every desire that arises in the heart spontaneously: “Let
me satisfy it,” you are making a sad mistake. You are not walking
in light. You will soon find to your bitter cost that you have got yourself
in an endless chain. Flowing along the stream is not the answer to the
question. It is not the solution to this problem of desire. Flowing
along the stream soon you will meet whirling begird. Only strength of
self-control can help you to come out of this. You have to assert your
higher nature. Giving way to the lower nature anyone can do. The jails
of this world are filled with people who give way to their lower nature.
It is nothing—it takes nothing. When desire arises immediately
go into it. But man is not chaos. Man is made in the image of God.
Desire is a disease of the mind. Desire is a curse of the psyche. It
is the pain of the deluded ego, false human personality, human individuality.
Desire is Maya and Maya is desire. This desire has to be overcome. This
is the whole of Yoga, whole of philosophy, whole of all the teachings
of all the saints and seers. Overcome it. Be a hero and overcome this
formidable enemy of desire. It is a formidable enemy. It requires exceptional
strength. Avoid them even if you have to destroy it. To give in to desire
is weakness. Therefore overcome it. Let us stop. That is Yoga. That
is spirituality. That is inner strength. That is individuality, true
reality. You are asserting yourself. When the mind asserts itself, or
senses assert themselves, or desires assert themselves, or the delusion
of the intellect asserts itself, you are not asserting yourself. You
are falling into a trap. You are distinct from that, absolutely different
from that. Our beloved Gurudev chants: “You are not this body,
not this mind, immortal Atman you are.” Day and night base yourself
upon this great truth. Base yourself upon this awareness. Never move
even a hair’s breadth away from this awareness, the central spiritual
awareness. Ever be on the alert. Don’t fall in the trap of the
senses, the mind and the intellect. You cannot afford because desire
is the outcome of a mixture of Rajas and Tamas, and as long as desire
dominates your mind, senses take you like a puppet on the end of string.
So, you can never have peace of mind because mind will be filled with
Tamasic and Rajasic qualities.
Therefore, understand this law and true peace can only come into a
mind that is at peace with itself, that has become refined and subtle,
that has been wiped clean of the Tamasic and Rajasic qualities,—the
desirous nature, the sense-nature. Where there is presence of Sattva
there is purity of mind. When the mind becomes subtle and refined peace
comes. In that peace happiness or the supreme reality begins to ascend.
Dharma lays down the pattern of life—a life of self-control, a
life of discipline, a life of discrimination and renunciation, a life
of the practice of virtues, of moderation, simplicity, self-restraint,
purity and dispassion. That is the essence of Dharma and that is why
Dharma becomes the spirit of life and the means for attaining God-realisation.
Meditation is the ultimate process when one has laid the foundation
of spiritual life, when one has overcome the constant pull of the senses
and has become the master of one’s senses, when one through true
discrimination and true inquiry, has realised the absolute hollowness
of all that is pursued, and therefore has overcome the natural tendencies
of the mind, towards appearances and has succeeded in turning away completely
from the desire for names and forms and attachment to objects and experiences,
when one has learned the techniques of withdrawing the mind from the
outer appearances, and when one has cultivated and created within a
state of quiescence, balance and equipoise. In that condition of being
firmly grounded in virtue, that condition of perfect sense-control and
self-restraint, in that condition of conquest of desires and the mastery
of one’s passions, in that condition of enlightenment, in that
condition of inner stability and equipoise, one begins to gather oneself
and move towards the concept or idea of what you feel of the Reality
as opposed to appearances. This—the ingathering of the totality
of your being and the centralising of this ingathered power in one specific
self-chosen direction—is the object of your meditation, and the
keeping up of a continued and unbroken movement of the ingathered totality
in that particular direction, of your entire being. Thus ingathered
and directed, when continued unbroken movement succeeds, you are in
a state of meditation.
So it is the successful movement, continuously, in a self-chosen direction
of the totality of your being, ingathered in a unity—a unified
whole—that is called meditation. All other things are individual
private notions of meditation. All other things are only what you think
to be meditation. They are not meditations. Meditation requires the
being perfectly grounded in virtue. Virtue means certain spiritual qualities
which are absolutely indispensable prerequisites for the interior life
of meditation, without which meditation is impossible. There are certain
spiritual qualities, which are the building blocks for the structure,
which ultimately attain the pinnacle of meditation. Meditation is, as
it were, the point of the pyramid, and that point of the pyramid cannot
be created in air. It is created from the broad base on hard earth.
The structure goes on and on and then you attain that point where there
is that one stone—that is meditation. And, therefore, it is a process
which is grounded in virtue. Virtue means spiritual qualities and why
those spiritual qualities are insisted upon is very simple to understand.
Because they are the qualities which keep out of your nature forces
that are the direct antithesis of the Divine experience—factors
which are direct contradictions of the spiritual experience. As long
as they are there, it is not possible to rise in spiritual experience.
You cannot be wet and dry at the same moment. And in order to put out
those factors there is only one way. That is, you have to create a strong
positive movement within yourself and then they are no more. They cannot
remain, because they are merely the negations of certain positive forces.
They have no separate or independent identity by themselves. So to overcome
them, certain positive factors have to be created in you. These positive
factors are called virtues for want of a better term. They are spiritual
qualities which are essential in order to keep out of your nature those
factors that are directly contradictory and the antithesis of the experience
which you are trying to attain.
Based upon that, meditation is an interior process. The senses always
have as their main task the keeping of your entire psyche in an exteriorised
condition. That is the very nature of the senses, and unless you know
how to control your senses, the psyche can never be ingathered. The
ingathering of your psyche is absolutely indispensable and necessary
for meditation. So, control of senses comes as the next preliminary
condition. But if the psyche is in a constant state of efflorescence
within, then even in spite of having success in making it ingathered,
you cannot initiate this process, which requires a certain degree of
stillness. Therefore, next comes the calming of the mind, its desires,
the passions, the various ambitions, the constant attachments and the
cravings that keep the mind always in a state of flux and ferment. They
have to be overcome, and this does not come in a day. This is a process
that takes time. This process of attaining a certain extent of absolute
quiescence of this mind takes many years. Even if it takes years, it
is worthwhile. Spiritual life cannot be in the presence of impatience.
It cannot be done in the presence of haste. The eagerness must be there,
tremendous eagerness—tremendous enthusiasm—, and at the same
time it should be accompanied by patience. So, this state of quiescence
can come about only if you are able to cast out of your mind miscellaneous
desires, attachments, overwhelming ambitions, plans and schemes and
what not. All these things have to give place to a unified aspiration.
The mind wants only one thing. In that it should not want anything else.
Total elimination of wants is impossible. Hunger, the desire for food
and drink, desire for clothing and other desires by their very immediacy
in your life are so very demanding and you cannot get rid of them. A
father will have plans for his child, but all miscellaneous desires
have to be completely out along with all ambitions and planning, and
there should be unified aspiration, meaning that, by and large, the
maximum predominant emphasis in your mind will be upon that ultimate
goal. The mind is relatively unified, even though there may be in its
periphery some of these unavoidable desires of the immediate life you
are living. Mainly, it will be unified, and when it is thus unified,
all dispersal will go. There will be no other ambitions, no other desires,
no other attachments, no other passions and cravings. The mind will
be totally in a state of ingatheredness and unity. We call it in Sanskrit
Ekagrata.
Ekagrata means attainment of a state of one-pointedness. This mind
alone, which has now been rendered subtle by giving up gross sensual
experience, by totally eliminating the gross sensual desires, and by
renunciation, attains a state of purity. See, mind is also matter. It
is very subtle matter compared to physical matter. Compared to the Spirit
it is also matter. When it is filled with earthly tendencies, passions
and greeds, it is full of Tamas and Rajas, i.e., it is very close to
the presence of the quality of inertia and becomes still more gross
due to the presence of the quality of restlessness, selfish desires
and activities. When these have been transcended and to a certain extent
mastered, then mind attains a state of purity and subtleness. Both these
are interchangeable. And in that state of subtle purity, mind assumes
an upward direction. Until this state of subtle purity comes into the
mind, mind cannot assume an upward direction. It is always horizontal
in its dynamics.
It assumes a state of upward direction only when it attains a state
of subtlety and purity. Such a mind, rendered pure, rendered subtle
by absolute purity and virtue, sense-control and elimination of desires
and passions, only becomes the instrument which can think of the Atman—the
Reality. Otherwise normal gross mind has not the state in which it can
think of the Atman—the Truth or the Reality. It only gets the capability
of thinking about the Atman when it is thus rendered subtle and pure.
That mind should be engaged in meditation. Unless you acquire that mind,
you cannot engage in meditation. Thinking that you are meditating is
only a thought in your mind.
You may be sitting straight and you may be thinking that you are meditating.
You are doing something with the mind but it is not meditation. Meditation
requires a different mind. The outgoing mind, the objectifying mind,
the mind with desires and ambitions, this mind cannot be really meditating.
Yes, it may be trying to concentrate and do some exercises and going
through valuable training, a valuable process of discipline. This is
not completely useless. It will always prepare the mind in a certain
way, but ultimately this total transformation in your interior, by bringing
the mind into that state of subtleness and purity, is absolutely necessary
to initiate the process of meditation inside, because that is the instrument.
A subtle, pure mind, completely still and calm and totally inward,—that
is the instrument for meditation. With that mind alone one can really
meditate.
Adorations to the land of the sublime Himalayas and the Holy Ganga
and the Yamuna. Salutations to our Guru Maharaj Sri Swami Sivanandaji,
who taught us to adore India, her philosophy and her religion, her lofty
culture, her ideals and her Dharma, and who showed us enduring greatness
of her wisdom wealth, and that her very soil is sacred and that her
very atmosphere is spiritual.
A land or a country or a nation is more than its mere geographical
features or its economic resources. It is more than the people who live
in the land. It is the way of life evolved by the people, who have lived
in it over the bygone centuries, that really constitutes a nation—the
idea that they have evolved and the goal for which they have as a whole
lived and toiled. The present is a product of the past and the tomorrow
is what we make of the today at hand. India today and tomorrow has to
be a fulfilment of the India of numerous yesterdays that have gone down
the corridor of many, many centuries, through countless generations.
There is a divine plan for humanity in this world. There is common
evolution of mankind. Each nation has to offer some specific contribution
towards this common evolution. The spirit of sharing and the self-offering
of one’s own wealth in the form of one’s own culture for the
common benefit of the universal weal and the universal collective progress
of mankind as a whole, is the principle upon which God’s plan unfolds.
This spirit of sharing is to be recognised more and more. This spirit
of sharing and common responsibility of all nations and of all races
towards the collective overall progress of evolution of the human race
upon earth, is referred to as the spirit of Yajna and Dana. Dana means
what you give of yourself unto others. Yajna means what you sacrifice
as part of your service unto mankind and to the world as a whole.
People of this great country—India, the land of great Gurus, the
Sikh Gurus, the land of Kabir, the land of Rama, the land of Ramakrishna
and of Swami Vivekananda—must ever be conscious of this great heritage
which they have inherited at this present day, if they have to fulfil
this principle of Yajna, the common responsibility of all nations towards
the evolution of mankind towards an ideal state of being here upon earth.
The great land of India is not so much the land that has devoted its
attention for countless centuries for the evolution of merely a materialistic
way of life, but the land that has the sense of spiritual value—the
ultimate value in terms of man as the child of God.
Blessed children of Bharatavarsha, you are here as pilgrims passing
through this earth plane. Therefore, life here is not an end by itself
but a means to a higher end. Life has been given as a great opportunity,
a golden chance to attain that higher end—the recognition of your
eternal relationship with God, the Divine Spirit. You are ever related
in your deepest and in your inmost essential nature with the Supreme
Divine Consciousness which religions call God or Bhagavan or Paramatman
or Allah. You are the children of that great Divine Principle. There
is but one world. The world is one. God is one, no matter what name
you call Him. Humanity is one and in this great family of humanity each
one of us has to lovingly recognise our oneness with the rest of mankind
through this common relationship with God who is our source, our root,
our support and our ultimate goal.
We address God: “Tvameva Mata, Tvameva Pita”—"Thou
art my Mother, Thou art my Father." Does it not mean that you are
His child? Therefore, you are essentially divine. As the Father and
the Mother, God is divine, imperishable, eternal, ever perfect, Satchidananda.
Then you, His children, are also imperishable divine spirit. This is
the essence of the culture of this great land of India. The essence
of India’s culture is a message to all her children and to all
mankind: “O man! You are essentially Divine. You are not this perishable
body. You are not this impure and restless mind. You are ever-pure and
ever-peaceful spirit. Santi is your name. Santi is your nature. You
are not this little finite intellect, sometimes reasoning clearly, sometimes
full of error and confusion, for you are the infinite ever-perfect Atman.”
This is the central message of India and life here must be lived in
this awareness. You should live to manifest your sublime higher nature,
your Spiritual Consciousness. You must live to manifest this purity,
this love, this goodness, this perfection that is already within you
as your changeless, eternal nature.
O man! You are divine but you have forgotten your essential nature.
You have been overcome by your senses and have totally mistaken your
identity which is absolutely foreign to your real nature and which wrecks
the very essence of your being. You are God yet bound in this physical
existence. You have forgotten your real glorious nature. Essentially
you are a divine ray of light, purity, bliss, wisdom, with the consciousness
of God; but you have now become a slave of your senses. All thoughts
spring from your identification with this petty personality which is
not your real Self. Therefore, wake up. Understand your real nature
and strive to rediscover yourself that you are Divine.
All Bliss and Joy lie within you. You are yourself all Bliss, all Happiness,
immeasurable Peace and all Perfection. This is your very nature. Your
innermost being—your true self—is essentially ineffable Bliss
and Peace. The recovery of this living awareness of Bliss is the great
task. It is the great purpose of life.
Manifest Divinity in your nature. You are not to manifest the body-nature
or the mind-nature. You must manifest the God-nature, the spiritual
nature. Learn the art of awakening this still, innermost, spiritual
principle within you, unfold it and develop it by conscious effort.
Realise this Divinity. Manifest this Divinity gloriously. Let your
life be a great radiation of truth, beauty, goodness, purity, the spirit
of service, the spirit of the oneness of all mankind. Recognise that,
in God, you are at one with all humanity. They are all your brethren.
They are one with you and therefore their joys and sorrows, their successes
and failures, their happiness and unhappiness, you must feel as your
own.
May you all attain this Supreme Goal in this very life. Attainment
of Perfection is the supreme ideal of man in Bharatavarsha. This is
the real India.
Sri Ganesa is known in South India specially as Siddhi Vinayaka, the
Siddhi-Data or one who gives perfection or success in all things.
Under the auspices of this Holy Vinayaka-Puja day we offer our adorations
to this great Lord who is worshipped at the beginning of all works and
all functions.
People know all about the traditional story of Lord Ganesa. We shall
here try to see if there is any special point about this deity, by a
study of which we may be able to gain something special and receive
some benefit which is above the ordinary.
Lord Ganesa has traditionally a very peculiar form and many people
have tried to interpret this Rupa (form) in their own esoteric way.
We shall not so much concern ourselves about the esoteric significance
of the form of Ganesa, but we shall try to study some of the incidents
in connection with the Deity, which are filled with very precious lessons
to us, specially of an important spiritual nature.
First of all, we must know that we owe an eternal debt of gratitude
to Lord Ganesa for a signal service He has rendered to us. This fact
is mostly forgotten by us. It is this. The greatest Dharmagrantha of
Bharatavarsha—the Mahabharata—was specially composed by Veda-Vyasa
in order to bring all the knowledge of Dharma—morality, ethics
and righteous living—to one and all. He gave this great scripture
containing everything that may possibly be necessary for man to know
about Dharma. Thus, it is a great treasure-house of all knowledge. The
Santi Parva especially contains the very mine of wisdom. It is said
that whatever worth knowing there is in all the great scriptures of
the world is contained in the Mahabharata; and what is not contained
in the Mahabharata is not contained anywhere else. It is due to the
grace of Lord Ganesa that we have got that scripture today. No one was
able to take down the outpourings of Vyasa during his inspired moments.
It was the task of Ganesa to sit and take down the dictation of Vyasa.
Though the author is Vyasa, the actual writer of Mahabharata is Sri
Ganesa, who did it as a pure labour of love in order that He may bless
us with the wealth of Dharmic wisdom.
Recognising Him thus, as the very fountain-head of the spirit of Dharma
in Bharatavarsha, let us proceed to study two wonderful incidents in
connection with Sri Ganesa, which reveal to us the very essence of the
highest Truth, the Brahma-Vidya. It is said that, together with other
adornments Lord Ganesa possesses a priceless necklace of gems. The story
behind this necklace is that one day when Lord Siva, Parvati, Ganesa
and Karttikeya were altogether, there arose a desire in the mind of
the Divine Mother to test the individual calibre and knowledge of Her
two great divine sons. Therefore, she held out the necklace she was
then wearing and said: “Here is this necklace. He who will go round
the entire universe once and reach me first—to him will I give
this necklace of gems.” Immediately, Karttikeya thought that it
was as good as His, because He knew that with His ponderous girth it
would be very difficult for Lord Ganesa to go round the universe. Karttikeya
Himself had a very fast vehicle, the Peacock, which would take Him quickly
round the universe. Immediately, He was off on the Peacock. But, Vinayaka
was not the least perturbed. He sat before His Parents for a long time.
When He thought that it would be time for Karttikeya to return, He went
round in Pradakshina (perambulation) of Siva and Parvati once and prostrated
Himself before His Mother and held out His hand. Devi Parvati at once
divined the depth of wisdom which had made Him do this. She saw at once
that His intuition was such that He beheld the entire universe as made
up of nothing else but Siva-Sakti. He beheld that they (Siva and Sakti)
were immanent in all things and within them they contained the entire
universe. Thus He got the necklace, and when Karttikeya returned after
His strenuous circumambulation, what He found was that the prize had
already been given to Ganesa. This is a small story, but it contains
within it the highest wisdom that the Upanishads give, viz., Sarvam
Khalvidam Brahma, whatever is, is none other than the Almighty Being.
It is this Almighty Being that has projected Itself as the entire universe.
So, if we adore the Almighty we adore the entire universe.
Lord Ganesa is an Akhanda Brahmachari. He has no consort. There is
also a story of deep significance behind this vow of celibacy. It is
said that once, when He was a small child, Ganesa in a mood of playfulness
beat a cat and injured it rather severely. He did not know what this
ultimately implied. Later, after the play was over, He happened to draw
near to His Divine Mother Parvati and He found marks of severe injury
upon the person of the Divine Mother. The child was shocked and queried
His Mother: “What is this? Who inflicted these injuries on you?”
The Mother replied: “Just who else, by your own hand.” For
a moment, Lord Ganesa did not understand how this was possible. He said:
“What do you mean, Mother? I have never injured you.” Then
the Mother said: “Try to recall, child, whether during the course
of this day you have inflicted injury upon any creature?” Ganesa
reflected for a while. Immediately He remembered His play with the cat.
“Yes, Mother, after all I beat a little cat; that is all.”
Then the Divine Mother smiled and said: “Can you not understand
that whatever you see, whatever names and forms there are in this universe,
it is only I who have become all these names and forms? There is nothing
else in this universe except Myself, there is nothing in the universe
but your Mother.” This is what Parvati revealed to Ganesa. This
truth entered into the innermost consciousness of this Divine Child
of Hers and He realised the truth of it and then and there He took a
vow that as long as He lived He could never take anyone as His consort
because when He knew that the entire universe of diverse names and forms
is the manifestation of His own Mother, all women became as Mother unto
Him. This is the deep significance behind the story of the celibacy
of Ganesa. This reveals to us the highest secret declared by the Vedas
and Upanishads, in all the Agamas and Sastras, viz., Sarvam Saktimayam
Jagat—whatever is in the universe is but the manifestation
of the dynamic aspect of the Supreme Almighty Self.
Thus, we have in these two incidents in the life of Lord Ganesa, the
very essence of Brahma-Vidya, the highest declaration and revelation
of the Upanishads. viz., Sarvam Brahmamayam, Sarvam Saktimayam.
The absolute identity between the visible universe and the transcendental
Supreme Being, and the fact of the immanence of the Supreme Spirit in
and through all names and forms in this created universe—the two
great truths—are powerfully revealed to us and to all seekers.
Our worship of Lord Ganesa is, as it were, a prayer unto Him to give
us also the great spiritual experience which He had through His Mother.
Therefore, let us pray to the great Lord Siddhi-Vinayaka that, like
Him, we too may receive the grace of the Divine Mother, and like Him,
to us also may be revealed the great truths that whatever is, is but
the Supreme Being and that the Supreme Being Itself has become all this.
In His own form there are some indications valuable to the seeker.
One is the serpent that He ties round His middle. They say that the
serpent is the sign of the ego. Therefore, a complete control over the
ego or Ahamkara is shown by this peculiar ornament of His.
Then we have also the incident in which He is angered at the moon and
He subdues the pride of the moon by throwing His Danta (tusk) at the
moon. This shows us the process of Yoga, viz., the absolute inhibition
or annihilation of all functions of the mind. Moon is the presiding
deity of the mind. It is that particular power that has come out of
the mind of the Cosmic Being. And the absolute subjugation of the moon
represent Mano-Nasa or Mano-Laya.
Thus, the annihilation of the separatist ego-consciousness and the
complete annihilation of the mind are the two secrets of practical Yoga
Sadhana that Sri Ganesa reveals to us through His personality.
The basis of eternal beatitude, life everlasting and the kingdom of
Heaven, the basis of God-realisation, the basis of Samadhi and Superconscious
Self-realisation, the basis of Cosmic Consciousness, the basis of Nirvana,
the basis of all this is right conduct, noble character, virtue, purity,
truth, kindness, compassion, simplicity in life, self-control, humility,
conquest of desires, moderation in all things and refraining from wasting
time, from gossiping, from miscellaneous thoughts, from useless pursuits
and from unspiritual desires. In short, it is a God-oriented life, a
life divinely lived with a character filled with divine qualities and
divine virtues. This is the eternal foundation. This can never be ignored
in spiritual life. One who wants peace and true happiness, must be good
in life, must follow the path of good, for happiness comes out of good
life, the life-pure, the life-virtuous. The life-virtuous may be hard
and unpleasant, may bring upon one great difficulties, sufferings and
much pain, but it will surely confer untold, indescribable and immeasurable
happiness.
Happiness is the power to overcome all pain, suffering, difficulties
and hardships. It is sometimes said that a man, who is seen to be good,
seems to suffer hardships, and a man who is seen not good, seems to
be very happy. This is a curious confusion of thought and failure to
perceive that which is beneath the surface. One who is good may endure
much hardship, but he will be very happy and there will be peace and
joy in his heart. He will bear hardship but will be peaceful and joyous
and sleep well. He will have no fears.
The evil-doer—the one who does not follow the good life—may
apparently have ease and comforts, but he will be restless. He will
be troubled at heart and will have no peace of mind. He will not have
real happiness. Happiness is independent of outward conditions. Troubles
and hardships can co-exist with happiness. This is certain. Comforts,
conveniences and pleasures co-exist with misery, restlessness, a great
deal of inner disturbance, much discontent and dissatisfaction.
The Supreme Law is that, happiness and peace follow in the wake of
Dharma. The eternal law of life is that joy is to him who is virtuous
and peace is to him who is good. Happiness and blessedness come to one
who is virtuous.
Righteousness is the path to supreme blessedness, supreme joy and supreme
peace. This is the truth, the basis of God-realisation—the highest
happiness. Divine bliss and eternal peace, are from goodness in life
and the path of virtue. The way of Divine Life, which leads to the progress
of inner spiritual unfoldment, is the way of selflessness and service,
devotion and worship, withdrawal of the mind from externals, concentration
and meditation. It is the way of ceaseless inquiry—"Who am
I?" and “What am I?”. It is the way of affirming: “I
am not this body, I am not this mind, I am not this intellect, I am
that innermost Being, the Supreme Self, the Atman, nameless, formless,
unborn, undecaying, deathless, Imperishable, eternal One. I am That.
That I am,—Sat-Chid-Ananda am I.”
So, based upon a life of truth, purity and goodness, simplicity and
humility, good conduct and character, self-restraint and freedom from
desires, the life spiritual, having God as the sole goal in the midst
of all activities and duties dutifully done, ever keeping in mind the
great goal, remembering God constantly with love and faith, seeing His
presence in all things and doing all things in a spirit of worship,
progress through selflessness and service, devotion and worship, concentration
and meditation and ceaseless Atmic enquiry, attain the supreme blessed
state of God-consciousness, of Divine experience and Self-realisation.
That state will bestow upon you the experience, the consciousness:
“I am the Supreme, I am the Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman, I am Existence-Consciousness-Bliss-Absolute,
I have no old age, I have no death, I have no restlessness or motion,
I have no fears, I have no sorrows, I am the Immortal One, I am bliss,
I am the peace. That I am in all conditions, whether I am young or old,
male or female, man or woman, weak or strong, tall or short, rich or
poor. It does not matter what condition the body is in, and what condition
the mind is in—depressed or elated. I can neither be depressed
nor elated, for I am the same, I am the One Sat-Chit-Ananda. In all
conditions, therefore, I am Consciousness-Bliss-Absolute. Whether the
body is well or ill, comfortable or uncomfortable, in whatever condition
it is, and whether the mind is satisfied or dissatisfied, whether it
is in an expanded or a contracted condition, I am the Reality in all
conditions, in all places, in times, and under all circumstances. Even
If I am clad in rags, even if I am in the role of unemployment, even
if some disease has affected me, even if society has spurned me, even
if my family has cast me out, and am friendless and have no one to look
after me, yet I am Sat-Chit-Ananda—Existence-Consciousness-Bliss-Absolute.
These outer circumstances cannot touch and tarnish the shining Reality
of my true Self, my essential Being.”
That experience, which triumphs over all things, is the supreme, ultimate,
victorious experience, attaining which one is filled with joy “Anandoham,
Anandoham. Brahma Anandoham—I am bliss, I am bliss, I am Supreme
bliss”—one exclaims. Attaining this, one is victorious over
all circumstances, all situations, all dualities and triumphs over everything.
What is that wonderful experience? Master Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
was very fond of a certain song which he called “The Divine Injection.”
Even a single utterance of this song of Divine Injection immediately
raises you from the gross physical level to the radiant consciousness
of your true nature. It brings back to you remembrance of your ‘birthright’
and inspires you to claim that birthright here and now. That Divine
Injection is the song of your real nature. People used to call it “The
Song of Chidananda”, and urge Gurudev to sing it on all special
occasions when he stood before an audience. He sang it all over India
in 1950 during his all-India tour.
The Song of Chidananda, many of you know. Chidananda is not my name.
It is your real name; my real name also. ‘Chit’ means Consciousness,
and ‘Ananda’ means Bliss. In the Sanskrit language, when the
word ‘Chit’ joins with the word ‘Ananda’ the ‘t’
in Chit becomes ‘d’, and the combined word becomes ‘Chidananda’,
and it means Consciousness-Bliss. You must be able to experience this
and exclaim “I am Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute, without death and old
age, without fear and worry, without bondage, ever-perfect, I am Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.”
Do not think you have already risen to that experience, but always be
aware that this is the goal and it is there in seed form. It is there
in a latent or dormant form slumbering, as it were. Therefore, Awake!
Come! Arise! and move towards this great experience. Do all that is
necessary to unfold the flower that is within. Let the bud that is closed
blossom to make the seed spin up into life and rise up into the tree
of Divine experience. You must work for it.
This realisation is already within you. It is there. It is like a locked
box in which there is a priceless diamond of unparalleled beauty and
the key is not to be found. You have to open the box to possess the
diamond. Even so, this eternal Perfection is dormant within you. You
are That already. Even as I talk and you listen, you are Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.
You are the ever-perfect Atman. You are Sat-Chit-Ananda Consciousness.
That is your true consciousness. The consciousness you feel such as:
“My knee is paining, I have sat for so long, my back is aching,
etc.,” is physical consciousness or body-consciousness.
We have to face facts. We cannot put the cart before the horse. We
cannot avoid issues that have to be dealt with. So Sadhana is indispensable.
Self-realisation comes through Sadhana. What is Sadhana? Sadhana means
right living—living a God-oriented life, living a life where you
start manifesting and expressing That which you are. You are ever-pure
and spotless. Well, express that ever-pure, spotless nature in your
thoughts, words, in the pattern of your desire and inner motives in
your daily life. Practise that, live that, radiate that—that is
Sadhana. You are the Truth, the supreme Reality. Express this Truth.
Root out falsehood from your heart. Become an embodiment of Truth. Be
what you are. Let not your life be a contradiction of what you are.
This is the essential Sadhana. It is the direct path to live a divine
life, to be divine in thought, word and deed.
“Truth is my God” declared Mahatma Gandhi. God is Truth.
Truth is God. He was a great man—a great and heroic figure in the
Pages of Indian history. He gained Darsana of Divinity through Truth.
That is Sadhana. You can also gain it. Attain this great realisation
through a God-oriented life—a life filled with the spiritual quality
in every thing that you do and in every innermost thought. Step by step,
brick by brick, a great structure, an edifice is raised. Spiritual exertion
is joy. The mere living of a life towards the great attainment itself
is glorious. What can you hold as more worthy than the expression of
Divinity? Do not make your life a poor and despicable contradiction
of your true nature. If you go on contradicting your true nature at
every step, who can save you? Who can give you liberation? You are barring
yourself by your own acts and by your own life. You are for ever robbing
yourself of true happiness, true joy, true bliss and peace by contradicting
your own divine nature in your life.
The supreme Sadhana is a life lived divinely where every act, thought
and word is permeated with the divine quality. Through a divinely lived
life, expressing your innermost divinity in all aspects of your life,
attain this divine experience and rejoice. Declare thus with supreme
joy: “Chidananda, Chidananda, Om, I am Existence, Consciousness,
Bliss, in all conditions, I am Bliss-Absolute, Existence-Absolute.”
Strive for this and claim your birthright. No effort is too much. With
joy and hope, patiently work towards this goal. Even when you are working,
do not leave this inner consciousness, and awareness. Assert it at every
moment in all things. Be victorious over circumstances. Be the conqueror
of your mind, the subduer of your desires, and a master of your destiny.
Again I say, you must work for it. You must climb up if you want to
reach the peak, and when once you are on the pinnacle, all labour seems
as mere child’s play. Until then, you must be able to laboriously
climb up, step by step. Hold on to the Awareness and feel that you are
already on the peak, but don’t stop climbing. Climb up and up,
step by step. This is the secret of Sadhana.
May God bless you! May His Grace shower upon you in abundance. May
the spiritual benedictions of the Holy Master Sri Swami Sivanandaji
Maharaj ever follow you all the days of your life and enable you to
successfully live this Divine Life and shine with virtue. May you develop
noble character and walk the path of the good and the pure, the path
of Truth, purity and goodness, and move towards that glorious goal which
awaits you. This is your birthright, which you can claim and experience
in this very body. Do not postpone it. Be up and doing. The prayers
of this servant, will always be with you, that you may arise victorious,
and attain full success in this life. May you abound with the glow of
God-consciousness.
Puranas are sacred scriptures through which the wise seers of ancient
times have tried to give us the precious treasures of wisdom, inspiration
and guidance. They are holy books into which great sages have packed
in deep facts about human life and the secret of success herein and
hereafter. Thus these Puranas, the holy repositories of abundance of
spiritual knowledge, the sacred treasure-house of vast wealth of vital
wisdom of life, have ever exerted a profound influence upon the progress
and development of the glorious culture and civilisation of India. The
Puranas are the framework into which have been filled the knowledge
of the ways and means of conquering man’s lower nature, achieving
integral perfection and attaining the glorious goal of a sublime Divine
Consciousness. All these they have done through the medium of didactic
stories, narratives of deep esoteric significance and symbolism and
rich allegory. Knowing well that basically a Hindu is religious in temperament
and essentially a being of faith, these sages wove the fabric of such
allegory and symbolic narrative around some popular, powerful and permanent
aspect of Divinity or a great and renowned Rishi. This Divine personality
usually forms the central figure of each particular Purana. You have
therefore the Siva Purana, the Vishnu Purana, the Skanda Purana, the
Varaha Purana, the Matsya Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Narada
Purana, etc. An important portion of the Markandeya Purana consists
of the renowned Devi Mahatmya which glorifies Divinity in its aspect
of Sakti or Devi. It is comprised of 700 verses and hence it is also
known as Devi Saptasati. And here you have a brief summary containing
the very essence of this great scripture of Devi Mahatmya.
Suratha, a king of the solar race, has been defeated by his enemies
and forced to flee his capital. He is wandering in exile in a forest.
Here he meets a Vaisya (merchant) named Samadhi who is in a similar
predicament, having lost everything reduced to penury and abandoned
by his own wife and children. Both the king and the merchant are dejected
and their thoughts are constantly going back to their family, possessions
and property, due to attachment. They fall into conversation and are
puzzled as to why their thoughts are again and again dragged towards
and centred upon those very persons, things and places whence so much
sorrow and pain have come upon them. To solve this vexing problem they
approach a sage dwelling in that forest. In answer to their query, the
sage tells them that their minds behave in this manner due to the mysterious
power of Divine Sakti, Maha Maya. The king and the merchant,—Suratha
and Samadhi—are eager to know more about this Divine Sakti, Maha
Maya and Her Lilas and glory; and in answer, the sage narrates Devi
Mahatmya; and the narrative unfolds thus:
Before the dawn of creation, at the commencement of the Kalpa when
Lord Maha Vishnu is reposing upon the bosom of the vast undifferentiated
ocean, two terrible Asuras,—Madhu and Kaitabha,—arise out
of His Cosmic Being. They are terrible. They are dangerous and having
perceived Brahma they set upon him to destroy him. Threatened by these
powerful Asuras and menaced by their malevolent motive, in great fear
Brahma invokes the supreme, indescribable Divine Power, the Primordial
Power, Para Sakti or Adi Sakti and implores Her merciful intervention.
The Divine Mother appears and awakens Lord Narayana from His Cosmic
slumber. The Lord engages Madhu and Kaitabha, the two Asuras, in battle
and destroys them both. Thus ends the first phase of the narrative.
All the gods and the celestials hail the Mother with cries of victory.
Mahishasura, a powerful demon, has overcome all the Devas and has subjugated
them. He is terrorising the three worlds. He is enraged to hear the
Devas crying victory unto the Mother. He thinks that he alone is supreme.
He is arrogant in the extreme. He will tolerate no other being to question
his power. Therefore, he decides to make war upon the Divine Sakti whom
the Devas are hailing. He confronts the Mother with drawn weapons. There
ensues a terrible fight. Bitter is the struggle. Asura fights from all
the elements. He takes fearful forms. But darkness cannot stand before
light. The Divine Power is the Supreme Power. Truth always triumphs.
Victory is to the Supreme Reality. Devi slays the Asura. The Divine
overcomes the undivine. Thus ends the second Phase.
The Divine Mother whose glory shines and dazzles in the three worlds
is seated in the Himalayan region in the form of Saila Putri. At this
time Sumbha and Nisumbha, two powerful Asuras, hold absolute sway over
all the worlds. They have subjugated all the Devas, Yakshas, Gandharvas,
Kinnaras and the like. They have rested and got into their possession
all the best of things like the celestial Airavata, Uchchaisravas, Kamadhenu,
Kalpavriksha and the Chintamani. They are intoxicated with the pride
of their prowess and their conquests. Their desire is insatiable. They
want to possess more and ever more. Two Dutas from the Durbar of the
powerful Asura brothers behold the Divine Mother and decide that She
should come into the possession of their royal masters. They inform
the Asura Sumbha of their find. Sumbha sends at once a royal messenger
to bring Devi to his court. Devi says She can come only to one who conquers
Her in combat. She refuses to go with the messenger. The messenger conveys
the news to Sumbha. He blazes with anger and sends Dhumralochana. Dhumralochana
tries to lay his hands upon Divine Sakti. Devi with a single Humkar
of anger reduces him to ashes. He is consumed in the flames of Devi’s
wrath. Next the Asura, Raktabija, comes to fight. He is an Asura of
extraordinary magical powers. Moreover he is in possession of a boon
by which whenever a drop of his blood falls on the earth immediately
a new Asura springs upon therefrom. So every time the Devi wounds him
and spills the blood, countless powerful Asuras spring anew and fill
the field of battle. Devi invokes Kali, the terrible dark-hued deity.
All-powerful Kali slays the Asura Raktabija, sucking in with Her terrible
outspread tongue the Asura’s blood more quickly than it can flow
out of his wounds. Kali sees that his blood never reaches the earth.
Thus, the Asura Raktabija is destroyed by the Devi. Sumbha and Nisumbha
now confront the Devi. A great battle ensues. Nisumbha is killed and
ultimately Devi with Her trident deals the death blow to Sumbha also.
The undivine forces are thus totally annihilated. The Divine rules supreme.
Vidya has overcome Avidya. Light has conquered darkness. Knowledge shines
with the destruction of ignorance. Joy, bliss and immortality reign
supreme. The Divine Mother shines in glorious triumph. All hail to Maha
Sakti. Glory be to the Mother.
You must cultivate the flowers of Divine virtues in the garden of your
heart. It is from virtue that one rises to holiness, from holiness to
godliness and from godliness to God-experience. From impurity one rises
to purity, from purity to sanctity and from sanctity into sublime spiritual
experience.
The great Sankaracharya, who established the pure monistic philosophy—Kevala
Advaita—in India, in describing the ascent of the individual soul
into the experience of the Absolute said that in this practical path
of Sadhana, three barriers have to be overcome. We are in a state of
grossness because our consciousness is bound up in this form in which
we dwell, the body which we are occupying, residing in. This embodied
state has brought about the state of grossness. Why? Because due to
an inexplicable, mysterious factor, we who reside in this body-house
have become totally identified with it in our consciousness and this
identification has made us feel that we are, ourselves, this body and
this body is ourselves.
No matter how much we may mouth the words: “I am not this body”,
yet the very next instant after so saying, our actual life and behavi
