554
Sharing Teachings from Scriptures of Sanātanaḥ Dharmaḥ and Self Realised Masters. Owner - @Vasudevom #spiritual #sanatandharma #hinduism
Don't depend on death to liberate you from your imperfections. You are exactly the same after death as you were before. Nothing changes; you only give up the body.
If you are thief or liar or a cheater before death. you don't become an angel by dying. If such were possible, then let us all go and jump in the ocean now and become angels at once !
Whatever you have made of yourself thus far, so will you be reincarnate, you will you be hereafter. And when you reincarnate, you will bring the same nature with you.
To change, you have to make the effort. This world is the place to do it.
━━━━━━━━━━
- Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda
━━━━━━━━━━
@guruvaakya
━━━━━━━━━━
Practice of Brahmacharya
✧ ════════ ◈ ════════ ✧
It is the mind that really does all actions. A desire arises in your mind and then you think. Then you proceed to act. The determination of the mind is put into action. First there is Sankalpa or thought and then comes action.
Therefore, do not allow the sexual thoughts to enter the mind. No space is empty at any time. This is the law of nature. If one thing is removed from a place, immediately another comes in to take its place. The same law holds good in the case of the inner mental world also.
Therefore, it is necessary to entertain sublime divine thoughts to replace evil thoughts. As you think, so you become. This is the immutable psychological law. The vicious mind is gradually divinised by entertaining divine thoughts.
✧ ════════ ◈ ════════ ✧
~ Swami Shivananda Saraswati - (Practice of Brahmacharya)
✧ ════════ ◈ ════════ ✧
@guruvaakya
Beautiful words of wisdom
“A mind attached to the world and worldly people suffers a lot. People with inner detachment live in the world like a lotus leaf in water, the water never penetrates the leaves.
Don't mix with people too closely. The desire for companionship is in reality the soul's desire for companionship with God. But the more you seek to satisfy that desire outwardly, the more you will lose of Divine companionship. Friendships that are not rooted in love for God only make men restless and dissatisfied.
Don’t judge your spiritual progress with how many visions you get. What you have to see is how you behave. Have you become less selfish or more selfish ? Is your world still narrow or has it expanded ? Can you feel bad for the child next door or only for your own children ? If it is only for your own children, even monkeys look after their own children. No big deal. But if I also care about or look after my neighbour’s child, then there is some progress.
We cannot run away from the world so we must always watch ourselves very carefully in our dealings with the world. To be able to say truly: I am the world. The world is me. I am at home in the world. The world is my own. Every existence is my existence, every consciousness is my consciousness, every sorrow is my sorrow and every joy is my joy. Living your life with affectionate detachment, enormous goodwill, without expectation of return and constant giving without asking. This is the way to live a Spiritual Life."
~ Paramahaṁsaḥ Prajnananda
--------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Benefits of Japa
• Japa is a marvellous divine soap for the mind.
• Japa gives a nice refreshing, exhilarating spiritual bath.
• It wonderfully washes the subtle body or Linga Sarira or astral body.
• It cleanses it of its various kinds of impurities.
• Japa purifies the heart. Japa steadies the mind.
• Japa destroys the six enemies of mind (lust, anger, greed, arrogance, delusion, and jealousy).
It destroys births and death.
• Japa burns the sins.
• Japa scorches the Samskaras.
• Japa annihilates attachment and induces Vairagya.
• Japa roots out all desires and makes one fearless.
• Japa removes delusion and gives supreme peace.
• Japa develops Prema and unites the devotee with the Lord.
• Japa gives health, wealth, strength and long life.
• Japa brings God-consciousness.
• Japa awakens Kundalini and bestows eternal bliss.
- Santosha (contentment)
- Santi (peace of mind)
- Balance of mind
- Inner spiritual strength
- Absence of irritability of mind are some of the signs of spiritual progress.
These are the fruits of practice of Japa of any Mantra.
When Allopathy, Homeopathy, Chromopathy, Naturopathy, Ayurveda and other ‘pathies’ fail to cure a disease, the Divine Namapathy alone can save you.
~ Swami Shivananda Saraswati
----------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
"What is faith?
Unquestioning surrender to God's will is faith.
Whatever happens is attributed to the working of God.
God is taken as great, good and kind. He is the sole dispenser of all things.
Since all events proceed from a heart ever filled with goodness, love and mercy, there is nothing to grumble at, nothing to find fault with, nothing to grieve over, nothing to be anxious about, and nothing to be afraid of.
All, all is His doing.
He works always for harmony and joy. In the heart of all things and happenings, it is He who exists and is at work.
When this faith is ours, God becomes our never-failing companion, guide and friend.
We do all actions by His will, i.e., by His prompting. He is in us and everywhere about us.
All doubts and fears then vanish away and we attain a state of freedom which is itself absolute peace and bliss."
~ Swami Ramdas
------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
The subtle impressions of every single action you perform go into your memory. As you repeat the same or similar actions, the impressions keep getting stronger and heavier. There comes a time when the subtle impression of your previous deeds becomes so powerful that they begin to influence your conscious mind. Under the influence of these impressions, the mind motivates you to perform new sets of similar actions. Once this wheel of action is set in motion, you have a hard time stopping it.
Whatever actions we have performed in the past produce their fruits in the present and future, and that is the real cause of our pains and sorrows. Once the arrow is shot it must go to its destination. As long as the arrow is in our hands, we can choose its course. All the wrong deeds that we have committed in ignorance in the past produce their adverse effects. We should be careful not to commit the same mistakes again.
~SWAMI RAMA
------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Anandamayi Ma's instructions to seekers of Truth
'At every single moment, try to be aware of Him, for have you not chosen this path to dedicate your lives to Him?
Therefore,
when speaking, speak of Him; when thinking think of Him;
when listening, listen to His words or to what is said about Him.
Further, try each one of you to keep a diary, so as to check your mind from turning outward. This may also make you watchful and help you in your striving.
At all times, the mind must be intensely vigorous, energetic and alert, then only can you forge ahead with great speed. Remember that every person has to mould his or her own life.
Accept cheerfully whatever He may bestow on you or take away from you.'
In the field of His play even getting means losing. This is but the nature of its movement.
Think of Him who cannot be lost. Meditate on Him alone, on Him, the fountain of goodness.
Pray to Him; depend on Him.
Try to give more time to japa and meditation.
Surrender your mind at His feet.
Endeavour to sustain japa and meditation without a break.
To lose all is to gain all. The Reality is merciful and compassionate. Whatever He does at any moment is all-beneficent, though certainly painful at times. When He manifests himself as all-loss, there is hope that He may also manifest himself as all-gain.
To pine for the One who helps towards the light of Truth is salutary, for it kindles the awareness of Truth.
~ Words of Ma Anandamayi
-----------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Spiritual life is difficult. Few people can make it. If spiritual life was easy, thousands and thousands would have reached the pinnacle of spiritual life, but nobody has. Everybody should try on his own. Sometimes God will be gracious to you. Who knows?
Sometimes God, out of mercy,
And without any reason for his affection, Bestows a human body on someone.
The body of a man is like a ship,
Crossing the ocean of the world, And the grace of God becomes a favourable wind.
A thorn has to be removed by a thorn. If a thorn is lodged in your body, use another thorn to remove it. In the same way, remove rubbish by rubbish. You may ask your guru or somebody else to remove your rubbish for you, but, in this way, you are only adding more to your waste bin. That is why your rubbish basket is always full. The municipality removes the old rubbish, but the new garbage accumulates again. When God's grace is there, all the rubbish of life is removed instantly, just as sheets and sheets of darkness are removed by the first rays of the sun.
O Lord, without the water of love and bhakti,
The inner filth can never be cleansed.
No talk of God is possible.
Without spiritual discourse,
Delusion is not removed.
Unless there is an end to delusion, Intense love at the feet of Rama is never possible.
(Uttarakanda)
Samskaras from many different births will vanish or subside only with the Lord's grace. However long you work at removing your rubbish, you will not be able to do it. Nothing is possible without divine grace. If you think you can remove your rubbish, that is ego. You are speaking the language of ego. How can you remove it? First of all, you do not know what is rubbish and what is not. Sometimes you may be throwing away the diamonds and keeping the stones, because you do not know the difference between them. What is rubbish? What are you going to remove?
Therefore, leave it to God. Try to attain His grace through prayer, remembrance and satsang. The first sadhana is satsang, where there is talk about God, about spiritual life or where there is singing of bhajan and kirtan. This helps you purify yourself and your inner environment.
Everything is written in the shastra, or scriptures. Nothing happens without God's grace. Whatever I received was through God's grace, not my own. God's grace is required. You need His grace, and in order to receive His grace, you have to be innocent, like a child.
~ Satsangs on Ramacharitamanas
Swami Satyananda Saraswati
-------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
After attaining birth as a human being, one should take remedial measures to the sins committed either in previous births or this birth, perform virtuous acts to avoid descent to lower realms and meritorious acts to avoid birth in lower species.
Brahma Purāṇaṁ describes about this aspect as the style of life discussed between Śiva and Pārvati. Practicing those decrees not only assures the prosperity of the individual, but also ensures the support of the society around. Hence, it is the duty of everyone to attempt to follow at least of them scrupulously.
Those who are not subject to any kind of lust, act without hurting any creature with mind, speech, and hand, will not be bound by karma. Those who have good character, kind, and are equipoised towards pleasure and pain shall be freed from the shackles of karma.
Those who are not interested in the wealth of others, in the wives of others, who treat them like mother and sister, and who live contentedly with the money earned by virtue, will attain the exalted worlds. Those who live without harming to any living
being, with a mind free from pollution, with virtues such as charity, good deeds, penance, purity, kindness, etc., will reach the heavenly realms.
To transform speech into Tapas…
One should not lie for one’s own sake or for the sake of others, or for the sake of his profession or for the fulfillment of his desires. One should not speak rudely or harshly, and speak softly without using harsh
words, without betraying or hurting others, and without hypocritically. Those who speak without sinful gossip, without anger, with sincerity of mind and heart, without hurting the heart of others, so that others may also find peace, will get rid of all sins and certainly reach heaven.
To avoid any sin with mind…
Those who - see the wealth of others in the wilderness, but do not comprehend it with their minds, do not think of other women even in solitude, do not torture anyone with their minds, look at enemies or friends alike with equality, are endowed with the knowledge of Vēdās, are merciful, pure, truthful, practice good deeds with wisdom, are endowed with good intentions, have the knowledge of Dharma and Adharma, live without desire for the fruits of both the good and bad deeds they do, perform all the good deeds with piety and devotion shall get rid of all sins and certainly reach higher realms.
~ Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sharma
------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
MISERIES ARE CAUSED BY: LACK OF AWARENESS, EGOISM, ATTRACTIONS, REPULSIONS, CLINGING TO LIFE AND FEAR OF DEATH.
In fact, just the ego is the cause. All others which follow are just shadows of the ego. Lack of self awareness is the ego. You feel that you are because you don't know. You are in darkness, you have never met yourself, and you think you are. This creates all sorts of miseries: egoism, attractions towards things which are useless, repulsions -- which are the other extreme of attraction -- clinging to life and fear of death. You cling to life because you don't know what life is. If you knew, there would be no clinging; because life is eternal -- why cling? It is going on and it can never stop.
You unnecessarily trouble yourself by clinging. It is as if a river is flowing and you are pushing the river towards the ocean when it is going by itself. You need not push. You will unnecessarily create misery for yourself. You will think that you are a martyr because you are pushing the river and leading it towards the ocean. The river is going by itself; don't disturb, you need not do it. If you want to go to the ocean, you can just become part of the river and the river will take you. But don't help the river; you have been doing that. Life is flowing by itself; nothing is needed. What have you done to be born? What have you done to be here? What have you done to be alive? Is it something that you have done? If not, then why bother? Life moves on its own. Foolish people create miseries…
There can be many forms of the causes of misery: they can be in the form of seeds. You can carry your misery in the form of a seed -- dormant. You may not be aware of it, but in a certain situation, if the soil is right and the seed can get the water and the sun, it will sprout. So sometimes for years you feel that you have no greed, and suddenly one day when the right opportunity arises, the greed is there. Then the seeds are in a very feeble form that you are not aware of, so feeble that unless you search deeply within yourself, you will not be able to see that they are there.
----------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Practice Mindfulness
Some people think there is a difference between mindfulness and meditation, but this is not correct. The practice of mindfulness is simply to bring awareness into each moment of our lives.
Mindful living is an art. You do not have to be a Sanyasi or live in a ashram to practice mindfulness. You can practice it anytime, while driving your car or doing housework.
Driving in mindfulness will make the time in your car joyful, and it will also help you avoid accidents. You can use the red traffic light as a signal of mindfulness, reminding you to stop and enjoy your breathing.
Similarly, when you do the dishes after dinner, you can practice mindful breathing so the time of dish washing is pleasant and meaningful. Do not feel you have to rush. If you hurry, you waste the time of dish washing. The time you spend washing dishes and doing all your other everyday tasks is precious. It is a time for being alive. When you practice mindful living, peace will bloom during your daily activities.
---------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Words of Anandamayi Maa
• Question: People are asked to worship God, to sing His praise in hymns, to perform puja, to repeat constantly His name, and they do all this without knowing what God is. Will you please explain?
Answer: God is all-knowledge, and one cannot know His true nature till one attains Self-Realisation. Then one will find Him to be none other than oneself, the only Atman, the only Self there is, and that He is with form as the world and without form as Chit, Pure Consciousness.
In the meantime, prayers, worship and meditation have to be performed.
Question: How can our minds be free for prayer and meditation. When we are so burdened by work and family responsibilities? What should we do in that case?
Answer: Let the work be done of its own accord, without strain. Work without the feeling that it is you who are working. Take it as if it is God's work, done through you as His instrument. Then your mind will be at rest and peaceful.
That is prayer and meditation.
• “Desires and lust carry their seeds within, the way fruits have their seeds. When you boil the seedy fruits thoroughly, the seeds lose their quality to germinate. In the same way, sadhana and devotion can destroy the seeds of desire and lust.”
• "If the breath and the mind become one pointed and steady, then the mind expands to infinity."
• “Think of Him with every breath.
Remember that He breathes through you.”
• Everything is happening at His will. Always try to keep this thought alive.
His contemplation is the only path.
~ Words of Anandamayi Ma.
-------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Today is Ashada Shukla Paksha Ekadasi known as śayana ēkādaśi’ as Lord Nārāyaṇa takes to ‘Yōga Nidra’ on this day and wakes up after 4 months in Kartika Shudda Ekadasi.
Shastras mention that this vrat purifies the body, grants success in all endeavors, and finally yields place in vaikuntha, the abode of the Lord.
History mentions that Sati Sakkubai attained liberation performing this vrata. Starting from this ēkādaśi, since Lord is observing all His devotees from His ‘Yōga Nidra’, performing virtuous deeds such as vratas to please Lord till Kārtīka suddha ēkādaśi bestows His grace.
Philosophical Meaning for Ekadasi -
Ekadashi means eleven.
Eleven are Pancha karmendriya, Pancha Jnanendriyas and Mind. twelfth one is Vishnu.
Every tithi has devata and yama is devata for Ekadashi and Lord Vishnu is devata for Dwadashi.
During ekadashi, one who controls (Yama) their Indriyas by fasting and do puja on Dwadashi. All Indriyas with Manas should concentrate only Vishnu. By listening Vishnu stories, ears should think of Vishnu, By seeing Vishnu rupa, eyes should know Vishnu and so on with Manas through Dhyana.
What to do today?
- Recite vishnu Sahasranama Strotra.
- Meditation on Vishnu
- Fasting
How to do Dhyana of Narayana?
Mentally fix your mind at His Lotus Feet. Then rotate the mind on His silk cloth (Pitambar). Srivatsa, Koustubha gem on His chest, bracelets on His arms, ear-rings, crown on the head, then conch, discus, mace, lotus in the hands, smiling face and then come to His feet. Repeat the process again and again.
Where to concentrate the mind?
In the lotus of the heart (Anahat Chakra) or the space between the two eye-brows (Trikuti).
Significance of fasting (upavasa) by Ramana Maharshi
If all activities of indriyas are given up, the mind becomes single pointed. When such a mind gets concentrated upon God, it is real upavasam.
‘Upa’ means near and ‘vasam’ means living. Where is he going to live? He will live in his Self.
Desires are the food of mind. Giving them up is the upavasam.
One who can ‘fast’ the mind, need not fast the body. For those who cannot fast the mind, fasting the body has been suggested so as to purify the mind.
I wish you all Happy Ekadasi. May Lord Narayana bestow his blessing and grace upon you for material and Spiritual upliftment.
------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
One Lord with different names – the jnani, the yogi, and the devotee
“The same Being whom jnanis call Brahman (the Absolute) is called Paramatman (Universal Soul) by yogis and Bhagavan (Personal God with divine attributes) by devotees.
“A brahmin is one and the same person. When he worships, he is called a priest; when employed in the kitchen, he is called a brahmin cook. The jnani holds to jnana yoga by reasoning, ‘Not this, not this.’ That is, Brahman is neither this nor that, neither the individual soul nor the external world. When, as a result of this reasoning, the mind becomes steady, it vanishes, and one goes into samadhi. Then one attains brahmajnana. The knower of Brahman truly realizes that Brahman is real and the world unreal; names and forms are all but dreams. What Brahman is cannot be expressed in words, nor can He be said to be a person.
“Jnanis say the same as the Vedantists. But devotees accept all the states of consciousness. They look upon the waking state as real, and they do not consider the external world a dream. Devotees say that this world is the glory of God. The sky, the stars, the sun, the moon, the mountains, the ocean, men, birds, and beasts – all are created by God. These are His ‘riches.’ He is both within the core of the heart and He is without. The superior devotee says, ‘God Himself has become the twenty-four categories – living beings and the universe.’ The devotee does not want to become sugar, but to taste it. (All laugh.)
“Do you know how a devotee feels? ‘Oh Lord, You are the Master, I am Your servant. You are my Mother, I am Your child. And again, You are both my Mother and Father. You are the whole, I am Your part.’ The devotee doesn’t like to say, ‘I am Brahman.’
“The yogi seeks to see the Paramatman. His aim is union of the embodied soul with the Supreme Self. The yogi withdraws his mind from worldly objects and tries to fix it on the Paramatman. So to begin with, he meditates on Him in solitude, in a fixed posture, with a concentrated mind.
“But It is one and the same Substance. The difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is Himself the Atman and also God. He is the Brahman of the Brahmajnani, the Paramatman of the yogi, and the Lord of the devotee.”
~ Source - Chapter Three from Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
--------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
10 Best Quotes from Chanakya Neeti-
1. No disease is more deadly than desire (the sexual), no enemy is more dangerous than infatuation, no fire is hotter than the fire of wrath (extreme anger) and no happiness is better than the self-knowledge
2. Even the goals which are very difficult to achieve can be achieved by determination. Nothing is impossible for a determined person.
3. An evil (wrong) person is more dangerous than a Snake. Because a snake will sting (injure) only once but the evil person will sting at every step.
4. Reject a friend who talks sweetly on the face but tries to harm (or talk bad about you) in your absence. They are like delicious food mixed with poison.
5. A person who tries to get temporary things leaving aside the permanent things will lose both temporary and permanent things.
6. In this world everything is volatile (will not be permanent) including money, property, life span, and place. Dharma followed by a person is the only permanent thing.
7. There is no great Tapasya (penance) than peace, there is no great happiness than satisfaction, there is no great disease than greediness and there is no great dharma than mercy.
8. One who doesn’t have the knowledge, Tapasya, mercy, patience, purity and one who doesn’t follow dharma are animals in the form of humans.
9. Goddess Laxmi will not bless a person who wears dirty clothes, who don’t keep himself clean, who eats more, who sleeps during sunrise and sunset.
10. You should work for good things when you are young and healthy. Because you will not be able to do good things when you are old and ill.
@guruvaakya
Patanjali yoga sutra say restraining the chitta from modifications and taking forms in vrittis is YOGA.
━━━━━
What is Chitta ? What is vrittis?
The mental dimension of manifestation, the life, is run by samskara tendencies. The samskara, vasana tendencies is the one which we have accumulated for our many births and accumulating further in current birth for future experience and future lives.
This samskara tendency comprises of many records of our desires, our preferable choices, anger for particular person, emotions, longing for something, all in samskara forms deep in our mental dimension of existential state.
Thus when samskara tendency rotates, it takes the form of Vritti, thought wave and reflects in the buddhi. Its only when that is reflected in Buddhi, taking form of vritti, we are aware of it.
Vrittis are thus basically reflected thought wave pattern of our samskaras vasanas.
Its this Vrittis that turn into action. Thus, consequence for action is also experienced. This is how Karma chain begins to form for individuality.
This samskara tendency varies based on person to person based on the GUNAS. This GUNAS dictate the tendency of movement of mind by which samskara vasana begins to accumulate in each person.
But what is Chitta? (You can imagine Chitta as a lake. Ordinary human life is determined by movement of mind and its samskaras but when one begins to distance from movement of mind, he realizes everything is happening in it.
Chitta is the vast mental dimension where vrittis rise and subside. But what we have accumulated in lake is that dirty muddy because of which one cannot see his own self in the lake. It is due the sense of AHAM, I, bondage to identity, all sorts of memories, dusty, muddy memories, samskara vasanas have gotten into ones mental part.
Thus, when this is cleaned, the modifications of mind are quitened, the Purusha, the seer is revealed.
So restraining mind stuff from taking various forms is done by discimination of permanent vs temporary, knowing the tendency of the mind, being disciplined in life such that tendencies of movement of samskara quietens down, which would lead to know that I'm not these continous changing activity of the field ( body), instead I am the knower of the field ( self ).
━━━━━━━━━━
@guruvaakya
━━━━━━━━━━
“When you are in an extroverted state then the “Vasanas” are engrossed in money, physical pleasure. Each of the five lower chakras is associated with one of the five sense organs and they are your main enemies.
The true foundation of spiritual life is in prayer and meditation. Cultivate your love of meditation. Establish a personal relationship with the God. When you sit for meditation, you are really not sitting on the floor; your real place of meditation is in the soul center, the fontanel.
If you are really there, you cannot feel the weight of your body. In this way, you will be earning your liberation and experiencing Truth. You will be free from mind, thought, intellect and ego. When your concentration deepens, you will not be watching the breath. You will only perceive the triple Divine qualities of sound, light, vibration and feel love for God.
You are to earn your freedom with sincere effort. God has entered from the top of your head. Try to be there always and you will constantly experience the state of freedom and love.
Thieves and evil doers dare not burglarize houses that are full of light. The harmful vibrations of impure thoughts spring up in minds that are enshrouded in ignorance. When the heart is full of the light of wisdom (OM) then there are no more impure vasanas in the heart and undesirable harmful thoughts (vrittis) do not steal in. The devotee is safe when the light of the Primordial Pure Vibration of OM is always shining steadily within.”
~ A Kriya Yogi Master
-------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
“The brain, bones, fat, flesh, blood, skin, and semen are the seven factors that constitute the gross body.
So say those who know, The feet, thighs, chest, shoulders, back, head, etc., are its members.
People regard it as ‘I’ owing to the mind’s attachment to it. It is the primary attraction to all, and the most obvious.
It is made up of ether, air, fire, water, and earth which, as the subtle essences, form sense objects, and the groups of five such as sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell.
The ego (jiva) being intent on pleasure, regards these as means of enjoyment. Foolish and ignorant persons are bound to sense objects by the rope of desire, attracted according to the power of their karma which leads them up and down and causes them to wander in distress.
• The serpent and deer die through attachment to sound,
• The elephant through attachment to touch,
• The fish through attachment to taste,
• The bee through attachment to smell.
If these die through attachment to a single sense, what must be the fate of man, who is attached to all five?
The evil effects of sense objects are more harmful than the poison of the cobra, because poison only kills him who takes it, whereas sense objects bring destruction to him who sees them or even thinks of them.
He alone obtains liberation who,
with the sharp sword of detachment, cuts the strong rope of love for sense objects and so frees himself from them.
Otherwise, even though a man be well versed in all the six sastras, he will not obtain liberation.
~ Adi Shankaracharya, Vivekachudamani
------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
If your samskaras ( mental impressions) are forcing you to do something, you cannot escape. If you try to resist them, you will only create more conflict for yourself. They will come and disturb you again and again because they are very strongly rooted in the unconsciousness.
Without knowing your samskaras you cannot purify yourself or utilize the wisdom that you have stored from past lives or from your childhood. When those unknown seeds emerge from the basement, you become helpless and are not able to control yourself.
~SWAMI RAMA
Sadhana the Path to Enlightenment
---------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Both worldliness and liberation depend on God's will.
It is God alone who has kept man in the world in a state of ignorance; and man will be free when God, of His own sweet will, calls him to Himself.
It is like the mother calling the child at meal-time, when he is out playing. When the time comes for setting a man free, God makes him seek the company of holy men. Further, it is God who makes him restless for spiritual life.
Oh, you have to be mad for God to attain Him! This does not happen if the mind dwells on ‘lust and greed.’
What joy is there in lust?
One feels ten million times that joy from a vision of God.
One feels the joy of union with the Atman in every pore. .
Devotee: Why has He kept us in the world?
Sri Ramakrishna: To keep the creation going. That is His will. That is His maya.
Devotee: Why does He will this?
Sri Ramakrishna: If He granted the bliss of God even once, no one would live a householder’s life. And that would lead to the end of creation.
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Eternal principles of positivity: yama and niyama
The yamas and niyamas that were introduced relate with the management of the first two friends who are tenants in your mind: kama and krodha. Kama means desire, passion, need, ambition, that which motivates you to interact with the outer world for a gain. The way to manage kama is through the first yama, which is manah prasad, or happiness.
This yama also reflects the Niranjan challenge. You have to pass the Niranjan challenge to qualify to establish yourself in spiritual life. Be happy for twelve hours of your waking time. If you can, you qualify for spiritual life. If your happiness fluctuates, then you don't qualify for spiritual life; you qualify for training, disciplining and educating yourself and your mind. Just smiling does not mean you are spiritual; it is a state of mind that you have to maintain for twelve hours of waking state. That is Niranjan challenge.
The corresponding niyama is japa. Japa allows you the resilience to move from an outer connection to an inner connection, by disconnecting from the outer and connecting with the internal, and then again disconnecting from the internal and connecting with the outer. Resilience and flexibility are attained through japa. Otherwise, even while dreaming you are under stress and anxiety. There is no psychological relaxation, people worry even in sleep.
Krodha is the second tenant of the mind. Krodha means aggression, anger, carelessness, behaving like a bull in a china shop. The antidote for that is the second yama, kshama, or forgiveness. Forgiveness creates a big change in the human mind as it releases your tendency to remain in suffering, your masochism. Every human being is a masochist, they like to enjoy the pain and suffering and cry about it, even when events are long past. You connect more with the negative and less with the positive. You share more of the negative with other people and less of the positive.
The necessary antidote for this behaviour is the second yama that must be incorporated in life. This is the ability to forgive, to let go of the negative. You hold on to a tree and say that the tree is not letting you go. The moment you release it you are free, you can forget. It is a quality and an ability that very few people aquire. People say, "What do I forgive and what do I forget?" Just think: you have heard about forgiveness, but have you really forgiven anybody for their wrong doing? Or has it only been lip-service, and in your heart you will carry the resentment? It is easy to give a speech on forgiveness, but very hard to attain it as a state in which you can let go of the negative feelings you hold on to, to experience freedom and release, and connect with the first yama, happiness.
The second niyama is a simple and beautiful one: namaskara. Just smile at everybody, greet, respect and honour everybody. Namaskara is an indication of humility. When you practise namaskara, humility is expressed and arrogance recedes to the background. Greeting is an expression of the senses that connect you with a feeling and a mood. When you greet somebody, when you say, 'Hari Om', when you look at them and smile, you actually bring happiness in their life. If you frown and are angry, you don't bring happiness. What harm is there if you smile at somebody? It can actually work miracles.
~ Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
----------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Power of the name
All the mahatmas say that when you chant the name of Rama, your heart and inner mind becomes cleansed of all impurities. The name of Rama is a detergent, which washes away the dross from your mind. It is a fact that all who live in the world are stained by maya and worldly life.
The wise man who enters a chamber full of soot does not expect to come out immaculate. You have to live in the world. There is no choice, because you know the dire consequences when you do not obey your inner compulsion.
While leading a material life, try putting the horse in front of the cart and it will run very well. Life runs smoothly when the mind is fixed on the Lord's name, like fixation you have for your offspring, sickness, stomachache, headache or injury. Just as that fixation becomes the focus of your attention and nothing else interests you, similarly, the name of God should become an obsession with you.
Generally your total mind remains in the grip of worldly experience. However, when your mind is gripped by the Lord, your whole life is transformed, not only the external life, but the inner life as well. There is an external life of behaviour, action and reaction, and an internal life of thought, feeling, vibration and experience.
The name is not just a simple thing. The important things in life are small, minute, infinitesimal. An atom bomb is molecular, very small in size, but it can destroy the whole world.
The Lord's name is called atma bomb. It can destroy the asuri sampada, the unholy powers, within you. It can eliminate the maya, impurity, baseness, fear and frustration that is defiling you from within.
All saints and great souls have said this from time immemorial. Those who understood it found salvation and freedom. Those who listened to this teaching and followed it found happiness and bliss. Those who ignored and disregarded it were drowned in the sea of material world.
~ Swami Satyananda Saraswati
---------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Choice is bondage, choicelessness freedom.
The moment you choose something, you have fallen in the trap of the world.
If you can resist the temptation to choose, if you can remain choicelessly aware, the trap disappears on its own accord, because when you don’t choose you don’t help the trap to be there – the trap is also created by your choice.
So this word ”choice” has to be understood very deeply, because only through that understanding can choicelessness flower in you.
Why can’t you remain without choosing?
Why does it happen the moment you see a person or a thing, immediately a subtle wave of choice has entered in you, even if you are not aware that you have chosen?
The moment you say, ”This car is beautiful,” choice has entered. You may not be aware at all that you have chosen, that you would like to possess this car, but in the mind a fantasy has entered, a desire has arisen.
When you say something is beautiful, you mean that you would like to have it. When you say something is ugly, you mean that you would not like to have it.
Choice is subtle and one has to be very minutely aware about it.
Whenever you say something remember this: that saying is not only saying, not a mere saying – something has happened in the unconscious. Don’t make the distinction: this is beautiful and that is ugly, this is good and that is bad. Don’t make the distinctions. Remain aloof! Things are neither bad nor good. The quality of goodness and badness is introduced by you.
Things are neither beautiful nor ugly; they are simply there as they are – the quality of being beautiful and ugly is introduced by you, it is your interpretation.
What do you mean when you say something is beautiful? Is there any criterion of beauty? Can you prove it that it is beautiful? Just standing by your side, somebody may think, ”This is ugly!” – so it is nothing objective; nobody can prove anything beautiful.
First you make a thing beautiful. This is why it said that first you create the trap and then you fall into it. First you think this face is beautiful – this is YOUR creation, this is just your imagination, this is just your mind interpreting; this is not existential, this is just psychological – and then you yourself fall into the trap.
You dig the hole and then you fall into it and then you cry for help, and then you cry for people to come to your salvation.
----------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Real friend to a man is himself
We assume ourselves, that a few sets of persons in our life are our friends, relatives and they are related to us. These near and dear will help us during our difficult period. And we are also blaming others for our sorrows and praise some for our happiness. But our śastras says, the truth as “आत्मैव हयात्मनो बन्धुः”
“A person’s true friend is none other than himself. The one who stands with you in all your situations is called a “Bandhu”. That Bandhu is none other than the karma done by you”.
It not only comes with us throughout our time but even after our death, it will be with us in our upcoming births. Our actions yield the fruit of our happiness or sorrow. If we follow dharma, we will enjoy happiness and have a peaceful life not only in this Janma, but also in the upcoming Janmas. At the same time if we do adharma, then we are the sufferers. When the truth is like this, pointing others for our happiness or sorrows is not a wise one.
It is very clear that a man, himself is responsible for all the happenings in his life. He himself is a friend and foe to him.
The life of Rāvanā and Duryōdhanā teach us that, if we do adharma, we will suffer a lot and will be destroyed finally with our surroundings. From Rāmāyanam and Mahābhārata we are able to understand that, the life of those who do adharma seems to be flourishing with wealth, name and fame in the beginning but at the end they will be destroyed. The lesson we learn from Rāmāyanam is “Live like Rāmā not like Rāvanā”.
Hanūmān after having darsan of “Sītā mātā” in aśokavana, met Rāvanā in his darbar. At that moment Hanūmān had a thought that Rāvanā’s personality gives him the power and capacity to rule the three lōkas without any doubt, but he is not fit for that because of the big sin (adharma) he did in his life. Soon he will be punished for that in a very heavy hard way. The adharma he did is, he saw “Sītā mātā” in a wrong perversion. Our śastrās instruct us to see all the ladies as our mother. If we give place to lust in our life, then we will have to harvest the fruit of pain and sufferings in our life due to our adharmic activities.
Hence the real bandhu to a man is himself. For a happy and peaceful life we should follow dharma and avoid adharma.
~ Jagadguru Sankaracharya His Holiness Sri Sri Bharathi Tirtha Mahaswamiji
--------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
WATCHING THE MIND
The time comes, in our evolution, when we truly understand what the mind really is. And we begin to observe it, realizing that it functions without us. We begin to watch the mind in action. We watch it making us depressed. We watch it making us angry. We watch it making us happy. We watch ourselves when we accomplish something great, and we think we're important. Just the watching alone causes you to go further in your evolution.
For it shows you that I possibly cannot be the mind for I have been watching all this time. I have been watching my thoughts bring up the past and make me unhappy, bring fears into my life, as if something bad is going to happen in the future if I don't watch out. We've been watching the mind do this to us.
Then we finally say to ourselves, "Who is this watcher? Who is this person that has been watching the mind?" We honestly have to say, therefore, "I don't know. I don't know who I am. I have no idea who has been watching, but I have to admit ‘I’ have been watching.
All these years I thought that when I said ‘I,’ I was referring to my mind. I believed my mind was ‘I.’ But now as I watch myself getting angry, as I watch myself becoming depressed, or becoming happy, I realize that I am separate from my mind.
Therefore, “Who am I? Where did I come from? It's amazing that I am able to watch my mind doing all these things to me. But now I know that there is an ‘I.’ Who is this I? I don't know. How can I find out?"
By becoming silent, through silence. By allowing my mind to empty itself of all thoughts, and as I keep on watching my mind in action, without responding, I notice something very interesting happening to me. I notice that I feel happier. I feel more peaceful and I feel more powerful. I notice that I've lost my fears, my frustrations, and even my searching for truth has slowed down, for I am beginning to understand that there is really nothing to search for. It's all here.
Everything I've always wanted is here. Amazing discovery. Yet I still don't know who I am. But I'm beginning to understand that I do not have to know who I am. It is not necessary to know who I am. Do you follow? I doesn't have to know who it is. What an amazing discovery. I don't have to go around searching for the I, or wondering who the I was that has been watching the mind in action all these years. I simply have to become still. And the watching all these years has caused me to become still. In other words, as you practice observation of your thoughts and mindfulness, your mind becomes quieter, and quieter and quieter. And to the extent your mind becomes quieter and quieter, to that extent does your consciousness become revealed to you as absolute reality.
~ Robert Adams
---------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
JAPA YOGA SADHANA
1. JAPA AND DHYANA
Q. What is the difference between Japa and Dhyana?
A. Japa is the repetition of the Mantra of a Devata. Dhyana is meditation on His or Her form and attributes. It is keeping up of a continuous flow of one idea of God.
Q. What is Japa-Sahita-Dhyana and Japa-Rahita-Dhyana?
A. The spiritual aspirant is repeating the Mantra and at the same time he is meditating on the form of His Ishta Devata. A Krishna Bhakta repeats the Mantra "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya" and at the same time he visualises the picture of the Lord Krishna. This is Japa-Sahita Dhyana.
In Japa-Rahita-Dhyana the devotee continues his Japa for some time along with the meditation and afterwards the Japa drops by itself and he is established in meditation only.
2. JAPA AND MOKSHA
Q. Can Japa alone give Moksha?
A. Yes. There is a mysterious power in the Mantra, and this Mantra-Sakti brings meditation and Samadhi and brings the devotee face to face with god.
~ Swami Sivananda Saraswati
--------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Importance of Satsang
In today’s era of technology convergence a man has access to almost every nook and corner of the world, but what he commonly doesn’t have is the reach within his inner self. The dilemma seems common as most of us today – consciously or unconsciously – are striving for good companionship.
How does Satsang help?
The idea of satsang is to bring positivism and awareness into one’s life. It is strongly believed that human mind is prone to evil and misdeeds. Hence those who do not associate themselves with good company i.e. satsang automatically get inclined to bad company.
On the other hand, continuous attendance at Satsang inculcates inherent love and obedience for the Lord. Simultaneously, it moulds one’s attitude so as to become more bearable, patient and composed while dealing with everyday situations.
What happens when one is in good company?
Bhaja Govinda Stotram of Sri Adi Sankaracharya -
kastarati kastarati màyàm? yaþ samgam tyajati yo
mahànubhàvam sevate, nirmamo bhavati ||
Who can overcome Maya (worldly attachments)? Only the one who disassociates himself from the company of the evil and gets into communion with the right people; the one who abandons ego and mine-ness.
mahatsangastu durlabho.agamyo.amoghasca ||
It is difficult to attain companionship of the great ones, but once a person enters into the society of the great, his association with great ones is bound to happen.
We live in a world that is full of temptations. It is possible to build up an intellectual barrier against passions and desires. But the objects of fascination are too many and their hold on us too powerful that it would be very difficult for any seeker to resist and win. Hence Sankara, aware of the futility of the exercise, advises the company of the good.
We know too well the consequences and pitfalls while moving in wrong company.
Dussangasarvathaivathyajya- forever avoid the company of bad people forewarns Narada in the Bhakti Sutra.
Sage Narada further stresses on the significance of Satsang
“KastharathiKastharathiMaayam”
Who can overcome Maya, which is in reality cast by the lord himself?
“YasangamthyajathiyoMahanubhavosevathaenirmamobhavathi”
When a person leaves bad company and associates himself with good men and is free from ahamkar the concept of ‘mine’ [ego], then he is sure to attain liberation.
What do we mean by Company of the good?
It could be living teachers, learned pundits, sincere seekers and if none of these are available then indirectly through great books.
The influence of satsang is such that the person eventually breaks away from shallow worldly affairs and material pleasures which could only bring disappointments sooner or later in life. The illusion free mind can thereafter sift good from the bad easily striving towards perfection for leading a fulfilling and contented life.
Make Satsang your Habit and not Hobby
On a final note, the famous say – “As is the company, so is the color” fits quite well while defining the importance of satsang in life.
As to attain God is the sole motive of each and every being on earth, but attaining such goal is not possible without the company of saints and likeminded people who can bring optimism and hope for attaining such eternal bliss.
No human being is infallible and hence it is in the very nature of man to commit errors time and again. Listening to satsang doesn’t promise any instant change in one’s innermost self yet it offers a holistic change which is slow yet progressive and irreversible in nature.
Satsang teaches us to adapt oneself to be a better person by the day. This means the soul get purified steadily while attaining deeper knowledge which is generally permanent in life.
------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
Life Lessons
Be Good, Do Good
When the thought of good becomes part and parcel of man’s very being, then he will not entertain any bad motive at all. He takes immense delight in serving others, in doing good to others.
There is peculiar joy and Ananda in doing selfless service.
Expand. Purify your heart. Live in the true spirit of selfless service. Live every second for the ideal and goal of life. Then and then alone will you realise the true glory of selfless service.
Give, Give
Sins can be destroyed by charity.
In the Gita you will find: “Yajno
danam tapas-chaiva pavanani manishinam: Yajna, charity and austerity are purifying to the wise.”
Doing abundant, spontaneous and unrestrained charity to relieve the pains of suffering humanity is an effective means to destroy evil nature; give money like water. If you give, the whole wealth of the world will be yours. Money will come to you. This is the immutable, inexorable, unrelenting law of nature. Therefore give, give.
Be Cheerful Always
Be cheerful and happy. Away with depression and gloom. There is nothing more infectious than depression. Drive the feeling of depression and gloom at once by enquiry, singing divine songs, prayers, Pranayama, a brisk walk in the open air, the thinking of the opposite quality viz., the feeling of joy.
Live only to be a blessing to others. Feel that all is light and Bliss only. Develop the power of attention. Throw interest upon uninteresting objects and ideas. Many mental weaknesses will vanish. The mind will become stronger and stronger.
Be Righteous
Happiness results from good acts, pain from evil ones. Acts must always bear fruits.
Without action no fruit arises. Righteousness is the refuge to attain to the feet of God. Everything can be attained by righteousness.
Refrain from injury to all creatures in thought, word and deed. Be kind and charitable. Have constant devotion to Truth. Free yourself from anger, hatred and malice.
As You Think, So You Become
“As a man thinketh, so he becometh” is one of the greatest laws of nature. Think you are pure, pure you will become. Think that you are a man, man you will become. Think you are Brahman, Brahman you will become. Become an embodiment of good nature. Do always good actions. Serve. Love. Give. Observe Brahmacharya. Control anger. Make others happy.
Live to serve others. Then only will you enjoy happiness.
~ From - Light, Power and Wisdom by Swami Shivananda Saraswati
-----------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
CONCENTRATION - The master key
Raja Yoga starts from concentration. Concentration merges in meditation. Concentration is a portion of meditation.
Meditation follows concentration. Samadhi (super-conscious state) follows meditation.
Therefore, concentration is the first and foremost thing a Sadhaka or aspirant should acquire in the spiritual path.
What is concentration?
Concentration or Dharana is centering the mind on one single thought.
• Vedantins try to fix the mind on the Atman. This is their Dharana.
• Hatha Yogins and Raja Yogis concentrate their mind on the six Chakras (energy centres).
• Bhaktas concentrate on their diety. Concentration is a great necessity for all aspirants.
Object of concentration
The mind should be trained to concentrate on gross objects in the beginning; and later on, you can successfully concentrate on subtle objects and abstract ideas.
The vital point in concentration is to bring the mind to the same point or object again by limiting its movements in a small circle in the beginning. That is the main aim. A time will come when the mind will stick to one point alone. This is the fruit of your constant Sadhana.
How to increase the power of concentration?
Concentration can be done only if you are free from all distractions. A man whose mind is filled with passion and all sorts of fantastic desires can hardly concentrate on any object even for a second. His mind will be jumping like an old monkey.
Japa of any Mantra and Pranayama (breathing exercise) will steady the mind, remove tossing, and increase the power of concentration.
Whatever work you do, do with perfect concentration. Never leave the work without finishing it completely.
Importance of ethical basis
Purify the mind first through the practice of right conduct and then take to the practice of concentration. Concentration without purity of mind is of no avail.
The master key to success
Those who practice concentration evolve quickly. What others do in six hours can be done, by one who has concentration, within half an hour. What others read in six hours can be read, by one who does concentration, within half an hour. Concentration purifies and calms the surging emotions, strengthens the current of thought, and clarifies the ideas.
He who practices concentration will possess very clear mental vision. What was cloudy and hazy before becomes clear and definite now. What was difficult before becomes easy now. And what was complex, bewildering, and confusing before comes easily within the mental grasp. You can achieve anything through concentration. Nothing is impossible to a man who practices regular concentration.
More concentration means more energy. Concentration opens the inner chambers of love or the realm of eternity. Concentration is a source of spiritual strength.
Be slow and steady in concentration. By practice of concentration, you will become superhuman.
Source -"Bliss Divine" by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
--------------------------------------------------
@guruvaakya
SADHANA
Sadhana is the purpose for which we have come to this plane. It is this earth-plane alone upon which Sadhana for Self-realisation can be done.
Sadhana means right living—living a God-oriented life. Root out falsehood from your heart.
Become an embodiment of Truth.
You are ever-pure and spotless. Express that ever-pure, spotless nature in your thoughts, words, in the pattern of your desires 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.
Let not your life be a contradiction of what you are. Be 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.
The supreme Sadhana is a life lived divinely where every act, thought and word is permeated with the divine quality.
Be victorious over circumstances. Even when you are working do not leave this inner awareness. Assert it at every moment in all things. Be the conqueror of your mind, the subduer of your desires and a master of your destiny; for you are the Master.
May you develop noble character and walk the path of the good and 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 birth. Do not postpone it.
~ Swami Chidananda Saraswati
@guruvaakya