Category Archives: Reflections

A Story from Chhandogya Upanishad – Part III

February 28, 2015Philosophy, Reflections, UpanishadChhandogya Upanishad - 3mahendrajani

A Dispute among the Senses and Faculties of a Human Being

Once there was a dispute between all the senses and several faculties of a human being. Each one, the eyes, the ears, the hands, the legs, the mind and others started to claim, “I am the best.”

The eyes said that if one cannot see, one could not do anything. The ears said that without listening one would face many problems in life; the legs said that without being able to move, one’s life was doomed.

The question was raised, who could decide which one of these senses was superior to the rest?

They all went to their creator Brahma. Lord Brahma listened to them and thought about a solution. He advised that each one of the senses and the faculties of the body, one at a time, go on vacation for a year. In whose absence the body becomes most crippled, that sense or a faculty is the best among all.

First, speech went on vacation for a year.

Speech sketch — Speech going to vacation

Then, speech came back and asked all the senses and the faculties of the body how they lived their life without talking.

In reply, all the senses and faculties of the body said that they lived life as a mute person lives. Mute people can see with their eyes, listen with their ears, think with their minds and thus they lived.

After that, the eyes went on vacation for a year.

Then, the eyes came back and asked all the senses and the faculties of the body how they lived their life without the ability to see.

In reply, all the senses and the faculties of the body said that they lived as a blind person lives. Blind people can speak with their mouths, listen with their ears, think with their minds, and thus they live their life.

Next, the ears went on vacation for a year.

Then, the ears came back and asked all the senses and the faculties of the body how they lived without the ability to hear.

In reply, all the senses and the faculties of the body said that they lived as a deaf person lives. Deaf people can speak with their mouths, see with their eyes, think with their minds, and thus they lived their life.

Then, the mind went on vacation for a year.

The mind came back and asked all the senses and the faculties of the body how they lived without thinking.

In reply, all the senses and the faculties of the body said that they lived as babies live whose minds have not been fully developed. Babies speak with their mouths, see with their eyes and listen with their ears.

Finally, Prana (the vital forces including breathing) started going on vacation.

As soon as the Prana started leaving the body, all the sense started losing their power. All felt as if a powerful wild horse was pulling out all the nails that have tied it with ropes.

Then, all the senses went to the Prana and said, “Please do not leave. You are the best among all of us.” The eyes, the ears, speech, and the mind said to the Prana that they are all powerful because of the Prana. That is why, in the scriptures all the senses are referred to as Prana.

– Chhandogya Upanishad: Chapter 5, section 1

(Thanks to Sneha Shah for illustrations and Nisha Parikh for editing the post.)

A story from Chhandogya Upanishad – Part II

January 26, 2015Philosophy, Reflections, UpanishadChhandogya Upanishad - 2, Upanishad storymahendrajani

It is simply amazing how 5000 years ago, teachers and students of the Upanishads tried to find the answers of fundamental questions of life and the universe through simple available means. It is more amazing that the answers they had found become more and more relevant with the advancement of science.

The following story from the sixth chapter of the Chhandogya Upanishad is one such example. Its teachings are profound but have been expressed them in a very simple and appealing way. This is not an English translation of the chapter. I tried simply to bring out its essential teachings.

The following books provide the original Sanskrit text of the chapter and its English translation by Swami Nikhilananda respectively.

Chhandogya Upanishad – Sanskrit

A great Rishi named Aruna had a son named Uddalaka who was also known as Aaruni. Uddalaka was also a great Rishi. (A rishi is one who has attained the highest knowledge of life a human being can attain.)

Rishi Uddalaka had a son named Swetaketu. When Swetaketu was twelve years old, his father, Uddalaka, told him that no one in the family had attained the highest knowledge without studying the scriptures. So, Uddalaka sent Swetaketu to an ashrama where students learned the scriptures.

After twelve years of study, Swetaketu returned home. Uddalaka found him arrogant, having a superiority complex and considering himself a great orator of and an expert on the scriptures.

Uddalaka asked Swetaketu,

“Did you acquire the knowledge by which one can hear what cannot be heard, think what is unthinkable, and know what is unknowable?

Did you acquire the knowledge that would allow you, by knowing a lump of clay, to know all things made out of clay and to know that the differences among things made from clay are only in their names and forms? And that these names and forms are but modifications of speech? Did you acquire the knowledge to understand that the clay is the only truth?

Did you acquire the knowledge that would allow you, by knowing a nugget of gold, to know all of things made out of gold and to know that the differences among things made from gold are only in their names and forms? And that these names and forms are but modifications of speech? Did you acquire the knowledge to understand that the gold is the only truth?

Jewlery made out of gold — various ornaments of Gold

Did you acquire the knowledge that would allow you, by knowing a steel nail-clipper, to know all things made out of steel and to know that the differences among things made of steel are only in their names and forms which are but modifications of speech? Did you acquire the knowledge to understand that the steel is the only truth?”

Swetaketu answered, “Revered Father! My teacher definitely did not know about this. Otherwise, he would have taught me. Please teach me.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “My son! In the beginning of the universe there was only one life force called “Sat” (Brahman). From Sat, the whole universe came.

A group of people think that there was nothing before the universe. But, how does ‘something’ come from ‘nothing’? It is not possible. Therefore, there was a unique life force called Sat before the universe.

That Sat thought that it should become many and create a universe. Sat therefore created light / fire (Teja). Light/fire then thought to become many and it created water (Aapa). We see that when a person feels warm, he/she perspires. Thus, we can conclude that the light/fire is the source of water. After water was created, it (Aapa) thought to become many and in turn created food (Anna – this includes everything related to food like land and earth). We see that when it rains a lot, lots of vegetation grows. This shows that rain is the source of food.

All beings can be born from one of three things: (i) from eggs, (ii) from species of their kind or (iii) from seeds.

kittens — Jivaja – born from species of the same kind

seeds and sprouts — Udbhijja – born from seeds

Light/fire, water and food/earth, decided to enter into these beings in various proportions and thus created a world of names and forms.

In everything that we see, that which is reddish comes from light/fire, that which is white comes from water, and that which has darker colors comes from food/earth.

One can see these three colors in the sun, moon, and lightening. These three exist even in fire. If you separate the fire-part, water-part and the food/earth-part from the fire, then the qualities of fire disappear. (The same applies to water and food/earth.)

Let us see what roles light/fire, water, and food/earth have in human beings:

There are three parts of food: the gross part, the semi-gross part and the subtle part. When a person eats food, the gross part of the food comes out as feces (solid waste comes out from human body), the semi-subtle part of the food becomes the meat, and the subtle part of the food makes mind.

Similarly, when a person drinks water, the gross part comes out as urine, the semi-gross part makes the blood, and the subtle part produces the vital forces (prana), including breathing.

When a person eats especially nourishing food (teja), the gross part of it makes the bones, the semi-subtle part of it makes the bone marrow, and the subtle part of it makes the speech.

Thus, the mind is made out of food, vital forces and breath are made out of water, and speech is made out of teja.

How do we see that the subtle parts of food, water, and teja make up the mind, vital forces/breath and speech respectively?

When we churn buttermilk, the subtle part of the butter rises to the surface. Similarly, the subtle part of food makes the mind, the subtle part of water makes the vital forces/breath, and the subtle part of teja makes the speech.

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Uddalaka responded, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

How do we see that the mind is made out of food?

Rishi Uddalaka told Swetaketu, “Do not eat for fifteen days. You can drink water. Since you will be drinking water, you will remain alive. Come to me after fifteen days.”

Swetaketu responded, “Okay father!”

Swetaketu returned to his father after fifteen days. Uddalaka said, “You had learned the Vedas. Now recite something from the Vedas.” Swetaketu answered, “Father! My mind is not functioning. I cannot recite anything.” Uddalaka said, “Go and eat something.” Swetaketu had a good meal and came back. Uddalaka then asked him again to recite from the Vedas. Swetaketu recited many verses from the Vedas. Father Uddalaka said, “See Swetaketu, when a blazing fire is put off and only a little fire remains, it cannot cook anything. But, if we put dry branches of trees into the little fire, we can ignite it into a blazing fire and then cook anything in it. In the beginning, your mind could not function without food, but after you ate food, it functioned very well. Know that the mind is made out of food, that vital forces/breath are made out of water, and that speech is made out of teja.

How do you feel your true self?

Uddalaka told Swetaketu that when a person is in a dreamless sleep, his awareness of the world associated with his name and form go away. A little “prana” (vital force/breath) keeps one alive, but one is not aware of all the joys, sorrows, and problems associated with one’s body and mind. This is an indirect experience of the true self in which the awareness of one’s own external identity disappears.

(When we go to bed, first various thoughts come to our minds, then we enter a dream state, and then finally we come to the state of deep sleep without dreams. In that state we forget all about our gender, age, color, culture, plans, positions, problems, and everything related to our body and mind. At that time we are almost one with our true identity “Sat” or Atman. But, as soon as we wake up, within a fraction of a second, our body-form identity and everything related to it comes rushing back.

To experience our true identity “Sat” or Atman in our awakened state is realization of Truth or God.)

Searching our true identity:

By following the root of ourselves, we can find our true identity.

(i) Prana is the support of the mind: Our mind needs our body. Rishi Uddalaka told Swetaketu to imagine a person with an eagle as a pet. The owner ties a string to the bird and keeps the other end of the string in his/her hand. The bird will fly all around and then come back to the hands of the owner. Similarly, our mind will go around, but will eventually come back to the living body. Thus, the mind needs “prana” to keep the body alive. Food keeps the body alive.

(ii) Water leads to food: Uddlaka continued, “Swetaketu! How does a person get hungry? When a person eats food, the food mixes with water and becomes digested. All of the nourishment of the digested food goes in the body and the person becomes hungry again. Thus, water leads to a need for food.”

(iii) Teja leads to water: “How does a person become thirsty? When body heat evaporates the water inside the body, a person becomes thirsty. Thus, teja/fire leads to a need for water.

(iv) “Sat” (Brahman) leads teja: Teja/fire came from Sat. Thus, Sat leads teja/fire.

Search for the root or the cause:

When a person is dying, he/she stops talking. People first say, “Oh! He/she is not talking.” They then find that “he/she is not moving.” Finally, they find that “his/her body is cold.” Thus, when a person stops talking, the mind of the person merges into “prana” (vitality). When, a person stops moving, the “prana” merges into “teja/fire”. Finally, when the person’s body is cold, his/her teja merges into Sat (Brahman).

Rishi Uddalaka told Swetaketu, “My son! Search for the cause or root of each one (food, water, and teja) and you will realize your true identity. The cause of body is food, the cause of food is water, the cause of water is light/fire, and the cause of light/fire is the one life force Sat (Brahman) which created the whole universe and which is the whole universe.

That Sat is subtle and has manifested as the universe. That is the Truth (behind the universe of names and forms). That is Brahman. That is Atman, and Thou art That (Sat) (Tatvamasi-Tat Tvam Asi).

Thus, our true identity is divine. It is the support of our existence. We call this unique life force (Sat) God and worship It in various forms. The goal of human existence is to realize our true identity.

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Father said, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

Example of bees:

Rishi Uddalaka said, “O Swetaketu! Bees collect juices from various flowers and other sources and make honey. In the honey, one cannot separate the juices by their sources. Similarly, the individuality of all things of the universe will disappear when they merge with the original unique life force Sat.”

Example of Rivers:

river bringing water to ocean — River meeting ocean

“O Swetaketu! All rivers empty their water into the ocean. In the ocean one cannot separate the waters by their source rivers. Similarly, the individuality of all things of the universe will disappear when they merge with the original unique life force Sat.”

Now, as in the dreamless sleep, a person momentarily loses his/her external identity of name and form and becomes one with the Sat. After waking up, however, the person immediately returns to his/her name-form identity. Similarly, all beings, because of their worldly desires, come back to their separate name-form identities even after being merged with Sat.

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Father said, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

“Sat” or Atman does not die:

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Swetaketu! If you struck a living tree at its roots, it would bleed. If struck it in the middle, it would bleed. If you struck it at the top, it would bleed. Similarly, when the life force is in the body, it spreads everywhere and is all pervading like the sap of the tree.

But, if the life force leaves a branch of the tree, then that branch falls off. If it leaves another branch, that will also fall off. If it leaves the whole tree, then the whole tree dries up and falls. Remember, the life force does not die. When the life force (Atman) leaves a body, then only does the body die.

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Father said, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

Have faith in the existence of “Sat” (Atman):

Rishi Uddalaka asked, “Swetaketu! Please bring me a fruit from this banyan tree.”

Swetaketu said, “O Father! Here is a fruit of the banyan tree.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Break this fruit.”

Swetaketu said, “I broke it.”

Fruit and seeds of a banyan tree — Seed of Banyan Tree

Rishi Uddalaka said, “What do you see in it?”

Swetaketu said, “I see very small seeds.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Break one seed.”

Swetaketu said, “I broke it, father.”

Rishi Uddlaka said, “What do you see inside?”

Swetaketu said, “Father! I don’t see anything inside.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “You do not see anything inside this seed, but from such a seed this big banyana tree came. The subtle part of the seed has made this huge banyan tree. My son! Have faith. That Sat is subtle and has manifested as the universe. That is the Truth (behind the universe of names and forms). That is Brahman. That is Atman, and Thou art That (Sat) (Tatvamasi-Tat Tvam Asi).

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Father said, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

“Sat” (Brahman or Atman) is everywhere in the universe:

Rishi Uddalaka asked, “Swetaketu! Please bring a glass of water and some salt.”

Swetaketu said, “Father! Here is a glass of water and some salt.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Put salt into the water and stir.”

Swetaketu said, “I stirred it.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Now it is night. Go to bed and in the morning bring this glass to me.”

Swetaketu came in the morning with a glass.

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Please give me the salt which you put it in the glass of water.”

Swetaketu said, “I do not see any salt in the water.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Take a spoon and drink water from the top of the mixture. What do you taste?”

Swetaketu said, “I taste salt.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Now take a spoonful of mixture from the middle. What do you taste?”

Swetaketu said, “I taste salt.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Now take a spoonful of mixture from the bottom. What do you taste?”

Swetaketu said, “I taste salt, father.”

Rishi Uddalaka said, “My son! You do not see salt in the mixture, but you tasted the salt everywhere. Similarly, “Sat” (Brahman) is always there in the universe. You cannot see It, but It is there. That Sat is subtle and has manifested as the universe. That is the Truth (behind the universe of names and forms). That is Brahman. That is Atman, and Thou art That (Sat) (Tatvamasi-Tat Tvam Asi).”

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Father said, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

How does one realize “Sat” or “Brahman”?

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Suppose a thief blindfolds a person, ties his hands, takes him out of the city Gandhar and into the woods and leaves him there. The blindfolded person will scream, ‘I cannot see. I am blindfolded! Please untie my hands and remove my blindfold!’

Suppose a passerby has compassion for this victim. He frees the person’s hands and removes his blindfold. The free person says to the passerby ‘I am from the City Gandhar. Please tell me how to go to the city.’

The passerby points out the direction of Gandhar. Then, the free person, asking people from village to village, reaches the city of Gandhar. Like the passerby, there are wise people who know “Sat” (Brahman). Through their guidance we can be free from our ignorance. Following their directions, we can realize the “Sat” (Brahman) from which we had come.

The “Sat” that we are seeking is subtle and has manifested as the universe. That is the Truth (behind the universe of names and forms). That is Brahman. That is Atman, and Thou art That (Sat) (Tatvamasi-Tat Tvam Asi).”

Swetaketu said, “Father! Please explain further.” Father said, “My son! Sure, I will explain further.”

Who attains freedom?

Rishi Uddalaka said, “Suppose a king’s guards bring a suspect to the king and say, ‘O King! This person has stolen money.’ The king will ask the servants to bring a hot axe, which serves as a lie-detector test.

The suspect will have to hold the hot axe. If he is a liar, then he will get burned and die. If he is not a liar, nothing will happen to him and the king will relieve him immediately.

Thus, a wise person who has realized the “Sat” (Brahman), the Ultimate Reality, will become free from all bondage and sufferings, but an ignorant person will, like the liar, suffer in the universe.

Therefore, realize “Sat” (Brahman), the Ultimate Reality and be free from all bondage and sufferings of the world.

Realize That Sat is subtle and has manifested as the universe. That is the Truth (behind the universe of names and forms). That is Brahman. That is Atman, and Thou art That (Sat) (Tatvamasi-Tat Tvam Asi).”

Swetaketu said, “Now, I understand. Now, I understand. Thank you father!”

Om Peace! Peace be unto us! Peace be unto all beings!

(Thanks to Ronak and Nisha Parikh for editing this post.)

Celebrating Swami Vivekananda’s 152nd Birthday

January 10, 2015Celebrations, Reflections, Vivekanandamahendrajani

Monday, January 12, 2015 is Swami Vivekananda’s 152^nd birthday. All over the world, people who have been inspired by Swami Vivekananda will be celebrating his birthday with great joy.

Since 1984, India celebrates every January 12th, Swami Vivekananda’s birthday, as a National Youth Day. On that day, students in schools and colleges all over India participate in parades, youth conventions, youth-related seminars, presentations of speeches, recitations, essay-writing contests, yoga-asanas, and various athletic events.

Who was Swami Vivekananda? He was a saint, a prophet, a yogi, an Incarnation of all loving and compassionate Lord Shiva, a great orator, a poet, a writer, a musician, a great teacher, a scholar, a visionary, a thinker, a philosopher, an explorer of Vedanta, a humanitarian, a social reformer, a patriot, a lover of humanity and much more. His multi-faceted personality is blinding to the human eyes. He lived only for 39 years, but his positive impact on the society will go on inspiring people for thousands of years.

In 1976, on the occasion of America’s Bicentennial Celebration, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. displayed a large portrait of Swami Vivekananda as a part of its exhibition, called “Abroad in America: Visitors to the New Nation: 1776 -1914. ” This exhibition paid tribute to the great personalities who visited America from abroad and made a deep impression on the American mind. The commemorative volume of the exhibition reads: “The Swami charmed the audiences with his magical oratory, and left an indelible mark on America’s spiritual development.”

One can buy the commemorative volume “Abroad in America: Visitors to the New Nation: 1776 -1914” from amazon.com. The following is the cover page:

The following link connects to the Facebook page of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center in New York, which has posted the cover and a few pages of the commemorative volume along with several photos.

https://www.facebook.com/165218223516894/photos/ms.c.eJxFzcsRgEAIA9COHD5hCf03pi6LHt8kgYwIgxLgsrIrtwHVsHJvW1ZSKxfG~_fbx59n5Oqbt3DiOdozrue~;Cyav7~_tk7n3~;FfR9n76K7LzXuvfBz9~;UG~;MAtmA~-~-.bps.a.755522737819770.1073741941.165218223516894/755522797819764/?type=1&theater

The life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda can be a great source of inspiration for anyone who aspires to achieve something positive in life.

The best way to celebrate Swami Vivekananda is to reflect upon and practice a couple of his teachings. Let us do just that.

Everyone likes to achieve success in life. No one likes to fail. Swami Vivekananda gives a guideline on how to achieve success in life.

Swami Vivekananda says, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, and live on it. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave other ideas alone. This is the way to success.”

Of course, the practice of this idea must be helpful and not harmful. It must be helpful to all beings, not just few. Let us think how we can apply this teaching in our lives.

First: We have to find a good idea. How do we find good ideas? For this we have to read inspiring books, especially biographies and teachings of people who have done something good to the world.

We have to be in the company of people who are engaged in doing some good to the world. Company plays an important role. We learn much more from living examples of good people and being in the company of good people. We have to fill our minds with good ideas. And another thing we have to remember is that if we do not fill our minds with good ideas, then our minds will pick up all kinds of harmful or useless ideas.

Second: We can reflect upon all the good ideas we collected, write about these ideas, and discuss these ideas with people who are interested in doing good things. Most importantly, we have to think of the following few things:

(i) What exactly do these good ideas mean?

(ii) Which idea appeals to me most?

(iii) Why should I practice this idea?

(iv) How can I practice this idea?

Swami Vivekananda advises us to “dream of that good idea.” Dream that we have practiced this idea in life and have been successful.

Third – Live the idea. When we try to practice a good idea in our lives, two things come:

(i) Obstacles and difficulties: If our good idea is challenging, then we may face more obstacles and more difficulties. But we should not take them negatively. Obstacles and difficulties come to test the intensity of our desire to practice the good idea. They come to measure our sincerity, commitment, and determination to attain success in manifesting the good idea in our lives. If there are no obstacles or difficulties, then we do not value the good idea. Obstacles and difficulties also build our mental strength. In spite of obstacles and difficulties, if we continue to work for the good idea, we can build up our mental strength and confidence in ourselves.

(ii) Failures: If we read biographies of people who lived inspiring lives and had done some good to the humanity, we find that they all met failures. Not a single one had an easy ride. They all had tremendous faith in themselves. Swami Vivekananda said, “Throughout the history of mankind, if any one motive power has been more potent than others in the lives of great men and women, it is that of faith in themselves. Born with the consciousness that they were to be great, they became great.”

In addition, people who have been doing good work successfully take struggles positively. We all know that Thomas A. Edison failed 10,000 times to invent the light bulb. But he said, “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” We should also remember another quote of Thomas A. Edison: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Thus, if an idea is good and we have checked it for its goodness, thought about it, dreamt about it leaving all other ideas alone, and worked for it, then success will surely come.

Reflections:

(i) Now, not everyone has to have a new good idea to work towards to make a life successful. If someone had a good idea and we work towards that same idea with others, we can also be successful. Some great ideas need a team of people. Learn how to work as a team for a great idea and working for it will not be a small thing. It will give us fulfilment.

People from all over the world come to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. It is grand. It has 10,000 light bulbs and thousands of decorations. Each light bulb shining separately cannot create the same grandeur. Yet, on the other hand, each light bulb is important as each of the other 10,000 light bulbs. We can be those individuals who shine like light bulbs working as a team for a great cause.

(ii) If we work unselfishly for a good cause, then we will realize that ultimately a good idea comes from the Almighty Creator who has created this universe and has created our body and mind. Hence, if we are working for our own good idea or for someone else’s good idea, we will be working for the Creator’s idea. We then become an instrument working for the Creator.

(iii) I have never seen a person who even though living alone, cooks delicious dishes every day for him or herself, sits on a dining table alone, and enjoys eating these dishes. Usually, when a person is alone, he/she finds any food, whether leftovers or junk food, that can fill the stomach.

However, when one cooks for a family he/she loves, one enjoys cooking. Similarly, along with our family, there is more joy in cooking and feeding guests whom we love most than simply feeding ourselves. The reason is that our Soul or Atman is connected to everyone. When we remove the idea of our body and mind, then what remains is Atman. This Atman is the same in all and we are all connected by that Atman. So when we cook for ourselves only, there is little joy coming from the fulfillment of the desire of our body and mind. When we cook and eat with other people, we feel more joy because we are connected with them. Those who do unselfish service find that when they work for the good of all beings, then infinite joy comes from within, as if the Atman is dancing with joy in seeing that all are happy.

Swami Vivekananda said, “This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.” There is very little joy in selfishness. Unselfishness is what brings infinite joy.

I have only taken one of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings in this post. You can select one that you like, think about it, and live it.

(Thanks to Ronak Parikh for editing this post)

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2015Celebrations, Philosophy, Reflections, Sri Ramakrishnamahendrajani

Happy New Year!

May the year 2015 brings peace, prosperity, and progress to all of you.

Kalpataru Day:

To the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, January 1^st is considered to be a Kalpataru Day, meaning a day which fulfills all desires, especially spiritual desires. Spiritual progress brings inner peace, true happiness, wealth of knowledge, and fulfillment.

On January 1, 1886, Sri Ramakrishna, in the midst of intense pain of throat cancer and physical weakness, came down from his second floor room, walked to the devotees and blessed them. At that time the desires of all the devotees who were present were fulfilled. That is why it is called a Kalpataru Day.

Eat mangoes!

People were asking Sri Ramakrishna whether there is life after death or what happens after a person dies or other similar questions. Sri Ramakrishna used to tell them to eat mangoes and not to bother their heads with the details of how many branches, leaves, or mangoes the mango tree has.

Where are mangoes? Where is the tree?

Once a famous painter Nanda Basu asked Sri Ramakrishna where the mango tree is and where are the mangoes. Sri Ramakrishna said that God is infinite, but God is also a Wish-fulfilling Tree, called a Kalpataru Tree. All our wishes would be fulfill if we go closer to God. Then, we will find that four fruits called Dharma (Rightousness), Artha (Wealth), Kama (Worldly Desires), and Moksha (Freedom from all Bondages) are lying under the tree.

Worldly minded people ask God for Artha and Kama, Jnani (Those who seek Knowledge) ask God for Dharma and Moksha, while devotees of God ask God for only devotion or love for God.

Devotees enjoy taking name of God, constantly thinking of God, serving devotees of God, and loving unselfishly the children of God.

Four Spiritual Practices and Four Yogas – IV

October 7, 2014Reflections, YogaSpiritual Practicesmahendrajani

This is the fourth and the last post of the series “Four Spiritual Practices and Four Yogas.”

“Congratulations to 2014 Graduates”

The high school graduates are already in colleges and the college graduates are either working or in graduate colleges. I am sure these spiritual practices will help them and all of the readers.

In the first part, I shared my thoughts on Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga, in the second part on Raja Yoga, and in the third part on Bhakti Yoga.

In this post, I am going to share my thoughts on the four spiritual practices, which are considered the practices of the four yogas. These four practices are not mutually exclusive, meaning they do have a few things in common and are interconnected. For example, it is very difficult to be a Jnana Yogi without devotion, self-control and unselfish service. Similarly for all of the other three yogas, one cannot be exclusively one kind of a yogi. Swami Vivekananda wanted his disciples to practice all four yogas to speed up their spiritual paths. Practicing all four yogas is like driving a car with four cylinders instead of one cylinder, or flying an airplane with four engines and not only one.

The First Spiritual Practice (Jnana Yoga):

The first spiritual practice consists of Reading, Reflections, and Meditation.

(The numbering first, second, etc. is just for listing purposes. They do not signify the order of the practices. Any of the four practices could be the first practice.)

(i) Read and Reflect:

We have to read the scriptures and the lives and teachings of realized souls, and reflect upon them for the following purposes:

– to realize that the goal of human life is God realization, which is the highest state of knowledge that a human being can attain.

– to realize that this highest state of knowledge provides everything that a human being is seeking: peace of mind, unlimited bliss, a deeper understanding of life, and fulfilment.

– to learn that even though we have to live in this world and perform our duties, the goal of life is NOT making money, producing children, and running around to do errands to acquire little pleasures.

– to realize that no worldly pleasure or object can give us unlimited happiness in life. Worldly objects and sense-pleasures are limited and can give us only limited happiness and in return, we pay a very high price and suffer bitter consequences.

-to find out the way to realize God.

– to understand the characteristics of a person who had realized God.

– to learn how saints and sages have struggled hard to realize God.

– to enjoy reading about God and His/Her devotees.

– to realize that there is one life, one consciousness, and one God whom Vedanta refers to as Brahman. The same Brahman resides in each one of us as a soul called the Atman. It is divine. Its nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss absolute). That is our true identity and to realize It is our goal.

– to intensify our desire to realize the Atman lying within us.

If we read the scriptures and the lives and teachings of saints and sages but cannot fulfill the above purposes, then our reading and reflections become only an intellectual exercise. There is very little gain.

When we read teachings of saints and sages, we have to remember that everything we read may not be applicable to us at that time or, in some cases, may not be applicable at a later time either. There are some universal teachings that are applicable to everyone all the time. But, there are also teachings that were given to specific devotees and are only applicable to similar minded devotees in similar situations. Sri Ramakrishna taught things according to the needs of the devotees. Some may look contradictory. For instance, one of Sri Ramakrishna’s devotees lacked courage and did not stand up for the right cause. Sri Ramakrishna told him to be courageous, to be bold and stand up for what he believed to be true. However, when another devotee, who was aggressive in nature, came to Thakur in the exact same situation, Sri Ramakrishna asked him to be humble.

(ii) Meditation:

Along with reading and reflections, we have to meditate on Brahman which is permanent. The nature of Brahman is “Sat-Chit-Ananda” – Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.

How do we meditate on the Existence Absolute part of Brahman? We should realize that the whole universe came from Brahman. The universe resides in Brahman and is nourished by Brahman. Ultimately, the whole universe will dissolve in Brahman. Brahman is the Ultimate Reality. Everything else is constantly changing and exists only for a short time, even though this short time could be millions of years. We meditate and realize that Brahman has become everything. A potter makes various utensils from clay. Everything was, is, and will be clay. A goldsmith makes various kinds of ornaments like necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets from gold. They all look different, but ultimately it is all gold. Similarly, we meditate and realize that Brahman has become all people and all things around us. We then desire nothing to possess and hate nothing.

Also, through meditation, we realize that the same Brahman is residing in us as the Soul or the Atman. A pot filled with ocean water is floating in an ocean. The water inside the pot is the same water lying outside the pot. All the qualities of the ocean water exist in the water of the pot. Similarly, Atman has all the qualities of Brahman. Meditate on the idea that an individual is like a pot filled with ocean water freely floating in an infinite ocean. When the pot breaks the water inside merges with the water outside. The pot is our ego, which separates us from the infinite Brahman. This is how we meditate on the Existence Absolute part of Brahman.

We meditate on the Knowledge Absolute part of Brahman. Through meditation, we realize that Brahman had created all the brains of the world, is creating more brains now and will create them in future. The Ultimate Brain is Brahman. Each brain has partial knowledge and is a part of that Ultimate Brain.

We meditate on the Bliss Absolute part of Brahman, and realize that all of the happiness in the world is either a direct, or reflected, or deformed bliss of Brahman. Satvik happiness, derived from purifying the mind, doing prayers, meditating, and doing unselfish service to society, is a direct experience of the Bliss of Brahman. Rajasik happiness, which comes from fulfilling pleasures of the body and mind, is a reflected Bliss of Brahman. And tamasik happiness, which comes from ignorance and harming people, is a deformed Bliss of Brahman. Rajasik and Tamasik happiness bring more miseries and bondages with them, while Sattvik happiness frees us from miseries and bondages.

All of the happiness of the world combined together is just a small fraction of the Bliss of Brahman. The Bliss of Brahman which has been realized by many does not depend on any person or any object of the world. When we realize our true identity, which is our divinity or Atman, then we experience this Bliss of Brahman. Then and only then do all the miseries of life vanish.

There are various ways to meditate as a part of the Jnana Yoga practice. We can think that

– an individual self is like a bird flying freely in an infinite sky of consciousness

– an individual soul is a fish swimming freely in an infinite ocean of consciousness

– an individual soul is a point of light in an infinite luminous surrounding that envelops everything

– an individual self is a pot filled with ocean water and is surrounded on all sides by the ocean water (Consciousness of Brahman)

– in the heart there is a lotus, and in the middle of this lotus is an un-flickering steady lamp. The lamp represents the Self-awareness and un-flickering of the lamp represents our steady mind being merged with Brahman.

– a light spot in our heart (representing the Atman) slowly increases and merges into an infinite, all-pervading illumined space

– the whole universe is covered with divine consciousness or Brahman just as everything around us is covered with water during the monsoon

The bird and the sky, the fish and the ocean, the pot and the ocean, the light spot and the illumined environment are all supports for the beginner to focus the mind. Then they become steps to realize that everything is Brahman including oneself.

The Second Spiritual Practice (Bhakti Yoga):

For Bhakti Yoga, there are three major practices: Prayer, Japa, and Holy Company.

(1) Prayer:

One must do prayer at least twice a day – once in the morning and once in the evening. We should be aware that prayer is more than physical food. A sincere seeker of God should not miss any day without prayer. In the initial stage of spiritual development, one should not miss prayer for any day and one should make all efforts to keep a fixed prayer time. Later on, when love for prayer and God increases, one will naturally follow the regularity of time and prayer. At that time, if one is helplessly engaged in some other activity, one’s mind will start praying even if one physically misses the regular prayer.

The length of the time for prayer is not important. The important thing is to be sincere in our prayer. We have to focus our mind on the prayer and its meaning, and feel the presence of God. If our prayer is sincere, then God comes and enjoys our prayer. Suppose in a prayer we may say, “O God! You are my mother and father. You are my sibling and a friend. You are my knowledge and wealth. You are everything for me.” If we say this, we should feel that God truly is our mother, father, friend and everything. If we only do this one prayer sincerely, feel its meaning, think about it, and practice it in our lives, then no other prayer is necessary. As a result of this one prayer, all of our worldly demands, desires, miseries, fear and weaknesses will go away. Through this one prayer we can have God-realization.

Initially, the mind may wander around, so a variety of prayers is necessary. But we hope that our mind becomes focused in some part of prayer. As we progress, our mind remains in prayer and one thought of the prayer can lift the mind to God and enjoy His/Her presence. Prayer is necessary to develop love for God. Sri Ramakrishna says that when love of God develops, then by listening to God’s name, one has “romanch” (goose-bumps), tears of joy flow naturally from the eyes, and one does not like anything else except name of God. At that time, one’s life becomes transformed for good. All of the virtues described in the Bhagavad Gita shlokas 12.13 -12.19 manifest in the devotee. These virtues include loving all, hating none, having humility, being truthful, lacking jealousy, and balancing the mind in all circumstances among others.

To do regular prayer at home, one needs a prayer room or a quiet prayer corner. That place must be used solely for prayer. It has to be clean and may have an altar with pictures of the forms of God that one likes. One can decorate it with flowers, clothes, and other items. Try to keep the decoration simple. Too much decoration may distract the mind; simple yet artistic decoration may create a pleasant environment. Lighting a lamp and burning incense create a mood for prayer.

Prayer may include worship, arati, hymns, bhajans, dhoons, doing japa, and reading inspiring biographies and teachings of Holy People who have realized God. If people cannot sing, then they can listen to arati, hymns, bhajans, and dhoons from audio CDs. Prayer can be a silent prayer done in one’s mind. The idea is to forget everything about the world, including one’s body and focusing the mind on God. If a prayer is done sincerely, many inspiring thoughts may come on the surface of the mind, doubts may be destroyed, the mind becomes serene and peaceful, faith in God and one’s own divinity becomes stronger, the restlessness of the mind starts going away, and one develop inner strength to face any problem in life.

(2) Japa:

Prayer should lead a devotee into the important spiritual practice of Japa. Japa is the repetition of God’s name with love. The name of God comes in the form of a Mantra. These mantras have been evolved over thousands of years and, by repeating them, many have had God-realization. That is why these mantras are potent. Repeating them properly with a true love of God will produce great spiritual results. If one can get a mantra from a God-person who has realized God or has been much advanced in spiritual life, then the mantra has a special power. If one has not found such a person, then one can select a mantra of the form of God one likes and repeat it with sincerity and love. God will be happy with this repetition too.

In japa, we can think that God is happily and lovingly sitting in front of us just as our loving father, mother, grandparent, or any spiritual teacher is sitting in front of us. One can then meditate on God’s feet, hands, chest, ears, eyes, mouth, and whole face while repeating the mantra. Then, meditate on the lotus feet of the form of God. One can also think of the life incidents and teachings of the form of God to whom one is praying. Sometimes it is helpful to read life incidents and teachings of the form of God before doing japa. For example, one can read from the Ramayana before doing japa of Lord Rama; one can read a portion of the Bhagavatam before doing japa of Lord Krishna; one can read the Shiva Purana or the meaning of the Shiva mahimna hymn before doing japa of Lord Shiva; one can read The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna before doing japa of Sri Ramakrishna.

Singing dhoons, bhajans, or hymns also help in focusing our mind in japa. Japa leads one to meditation. While doing japa, when no other thought except the thought of God remains in the mind, then meditation begins.

Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, “O Partha! I (God) am easily revealed to the person who is constantly engaged in spiritual practices and is thinking of me with focused mind.”

(3) Holy Company: Sri Ramakrishna said that Bhagavat, Bhakta, and Bhagavan are the same, meaning that the scriptures of God, the company of a devotee of God and being with God are all the same. To develop love for God, holy company is most important. We need a living example. We need to see and be with a person who truly loves God. In the world we find people everywhere who love money, name-fame, shopping, food, comforts, and worldly pleasures. It is rare to find someone who truly loves God and finds that all other worldly are pleasures less important. Many saints have praised the importance of having holy company. Sometimes a simple action, expression, or hint coming from a holy person may transform our lives completely for good. Through this, our doubts can be destroyed and our faith in God becomes stronger.

But how do we know if our company is holy? A company is holy if in their presence our holy thoughts come to the surface of our mind. Through sincere prayer, we can prepare our mind to understand the spiritual impact of holy company. Many times people go to God-people and discuss politics or trifle worldly things that they themselves cherish. But, this is not the purpose of holy company. Out of love and a desire not to hurt others, holy people may talk a little bit about these things, but they really cherish talks about God and spiritual development more than anything else.

Swami Adiswaranandaji used to say that people make counterfeits because money is valuable, and mimic gold because it is precious. No one mimics dirt because it is not precious. Similarly, since holy company is the most valuable thing in the world, a few people may try to mimic holy people. As people have to be careful about counterfeits, people have to also be alert about holy company. But once we find true holy company, we should think that we are blessed by God. We have to take advantage of such holy company to develop spiritually. The Shrimad Bhagavad Gita says that we have to respectfully approach God-people and ask our questions to remove our doubts, to develop love for God, to understand the true nature of God, and to find and remove obstacles of our spiritual path.

The Third Spiritual Practice (Raja Yoga):

The two main spiritual practices of Raja Yoga are self-control and the focusing of the mind.

(1) Self-control by practicing values:

Most people think Yoga means physical exercises. However, this is an extremely simplified meaning. Yoga exercises are good in that they keep our bodies in good shape. Yet, the only purpose of maintaining our bodies is to prevent them from being an obstacle in realizing our inner divinity – God residing in us.

This is the same purpose for the breathing exercises (Pranayam) of Yoga. Breathing exercises help the mind to be ready to focus on our inner divinity or Atman. However, Swami Vivekananda warns us, saying that these breathing exercises have to be done in the direct guidance of an expert and in a measured way. If the exercises are wrongfully done, then they may damage our brains. Shri Shankaracharya says that if we do not realize our inner divinity or Atman through the breathing exercises (Pranayam), then we are torturing our nose.

The real self-control comes by practicing values including yama (practice of non-violence, truthfulness, not to steal, practicing celibacy, and simple living) and niyama (practicing purity, contentment, austerity, study of scriptures, and worship of God) of Raja Yoga. Let us keep it clear in our mind that sincerely practicing values to get control on our senses and mind is real Raja Yoga. In his Raja Yoga book, Swami Vivekananda describes the following values to become a yogi:

“He who hates none, who is the friend of all, who is merciful to all, who has nothing of his own, who is free from egotism, who is even-minded in pain and pleasure, who is forbearing, who is always satisfied, who is ever devoted to yoga, whose self has become controlled, whose will is firm, whose mind and intellect are given unto Me-such a one is My beloved bhakta.

He from whom comes no disturbance, who cannot be disturbed by others, who is free from joy, fear and anxiety-such a one is My beloved.

He who does not depend on anything, who is pure and active, who does not care whether good comes or evil, and never becomes miserable, who has given up all efforts for himself, who is the same in praise or in blame, silent and thoughtful, pleased with what little comes his way, homeless, having the whole world for his home, and steady in his mind-such a one is My beloved bhakta.” (Translation of Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, shlokas 13 –19)

When we see so many values to practice, we become disheartened. But, in the same chapter, Swami Vivekananda says, “Be not afraid if you are not perfect in all of these (values). Work and you will succeed.” If we truly practice any one of the values described above, then all of the other values will come to us.

(ii) Focusing our mind (Meditation):

The purpose of all the efforts of Raja Yoga practices (including the practicing of values) is to attain control over our self and become fit to focus our mind to attain the highest knowledge – to realize our inner divinity and be free from all bondages.

Every day, we have to sit and try to meditate on our true identity. Our true identity is Atman, which is eternal. By discriminating between what is permanent and what is not permanent, we can focus on our Atman. For example, our body and the mind constantly change. Because of the unchangeable Atman in the background, we perceive these changes of the body and mind. We should try to focus our mind on the unchangeable Atman. We have to try to go beyond our sense of “I”, which is limited to our name and form, our gender, our age, our achievements, our belongings, our desires and attachments, our limitations, our birth, and death. Our true identity, the Atman, is beyond these limited things. It is eternal, infinite, formless, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. If we try to focus on this Atman every day, by denying all the false identities, then with other supportive activities we will be able to make progress and we will start feeling our true identity. What is the test of our progress? All of the characteristics or values described in the above-mentioned Bhagavad Gita shlokas will start manifesting in our lives and we will feel blessed. Then, we will find the true meaning of life and life truly becomes worth living.

Focusing our mind is not an easy task. Arjun, the hero of Mahabharat who could focus his mind in archery on an eye of a bird sitting on a tree, told Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita that to focus the restless mind in meditation is as extremely difficult as controlling the powerful wind. Sri Krishna agreed to Arjun and said, “O Mighty Arjun, yes, the mind is restless and very difficult to control. But, through constant practice and detachment, it can be controlled. This Yoga (realizing Brahman) is extremely difficult for one who has no self-control. But, this Yoga can be attained through proper spiritual practices by one who has self-control.” (Gita 6.33 – 6.36)

The Fourth Spiritual Practice (Karma Yoga):

The practice of Karma Yoga is unselfish service.

Who can do unselfish service?

We all have to perform our responsibilities and we are happy when we can do something for others. All of this constitutes service. Karma Yoga teaches us how we can make this service a spiritual practice.

Many people like to give lectures and/or guide others without building up their own lives. Similarly many people want to do service without first becoming fit to do service. Only a person who is “unselfish” or sincerely “trying to be unselfish” can do an unselfish service. “Trying to be unselfish” means to be committed to realizing one’s true identity as the divine Atman. He/she sees the same divinity in all beings and all things in the universe. Until one realizes this identity or ‘sameness’ in everything, one cannot be truly unselfish. If we are selfish, we might do harm to people whom we are serving. For example, if I am attached to my children, then I might be ignoring their weaknesses. I may not be able to tell them what is right and what is wrong. And in the name of doing service, I might be indirectly nourishing their harmful activities.

While doing service, somehow desire for name-fame, recognition, worldly-gain of any form creep in, and the service deteriorates into an ugly form of selfish worldly activity. If one does any work with a selfish motive, then it is okay, but doing selfish worldly activity in the form of service is ugly and counter-productive. A sincere Karma Yogi has to constantly watch him or her to avoid seeking any selfish motive from his/her service.

How can one be unselfish?

Practically, in order to be unselfish, one has to be selfish for one’s own spiritual development. We have to realize that in an absolute sense, we cannot do anything good in the world. The world is perfect as it is. Many people have tried to make this world a perfect place, and we see that the world has not become perfect and the fundamental problems remain same. Only the formats of the problems change. The problems created by jealousy, hatred, greed, and other vices continue to appear in different forms. Should we not try to do good then? Yes, we must try to do good for others in whatever way we can. But we have to remember that by trying to do good in the world we are doing good to ourselves. A true Karma Yogi is thankful to God for receiving an opportunity to do something good for others and in this process is able to expand himself/herself from his/her little self. If we have the spiritual goal to realize our true identity, which is the Self or Atman, then we can think of this doing good as a spiritual practice to go towards our Atman. We will then measure the success of our service not by the changes we have made in the world, but in terms of how much progress we have made in realizing this true identity and ‘oneness’ (seeing the same Atman in all). This way, even if the people whom we have served turn against us and blame us, we will not be disturbed. We will be able to remain calm and continue to serve. Also, if the people whom we have served praise us and shower us with worldly things, we will not be flattered or become tempted, but remain calm, controlled, and continue to serve without any selfish motive.

What makes us selfish?

We know that worldly attractions, prosperity, desire for name and fame, recognition, body-mind pleasures etc. make us selfish. Yet if we go deeper, we find that “me and mine-ness” and “doer-ship” also make us selfish. All worldly temptations come from these things. When we separate ourselves from Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, with the “little ‘I’”, covered with the body and mind, then the “me and mine-ness” and the “doer-ship” begin.

How do we get rid of the “me and mine-ness” and the “doer-ship”?

In order to get rid of these two, we have to start looking at ourselves and the world in their Reality. We have to recognize that some power or God has created this world, that It is nourishing this world, and that It will dissolve this world. We have very little control on ourselves and on the world. In fact, we have no total control on our own bodies. This limited control may even be a good thing because, with total control, we may harm ourselves. We have to remember that the world was going on before our birth and will go on after we die. Compared to the whole infinite universe, we are just tiny little things. Yes, as the Atman—a part of Brahman—we are infinite and have infinite power as Brahman. But, as our limited selves with just our bodies and minds, we are finite and have very little power. By realizing that we are the instrument in the hands of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality or Power, we can lose our “me and mine-mess” and “doer-ship.” Sri Ramakrishna says to take care of all of our responsibilities as caretakers, appointees of God, or as instruments of God. He gave the example of a baby-sitter who raises children of his/her master as his/her own but knows very well that they do not belong to him/her. Another practice in ridding ourselves of selfishness is to offer the results of our services to God.

Conclusion:

In brief, it is good to keep in mind the following four spiritual practices in order to attain the Ultimate Spiritual Goal:

(1) Daily prayer, japa and meditation

(2) Reading from inspiring books and keeping holy company

(3) Practicing values and

(4) Doing unselfish service.

I sincerely wish all the best to all who are striving for spiritual development. May God help us all.

(My special thanks to Ronak and Nisha Parikh for their help in editing this post.)

Four Spiritual Practices and Four Yogas – III

August 22, 2014Philosophy, Reflections, YogaBhakti Yogamahendrajani

This is a third post of a series of posts.

graduation-cap — “Congratulations to 2014 Graduates”

I keep the “congratulations to 2014 graduates” as a part of the post because I decided to write these four posts for the graduates. Of course, others can also enjoy reading and practicing these ideas.

I shared my thoughts on Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga in the first part and Raja Yoga in the second part of this series.

In this post, I am going to share my thoughts on Bhakti Yoga. Bhakti Yoga is a path to attain the highest Knowledge or State or God-realization through love.

One can read more about Bhakti Yoga from the following books.

The Four Yogas - Swami Adiswarananda — The Four Yogas – Swami Adiswarananda

Why Bhakti Yoga?

Some people can reason well and can realize that “I am the divine soul and not body and mind.” They can align their thoughts, speech, and action to this conviction. These are Jnana Yogis.

Some people can easily become unselfish in one’s thoughts, speech, and actions, and live life serving all without any worldly motive. These are Karma Yogis.

Some people can control their senses and minds easily and can focus their minds on the inner divinity. These are Raja Yogis.

But there are many people who have difficulties in reasoning, becoming unselfish, and controlling the senses and the mind, and focusing the mind on an object of meditation. Such activities are not natural to them. What is the way for these people? The ancient teachers found that it is natural for most people to love. Most of us have experienced love between parents and children, teachers and students, between friends, and between spouses. The ancient teachers found that for most people it is easier to attain the highest knowledge through loving God. The Bhagavad Gita says that as long as we have body-consciousness, it is extremely difficult to think of God as formless (12.5). Thus this love of God comes in the relationship with a form of God . Swami Vivekananda says that if a fish thinks of God, it will think of a huge mighty fish. Similarly, when a human being thinks of God, he/she thinks of a super-human being.

How to develop love for a form of God?

Many people have this question: How can one believe an imaginary form as God and love this God? It is a genuine question.

For an answer to this question, we can look at this from different points of view. When we read a novel or watch a movie, we know very well that the hero and heroine are imaginary. But, we get attached to them. We think they are real and we become happy and sad with them. For sincere readers, these characters are real to them. Similarly, Sri Rama and Mother Sita from Ramayana and Shri Krishna from Mahabharata are real to many people. Not only that these forms are real to them, but by following the virtues of Sri Rama and Sita as exhibited by them in the Ramayana, and the teachings of Shri Krishna described in Srimad Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, people can improve their lives and become good citizens in the society. This is exactly the reason why the Shiva Purana, Vishnu Purana, Devi Puarana and other Puranas were written. In each Purana, life incidents of a form of God or Goddess have been described. Devotees read them, get attached to them, follow their teachings, and improve their lives spiritually. If we look deeper, we find that the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other Puranas have built up the Hindu culture. The Upanishads and Brahma Sutras provide the essential philosophy of life, but the great epics and the Puranas showed people how to put the essential teachings of the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras into practical life.

In a way, everything is an imagination. A picture of our friend or relative in our mind is also imaginary. Yes, we see them and we talk to them, but we also carry an image of each person in our mind. If we already live our lives with these imaginary pictures, then what is wrong with having an imaginary picture of God that helps us to improve our life? However, for the devotees, the form of God is real and not imaginary. It is as real as the picture of our friend and relative in our mind.

Swami Vivekananda says, “Some imaginations help to break the bondage of the rest. The whole universe is imagination, but one set of imaginations will cure another set…. The highest imagination that can break all the links of the chain is that of Personal God. ‘Om tat sat’ is the only thing beyond Maya, but God exists eternally. As long as the Niagara Falls exists, the rainbow will exist; but the water continually flows away. The falls are the universe, and the rainbow is personal God; and both are eternal.”

Some people still may not be convinced to develop an attachment to a form of God. For many of them, an incarnation of God or a great saintly personality who was actually born, lived in this world like any other person, and in whose presence people felt the presence of God, could be a form of God to love and to help one grow spiritually. Buddha, Ramanuja, Shankaracharya, Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Arobindo, and Sri Raman Maharshi are but a few such examples.

Is God limited to a form?

We have to remember that a bhakta (devotee) begins with loving a form of God, but does not limit God to this form. Bhakta has to go beyond the form of God. He/she ultimately realizes that the Ultimate God is infinite, formless, and omnipresent, and He/She still lies within each one of us as our inner divinity. It is our divinity which makes us run around to find God. Swami Vivekananda, in one of his poems, says that he searched for God in temples, mountains, and caves, but he could not find God anywhere. Ultimately, when he was desperate to see God, he realized that God was present in him the whole time as his inner divinity, and this divinity made him look for God outside.

A great devotee, Hanuman, gave us a deeper understanding about the perception of God. When Lord Rama asked him, “How do you look at me?”, Hanuman replied, “When I am aware of my body (Deha-buddhya) I see you as my Master and I am your servant. When I am aware of my individual soul (Jiva-buddhya), I see that you are Infinite and I am a part of you. But when I am aware of my inner divinity, which is Atman (Atma-buudhya), then I see there is no difference between You and I.”

Thus, a devotee looks at God in different ways according to his/her state of mind. Each form of God is true in that mental state.

The Essential points of Bhakti Yoga:

– As a mother is happy to love her child, a devotee is happy and satisfied to love God. He/she does not want anything from God. The beginning, middle, or end of Bhakti Yoga is nothing but love for God. By loving God, a devotee finds complete fulfillment of life.

– As a true mother is ready to sacrifice anything for her child, a devotee is always ready to sacrifice anything for God.

– Love does not have fear. Where there is fear, there is no love. A devotee is fearless. He/she has completely surrendered to the wish of his/her beloved God. When a devotee goes through a painful situation, he/she holds on to God knowing very well that there is no other alternative. When a mother punishes her child for wrongdoing, a child holds on the cloth of the mother knowing that there is no alternative.

– A devotee has full faith in God’s words: “Na me bhaktah pranashyati (My devotee never perish.)” (Gita 9.31)

– When true love for God comes, then all the states of the other three Yogas come naturally to a devotee. He/she can realize that God is Real and everything else is unreal, he/she can become unselfish, become ready to serve all as God’s children, easily have self-control, and focus the mind completely on his/her beloved God.

– Devotees’ lives become filled with bliss and satisfaction. A devotee thinks that he/she has attained everything in life that can be achieved and there is nothing left to attain. No joy or sorrow can throws off a devotee from this blissful state.

– A devotee does not have to reason for God or to prove anything to others.

– A devotee has a positive outlook of life. Everything is created by his/her beloved God, so he/she accepts all lovingly and hates no one. A devotee always encourages all to remove weaknesses and he/she helps others manifest their inner divinity. A devotee’s world is real and not imaginary.

– A devotee is always active to fulfill the responsibilities given to him/her by his/her beloved God. When a mountain asked Hanumanji to take some rest, he said, “Rama Kaju kihne binu mohi kahan bishrama (Until I finish Lord Rama’s work, how can I take rest?).”

– A devotee does not want to become one with God. He/she wants to remain as a devotee so that he/she can enjoy taking name of God and enjoy loving God. He/she does not want to become sugar, but wants to enjoy sugar.

Practices of Bhakti Yoga:

The following are few practices to develop love for God.

1. Japa: Constantly repeating name of God.

2. Kirtana: Singing glories of God through hymns, bhajans, and dhoons.

3. Puja: Doing worship of God through various means like washing feet of God, offering water for bath, offering sandal paste, flowers, cloth, food, and other things.

4. Reading scriptures: Reading the life and teachings of the form of God that one is worshiping.

5. Lila-smarana: Thinking and remembering the life incidents and/or teachings of the form of God that one is worshiping.

6. Holy Company: Seeking the company of Saints and devotees that increases love for God. The company of people who sincerely love God, have realized God, or are trying to realize God, is extremely important.

7. Prayer: God listens to our sincere prayer. A devotee regularly and constantly prays to God for devotion.

8. Serving Devotees: Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “Bhagavata, Bhakta, and Bhagava are same.” Since a devotee loves God, he/she loves anything associated to God, especially people who love God. Serving devotees is like serving God.

9. Build up a relationship with God: A devotee has to establish some form of relationship with God. There are various examples of such relationship. Hanuman had a relationship with God as a servant. Prahlada had relationship with God as a son. The cowherd boys had a relationship with Sri Krishna as a friend. Yashoda, Kaushlya, and King Dasharatha had a relationship with God as His parents. Sri Radha and the Gopis considered Sri Krishna as their beloved. Sri Ramakrishna had a relationship with Mother Kali as her son. Sri Ramakrishna said that the servant-Master and the child-parent relationships are the best relationships Bhakti Yogis can have with God. Only when mind becomes completely free from thoughts of lust can one understand the relationship of Sri Radha and the Gopies with Sri Krishna.

10. Combine three attractions: In order to realize God or develop intense love for God, one needs to combine the intensities of three attractions – a greedy person’s for wealth, a lustful person’s for lust, and a mother’s attraction for child.

11. Turn the faces toward God: For a devotee, nothing is bad. A devotee turns everything towards God. For example, he/she gets angry for not making spiritual progress, has an intense desire to realize God, and becomes greedy for God-realization.

Two kinds of Bhakti:

There are two kinds of Bhakti (devotion): preliminary Bhakti and matured Bhakti.

Preliminary Bhakti consists of ritualistic worship, going to temples, doing a certain number of japa, doing regular prayers, and practicing values. The practicing of values includes keeping holy company and avoiding unholy company, controlling passions, keeping external and internal purity, being truthful, having sincerity, giving compassion to all, not hurting anyone through thoughts, speech and actions, not stealing, not indulging in vain thoughts, and not brooding over injuries received from others. One must acquire inner strength and remain cheerful in taking the name of God, but avoid indulging in excessive worldly pleasures. People who get overjoyed easily also get depressed easily. A devotee’s mind must be steady, peaceful, and well balanced.

Preliminary Bhakti is good in the beginning to develop love for God. But one must advance in the path and acquire mature Bhakti. In this state, love for God intensifies. Now, a devotee feels that without God, there is nothing important in the world. He/she does all the work of the world, but his/her mind constantly thinks of God. A devotee does not like any other talk except of God. When a devotee’s mind goes away from God, he/she becomes as restless as a fish out of the water. By taking the name of God, the voice chokes out of love, the skin gets goose-bumps, tears of love and joy flow, and the mind becomes absorbed in the thoughts of his/her beloved God. Everything else drops off from the mind except the thought of God. At this stage, the form of God envelops the whole universe and one sees God everywhere and in everyone.

Thus when Bhakti matures or deepens, the mind becomes absorbed in the thought of God. This is called Bhava. This Bhava matures into Mahabhava and it matures into Samadhi, the complete absorption of the mind into God. In this state, one is not aware of space and time. The body-consciousness goes away completely. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Ramakrishna had this state. The state of matured devotion and matured knowledge is the same. There remains only Bliss, Bliss, and Bliss.

Who is a true devotee of God?

In the Bhagavad Gita (12.13-19), a list of characteristics of a most beloved devotee of God has been given by Lord Krishna himself.

It says that a most beloved devotee of God is one who

hates none
is a friend of all
is merciful to all
is unselfish (has gone beyond thinking of “Me” and “Mine”)
is egoless
remains the same in pain and pleasure
is forgiving
is ever-satisfied
is constantly devoted to God
has total self-control
has firm conviction that God is the Truth
has given the mind and intellect to God
does not afflict the world
cannot be afflicted by the world
is free from excessive joy, jealousy, fear, and anxiety
is totally self-dependent (God-dependent)
is pure
is skillful
is unbiased
is free from all anxieties
does not get indulged into any selfish activity
rejoices not (by worldly gain), hates not, grieves not, and desires not
has gone beyond the idea of auspicious and inauspicious
is filled with devotion
is fair with a friend and a foe
remains balanced in honor and insults, heat and cold, and pain and pleasure
is unattached (completely attached to God)
considers praise and blame as equal (to learn)
speaks when needed
accepts everything that comes to him as a “Prasad” (gift) from God
considers whole world as his/her home and
has steady intellect.

These virtues are inter-connected. If one establishes one virtue, then the other virtues follow. Sri Ramakrishna says that when a devotee sincerely loves God, then by the grace of God these virtues manifest in the devotee. At that time, we know that the God-realization is very near for the devotee.

Sant Narsimha Mehta has inter-woven these virtues into his famous bhajan “Vaishnava jana to tene re kahiye..” which was a favorite to Mahatma Gandhi.

Dangers:

A devotee should be aware of the following things.

– Devotion is not easy. There is a big difference between emotion and devotion. Most of the time, a devotee gets confused between the two. A temporary uplifting of the mind may be caused by the external environment and it vanishes in the absence of that environment. A devotee considers this falsely as a genuine inspiration. One should know that a genuine inspiration must come from one’s own spiritual practices and deeper understanding. It should not depend on any external thing. All tears may not be of devotion. Tears may come due to several reasons. For example, tears may come due to anger, helplessness, and jealousy, or memory of past sad experiences or unfulfilled desires.

– A devotee becomes a victim of fanaticism. If I like one form of God that does not mean that others also should like it. I love my mother, but I cannot tell others to love my mother and not theirs. The Motherhood is important. The forms of mothers may be different. Fanaticism has killed more people on earth than for any other reason. People become blind with fanaticism. This attitude is not spiritual at all. It is anti-spiritual. It is better not to believe in God than to become fanatic in the name of God. Because of fanaticism, many people hate religion and spirituality or anything related to God.

– A devotee doing regular prayer and other ritualistic worships may wrongly believe that he/she has become a true advanced devotee and that he/she has nothing to do anything more for progress. In this case, one gets stuck at one place in the spiritual path. Ultimately, such a devotee remains deprived of all spiritual benefits. This may lead a devotee to quit spiritual practices thinking that the practices are useless.

– A devotee loves a form of God and worships God with many ingredients, but remains unaware of the sufferings of fellow human beings. This is why we see huge temples being built and tons of money being spent in the worship of God while outside those same temples, millions of human beings (the living God) are dying without food and basic necessities. Devotees may become insensitive to the sufferings of others. Such attitude is not a genuine devotion.

– Kirtan (singing name of God or God’s glories) raises the mind very quickly. If a devotee has not developed self-control and discrimination, then after the kirtan the mind takes a big fall into the sense-pleasures. Eventually, instead of progressing in spirituality, a person becomes worldlier. Kirtan is a great spiritual practice, but it has to be supported by strict self-control and discrimination. Also, without discrimination, a devotee cannot separate the joy of music and the joy of devotion. Such a devotee gets bored by frequently singing the same dhoons, bhajans, or hymns. He/she needs newer and newer dhoons, bhajans, or hymns to satisfy his/her musical enjoyment. Sri Ramakrishna gives the example of a person who was playing tabla in kirtan, but after sometime began playing for money and name-fame. To prevent this, one should be aware of this fact. Then, each time one sings any dhoons, bhajans, or hymns one has to focus one’s mind on the meaning of this singing and feel the presence of God. One should always sing to please one’s God and not people.

– Knowledge and Devotion: We have to remember that “Knowledge without devotion is dry and devotion without knowledge may become futile sentiments.” Thus, we always have to think and remember why we are praying to God, who we are praying to, and what should be the outcome of our prayers.

– Grace of God: Devotion (true love for God) comes only by grace of God. We have to sincerely try and pray for this grace.

Four Spiritual Practices and Four Yogas – Part II

July 14, 2014Philosophy, Reflections, YogaBhagavad Gita, Spiritual Practicesmahendrajani

This is a second part of a series of posts

Congratulations to 2014 Graduates!

In the first part, I briefly talked about the philosophies of Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga before describing simple but effective spiritual practices of the yogas. In this part, I would like to share with you briefly what I understood the practical major points of Raja Yoga.

One can learn more about Raja Yoga by reading the Bhagavad Gita (especially chapter 6), Swami Vivekananda’s book “Raja Yoga” and Swami Adiswaranandaji’s book “The Four Yogas”.

Raja Yoga: Raja Yoga is a path to realize the Ultimate Reality or Brahman or God that is lying within through self-control and focusing the mind. As sun-rays gathered by a magnifying-glass creates fire, similarly the mind, gathered by self-control and focused on our inner divine Self (Atman), reveals our true identity. This is God realization.

Raja Yoga logically and scientifically describes the stages of progress from the beginning to the last stage of realizing the Ultimate Reality. These steps are different states of our mind. Once we go through all of these stages, we understand all the aspects of our mind. These are the famous eight steps of Raja Yoga.

Seven Steps of Raja Yoga & Eighth step of Vedanta:

(1) Yama: Yama constitutes of five practices to help attain self-control:

(i) Ahimsa (Non-violence): One should not hurt anyone physically, verbally, and mentally. Any thought, or word, or an action which harms any person keeps our mind in an agitated or reactionary mood. With such a mood, a person cannot focus one’s mind completely. We can focus our mind partially on the Self along with harmful thoughts. But such partial focus cannot help us to attain the highest knowledge. A person with idea of revenge or harming others cannot be a decent human being, not to talk about a Yogi. Therefore, 100% focus of our mind is necessary.

(ii) Satya (Truthfulness): In order to be a Raja Yogi, one has to practice to be truthful in thoughts, speech, and actions. Hypocrites and dishonest people cannot progress in any Yoga. Being truthful prepares a ground to begin our journey to realize the highest knowledge.

(iii) Asteya (Not to Steal): Respecting the property of other people and not stealing builds up self-control. These properties of others could be in any form.

(iv) Brahmacharya (Practicing Celibacy): Sri Ramakrishna said that lust and greed tie mind of a human being to the lower planes and will not let it think anything higher. Brahmacharya is to control lustful thoughts, speech, and actions. There is a short story that encapsulates this point. Someone once had a mongoose as a pet and he had a small ground for it to go around. The ground was surrounded by a wall. To stop mongoose from running away, the owner tied a brick to its tail with a string. Each time mongoose tried to climb the wall to go away, the weight of the brick brought it down. Lust and greed are these weights.

Lust is a natural instinct in all beings to continue the creation of the universe. But, it is a small part of human life. Human beings are not born just to produce more human beings and die. There is much more to life. People forget this and orient their whole lives around this lust-oriented joy. Therefore, they miss a lot of uplifting joy of life which the scriptures describe. The Upanishads say that the sum total of all worldly joys is lesser than one-billionth of the bliss one gets by realizing Atman.

Those who try to fulfill lustful desires are either not aware of or forget the fact that these desires are like fire and attempts to fulfill them are like adding ghee into it. The more we put ghee into the fire, the more it intensifies. It is like the Myth of Sisyphus. Each time one rolls a stone up, it rolls down. Sri Shankaracharya says that trying to fulfill all worldly desires and simultaneously get the highest knowledge is like trying to cross a river holding a crocodile.

What can be done? Not all people can live a life of celibacy. It is true that only 1% of human beings truly renounce everything and fully dedicate their lives for God-realization and service to humanity. In Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says, “All legitimate desires come from Me (God)” (Gita 7.11). That is why in the Hindu system there are four parts of life: Brahmacharya, Gruhastha, Vanprastha and Sanyas. In the younger ages (up to 25 years), students should practice celibacy and devote all their time and energy to acquire moral and spiritual knowledge, learning various skills to make a living in the future and to build their character. Then, there are two choices. One path is to renounce everything for God-realization and service to humanity. The second path is to get married, raise a family properly, and get control over lust and greed. And then, after having experienced the world, they can renounce everything for God-realization and service to humanity. This is Vanaprastha and Sanyasa. Sri Ramakrishna said that after one or two children, the husband and wife should live like brother and sister and should help each other in their spiritual progress. This is possible if they understand the importance of spiritual practices and the bliss, peace, knowledge, and fulfillment that follow. This has to be done very carefully without damaging an individual’s mind and his/her relationship with the spouse.

Controlling and focusing the mind on God or Self is not an easy task for it needs tremendous will-power. This will-power comes from controlling the lustful thoughts and other desires through which our energy runs out. This is where spiritual practice becomes difficult and we need help from the All Mighty. We have to sincerely pray and try. If we are sincere, at right moment help comes from the All Mighty. Actually, devotees feel that only by God’s grace can we do spiritual practices.

(v) Aparigraha (Living with minimum belongings and not receiving any gift or favors from others): Those who have a higher goal of God realization or attaining the highest knowledge need all of the possible time and resources to make progress on achieving this goal. They cannot waste their time maintaining lots of unnecessary material things. That is why they select a “simple life,” meaning to live on minimum number of worldly things. For example, they question to themselves: How many minimum numbers of clothes, shoes, toiletries and other things are needed for me to live? They will find out what the minimum liabilities they should go into are. They chose bare necessities over luxury.

Receiving gifts or favors from others creates a sense of guilt to pay back in some form or other. The giver may have some form of expectation that may result in guilt if we cannot fulfill them. A question comes: “In house-holders life how can we avoid not receiving gift or favors?” The answer is, “We should receive gifts or favors only in unavoidable situations. And whenever we receive any gift or favor, we must try to give back more than what we have received. This way no guilt will be left and mind remains free.”

(2) Niyama: Niyama constitutes the following five observances:

(i) Saucha(External and internal purity): Cleanliness of the body and mind is very important. Cleanliness of body is easy to maintain, but cleanliness of mind takes a long time. When mind is clean, only then does the divinity manifest from within. Thus, cleanliness of mind is the ultimate goal. A Raja Yogi should have this goal of purification in mind and constantly work for it. As mind gets purified, one advances towards one’s true identity, The Divine Self or Atman. One develops a sense of purity, and consequently impurity will make one uncomfortable. We have to remember that whatever takes us away from our divine Self is impure.

(ii) Santosh(Contentment): A student of Raja Yoga develops a sense of contentment. Being in the world, it is natural that we have desires. We need to fulfill legitimate desires. But, we have to realize the following facts: (1) We cannot fully satisfy all the worldly desires. The more we try to fulfill these desires, the more they grow in intensity. (2) The fulfillment of worldly desires gives us little pleasure initially, but then we have to pay a high price for our energy, time, and resources. At the end, the consequences make us suffer more than the pleasure. (3) Worldly desires make us slaves of worldly objects and people. We cannot think and act independently. (4) It is always good to have desires which help us grow spiritually and give us better understanding of our lives. Thus, we have to keep our legitimate desires minimum, be happy with what we have and what we get, and continue striving for spiritual development. Scriptures say that “contentment is the greatest wealth one can have.”

(iii) Tapas(Austerity): We have to learn to bear the pain that comes when we make efforts for spiritual development. People suffer so much to attain a worldly thing which eventually gives them very little joy and still they do not complain. Why then should a spiritual seeker complain in bearing a little suffering which will give infinite joy? If we are forced to remain hungry, it is painful. But, if we willingly fast, then it is an austerity.

(iv) Swadhyaya (Study of Scriptures): A study of the scriptures is important. In the beginning, it is good to listen to the experts who had practiced what the scriptures say and had developed spiritually. Listening to intellectuals who do not practice the essence of scriptures will not help much. Through the God-realized people, we can learn essence of scriptures and practice them. This way we avoid spending our time understanding useless and unnecessary things. We will also avoid misinterpretations of the scriptures. Furthermore, we have to learn what is applicable to us at this given point. Many inessential things of the scriptures are necessary to preserve the essential things. For example, a banana skin is necessary to have banana. But, we have to remove the skin and eat only the banana.

(v) Ishwar Pranidhana (Worship of God): Some form of worship of God is necessary to develop love for God. Also, for a person with body-consciousness, it is important to think God with a form. It will be easier to focus on God with form than God without form.

(3) Asana: We have to master a sitting posture that is comfortable and will help us focus our minds on God. We have mastered a posture if by sitting in that posture we can forget our body and comfortably think of God for an hour or more. Usually, this posture consists of sitting on the floor with crossed legs. For a normal healthy person, the mastery of this posture can be developed through regular spiritual practice. Those who have been advanced in the spiritual path say that sitting crossed-legged while keeping the spinal column, neck and head in straight line, helps focus our minds on God or our spiritual ideal. The Bhagavad Gita also describes the same posture in the shlokas 6.13.

(4) Pranayama: Our breathing is connected with our state of mind. If we are calm, then our breathing is slow, smooth, even from both the nostrils, and has fewer inhale-exhale units per minute. If our mind is excited, agitated, angry, or scared, then our breathing will be faster, shorter, and will have more units of inhale-exhale per minute. Also, we do not need to breathe from both of our nostrils all the time. This depends on our state of mind. Naturally our mind is calm when night meets day and in the evening when day meets night. These are the best times to pray, do japa, or meditate.

Raja Yoga also teaches how to do the opposite – to control the mind by controlling breathing. This has to be done systematically and in the presence of an expert. Otherwise, one may damage one’s mind. Along with this breathing exercise (Pranayama), one has to do all the practices described above for self-control.

(5) Pratyahara: We must get control over the mind’s power of attaching and detaching to our sense-organs. This can be done with 3 things. (1) One must observe how various thoughts come and how the mind gets attached or detached from the sense-organs and their objects. Mostly, the mind gets attached to the sense-organs and their objects through desires, causing the mind to wander around. By observing the mind and having desire to get control over the mind, the desires and thoughts get reduced over a period of time. (2) One must have the will-power to withdraw the mind from the sense-organs and their useless desires. Using too much force is not good. This has to be done cleverly without breaking the mind’s ability to function. (3) One must explain to his/her mind how useless it is to run after every desire that comes to the mind. By discrimination, from all desires, we have to separate the favorable and legitimate desires and the harmful illegitimate desires. Then, tell the mind to get rid of the latter desires and focus on the favorable and legitimate desires.

(6) Dharana: Practice to focus the mind on God or Self (Atman; our True Identity) and keep it focused as long as possible. The mind has to be focused and must remain steady like the flame of an oil-lamp or the candle in a windless environment. If we can focus our mind continuously on God or Self for twelve seconds then it is called Dharana. Imagine, we have to focus continuously for only twelve seconds! But, the mind’s activities are very fast and can in fact be measured in nanoseconds. However, yogis can still control and focus their mind on God or Self. Many people focus their mind unconsciously on the worldly object they love. We have to use this ability in the spiritual path in order to obtain the unlimited bliss, deeper knowledge of ourselves, unselfish love for all, and fulfillment of life.

(7) Dhyana (Meditation): When the focus of our mind becomes steady, then we can go into meditation. Twelve seconds of continuous focus of our mind on God or Self makes one unit of Dharana and twelve such units of Dharana makes one unit of Dhyana or meditation. When people say that they are meditating, then they are actually NOT meditating. Because, when one is aware that ‘I am meditating,’ that is a distraction of the mind. In meditation, there is no awareness of anything except the form of God or Self. One only becomes aware of the meditation after the actual meditation happened. Trying to meditate is different than meditation. In meditation, there is no awareness of body, time and space.

(8) Samadhi: This is the final stage of consciousness in which the meditator, the object of meditation, and the meditation become one. Twelve units of meditation lead one into Samadhi. It is very difficult to attain Samadhi. However, it is not impossible. People have witnessed Sri Ramakrishna attaining Samadhi often. Any thought of God or any uplifting thought would take his mind to either God (Mother Kali) or further into Infinite Atman or Brahman. Doctors have even checked his physical state during Samadhi and found that all the activities of body have stopped, though his face continued beaming with divine bliss. In Samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna was oblivious of the space, time, and environment. Only towards the end of his Samadhi would his mind slowly become aware of space, time, and environment. Regaining consciousness, his words would become very powerful, filled with inspiration and wisdom. Being one with the Universal Mother in Samadhi, he used to say, “The Universal Mother speaks through me.” By a mere look and touch, he transformed many people’s lives for good. These people (his direct disciples) inspired millions of people all over the world. Following Sri Ramakrishna’s guidance, they uplifted themselves, removed their sufferings, experienced infinite bliss, and served humanity with their unselfish service. This is the outcome of Samadhi. A person experiencing Samadhi can improve lives of millions of people.

Six Centers of Spiritual Consciousness: Raja Yoga also includes six centers of consciousness.

These centers are in the spinal column and match with the nervous-system of a human being. According to Raja Yoga, the consciousness of a person moves along three subtle nerve channels called Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. If we take a horizontal figure eight ( or the infinity symbol and pile up several of these symbols one on top of the other, that would resemble what prepares the nerve channels of Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. The left circle represents Ida, the right circle represents Pingala, and the middle hollow part is Sushumna. This column goes from sacral plexus to the top of the brain. The different plexuses that have centers in the spinal column do match with the centers of Raja Yoga. Usually, the messages between brain and other nerve centers travel through Ida and Pingala. Yet, a Raja Yogi, through control on the senses and mind, develops a faster communication between brain and the senses through Sushumna. The signals travel through air like wireless communication. It is amazing that when Swami Vivekananda explained the work of Sushumna, the wireless communication was not even invented.

These six centers of Raja Yoga range from the lowest plane of gross impulses to the highest plane of pure bliss.

(i) Muladhara (Center symbolized with a four-petal lotus): This is the first state of consciousness. When mind is at this level, a person thinks only of food, guided by gross subconscious desires.

(ii) Swadhisthan (symbolized with a six-petal lotus): At this level of consciousness, a person is constantly swayed by gross impulses, imaginations, and animalistic propensities.

(iii) Manipur (symbolized with a ten-petal lotus): This is situated at the naval level of an individual. At this level, one feels that as clouds obstruct the vision of sun, the clouds of gross urges and impulses are obstructing the Truth.

(iv) Anahata (symbolized with a twelve-petal lotus): This is situated at the level of heart. When consciousness rises at this level, an individual starts getting a glimpse of the Ultimate Truth or God or Self. Every now and then the clouds of the gross urges go away and one has spiritual vision of God or Self.

(v) Vishuddha (symbolized with a sixteen-petal lotus): When mind rises to this level of consciousness and stays there most of the time, then all impurities of the mind goes away.

(vi) Ajna (symbolized with a two-petal lotus): This center lies between eyebrows. At this level of consciousness, one has clear vision of God or Self. However, it is as if an extremely clear and thin glass surrounds this God or Self. This clear glass is the thin ego of a person who wants to enjoy the vision of God or Self.

Vedanta talks about seventh stage of consciousness.

(vii) Sahastrara (symbolized with a thousand-petal lotus): It is located at the crown of the head. When the consciousness rises to this level, an individual becomes one with God or Self. All the ideas of identification of an individual with body and mind vanish. An individual’s consciousness merges with the Universal Consciousness. Now a person feels Oneness with all. One feels that everything is manifestation of consciousness (Brahman). One directly sees that consciousness (Brahman) has become everything. There is no matter.

With above mentioned practices of Raja Yoga, one can raise one’s consciousness from the lowest level to the highest level.

Dangers:

(1) Usually people think that Yoga refers to just a few physical exercises to live a healthy life and get some mental peace. This wrong impression prevents them to get something higher. It is like people seeing few pictures of Himalayas and thinking that they have seen Himalayas. By just seeing a picture, they cannot get thrilling experience of the grandeur and beauty of Himalayas.

(2) People look at the requirements to be a Raja Yogi and become afraid that they can never be such a yogi. The steps of Raja Yoga are so clearly described that people get overwhelmed. But, with determination and practice, one can become a true Raja Yogi.

(3) In Raja Yoga, “Laya” is a great obstacle. When people travel in a car or a train or a plane, they fall in sleep by the rhythm. Similarly, in Raja Yoga when people try to meditate, most of the time “Laya” comes and people cannot separate this lazy state of mind from the actual meditative state. People spend years remaining at this stage believing that they have attained meditative state. A highly meditative state and a state of inertness look alike. Swami Vivekananda clearly stated the difference between a person in Samadhi and a person in deep sleep. He said that an ignorant person feels physically good after falling in deep sleep, but remains ignorant. On the other hand, when an ignorant person goes into Samadhi, he becomes wise.

(Thanks to Ronak Parikh for editing this post.)

Four Spiritual Practices and Four Yogas – Part I

June 23, 2014ReflectionsFour Yogas, Spiritual Practicesmahendrajani

(This is a first part of a series of posts)

When 12^th graders of 2014 class were graduating this year, I reminded them the four spiritual practices. I told them that these practices will help them to grow spiritually and will bring them inner peace and fulfillment of life. Getting good education, making money, having a good family and all other legitimate joys of the world are good, but one has to pay a very high price for these joys and these joys are short-lived. Without spiritual practices one cannot have longer-lasting happiness, proper understanding of life, pure love, and inner peace.

The four spiritual practices covers all the four yogas described in Bhagavad Gita. I am sure you know that one of the major contributions of Bhagavad Gita is the description of four Yogas: Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Let me first share with you briefly my understanding about these four yogas.

(To acquire full knowledge of these four yogas, we have to study Swami Vivekananda’s lectures on these yogas which were given in New York, study Bhagavad Gita, listen to the experts, reflect upon them, practice what we had learned, and acquire the highest knowledge.)

The Four Yogas - Swami Vivekananda — Lectures of Swami Vivekananda on Four Yogas

‘Yoga’ roughly means a path to connect with the Ultimate Reality which we may call Brahman, God, the Ultimate Truth, or the Supreme Power. The Sanskrit root of the word Yoga is yunja, means to connect.

Jnana Yoga: This is path of Knowledge. By proper reasoning which we call discrimination (viveka) between real or permanent and impermanent one can realize the Ultimate Reality or Brahman. Along with discrimination one needs renunciation (vairagya). When we find something which is impermanent, we have to discard it even though our senses and mind crave for it. For example, body and mind are constantly changing and so they are impermanent. Thus, the pleasures of body and mind cannot be the goal of our life. We must seek something beyond these pleasures.

With reasoning we have to realize that there is something unchangeable behind our body and mind in whose background we perceive the changes of our body and mind. This Unchangable is called Atman, a part of Brahman in us. We have to realize this Atman. This Atman is divine. It is our True Identity whose nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss absolute. We have to realize that only by realizing this Atman we get infinite bliss, infinite knowledge, and infinite life which is immortality.

We must realize that this Atman is in all irrespective of people’s color, creed, culture, country, religion, gender, or any other differences. The final stage is to realize that Atman or Brahman has become everything living and non-living.

Practices: One of the practices for Jnana Yoga is reading and/or listening to scriptures and trying to understand what the Ultimate Reality is. We do not reason to denounce what has been said in the scriptures, but reason to understand what they say. Once we understand what the Ultimate Reality is, then we have to meditate on It and realize It. We should have a direct perception of the Ultimate Reality. We perceive that our true identity is Atman and not body and mind. It is NOT an intellectual knowledge.

Test of Achievement of the Goal: What is the test to know that we have realized the Ultimate Reality? The test is that one manifests in one’s life the characteristics of ‘a person with steady intellect’ as described in Bhagavad Gita (Gita 2.55-72). One sees the same Ultimate Reality in all. One loves all, hates none and be ready to sacrifice one’s life for the good of all just as loving mothers do for their children.

Dangers: Many people love Jnana Yoga because they think that Jnana Yoga means just read books and meditate. The other Yogas require many other things to do than reading and meditating.

Jnana Yoga is not just reading and meditating. In Jnana Yoga, one has to acquire total control over senses and mind. One has to become completely desire-less since desire binds the body and mind to the worldly objects which are impermanent and makes one forgets Atman. Sri Ramakrishna found that lust and greed drags the mind to the body and mind. At some point if he was touching a coin or even a metal he used to get an electric shock. His body-mind completely followed what his discriminating intellect said.

One of the dangers in Jnana Yoga is that a person thinks that ‘I am one with Atman. I am not body and mind.’ But in reality he/she slowly becomes inactive and lazy. He/she neither makes any spiritual progress nor acquires anything in the world. His/her behavior does not match with the characteristics of a spiritually advanced person described in the scriptures. Such a person never even listens to any advice from an expert person.

Karma Yoga: Karma Yoga is a path to attain the highest knowledge or to realize the Ultimate Reality or Brahman through performing actions or responsibilities.

Each individual by birth has been assigned responsibilities. For example, parents have responsibilities towards children and children have towards parents. We have civic and other responsibilities. Karma Yoga says that just by properly performing one’s responsibilities one can attain the highest knowledge. Swami Tyagananda of Boston Vedanta Society, USA, says that each action is like a key. It is the same key; if we turn it right it locks the door and if we turn it left it opens the door. Thus, the same action if we perform it in an improper way it makes us ignorant or slaves while if we perform it in a proper way, it leads us towards the highest knowledge and makes us free from bondages. Bhagavad Gita says, “Skillfully performing every action is Yoga.” (Gita 2.50)

What is the right way to perform any action?

The following ways are all connected. They are divided just for convenience.

(1) Work like a master, not like a slave: When we work, we become slave of the results of our action. Most of the time the result of the action occupies our mind more than thinking and applying effective ways to perform the action. Suppose a student while studying for a test, occupies his/her mind with thoughts like ‘Am I going to pass the test?’, or ‘What grade am I going to get?’, ‘What if I fail the test?’, ‘What if I don’t get grade A?’ Then, the student has more chances not to do well on the test. A player who keeps thinking of winning or losing the game has higher probability to lose the game. Also, the result of our action decides whether we will be happy or sad. It has been proven by many examples from people’s lives that those who focus more on the performance of the action and provide themselves all the necessary skills and tools have a better record of achieving success consistently. Such people learn from their failures, improve themselves constantly, and enjoy what they are doing. These people work like masters. People who are slaves of the results of actions, are constantly under tension, and remain miserable most of the time. Such people cannot enjoy the actions. They hardly learn from their failures and blame the whole world about their failures.

One may ask: ‘Is it possible not to think of the result of any action?’ ‘Is it wise not to think of the result of action?’ It is true that we cannot avoid thinking of the result of our action. Actually, we have to think of the result and see that our actions bring good results. But, thinking wisely about the results and not becoming slave of the results is the technique we have to learn. That is Karma Yoga.

Those who are devotees of God offer the results of their actions to God. If good results come, they thank God to help them achieve success. If the result is not good, they think that God wants them to learn something and improve. Thus, they do not get attached to the results of their actions. They perform their actions with fully focused mind because they think that they are doing God’s work. Peace immediately follows when one offers the results of actions to God (Gita 12.12)

One way to develop detachment for the results of actions is to keep in our mind the fact that everything belongs to God (the creator, the sustainer, and the dissolver) and we are appointed to perform our responsibilities. Sri Ramakrishna said that work like a house-maid who works in the house as if everything belongs to her, but in her mind she knows that the Master of the house can give her layoff and she has to be ready to quit everything any minute.

No work is inferior: Each responsibility (if it is not harmful to oneself and others) is important. No work is inferior. Many times one does not like one’s own responsibility and likes other people’s responsibilities. Bhagavad Gita says that it is better to perform one’s own responsibility than performing other people’s responsibility (Gita 3.35).

Keep mind balanced: Through properly performing every action one can attain inner peace and highest knowledge. Properly performing means keeping the mind balanced. We have to learn to keep the mind balanced. Passion is needed to perform any work. But, passion has to be controlled as we control the gas-paddle while driving. Pumping gas in necessary when we drive, but we harm ourselves and others if it is beyond control. Bhagavad Gita says that the highest ideal to attain is to be like ‘action-less’ when one is fully engaged in action and when we meditate we look like in the state of ‘action-less’ but our mind is fully active controlling all our thoughts (Gita 4.18)

Keep higher motive: Karma Yogi’s goal is to realize one’s own True Identity (Atman), the divine inner Self. Performing actions are just means to attain to that. If there is no higher motive, then we become like machines. Actually, every action we perform, every word we speak, and every thought we think leaves a mark on our mind and that builds up our personality. According to our personality we react to any situation. If we build up positive and constructive personality, then our reaction to the situation will be proper and beneficial. The result will be joy, better understanding of people and creating an unselfish loving environment. If we build up negative and destructive personality, then after every situation comes depression, reaction, anger, jealousy, and a state of blaming whole world for the failures. Such agitated state of mind cannot give us happiness and inner peace.

Acquire proper tools and skills: Bhagavad Gita describes four things which are under our control to successfully accomplish any work; knowledge of the field of action, field of action, tools required to perform action, and to perform any action. Suppose I want to pass a test in one field. I must register for the test (field of action), I must buy books or needed material to study for the test (tools needed), I must attend classes and study the material (knowledge of the field), and I must take the test (to perform action). All these are under our control. But, I may get sick on the day of the test, I may blank-out during test, I may have a flat tire and cannot make the time of the test or something happens and I do not pass the test. Thus, the result is not in our hand. If we do all the four things which are in our control, then there are higher chances to get a good result. But, there never will be 100% guarantee to expect a positive result (Gita 18.13-14).

Develop service attitude: Finally, the authority (scriptures) on the Karma Yoga say that we have to learn to perform every action as a service to God (or as an offering to the welfare of humanity). What we gain is knowledge, purity of mind, self-control, and freedom from all bondages. Of course, these will bring inner peace, unlimited happiness, and fulfillment. Great Saint Shri Shankaracharya says that ‘May my every action be a worship of the Lord Shiva.’ We perform every action with focused mind, with love and care, and for the good of all as if we are worshiping our beloved God. We perform every action with knowledge and devotion and for knowledge and devotion.

This is a fact that whatever we do for our own body-mind enjoyment has limited joy. We will never be happy with it. We want more and more. But, if we do service unselfishly for the good of others give us unlimited joy and will remember forever. Swami Vivekananda said that those who live for others really live their life. The rest (those who perform only selfish activities for one’s own body-mind pleasures) are more dead than alive. Also, by doing good to others we do good to ourselves. Let us be Karma Yogi and live a joyful life.

Practices:

1. We have to know our responsibilities and start performing them.

2. Learn the skills of Karma Yoga from Bhagavad Gita, Swami Vivekananda’s lectures, from the experts, and experiment these lessons in our lives. This way we keep improving in our performance of actions.

3. Measure the success of Karma Yoga by our spiritual development and not by the actions performed.

4. Practices of other three yogas help to become a better Karma Yogi.

Dangers:

1. If we do not have spiritual goal, then just performing responsibilities wears us out and brings harmful reactions.

2. Without spiritual goal, service to others can develop ego, and desire for name and fame. Many a times, “mouth bites the hand which feeds it”. People whom one has helped may insults or criticize for no reason. At that time, one can get frustrated.

3. One gets easily attached to the work. Then spiritual growth gets forgotten and the purpose of performing actions will not be served.

(to be continued in the next post)

Two Stories from Chhandogya Upanishad – Part I

May 30, 2014Philosophy, Reflections, UpanishadChhandogya Upanishad - 1mahendrajani

The following are two stories from the Chhandogya Upanishad.

Story – 1:

Prajapati (the Creator) had children called Devas and Asuras. For some reason they started fighting (as siblings do).

(The Sanskrit word “Deva” comes from the root “Div” meaning illumined or say divine. Asuras are usually referred to as Demons in English. But, if we keep the Sanskrit word Asura, then it means “not Deva.”

Devas can be understood as the force that leads us to our inner divine nature which brings knowledge, fearlessness, inner peace and bliss. On the other hand, Asuras can be understood as the force which leads us towards senses and sense-pleasures, which brings temporary happiness, but eventually brings suffering, ignorance, restlessness, and fear. These two forces constantly fight in us.)

Devas wanted to defeat Asuras. They thought to hold on to “Udgitha,” that which cannot be destroyed or damaged or polluted.

(“Udgitha” is Om which is the symbol of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality. It is referred to as Atman with respect to an individual.)

(But, where is Udgitha?). Devas first decided to meditate on Udgitha as the breath which we take through our nostrils. But, Asuras attacked the breathing with evil and the nostrils started breathing both good and bad smells. Devas gave up meditating on breathing.

Then, Devas meditated on Udgitha as speech. Asuras attacked speech with evil. The speech got polluted and the mouth started speaking both truth and untruth. Devas gave up meditating on speech.

Then, Devas meditated on Udgitha as eyes. Asuras attacked eyes with evil. The eyes got polluted and they started seeing both good and bad things. Devas gave up meditating on the eyes.

Then, Devas meditated on Udgitha as the ears. Asuras attacked ears with evil. The ears got polluted and the ears started listening to both useful and worthless things. Devas gave up meditating on the ears.

Then, Devas meditated on Udgitha as the mind. Asuras attacked the mind with evil. The mind got polluted and it started making both helpful and harmful resolves. Devas gave up meditating on the mind.

Then, Devas meditated on Udgitha as the Mukhya Prana (the fundamental life force). Asuras attacked Mukhya Prana. But, as a clay-ball breaks to several pieces when thrown to a solid unbreakable rock, Asuras were destroyed to pieces.

(Mukhya Prana is our true identity called Atman. Its nature is divine. Nothing can damage that divinity. When person realizes one’s divine nature, then one sees divinity in all. One realizes that each one is basically divine and the bad things are just outside covers. When these covers are gone, the inner divinity manifests through all.)

As a clay-ball shatters to several pieces when thrown to an unbreakable stone, similarly a person shatters to pieces who try to do harm to an individual who had realized the Udgitha as Atman, the support of our being. (Meaning, the realized one has become the immortal Atman.)

Story – 2

Once, the Devas were scared by death. They entered into three-fold knowledge (knowledge of three Vedas – Rig, Yajur, and Sama) and covered themselves with the hymns. That is why hymns are called ‘chhandas.’

(This means that the Devas thought to do ritualistic worships of performing yajnas reciting hymns to save themselves from death.)

As a fisherman finds fish in the water, death saw the Devas engaged in ritualistic worships described in the three Vedas Rig, Yajur, and Sama.

The Devas also found out that death had seen them. They then left the ritualistic worships of the Vedas and entered into Om. (Devas realized that ritualistic worships cannot make them free from the fear of death.)

When a person masters Rig Veda he loudly utters Om. He does same when he masters Sama Veda and Yajur Veda. Om is immortal and fearless. The Devas entering into Om became immortal and fearless.

One, who knows this, sings the glories of Om and enters into the immortal and fearless Om, becomes immortal and fearless as the Devas became immortal and fearless.

* * *

Notes: There are more than 108 Upanishads. Among them eleven Upanishads are considered major ones as Shri Shankaracharya had written commentaries on them.

These eleven Upanishads are Ishopanishad, Kathopanishad, Kenopanishad, Prashnopanishad, Mundakopanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, Aitareya Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad, Shvetashvatar Upanishad, Chhandogya Upanishad, and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

The teachings of Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita constitute Vedanta, the essence or the culmination of the teachings of the Vedas. Vedanta provides a complete guideline to any spiritual seeker or a seeker of the Ultimate Reality or Truth.

Reflections:

Fisherman’s Net: Sri Ramakrishna says that a fisherman throws the net in the water. Some fish are very smart that they remain much deeper and away from the shore. Fisherman cannot reach them. Couple of fish struggle to get out of the net and they succeed. Looking at them the fisherman says, ‘Ah! Those fish are gone.’ Few fish struggle to get out of the net, but they cannot succeed. While most of the fish take the net in the mouth, go deeper into the mud and think they are fine. But, the fish which were caught in the net, they panic when the fisherman start pulling the net. They cannot do anything at that time. The fisherman is death. Those fish who are free represent people who had conquered the fear of death by realizing their True Identity, their Divine Self or Atman. They had attained immortality in their Self and they enjoy the unlimited Bliss.

Freedom: Swami Vivekananda’s one of the messages was to be free from all bondages. He wants us all to be free from our weaknesses. He wanted us to be free from our slavery of senses, dependence on matter and people, fear, and finally ignorance. Realizing our true divine identity makes us free from all bondages.

Two ways: The fisherman’s net is also considered as the net of ignorance of Mahamaya. The great Bengali drama-writer Girish Chandra Ghosh has said that ‘Mahamaya cannot catch two people – Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) and Nag Mahashay. Each time Mahamaya threw net, Narendra became so huge that the net was always falls short. In the case of Nag Mahashay, each time Mahamaya threw net, he became so small that he could get out of the net. ‘ What he meant that not to get caught in the net of ignorance either one should make one’s ‘ego’ so huge by becoming one with the universe or one should become so small by becoming most humble person. Only a free person understands the joy of freedom.

Happy Birthday to Lord Buddha – 2014

May 8, 2014Celebrations, Lord Buddha, ReflectionsBuddha's Birthdaymahendrajani

On Wednesday, May 14, 2014, all over the world devotees of Lord Buddha will be celebrating his birthday. It is a time to remember his life and teachings.

Kathopanishad says, “The Creator has made all senses extrovert. Therefore all being look outside for happiness. Few wise people turn their senses introvert and look within to realize their own True Identity (Atman) whose nature is Infinite Consciousness, Knowledge, and Bliss.”

Lord Buddha is one of those few wise people who turned their senses introvert and realized their True Identity which he called Nirvana.

The life and teachings of Lord Buddha are very well known. They had appealed to people all over the world for more than 2500 years and still are appealing.

Why Lord Buddha’s life and teachings were appealing for all these years?

(1) Sense-pleasures Vs Self-realization: Because, his life is a glowing example to the world that wealth and sense-pleasures are not enough to get the highest happiness, true peace of mind, satisfaction, and fulfilment of life. Lord Buddha realized that wealth and sense-pleasures, not only cannot avoid the sufferings of life, but rather add more sufferings in life. Wealth and sense-pleasures cannot avoid the mental threat and agony created by old age, disease, and death. As a prince Siddhartha he had all the sense-pleasures available to him, had a beautiful wife and a son, and he could have ruled as a powerful king over a large kingdom. But, he thought all these as useless to solve the fundamental problems of life, and to find true peace for him and for others. One thing appealed to me most is that he had not seen any misery in his own life and still he could think of the miseries of life in general and miseries of all humanity. He wanted to find a permanent solution to remove his own future miseries and miseries of all people.

(2) Exemplary Struggle to Realize the Truth: Lord Buddha as a Siddhartha went to all the great teachers available at that time to find the permanent solution of the miseries of life and he practiced what they said with full heart and mind. Teachers said that by fasting one can control one’s senses and then can focus one’s mind on the Truth. By fasting he reduced himself to bones. He was eating only two beans a day. But, during all his practices he kept his mind open, he reasoned and watched himself whether he is progressing towards the Truth he was searching. Finally, he was not satisfied with what he was doing. He decided to live by himself and follow his inner conscience. He was determined either to realize the truth or die. He sat under the famous Bodhy Tree with a resolve not get up until he realizes the Truth. At that time all the temptations and questions came to his mind. He thought of returning home and have all pleasures of the world. His mind questioned what he gained by following all these practices prescribed by the teachers. But, his inner mind and urge for the Truth was immovable like a huge mountain. He disregarded all these thoughts and touched the Mother Earth and said, ‘O Mother Earth! You are my witness. Did not I do everything possible to realize the Truth? Do I not deserve to realize the Truth?‘ His faith in the Truth was firm. He had reached the stage to realize the Truth and he did.

(3) Love for Humanity: After attaining Nirvana, the highest Truth or a Highest State of a Human Mind, and with it the infinite bliss, his mind was debating whether to go and teach people the path to Nirvana or a state of absence of all miseries or to remain alone and enjoy the bliss himself. On one side his heart told him to go and help people who are searching this Truth to remove their miseries of life. But, on the other hand he had experience of people who are so engrossed in their sense-pleasures, who do not want to give them up and do not care for Truth or anything else. The inner struggle went on. Finally, his heart and love for humanity won the battle. He decided to share his experience and knowledge with all people. He thought there might be sincere people who are struggling to attain this state. He will be helpful to them.

Swami Vivekananda said about Lord Buddha’s love for all: “This great philosopher (Buddha) preached the highest philosophy, and yet had the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals and never put forth any claims for himself.”

(4) Simple and Direct Teachings: Lord Buddha’s teachings are simple, direct and logical. During his time, people were either involved in intellectual entertainment of interpreting the scriptures or performing useless rituals which were deteriorated up to doing animal sacrifices in Yajna to go to heaven or torturing body to realize the Truth. Buddha saw people missing the goal of spiritual practices to remove the miseries of life and to attain peace and happiness in the present life. He was very practical. He avoided all the complexes of scriptures and taught people in simple terms what to do in life and what to attain.

Swami Vivekananda said, “He (Buddha) was the first who dared to say: “Believe not because some old manuscripts are quoted; believe not because it is your national belief, because you have been made to believe it from your childhood; but reason it all out, and after you have analyzed it and found out that it will do good to one and all, then believe it, live up to it, and help others to live up to it.”

(5) The Ideal Karma Yogi: Swami Vivekananda gave a series of lectures on Karma Yoga in New York during…… He concluded this series with a lecture “The Ideal of Karma Yoga.” In that lecture he said the following about Lord Buddha:

“Let me tell you in conclusion a few words about one man who actually carried this teachings of Karma Yoga into practice. That man is Buddha. He is the one who carried it into perfect practice. ….Buddha is the only prophet who said: “I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good, and all this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is.” He was, in the conduct of his life, absolutely without personal motives; and what man worked more than he?

* * *

Every teaching of Lord Buddha is great. Here I have selected a few of his teachings from the book “The Dhammapad” translated from Pali by Mr. P. Lal to celebrate his birthday.

Teachings:

(1) “Consider, Malunkyaputta, this story of a man wounded by a poisoned arrow. His friends, relatives, and well-wishers gather around him and a surgeon is called. But the wounded man says, ‘Before he takes out this arrow, I want to know if the man who shot me was a Kshatriya, a Brahmin, a merchant, or an untouchable.’

Or, he says, ‘I won’t let this arrow be removed until I know the name and tribe of the man who shot me.’

Or: ‘Was he tall, short, or of medium height?’

Or: ‘Was he black, brown, or yellow-skinned?’

What do you think would happen to such a man, Malunkyaputta? Let me tell you. He will die.

And that is what happens when a man comes to me and says, ‘I will not follow Dhamma until the Buddha tells me whether the world is eternal or not eternal, whether the world is finite or infinite, whether the soul and the body are the same or different, whether the liberated person exists or does not exist after death, or both exists and does not exist after death, whether he neither exists nor does not exist after death.’ He will die, Malunkyaputta, before I get a chance to make everything clear to him.

Being religious and following Dhamma has nothing to do with the dogma that the world is eternal; and it has nothing to do with the other dogma that the world is not eternal. For whether the world is eternal or otherwise, birth, old age, death, sorrow, pain, misery, grief, and despair exist. I am concerned with the extinction of these.

Therefore, consider carefully, Malunkyaputta, the things that I have taught and the things I have not taught. What are the things I have not taught?

– I have not taught that the world is eternal.

– I have not taught that the world is not eternal.

– I have not taught that the world is finite.

– I have not taught that the world is infinite.

– I have not taught that the soul and the body are the same.

– I have not taught that the soul and the body are different.

– I have not taught that the liberated person exists after death.

– I have not taught that he does not exist after death.

– I have not taught that he both exists and does not exist after death; that he neither exists nor does not exist after death.

Why, Malunkyaputta, have I not taught all this? Because all this is useless, it has nothing to do with real Dhamma, it does not lead to cessation of passion, to peace, to supreme wisdom, and the holy life, to Nirvana. That is why I have not taught all this.

And what have I taught, Malunkyaputta?

I have taught that

– Suffering exists.

– Suffering has an origin.

– Suffering can be ended, and

– There is a way to end suffering.

Why, Malunkyaputta, have I taught this? Because this is useful, it has to do with real Dhamma, it leads to the cessation of passion, it brings peace, supreme wisdom, the holy life, and Nirvana. That is why I have taught all this.

Therefore, Malunkyaputta, consider carefully what I have taught and what I have not taught.”

* * *

(2) Four Noble Truths & Eight-fold Noble Path:

Lord Buddha said,

(1) “There is suffering.

And this is the noble truth of suffering – birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, death is painful; lamentation, dejection, and despair are painful. Contact with the unpleasant is painful, not getting what you want is painful.

(2) Suffering has an origin.

And this is the noble truth of the origin of suffering – desire creates sorrow, desire mixed with pleasure and lust, quick pleasure, desire for life, and desire even for non-life.

(3) Suffering has an end.

And this is the noble truth of the end of suffering – nothing remains of desire, Nirvana is attained, all is given up, renounced, detached, and abandoned.

(4) Eight-fold Path to Nirvana.

And this is the noble truth that leads to Nirvana – it is the Eight-fold Path of

– Right views

– Right intentions

– Right speech

– Right action

– Right profession

– Right watchfulness and

– Right concentration.

* * *

(3) “I am now eighty years old, Ananda. The end of my journey has come. I drag my body along like a worn-out bullock cart, with great hardship.

It is only when my thoughts are completely concentrated on the inner vision that has no bodily object that my body is at peace.

Therefore, Ananda, be a lamp to yourself. Be an island. Learn to look after yourself; do not wait for outside help.

Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Be an island. Only truth can save you. Do not look for any help besides yourself.”

…….

No, Ananda, no weeping. How often have I told you that it is in the very nature of life that what we love most must be taken from us? How can it be otherwise? What is born is doomed at the moment of its birth to die. There is no other way.

Some of you will say, ‘The Teacher is no more, we have no one left to lead us.’ But is not the Dhamma with you, and the Sangha? Have I not left these behind? Let them be your teachers.”

* * *

(4) “We are what we think,

Having become what we thought.

Like the wheel that follows the cart-pulling ox,

Sorrow follows evil thought.

And joy follows a pure thought,

Like a shadow faithfully tailing a man.

We are what we think,

Having become what we thought.”

* * *

(5) “Clear thinking leads to Nirvana,

A confused mind is a place of death.

Clear thinkers do not die,

The confused ones have never lived.

The wise man appreciates clear thinking,

Delights in its purity, and

Selects it as the means of Nirvana.”

* * *

(6) Words do not matter; what matters is Dhamma.

What matters is action rightly performed,

After lust, hate, and folly abandoned,

With true knowledge and serene mind,

And complete detachment from the fruit of action.”

* * *

Reflections:

(1) Lord Buddha had been labeled as Nihilist, Atheist, Non-believer, anti-Vedas etc. Personally I do not see Buddha as any of this. I think these are the labels reflect the minds of the people who labeled Buddha. To me, he was very practical. He found the essence of the scriptures and gave a very practical advice based upon his own realization of the Ultimate Truth. I do not see how his teachings contradict with the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, the essence of Vedanta. He simply did not go into the details of the philosophy. He wanted to remove miseries of his life and lives of all. For forty years he served humanity to bring peace and happiness in their lives.

(2) One of the things I liked in Lord Buddha’s teachings is that he wanted us to think, to reason and then accept if we are convinced. I think his life and teachings tell us: Think, Practice, Realize, and Serve.

By Whom ? – A Story from Kenopanishad

April 17, 2014Philosophy, Reflections, UpanishadKenopanishadmahendrajani

More than 2700 years ago, a student asked his/her teacher the following important questions:

– By whose inspiration (or power) my mind thinks many things?

– By whose power my vital forces (including breathing) function?

– By whose power I can speak? and

– By whose power my eyes can see and my ears can hear?

The teacher gave the following answer:

“It is the Ear of the ears, Mind of the minds, Speech of the speeches, Vital Force of all vital forces, and the Eye of the eyes. By knowing It wise people become immortal.

Eyes cannot see It, speech cannot describe It, and mind cannot comprehend It fully.

I don’t know how to teach about It. No one showed me how to teach about It.

Wise people have told us that It is different from what we know and above the unknown.

We call It as Brahman.

Brahman is the One, whom

– speech cannot describe, but because of whom we can speak,

– mind cannot comprehend It, but because of whom mind can comprehend,

– eyes cannot see It, but because of whom eyes can see,

– ears cannot listen to It, but because of whom ears can listen and

– vital forces cannot move It around, but because of whom vital forces function.

Whom people worship is only a symbol of Brahman.

Now the teacher talks about “knowing Brahman.”

– If you think that you have known Brahman fully, then definitely you have understood very little about Brahman.

– If you think that ‘Brahman is a part in me and in all others,’ then you have to rethink about Brahman.

– I cannot say that “I have known Brahman fully” and I cannot say that “I do not know Brahman at all” because I know Brahman. Among us, those who have known Brahman know why I say, “I don’t know Brahman and I know Brahman.”

– In the case of Brahman, one who realizes that “I cannot know Brahman fully” knows It and one who thinks that “I have understood Brahman fully” does not know It.

– Brahman is known when It is realized in every state of mind. One who realizes Brahman attains immortality. Through Brahman one gets mental strength to know Brahman and through that knowledge one attains immortality.

– If you know Brahman in this life, then your life becomes meaningful and blessed. If you do not know Brahman, then you face Brahman in Its terrible form such as obstacles, suffering, frustration, helplessness, stress, old age, disease, and death.

– Wise people see that Brahman has become everything and with that knowledge they acquire infinite inner power to face all the challenges of life including death and become immortal.

Teacher tells a story to enhance his teachings about Brahman:

Once demons (human weaknesses) and devas (angles or stronger people among humans) had a fight and the devas won the battle. They were all proud of themselves and boasting about their strength. They probably had a party to celebrate their victory.

At that time, a stranger appeared at a distance. No one could recognize the stranger. They probably were suspicious and worried. All asked the fire god to go and find out who the stranger was.

The fire god ran to the stranger. The stranger asked, “Who are you? The fire god was surprised to find out that the stranger did not know him. He said, “I am Agni! (The fire god) and I am also known in the world as “Jataveda.”

The stranger asked, “What is your power?” The fire god said, “I can burn everything on this earth.”

The stranger threw a little piece of straw and asked the fire god to burn it. The fire god tried with all its power, but could not burn the piece of straw. He was embarrassed. He looked down and with a heavy heart returned to the devas and said, “I could not find out who that stranger was.”

All the devas then asked the wind god to find out who the stranger was. The wind god ran to the stranger. The stranger asked, “Who are you? The wind god was surprised to find out that the stranger did not know him. He said, “I am Vayu! (The wind god) and I am also known in the world as “Matarishwa.”

The stranger asked, “What is your power?” The wind god said, “I can blow everything that exist on this earth.”

The stranger threw a little piece of straw and asked the wind god to blow it. The wind god tried with all its power, but could not blow the piece of straw. He was embarrassed. He looked down and with a heavy heart returned to the devas and said, “I could not find out who that stranger was.”

(One can relate to the sholkas of Kathopanishad and Bhagavd Gita: Fire cannot burn Atman (individual soul), wind cannot blow it up, water cannot drown it, and weapons cannot destroy it.)

All the devas asked their leader Indra to find out who the stranger was. As Indra approached the stranger, the stranger disappeared. Then, Indra saw in the sky the Goddess of the Universe, Mother Uma with all her glories. Indra asked, “Mother! Who was the stranger?” Mother Uma said, “It was Brahman by whose power you have become victorious.”

Thus, Indra understood that everything is happening because of the power of Brahman.

Since the fire god, the wind god and Indra were in close proximity of Brahman, they attained more respect than other gods. Among these three Indra is considered superior because he understood that It was Brahman.

Concluding remarks and a peace chant:

The realization of Brahman happens like a flash of a lightening or within a blink of an eye.

When our mind starts understanding Brahman, then it gets attracted to It and makes a resolve to realize It.

Brahman is a great attractor. It is blissful. One who realizes Brahman becomes blissful and all beings adore such a person.

After listening to these teachings, a student requested the teacher, “Please tell us what Upanishad is.” The teacher said, “This is what Upanishad is. It is the knowledge of Brahman. What I said is this profound knowledge of Brahman.”

The knowledge of Brahman is supported by three pillars: austerity (joyfully bearing all the suffering and facing the difficulties that come to realize Brahman), control of the senses and mind, and performing one’s responsibilities as an offering to Brahman.

Brahman is the abode of the Truth (the Ultimate Reality). One who realizes Brahman attains the highest state in this life.

Peace chant of Kenopanishad:

Om! May my speech, vital forces, eyes, ears, and all senses get fully nourished (so, I become fit to realize Brahman)! May I do not deny Brahman which has been described in the Upanishad! May Brahman does not deny me! May my relationship with Brahman remains unbroken! I am committed to realize Brahman. May I acquire all the virtues which have been described in the Upanishads (which are needed to realize Brahman)!

Om Peace! Peace! Peace!

Happy Mahashivaratri

February 25, 2014Celebrations, ReflectionsShivaratri-2014mahendrajani

Shivaratri is going to be celebrated on Thursday, February 27, 2014 all over the world, especially all over India, by millions of people.

Lord Shiva reminds us of serenity, a blissful state, and a focused mind which mostly remains merged with the Infinite Brahman, total self-control, a heart that is filled with love and compassion and which is always thinking for good of all.

The Ultimate Reality or The Life Force which supports the universe and each individual is called Brahman. The highest knowledge is to realize that the Brahman has become everything. The apparent universe came out of Brahman, it is nourished by Brahman and it dissolves into Brahman. When we see Brahman as a creator, we call It Brahma (the Creator). When we see Brahman as someone who nourishes the universe, we call It Vishnu. When we see Brahman as someone who dissolves everything, then we call It Shiva.

There are numerous hymns, bhajans, and dhoons of Shiva which devotees love to sing. These hymns, bajans and dhoon remind us the glories of Shiva and uplift our mind to the higher state of consciousness. One of these hymns is “Shiva Mahimna”. There are several stories in this hymn which elaborate Shiva’s virtues. One can learn easily through stories. One of the stories goes as follows SM – 10 (Shiva Mahimna, shloka 10):

Once there was a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu (even though they both were the forms of Brahman!). The dispute was to decide ‘who is greater; Brahma or Vishnu’. Brahma said he is greater because he creates and Vishu said he is greater because he preserves. Brahma’s argument was that if he does not create then Vishnu cannot preserve while Vishnu argued that if he does not preserve then creation is futile. They could not reconcile. I am sure their followers were more involved in this dispute and almost ready to fight a big war. At that time a pillar of fire appeared before them. Brahma and Vishnu both looked at the pillar and were surprised. They could not see any end to it. Vishnu asked Brahma, “Did you create this pillar?” Brahma said, “No.” Brahma asked Vishnu, “Did you nourish or sustain this pillar?” Vishnu said that he didn’t. They both decided to find out more about the pillar, especially to find its support or an end. Brahma went up and Vishnu went down. They went as far as they could go, but could not find its end or beginning. It was an infinite pillar. Both were shocked to see something beyond the creation. Brahma and Vishnu were humbled. The Shiva aspect of Brahman taught them that the time is infinite and many universes were created, being nourished, and had been dissolved into time and this phenomenon continues. Brahma and Vishnu then praised the Shiva aspect of Brahman. The Shivalinga which is worshipped in Shiva temple is a symbol of that infinite pillar of fire. I learned from this story that whenever we think of the infinite, our little ego, pride, achievements look very timid and many times silly. Thinking of the infinite makes us humble and sane.

There are twelve famous Shiva temples in which these glorious Shivalingas are worshipped. They are called “Dwadash Jyotirlingas.” I have visited Rameshwaram, Somanath, and Nageshwara. In all the temples witnessing deep love and devotion of many devotees of Shiva, my mind was filled with divine mood. In the hearts of the devotees we feel the presence of Shiva. These devotees were from all over India and abroad.

The following is a link in which one can see the places of these famous Shiva temples. There are more than 12 famous Shiva temples. For a devotee it is good to go and visit these temples and feel the presence of Lord Shiva in the hearts of all.

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/jyotirlinga.htm

The following is a link of 12 famous Shiva temples and their Jyotirlingas which are worshipped every day.

http://www.dwadashjyotirlinga.com/

Swami Vivekananda quoted Shiva Mahimna Shloka-7 in his famous speech of September 11, 1893 given at the World Parliament of Religions held at the Chicago World Fair. While talking about the harmony of religions and acceptance of all religions as true, he said, “I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”

Sri Ramakrishna loved Shiva Mahimna Hymn. Once he was reciting its shloka-32 which says, “O Lord Shiva! If ink is made by dissolving a blue mountain into an ocean, a pen is made by a branch of the divine tree, and the Goddess of Knowledge (Saraswati) writes your glories on the earth (using as a paper) for ever even then she cannot completely describe your glories.” Thus, thinking of the infinite glories of Shiva, Sri Ramakrishna was overwhelmed with emotions. He embraced the Shivalingam with both the hands and kept repeating with tears of love in his eyes, “O Shiva! Your glories cannot be described even by the Goddess of Knowledge.”

We know that everyday tons of research papers are being published. Each paper solves couple of problems but then most of them make us aware of more open problems. If we put all our knowledge in a circle and consider the area outside the circle as ignorance, then as our circle of knowledge grows the circumference of the circle which is the awareness of ignorance also grows.

knowledge_ignorance_pic — As knowledge grows, the awareness of ignorance also grows.

Sri Ramakrishna told his disciples again and again that lust and greed are two forces which drag down people from their path of righteousness and spiritual development. So, sincere spiritual seekers have to watch out for these two forces.

We see that Shiva’s living is very simple. Even though by his little blessing one acquires riches, his means of living are very few (SM – 8).

Shiva’s self-control regarding lust has been beautifully described in SM – 15. It says that the arrows of the god of lust never come back without hitting the target. They are always victorious. Meaning lust drags down the minds of demons, humans, and angles from their righteousness and spiritual path. That god of lust shot his arrow of lustful thought to Shiva. Lord Shiva opened his eye of knowledge and not only the arrow but the god of lust himself was burnt to ashes. The story goes that after this the wife of the god of lust came to Shiva and explained that it was not her husband’s fault. He was asked by all the Devas to do this. She asked for forgiveness. Shiva out of compassion told that your husband will be immortal and he will reside in the minds of all.

Shri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, “Renounce lust, greed, and anger because these are three doors to hell. They destroy all the good things of a person.” (Gita 16.21).

Lord Shiva showed us that lust is a thought and it can be destroyed by a thought of knowledge, the awareness of our divine Self. Our true identity Atman does not have any gender.

Let us also remember Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts on worship of Shiva. Swami Vivekananda says, “This is the gist of all worship–to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva; and if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiva in him, without thinking of his caste, or creed, or race, or anything, with him Shiva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.” Swami Vivekananda wanted his disciples to see Shiva in each individual and serve him/her unselfishly.

In order to be pure and to see Shiva in all, we have to do spiritual practice and learn self-control from Shiva.

Life after Death

February 12, 2014Reflections, VedantaKathopanishadmahendrajani

A young boy asked death whether there is life after death.

The story of the Kathopanishad goes as follows (this is an outline of the story in my version):

In India, during the Upanishad time, a person who had renounced everything used to receive the highest honor. Powerful kings used to bow down to the Sadhus who had renounced everything. Even now we see at many places in India similar honor given to the sadhus.

A Rishi Uddalaka decided to perform a Yajna in which he had to renounce everything he had. He had a huge Ashram and many cows. At that time the wealth was considered by the number of cows one has. When the time came closer for the Yajna, he started worrying about the future of his young son named Nachiketa. Then, he decided to give away old cows that were of no use and were about to die. He kept good cows hidden. Nachiketa saw this. He thought that his father is doing wrong thing and this will not do good to him. But, how can he tell this to his father? An idea came to his mind. If his father gives him away to someone, then he did not have to worry about him.

Nachiketa went to his father and asked him to whom he is giving away to. Father did not like the question. He ignored him. Nachiketa asked him second and third time. Now, father got mad and said that he is giving him to death.

yama-nachiketa — Lord Yama and nachiketa

Nachiketa sat down in meditation to go to the Lord of Death, called Yama. When Nachiketa went to Yama’s home, he found that Yama was away for his work. Nachiketa waited for Yama outside his house for three days without food, water and sleep. When Yama returned home he felt sorry for Nachiketa. To reward him, Yama requested Nachiketa to ask three boons.

Nachiketa asked his first boon that when Yama will release him to go home his father will receive him with love and accept him as his son. Yama granted that boon to him.

Nachiketa asked second boon to learn a Yajna which takes him to heaven. Yama taught him the Yajna and being pleased with his capacity to learn said that this Yajna will be known as Nachiketa Yajna.

The third boon is the central theme of Kathopanishad. This young boy Nachiketa asked Yama that among the two groups of people, one who believes that there is life after death and another who believes that there is no life after death, who is telling the truth. Nachiketa wanted to know this from the Lord of Death who is the only one knows what happens after death.

Death is a mystery of life. No dead person ever came back to tell us what happens after death. Many do not want to talk about death. But, we cannot avoid the fact by not talking about it. Death makes life more important and valuable. From the perspective of death we can decide what is important in life and what is not.

What was the Yama’s answer? Instead of giving the answer, Yama offered Nachiketa wealth, long life and pleasures of life. Yama said, “O Nachiketa! This is a subtle knowledge. Even highly evolved souls like Devas want to know this. You can ask me long life, children, grandchildren, kingdom, and all the pleasures of the world. Please do not ask this boon.” Nachiketa said, “O Yama! Long life comes to an end. Pleasures of the senses are short-lived and they wear out senses. You are the only teacher who can answer my question. Therefore, I am not asking any other boon.”

Lord Yama was greatly pleased with Nachiketa. He said, “O Nachiketa! Any human being would have been tempted by a fraction of the pleasures I offered to you. I offered to you all the possible pleasures available on the earth, but your mind was not deviated by them. You are worthy for such knowledge. May I have students like you.”

Kathopanishad is enriched with wonderful and inspiring thoughts following which we can acquire the highest knowledge possible for a human being. Here I will just state few of these thoughts along with the answer to the basic question: Is there a life after death?

Few teachings of Yama (of Kathopanishad):

Pleasurable and preferable choices come to every human being. Pleasurable things give pleasures to the senses and mind which are short-lived and bring miseries as their consequences. They also increase our ignorance of ourselves and others. Preferable things lead us to the highest knowledge which gives us deeper understanding and awareness of human life and other people. Such things bring unlimited happiness, satisfaction, and unselfish love for all. Wise people chose preferable things over the pleasurable things. While people with short-sightedness chose pleasurable things and then suffer

Behind our body, mind and intellect, there is Atman (Soul) which is our true identity. Body, mind and intellect are constantly changing. These changes can be realized because of having Atman in the background. Our body, mind and intellect are material. They are made out of five elements, namely space, air, fire, water, and earth. Atman is not made out of anything. Just as we remove body, mind and intellect from a human being Atman remains, similarly if we remove name and form from the universe, Brahman (God) remains. Atman is pure. Its nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss absolute. It is the center of our existence. When the atman leaves the body, the body becomes dead. Without Atman body, mind and intellect are nothing but matter. All knowledge and bliss comes from the Atman. This Atman cannot be killed by any weapon, nor can it be burnt by the fire, nor can it be drowned by the water, and nor can it be blown away by the wind.

Atman and Brahman are same. Imagine, a pot is floating in an ocean and there is ocean water inside the pot. Just as the water of the ocean outside the pot is the same as water inside the pot, Atman in an individual is the same as Brahman outside the individual. Also, what is in the macro (universe) is in the micro (atom). All characteristics of a tree are in its seed. Thus, all characteristics of Brahman are in the Atman.

In order to realize this Atman (our true identity) we have to focus our mind on the Atman through the help of our pure (unpolluted) intellect. The realization of Atman is not an intellectual knowledge. This realization does not come only from reasoning. Since our senses drag our mind away from the Atman to the world of sense-objects, we have to control them. A person having no control on the senses, mind and intellect cannot realize this Atman. A beautiful analogy is given in the Kathopanishad: “A chariot is going in the world. The senses of a being are the horses, mind is the rein, intellect is the driver and the Atman is the master sitting inside the chariot.” We have to control our senses by our mind, our mind by our intellect, and our intellect by the power of our Atman. Only then we have a smooth ride in this world.

A person with bad character, a restless person, and a person without self-control cannot realize this Atman.

Only a person who has realized this Atman (our true identity) can have ever-lasting peace of mind. No one else.

It is not easy to realize this Atman. One has to take proper guidance from knowledgeable people and properly make efforts to realize It. Realization of Atman is difficult, but not impossible. Many people have realized this Atman and have blessed humanity with their knowledge, love, and guidance. Kathopanishad says to all, “Arise! Awake! And stop not till this goal (realization of Atman) is reached.”

After getting proper guidance from Lord Yama, Nachiketa realized this Atman and acquire the highest knowledge, eternal bliss, and immortality.

Answer to the question: “is there a life after death?”

The answer is “Yes, there is life after death. But, it is for those who have not realized this Atman.” Those who have realized the Atman become one with Atman and remain in bliss until they chose to acquire a life.

Mother Nature is compassionate. A human being cannot fulfill all the worldly desires in one life. Many unfulfilled desires remain when a person dies. So, Mother Nature or Atman or Brahman creates bodies to fulfill these desires. I tell students that a human being cannot sleep for 10-12 hours every day or eat as much as one wants. Human body and human environment are not fit for this. Thus, a person who had cravings left to sleep many hours in a day, or eat ferociously, or have unlimited sense-pleasures, then in the next life Mother Nature gives a body of an alligator, or a bear, or a dog to fulfill these desires. When one gets tired of these limited pleasures, a life of ignorance and miseries, then Mother Nature gives a human body which is fit to realize one’s true identity, Atman.

Be a bee

January 28, 2014Parables, Reflectionsmahendrajani

Those who do not eat fish cannot stand the smell of fish. It will be difficult for them to hang around in the fish market for no reason. They probably want to get out from there as soon as possible. It is a different story for people who eat fish.

Sri Ramakrishna told a story:

A fisher woman went to a distant village to sell her fish.

She carried a basket full of fish on her head. By the time all her fish were sold it was dark. She was afraid to go home at that time. She remembered that her childhood florist friend lives in a near-by village. She had not seen her for a while. The fisher woman thought this is a good excuse to see her.

She went to her house and knocked the door. The florist friend was extremely delighted to see her friend. Both remembered their happy and sad times spent together in their childhood. The florist friend prepared delicious dishes for her friend. They both ate dinner.

Engrossed in talking they did not realize that it was almost midnight. The florist friend made beds for both of them in a room which was decorated with beautiful flowers.

The room was filled with the fragrance of the flowers. After some time the florist friend found that her friend was struggling to fall asleep. She was trying to sleep in various positions, but no avail. The florist friend asked her friend, “Dear! Are you alright? Is something bothering you?” The fisher woman said, “I don’t know friend why I can’t sleep. I am not sick.” After few moments a thought flashed in fisher woman’s mind. She asked the florist friend to bring her fish-basket and sprinkle some water in it. The florist woman was surprised. But she did what her friend told her to do. From the fish-basket the smell of fish came and filled the room. The fisher-woman put that basket near her bed and immediately she fell in deep sleep.

What did I learn from this story?

Each one feels comfortable in an environment one is used to. If a person is placed in a different environment then he/she will be uncomfortable even though the environment is excellent like the room filled with flowers. If we are not used to listening to inspiring talks or doing prayers, then after a while we get bored by such talks and prayers.

Sri Ramakrishna says that a fly sits on flowers and also sits on filth.

But, a bee sits only on flowers and sips honey.

We have to develop our mind to be like a bee which enjoys uplifting thoughts and prayers and derive inspirations from them. Keeping our mind in positive environment will help us grow spiritually. If we do not watch our mind then it will drag us down to gossip and trash talks and we develop a taste for them.

Note: The deeper meaning of the story and the analogy is the following:

The ‘flower-environment’ and the ‘bee sipping honey’ mean to remain on the plane of the Spirit. It is living a life with awareness that my true identity is divine or “I am Atman (Soul) and not the body and mind.”

The ‘fish-smell’ and the ‘fly sitting on the filth’ mean mind dwelling on the petty pleasures of the body and mind forgetting one’s true identity as a Soul.

Happy Gita Jayanti – 2013

December 10, 2013Celebrations, ReflectionsBhagavad Gitamahendrajani

“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day” – Mahatma Gandhi

This year, on December 13^th, all over the world devotees and lovers of Bhagavad Gita are celebrating Gita Jayanti by reciting its 700 verses or couple of chapters and/or thinking about their meaning. For intellectuals Bhagavad Gita is a wonderful book. For devotees these are the words of Lord Shri Krishna. Bhagavad Gita had inspired innumerable Saints, Sages, Spiritual teachers, Scholars, Great leaders, and common people who are struggling to live a decent life.

There are innumerable commentaries, books, and articles written on Bhagavad Gita. Many spiritual teachers and scholars have lived their entire lives talking and elaborating the meanings of the verses of Bhagavad Gita.

At Vivekananda Vidyapith, on December 7^th we recited all the eighteen chapters of Bhagavad Gita. Many verses or shlokas appealed to my mind while reciting them. It was an uplifting experience. We cannot agree any more with Sanjay who told at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, “I heard this wonderful dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjuna which created goose bumps due to excessive joy. As I remember this amazing dialogue again and again an upsurge of bliss fills my heart.”

Bhagavad Gita is an ocean of wisdom. Even taking a little of its water in our palms and drinking it makes our life blessed. Meaning that taking even one of Bhagavad Gita’s teachings and practicing it in our life makes our life happy and it fills our heart with satisfaction of living a good life.

I will share one thought which overpowered many other thoughts about the teachings of Bhagavad Gita. We love God and we want God to love us. A question comes: what kind of a person should we become so that God loves us?

It is amazing that Shri Krishna himself describes who is most beloved to God. More amazing is that He did NOT say, one who goes to temples every day, or performs rituals or offers various things to Me or spend hours in singing and meditating on Me or does any external practice is My most beloved! It is not that these practices are not good. But, from Shri Krishna’s answer it seems that these things are not sufficient. Shri Krishna describes the qualities of His most beloved devotee in shlokas Gita 12.13 – 12.19. After spiritual practices these qualities must manifest from the devotees. The following are few of these qualities:

(Note: Swami Vivekananda liked these qualities so much that he included an English translation of these shlokas into his lectures on Raja Yoga.)

– One who hates none: Very first quality is not to hate anyone! Why? When we hate a person or an object, then we give that person or an object a special place in our mind. Giving a part of our mind to that person or an object, we block our mind to think something beneficial to us.

– Who is a friend of all: As a result of our spiritual practices unselfish love for all should develop naturally.

– Compassionate towards all: One who understands sufferings and pain of others and does whatever he/she can to remove or ease them.

– Devoid of possessiveness: One who understands that we did not bring anything in this world when we were born and we will not be able to take anything from this world when we die. A devotee has a firm conviction that everything belongs to God and we are just care-takers.

– Egoless: Ego blocks Reality and contaminates it. With ego, I see the world only from ‘my point of view’ and not from the ‘others point of view.’ I see my big mistake as a small one and another’s small mistake as a big one. As true knowledge comes, then ego reduces and humility develops.

– A person’s mind is balanced in joys and sorrows: There are many examples in which people have lost their heads when they were happy and have committed harmful mistakes. Also, people fall apart in sorrows. A devotee remains balanced in joys and sorrows. When happiness comes, a devotee thanks God for giving happiness and keeps mind alert for not getting carried away. When sorrows come a devotee clings to God to go through the painful time.

– Forgiving: A devotee has a big heart and forgives others for their mistakes and misbehavior. He/she thinks that he/she makes mistakes and so do others. Also, people misbehave because of ignorance. Keeping grudge against someone develops hatred which is not good.

– Satisfied: A devotee works hard to fulfill one’s responsibilities and remain satisfied with whatever he/she gets as rewards (God’s prasad).

– Ever devoted to Yoga: For a devotee the spiritual practice is a 24-365(6) commitment. One who wants to attain spiritual goal has to integrate all activities which leads one towards that goal.

– Posses Self-control: For spiritual progress one has to slowly develop self-control. Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita ask us to control senses by mind, the mind by pure intellect and the pure intellect by Atman (Self). One cannot have spiritual progress without self-control.

– Determined: Many worldly things deviates a devotee from the spiritual path. One needs a strong determination to stick to the spiritual path and make spiritual progress.

– Gives mind and intellect to God: Swami Vivekananda says that both head and heart are needed in spiritual path. We have to engage intellect to think about the goal, the path, the obstacles and ways to remove the obstacles. Also, through various practices one has to develop love for God, like singing hymns, bhajans, dhoons, reading inspiring books and biographies, holy company etc.

– One who does not become a cause of suffering: A devotee is careful not to create any problem to other people. He/she lives cautiously. Sometimes people out of ego or jealousy think that a devotee is a problem, but a devotee has no intention to create any problem.

– One who is not disturbed by the others: Because of lack of hatred, being a friend of all, and having a forgiving nature a devotee does not get disturbed by people’s behavior. A devotee learns how to work lovingly with others.

– Free from fear and anxieties: A devotee thinks that God has created me and takes care of me. With that attitude he/she is free from fear and anxieties just as a child is free from them having parents around.

– Have no expectations from others: A devotee is completely dependent on God. He/she lives in the world having no expectations from anyone. He/she tries to give more than receives. If a person cannot give something in return, then one does sincere prayers for the good of the people from whom one has to receive something.

– Pure: Shri Ramakrishna said that pure mind, pure intellect and Atman (Self) are same. Through pure mind Atman reflects from within. A devotee is always working hard to remove impurities from one’s mind.

– Skillful: Shri Ramakrishna said that a devotee is not a dumb person. He/she skillfully performs every action. A devotee puts one’s full mind and heart into every action. Even if the action is small, he/she tries to do it in a perfect possible way. Saints say that if you want to know how a person’s meditation is then see how he/she performs small actions.

– Unbiased: A devotee does not take a side. He/she looks a situation from all sides. He/she does not try to cover a friend’s mistake or a wrong-doing and never fails to admire a good thing of any person, friend or a foe.

– Never initiates any action with worldly desire: A devotee’s attitude is “Seek not, avoid not.” He/she takes care of whatever responsibilities come to him/her with full mind and heart. He/she knows that there is no need to add more work which he/she does not have to do it. This way he/she has time and energy to do spiritual practices.

– Even minded in honors and insults: A devotee has Self-dignity, but his/her mind does not get disturbed by the external honors and insults given by people. He/she knows that one who honors now may insults him/her later and vice a versa. Many times people honor because of the fulfillment of their selfish desires and insults when they are not fulfilled. In a football, cricket or any game people cheer a player when he/she does good and boo the same player later when he/she does not do good. Lord Buddha said that when a person insults you and if you do not take it then it remains with the person. A devotee offers praises to God thinking that God gave good qualities which were praised. When someone insults, then a devotee thinks ‘do I have to learn something from this, then learn it, and if there is nothing to learn from it then simply drop it.’

– Detached: Detached means attached to God. If we think that ‘everything belongs to God and I am only a care-taker’ then real detachment comes. Detachment does not mean a person becomes rough or heartless or careless. It is completely opposite. A detached person has true love for all and cares for all thinking that he/she is taking care of God’s children and God’s things.

– Has Steady Intellect: The characteristics of a person with steady intellect have been defined at the end of Bhagavad Gita chapter 2. Mahatma Gandhi loved these qualities. A devotee cannot be whimsical. His/her mind and intellect are steady. He/she has a fixed spiritual goal and does everything to reach that goal. His/her character is very strong and does not change by the whims of the mind.

– Whose home is the whole world: For a devotee the whole world is God’s. Thus he/she is content wherever he/she resides. He/she is always with God.

Wow! So many qualities! I am sure each one of us thinks that it is not possible to have all these qualities. Thus, it is not possible to become a God’s beloved devotee. Well, many did become God’s beloved devotees. Why should I think that I cannot? Little children go to KG. It is very difficult to imagine looking at them that few years later one of them becomes a professor, a writer, a musician, a medical doctor, an engineer, a pilot, a scientist, or a responsible person in the society. Similarly, if we work for these qualities properly, then we may acquire them to some extent.

One more important point is that these qualities are inter-connected. If we take one quality and start practicing it, then all other qualities come with it. Saints say that if we sincerely make attempt and pray to God, then by God’s grace all these qualities manifest in us. It is worth trying. Even fractions of these qualities make us a decent human being.

The Philosophy of Life – 1

November 28, 2013Philosophy, Reflectionsmahendrajani

“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

Each person has a philosophy of life based on which he/she makes major decisions and invest his/her resources including time of life. A person may have a philosophy like ‘money makes me happy,’ or ‘sense-pleasures are the goal of life,’ or ‘academic achievements are glories of life,’ or ‘power makes a person happy,’ or ‘doing nothing is the best thing to do,’ or ‘going to heaven is the goal of life,’ or ‘gaining respect at job or in society is the highest thing to achieve in life,’ or something else.

Many times people are not aware of their philosophy of life. If they introspect about the reasons why they make decisions in certain ways or react to the situations in certain ways, then they find this basic philosophy of their life. People develop such philosophy from their family , friends, society, religion, environment, or their inherited nature based on their physical and mental chemistry. As a person gains experience in life, one may modify or change one’s philosophy. Some stubborn people do not change their philosophy of life even though it harms them and others and brings so much suffering.

I think the life-philosophy should be able to do the following:

1. It withstands all challenges and situations of life

2. As we go through various situations in life, the philosophy should make us stronger and wiser. It also gives us happiness and fulfillment.

3. It gives a meaning to our life and the universe. This meaning is uplifting and not degrading.

4. It unites everything and not divides. It should unite our various facets of life and should unite us with all people irrespective of their color, culture, country, religion, social and economic status or any other differences.

5. It helps us performing our day-to-day life’s responsibilities and gives us fulfillment.

6. It makes us fearless; makes us free from all kinds of fear including the fear of death.

7. It does not contradict with reason and science; it may surpass reason and science.

8. It is applicable to all human beings and not just selected few.

9. It enhances varieties of people’s mental chemistry like tastes, talents, interests, abilities, etc. it does not make people like clones – only of one kind.

10. It helps us develop unselfish love for all and encourages us to serve all.

Whatever happens….

November 21, 2013Reflectionscollege admissions and anxietiesmahendrajani

Around this time of the year high school seniors are frantically busy for their college applications. Their careers and future depend on the college they get an admission. Seeing a few such seniors who are close to me and are worrying about their college admissions I decided to share my thoughts with them.

I told them that they should try hard to go to their dream colleges, but if they cannot get into them then the world does not come to an end. Since they are hardworking sincere students, I told them that whichever colleges they go to they will build up good careers.

Many students get upset, frustrated and/or get depressed when they get rejections from all their dream colleges. I told students that many times looking back into our life we find it was for our good certain things did not happen according to our expectations. For example, suppose you were forced to go to a college which was your last choice. You reluctantly went there with a heavy heart. But, in a year or two you find your life-partner which you could not have found in any other way or find an adviser who help you to build your dream career or find good friends, enjoyable classes and have a great time. What does it say? It tells us that, ‘Whatever happens is for good.’ We can apply this to any situation in our life. We sincerely work hard to get something or to achieve something and we do not get or achieve what we wanted. We get frustrated and become furious. In such situations, a devotee thinks that ‘May be there is some underlying reason that I do not understand for which thing happened differently. May be the Almighty, who created this universe, nourishes it, and dissolves it has a better plan.’

There is a nice story to remember.

King and his minister — A king and his minister

There was a king who did not believe in God. Unfortunately or fortunately he had a very wise minister who was a great devotee of God. The King used to get annoyed listening to God’s talks from his minister. But, he was greatly benefited by his minister’s advice that he tolerated and ignored the minister’s talks on God. The most annoying sentence of the minister was, ‘whatever happens is for good.’ The King did not understand its significance and rationality.

One day, as a routine, the king went on hunting with his minister and a few soldiers. While chasing deer into a deep forest, the king and the minister were separated from the soldiers. It was getting dark and the visibility was very poor. The king was upset and angry that he could not get a deer and was separated by his soldiers. The forest was thick. At some places they had to walk on foot with the horses. While walking he was hit by a branch of a tree and he got a cut on his finger. It was painful. Blood was coming out. Minister tore his cloth and wraps it around the cut and stopped the bleeding. King was really angry about the whole situation. The minister tried to console him and said, ‘Whatever happens is for good.’ This was the last straw on the camel’s back. The king was so mad that he pushed the minister into a nearby big dry well and said ‘whatever happens is for good.’ The well was deep and the minister cannot come out by himself, but the king did not care. The king thought this will teach him a lesson. He went further with his horse.

All of a sudden he heard sounds of horses and people. He thought that they were his soldiers, but they were strangers and well-armed. Before the king defends himself, these strong and powerful strangers caught the king, closed his mouth with a cloth, tied him with a rope and carried him to a nearby place in the forest. They tied the king to a tree and started preparing for some rituals. From their conversations, the king found out that they were cannibals and the king’s life was an offering to their goddess. Then they will eat him. The king was helpless. His mouth was fully covered. He could not say a word. As a final ritual, a priest came to examine the king as an offering. Then he found that the king had a cut. The priest screamed to the other cannibals and said that he cannot offer this person because he has a cut. The goddess will be upset with this offering. It is like a fruit with a cut is not good for offering to God. The cannibals were upset that their efforts were wasted. They let the king go with his horse. The king was thinking of the minister’s words, ‘whatever happens is for good.’ He thought, ‘Maybe the minister was right. If I did not have this cut, the cannibals would have sacrificed me.’ The king found the minister, helped him to come out from the well, told him what had happened and apologizes to him for his rude behavior. The minister forgave him and said, ‘whatever happens is for good.’ After a few moments, the king turned to the minister and said, ‘Well, one thing is not clear to me. It was good that I got cut on my finger and I was saved. But, I threw you into the well. What good had happened through that act?’ The minister said, “O King! If you did not throw me into the well, then the cannibals would have sacrificed me instead of you. So, it was good that you threw me into the well.’ The king shook his head and said, “Really, God’s ways are mysterious.”

Notes:

(1) The attitude described in this post is much deeper and is a mature way of living. It does not encourage to tolerate or ignore slavery, or injustice or inappropriate behavior. A person with such attitude respectfully opposes any such thing without hatred.

(2) I have found that a person with such attitude works hard to fulfill one’s responsibility, enjoys one’s work and have less or no distress. Also, such a person is always sensitive about the sufferings of other people and does everything within his/her control to remove these sufferings.

Celebrations and Sant Kabir

November 12, 2013Celebrations, ReflectionsKabirmahendrajani

Celebrations are “breaks” or “time-outs” from our mechanical routine works. They are needed to keep us remain human beings and stop us from becoming machines producing some goods. Students just study, do more study, and continue studying while adults just work, do more work, and continue working. Without breaks students become machine who can take tests and adults become machines which produce money and take care of regular tasks without having any life in it. Results are frustrations and depressions. After needed “breaks” and “time-outs” we can work better and enjoy our work.

If these celebrations fill our minds with positive and uplifting thoughts, then they give us not only rest but satisfaction and fulfillment. Higher than that is spiritual growth. If celebrations become a part of our spiritual practice, then we grow spiritually. We develop deeper understanding of our life, our relationship with others and the world. Spiritual growth brings out the best lying within us and is beneficial to us, our families and the society.

There is a popular mind-set that ‘Pray to God when we are in trouble.’ The underlying thought with this is ‘Why pray to God when we are happy, doing well, or achieving what we want with our own capacity? At that time we do not need God. (We forget that God has given us body and mind to achieve whatever we have achieved.) When we find out that we cannot achieve what we want with our own strength then we feel need for help and we pray to God.’ It looks very logical and practical. But, then our prayer will be business-like and will not produce much result. If we get what we want in the world with prayer, then we will continue to pray otherwise we call ourselves ‘atheist’ and put God and spiritual progress aside. Ultimately we will be missing the real aspect of life and live a superficial life. Saints say that we cannot get away easily from the spiritual development. The blows of life will remind us to think about the meaning of life, will open our eyes to the Reality of it, and bring us to the spiritual development.

Knowing this popular mind-set Sant Kabir made a couplet in Hindi:

“Dukhame sumiran saba kare, sukhame kare na koy

Jo sukhame sumirana kare, dukha kaheko hoy”

“Everyone prays to God, when one is miserable or suffering. No one prays to God, when one is happy. But, if one prays to God when one is happy, then one does not become miserable.”

Does this mean that miseries do not come to people who pray to God? We have seen Saints, Sages and devotees have suffered! Surely, it does not mean that. As I understand, it means that a prayerful person learns how to handle the miseries. When miseries come, a prayerful person with inner strength faces the miseries. Then two things happen: either miseries go away or this person learns how to go through the miseries without breaking down. A prayerful person when goes through miseries of life, not only he/she does not get negatively impacted by the miseries, but his/her inner strength gets multiplied. So, let us celebrate special occasions with full heart and mind, make them as parts of our spiritual practice and grow spiritually to live a peaceful and blissful life.

Sarva Mangal Maangalye..

October 18, 2013ReflectionsHymn-Sarva Mangalmahendrajani

Mother Durga-3 (2) — The Mother of the Universe

The following are three famous shlokas of the famous collection of hymns of the Mother of the Universe Durga. The collection is called “Shri Durga Saptashati,” which means 700 verses regarding Mother Durga.

I will give a very simple meaning of these three shlokas which are recited regularly in thousands of Hindu temples, and Ashrams, and in millions of homes. I will also share few of my thoughts related to these shlokas.

Sarva mangal maangalye Shive sarvaaratha saadhike

Sharanye tryambake Gauri Naaraayani namostu te (11-10)

Srushti sthiti vinaashaanaam shaktibhute sanaatani

Gunaashraye gunamaye Naaraayani namestu te (11-11)

Sharanaagata dinaarta paritraana paraayane

Sarva syaarti hare Devi Naaraayani namostu te (11-12)

Sarva mangal maangalye – Mother Durga is most auspicious among those that are auspicious

One finds word “Mangala” in several Hindu hymns, like “Mangalam Bhagavan Vishnu, Mangalam Garudadhwaja…” or in a bhajan of Lord Hanuman, “Mangala murati….” Why and how Mother Durga, or Lord Vishnu, or Lord Hanumana is auspicious? We have to experience this fact. Without having any experience of this auspiciousness, these will be just words. Suppose we repeat thousand times “Himalayas are great.” But, without seeing Himalayas, we cannot comprehend the greatness of the Himalayas. Similarly, we have to do spiritual practice, make spiritual progress, and go near Mother Durga, or any form of God to feel Her/His auspiciousness. When we go closer to God in the form of Mother or Father or Formless Brahman, we see positive transformation in our lives and then we appreciate their auspiciousness. We feel that our lives were blessed by spiritual progress. After that experience these words mean much more to us.

Shive – One who brings good to us

As Lord Shiva brings good to all, Mother Durga brings good to all. Actually, Shiva and Shakti (Universal Mother) are same. Shakti is the power of Shiva which manifests in the role of creation, preservation, and dissolution. Again, through spiritual progress we can realize how Mother Durga brings good to our lives. This does not mean that we always have a good time and miseries do not come. Miseries do come. But, we think that these miseries are sent by the Mother and they may have some underlying purpose. We try to avoid miseries, but if they come, then we have to go through them and wait till we understand their purpose. Swami Vivekananda said that many times we learn greater lessons from miseries than from happiness. It is a fact that miseries had made many great people. If we do not take this attitude, then we fall apart in miseries. It is our choice.

Sarvaartha Saadhike – Mother fulfills all our legitimate desires

Not all desires are bad. We can have desires to be virtuous, to develop knowledge and devotion. Also, when we make spiritual progress, then we realize that some of our desires are harmful to us and some are foolish. We drop such desires. We also realize that Mother fulfills our legitimate worldly desires. Finally, when God-realization comes, then we have such infinite bliss that we do not need any desire. We desire to be happy. When we attain infinite bliss then we do not need any desire.

Sharanye – Universal Mother is the only refuge for us all

Why should we take refuge of a person or a place which has limited capacity? Why not take refuge of the Universal Mother who had created the sun, the earth, all beings, food and everything that exist and she is taking care of us all? One can say that in practical life we may have to take refuge of a person or a place. It is true. But, in that case, we have to think that the Universal Mother is giving us refuge through this person or a place. This way we have self-dignity and we do not become a slave of a person or a place. All Saints and Sadhus who have renounced everything, they completely depend on God. And they experience how God takes care of them. We find many such incidences in the life of Swami Vivekananda during his life as a wandering monk. He had taken refuge of the Universal Mother and in critical times Mother took care of him in various ways.

Tryambake and Gauri – Both are names of Mother Parvati. Again, Shiva and Shakti are same. Just as Shiva has an eye of Knowledge, Universal Mother has an eye of Knowledge. Gauri is another name of Mother Parvati, the power of Lord Shiva.

Naaraayani – Naraayana is Lord Vishnu. Naraayani is the power of Lord Vishnu. Narraayana also means God who is omnipresent, who is everywhere. The Mother of the Universe is also omnipresent. We are all children of the Mother. The Universal Mother is living through us and is manifesting through the whole universe.

Namostu te – I salute to the Mother Durga.

Saluting means respecting Mother and making Her the ideal of our lives.

Srushti-sthiti-vinaashaanaam shaktibhute – Mother is the Power of God that creates, preserves, and dissolute the universe.

We have to admit that there is some power which had created this universe, is preserving this universe and can destroy or dissolute this universe in any minute. If this power wants to destroy this universe, then no human power or science or religion can save it. Sri Ramakrishna says that God laughs when a doctor says, “Don’t worry mother, I am going to save your son.” He does not know that the son is going to die. Sooner we understand this fact that God creates, preserves, and destroys or dissolute, better for us. Then, we do not talk foolish things and do not behave as an ignorant person. Doctors do save life. But, sensible doctors know that everything is not in their hands.

Sanaatani – Mother Durga (the Power of God) is eternal.

Everything in this universe is for a short time. Anything that is created is going to die or parish. This is an undeniable fact. Only Brahman or Its manifestation (its Power Mother Durga) is eternal. The Universe comes out from Brahman, remains in Brahman and merges in Brahman. One may call it Cosmic Consciousness or by any other name. Scientists also tell the same thing. One day this universe will consolidate into energy and merges with the energy.

Gunaashraye – Mother Durga is a support of three gunas – sattva, rajas, and tams.

According to the Sankhya Philosophy, this universe is made out of Purusha (Consciousness) and Prakruti (Matter). Both are eternal. Prakruti (which is also considered as the Power of God) is made out of three gunas; sattva, rajas, and tams. The whole universe is functioning because of the imbalance of these three gunas. When the three gunas are balanced all the activities of the universe stop and it merges into Purusha or Brahman. This is an excellent way explaining the activities in the universe. One has to study in greater detail to understand this explanation. In Bhagavad Gita, these three gunas have been described in detail, especially in chapters 14, 17, and 18.

Gunamaye – Mother Durga is full of virtues.

We ask Mother to help us in developing virtues in us. Sri Ramakrishna says that when a king is coming to someone’s house, then one can see that roads leading to his house are paved, trees and plants are planted on this road, house is fixed, excellent furniture arrives etc. Thus, when one is going near God, then all the virtues like compassion, unselfish love, truth, non-violence, forgiveness and others manifest in the life of that person.

Sharanaagata-dinaarta – One who has surrendered to Mother, is humble, and suffering (another meaning is intensely desiring to realize Mother’s presence in everything).

Three words are important; to surrender, having humility and inner urge to realize the Mother or God.

Sharanaagata – One who has surrendered.

What does it mean by ‘surrendering to the Mother’? It means to realize that in reality the Mother is doing everything and we are just Her instruments. Bhagavad Gita says to renounce ‘doer-ship’ and ‘owner-ship.’ Sri Ramakrishna used to sing a bhajan, “Sakoli tomaari ichhaa,” meaning, “O Mother! You are doing everything, but people say that ‘we do it.’ O Mother! We are the machines and you are the operator.’ He also said that the way a house-maid takes care of everything of a master’s house as if all belong to her, but in her mind it is clear that nothing belongs to her, similarly we have to live in this world taking care of everything but keeping in mind that everything belongs to the Mother. We do not even have control on our body and all the systems working in our body. If we realize this then we feel the presence of the power of God, or the Universal Mother.

If we surrender, then we will have peace of mind. We do not take the burden of the world on ourselves. We do not worry for which we cannot do anything. Just as a child is worry-free in the presence of his/her mother, we will be worry-free thinking that the Mother will take care of us. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that just like a child he just eats, sleeps, and enjoys living in the world being completely dependent on the Mother.

There are three kinds of surrender: a monkey baby holding its mother, a kitten being held by its mother cat, and a dead body carried by people. When we hold on to God as a baby-monkey holds its mother, then there is a fear of falling. After some spiritual practices, when the Mother or God holds our hands, then there is no fear of falling, means giving up spiritual practice or start living improper life. One can complain like kittens when the Mother puts one in uncomfortable situations. Surrendering like a dead body means no complain at all. Whatever the care-takers do to the body, it is okay. That means one is completely dependent on the Mother in any situation of life. This does not mean that a person becomes inert. But, in this state person has such deep conviction that the Mother does everything, then why to worry. Just keep performing once responsibilities and let no other thoughts come and disturb the mind.

Dina – one who is filled with humility.

In this state, one prays, ‘O Mother of the Universe! I am devoid of virtues. Please help me develop virtues in me. I have many weaknesses. I am trying to get rid of them, but I am not getting successful. I need your help. I cannot focus my mind. My mind is difficult to control. Help me Mother.’ All great Saints and Sadhus had expressed such feelings. For example, Shri Shankaraachaarya said in a hymn, “Matsamah paataki naasti…,” “O Mother! There is no sinner like me and there is no purifier like you. Knowing this do whatever is appropriate.” One saint said, “Mo sam kaun kutil khala kami,” meaning “who else is wicked, crook, and lustful than me?” Then, the saint asked for help from God to get rid of these weaknesses. One saint said, “I went to the world to look for a bad person. I could not find any bad person. When I saw my mind, I found that I am the worst person.” This is not to degrade oneself. But, one who is sincerely trying to become a good person goes through this stage. Vedanta says that each person is potentially divine. So, this state is a passing state for the person who is trying to realize his/her divinity within. It is not the final state. However, if one thinks out of ignorance that ‘I am great, I am good, I do not need to improve’ does not improve at all and does not realize the divinity either. A true seeker knows that perfection has no limit. The sign of knowledge is humility. A knowledgeable person knows one’s limits.

Aarta – One who is suffering.

Mostly people suffer because they do not get what they want in the world or are going through miserable situations in life. However, there are few people who have everything in the world and are not going through miserable situation, but they are sad because they are not making enough spiritual progress. Sri Ramakrishna, in his initial stage of spiritual practices, was crying profusely seeing sunset. He will roll on the ground crying and thinking that ‘Another day had passed and I have not realized God. Is my life going to be wasted without the vision of the Mother?’ Intense desire is needed to make spiritual progress and to realize God. Sri Ramakrishna said that, ‘People weep profusely for children, spouses, family, money, and pleasures, but who cries for God? If one sincerely cries to realize God, then definitely one can realize God.’ When one feels that I will die without being with God, just like a child feels lost without mother, then one can realize God.

Paritraana-paraayane – Mother is engaged in removing the suffering and lifting up devotees (who have surrendered, are humble, and had intense desire for spiritual progress)

Universal Mother is the Mother of all and is engaged in removing suffering of all. But, people who are busy in enjoying the worldly objects and not aware of the Mother’s presence do not see this compassion and love. Sri Ramakrishna says that as long as child is busy in playing toys, mother gets her work done in the kitchen. But, when a child throws away all the toys and cries for the mother, then mother gives up all work and takes the child in her lap. Those who have surrendered to the mother, are humble, and have intense desire to see Mother, then Mother helps these people to achieve their goal.

Sarvasyaartihare Devi – Mother removes all miseries

When we do spiritual practices and go towards the Mother, then we become aware of everything that is going in our mind. We realize that many miseries were self-created. Their causes are our useless desires and fancies. We drop them off and we get relief from the miseries. Sri Ramakrishna said that a kite caught a fish and sat on a tree to eat it. But, several crows followed the kite and would not let the kite eat that fish. Wherever the kite went, crows followed it. Finally, the fish was dropped from the kite’s mouth and all crows followed the fish and the kite was at piece. Thus, miseries like crows follow our desires. When unnecessary desires are dropped, miseries go away. There are unavoidable miseries. But, if we go closer to the Universal Mother, then she gives us strength to face these miseries. Many times in miseries we go closer to the Mother and feel peace of mind.

Naaraayani Namostu te – I salute to the Universal Mother

We salute to the Mother and ask for knowledge and devotion.

Holy Mother Sri Saradadevi and Sarva Mangal Mangalye…

At the end of March 1911 Holy Mother with a few devotees went to Banglore as a part of her pilgrimage in South India. One evening Holy Mother went to a hill of rocks in the back of the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama and sat there to do japa. Swami Ramakrishnananda (Shashi Maharaj) who was sent by Swami Vivekananda in the South India to inspire the devotees and who started all the Ramakrishna Ashramas there heard that Holy Mother had climbed up the hill. He was worried about her. He immediately went up the hill and found that Holy Mother is sitting quietly there and doing japa. He saw her as Godess Parvati. Swami Ramakrishnananda’s heart was filled with devotion and he recited “Sarva mangala maangalye….” and saluted Holy Mother. Then, Holy Mother blessed him. We find that in all Ramakrishna Mission Ashramas and all places where Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother are worshipped, this hymn is being sung every day as a part of Aratrikam.