Tuesday, April 14, 2015

RAJA YOGA , MESSAGE 3

                        Raja Yoga, Message 3

Necessity for a Guru
"If these truths have been told to a high souled one who has supreme devotion to God and as much devotion to his guru or preceptor as to God, then only they will shine forth, then only they will shine forth indeed." —Svetasvatara Upanishad: VI-23

The spiritual path is thorny, rugged and precipitous. It is enveloped by darkness. The guidance of a guru who has already trodden the path is imperative.

Some do meditation for some years independently. Later on, they actually feel the necessity of a guru. They come across some obstacles in the way. They do not know how to proceed further and how to obviate these impediments or stumbling blocks. Then they begin to search for a master. A stranger in a big city finds it difficult to go back to his residence in a small avenue even in broad daylight, even though he has walked half a dozen times. When difficulty arises even in the case of finding out the way in streets and roads, what to speak of the difficulties in the razor path of spirituality when one walks alone with closed eyes!

The guru will be able to throw light and remove the obstacles on the path. The knowledge of the Self is handed down from guru to disciple in succession. Matsyendranath taught it to Nivrittinath.
Nivrittinath gave the knowledge to Jnana Dev, and so on. Gaudapada initiated Govindapada into the mysteries of Kaivalyam. Govindapada instructed Sankaracharya. Sankaracharya instructed Suresvaracharya, and so on.

The spiritual path is quite a different line altogether. It is not like writing a thesis for M.A. examination. The help of a teacher is necessary at every moment. Young aspirants become self-sufficient, arrogant and self-assertive in these days. They do not care to carry out the orders of a guru. They do not wish to have a guru.

They want independence from the very beginning. They apply in an absurd manner with a perverted intellect the 'neti neti' (not this, not this) doctrine in the case of guru also. They think they are in the fourth state of consciousness when they do not even know the A.B.C. of spirituality or truth. This is the philosophy of devils. They mistake licentiousness or 'having their own way and sweet will' for freedom. This is a serious, lamentable mistake. That is the reason why they do not grow. They lose faith in the efficacy of their practice and in the existence of God. They wander about in a happy-go-lucky manner, without any aim, from Kashmir to Gangotri and from Gangotri to Rameshvaram talking some nonsense on the way, and posing as liberated beings.

He who lives under the guidance of a guru for twelve years, who carries out implicitly the orders of the guru, who serves the guru sincerely, taking him for God himself, can really improve in the spiritual path. There is no other way for spiritual progress. So long as there is world, there are spiritual teachers and spiritual books.

The number of liberated beings may be less in Kali Yuga than in Satya Yuga. If you cannot get an ideal guru, you can take even a senior aspirant who has been treading the path of realisation for some years, who is straightforward and honest, who is selfless, free from pride and egoism, who has good character and who has knowledge of scriptures, as your guru. Live with him for some time. Study him carefully. If you are satisfied, take him as your preceptor and follow his instructions strictly. After you have accepted him once as your guru, never suspect him and never find fault with him. Also, do not change the guru very often. You will be bewildered. You will get different conflicting ideas. Everybody has got his own method of spiritual practice. You will find no improvement if you change your method frequently. Stick to one guru and stick to his instructions.

Stick to one method. You will evolve quickly. Single-minded devotion to one guru, to one ideal and to one kind of sadhana and whole-hearted application, are indispensable requisites for God-realisation.

If an aspirant from Kashmir meditates upon his guru or spiritual guide at Uttarkashi, Himalayas, a definite connection is established between him and the teacher. The guru radiates power, peace, joy and bliss to the student in response to his thoughts. He is bathed in the powerful current of magnetism. The stream of spiritual electricity flows steadily from the preceptor to his disciple, just as oil flows from one vessel to another. The student can imbibe or draw from his teacher in proportion to his degree of faith. Whenever the student sincerely meditates upon his teacher, the teacher also actually feels that a current of prayer or sublime thoughts proceeds from his student and it touches his heart. He who has the inner astral sight can clearly visualise a thin stream of bright light between the disciple and the teacher, caused by the movement of the vibration of pure thoughts in the ocean of consciousness.

Beware of pseudo-gurus. They are knocking about in abundance these days. They will exhibit some tricks or feats to attract people. Think that those who are proud, who are roaming about to make disciples and to amass money, who talk of worldly matters, who speak untruth, who boast of themselves, who are talkative, who keep company with worldly people and women and who are luxury-loving, are false imposters. Do not be deceived by their sweet talk and lectures.

In this connection, it will not be out of place to mention the story of a man who was in search of a sad-guru. He found out after all, one sad-guru. The student asked the guru: "O venerable sir, give me some instruction."
The guru asked: "What sort do you want?"
The disciple asked: "O beloved master! Who is superior, disciple or guru?"
The guru said: "Guru is superior to disciple."
The disciple said: "O beloved guru! Make me a guru. I would like that."
Such sort of disciples are plenty in these days.

Three Things 

Here are some triads for your daily spiritual practices.

Practise three things: non-violence, truthfulness and celibacy.

Remember three things: death, pains of worldly existence (samsara) and God.

Renounce three things: egoism, desire and attachment.

Cultivate three things: humility, fearlessness and love.

Eradicate three things: lust, anger and greed.

Three things to love: desire for liberation, company of the wise and selfless service.

Three things to despise: miserliness, cruelty and petty- mindedness.

Three things to admire: generosity, courage and nobility.

Three things to hate: lust, anger and pride.

Three things for reverence: guru, renunciation and discrimination.

Three things to control: tongue, temper and tossing of the mind.

Three things to shun: evil company, evil desires and evil actions.

Three things to cultivate: cosmic love, forgiveness and patience.

Three things to avoid: back-biting, falsehood and harsh words.

MYSTERIES OF THE MIND

"Though objects are similar, the ways of mind are different according to the difference in minds." (IV-15)
The form which the infinite all-pervading Atman has assumed through its power of imagination is called 'mind'. Raja yoga is an exact science concerned with the mind and the suppression of all its modifications. Because the mind is the cause for the existence of the phenomenal world, its annihilation will eventually lead the yoga practitioner to the highest goal i.e., asamprajnata samadhi, wherein he rests in complete peace in union with the Supreme Soul.

The practice of raja yoga will enable you to possess a vigorous healthy mind, strong will-power and wonderful power of concentration and self-control. It will enable you to acquire various psychic powers.
Every human being has within himself various potentialities and capacities. He is a magazine of power and knowledge. Through this path he can become the master of internal and external nature. He can unfold new powers, new faculties, new qualities. He can change his environment and influence others. He can subdue other minds. He can enter into super-conscious state. He can govern all the phenomena of nature — he can control the elements. The whole mystery of nature will be unravelled to him.

Raja yoga deals in detail with the process of restraining the vrittis (waves of the mind) and attaining nirvikalpa samadhi or the state of super-consciousness in which the samskaras (the seeds of rebirth) are fried in toto.

The yogi attains perfection or kaivalya — independence.

The earnest student of the science of raja yoga will find a wealth of occult lore in the book on raja yoga written by Patanjali Maharishi. The book contains aphorisms or laconic sutras. (Without the help of an explanatory commentary and a master who has actually mastered all the yoga practices, it is rather difficult to comprehend the teachings contained in this book.)

Nature of the Mind 

Mind is a power born of Atman because it is through mind that God manifests Himself as the differentiated universe of names and forms. Mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts and habits. As the T thought is the root of all thoughts, mind is only the thought 'I'.

Mind is nothing but a collection of samskaras or impressions. It is nothing but a collection of desires arising from contact with different objects. It is also a collection of feelings aroused by worldly botherations. It is a collection of ideas gathered from different objects. These desires, ideas and feelings constantly change. Some of the old desires are constantly departing from their store-house of the mind, and new ones are replacing them.

Mind is the greatest force on this earth. He who has controlled his mind is full of powers, he can bring all minds under his influence. All diseases can be cured by psychic healing. One is struck with awe and wonder at the marvels and mysterious powers of the mind of man. The source or home or support for this mysterious mind is God or Atman.

Mind is a mysterious something which is really nothing but does everything. It is born of the illusory power of God. It is a product of ignorance. It is a compound of desires, thoughts and imagination, a mixture of worry and fear. It is a confection.

If you pant for breath or feel tired even when you walk a short distance it indicates that you are physically weak. If you feel tired when you study a book for a short while it denotes that something which is inside the body is weak. That 'something' which is inside the body, which becomes weak when you study, is the 'mind' or thinking principle. This clearly proves that mind exists.

Mind feels tired after hard and protracted work. It cannot, therefore, be the Atman. The Atman is the storehouse of all powers.

Mind is only an instrument of the Atman. It should be properly disciplined. Just as you develop the physical body through gymnastics and various kinds of physical exercises, you have to train the mind through mental training, mental culture or mental drill — for instance the training of memory, the cultivation of reflection, discrimination and enquiry of 'Who am I?'. The practice of meditation itself is a potent clarifier of memory.

The practice of memory-culture powerfully helps the attainment of meditation.

Mind is the instrument or sense which is the cause for the feelings of pleasure and pain. It is countless as it remains with each soul. It is in the form of an atom and is eternal.

The mind is like the sensitive plate of a camera. Just as the picture of a man who comes in front of a camera is impressed on the sensitive plate behind, so also the images of all objects of the world are indelibly printed in the mind. The book that you see in front of you is a mental image plus an external something. In fact the whole external world is within the mind. The mind has projected this world from itself, just as the spider has projected the web from its own body. The mind manifests itself as the external world. The things that we perceive all around us are only mind in form or substance. The mind is subjectively consciousness and is objectively this universe.

Just as the physical body is composed of solid, liquid and gaseous matter, so also the mind is made up of subtle matter of various grades of density with different rates of vibration. A raja yogi penetrates through the different layers of the mind by intense practice.

Mind can be compared to water. Water exists in four states, viz., causal state in the form of H2O, subtle state in the form of water, gross state in the form of ice and gaseous state in the form of vaporised steam. Even so, the mind is in a gross state during waking state when it enjoys sensual objects, it is in a subtle state when it functions in the dream state, it is in a causal state when it gets involved into its cause during deep sleep and it evaporates as gas when it melts or dissolves in Brahman during nirvikalpa samadhi.

When rice has its own individuality it can be differentiated. When it is powdered nicely and made into a thick paste, rice loses its individuality. It is all one mass of homogeneous paste. Even so, in deep sleep state mind is like the rice paste. There is no differentiation here. It is a homogeneous mass.

Ghee has two states, viz., solid and liquid. Mind is like ghee; in the waking state it is solid and in deep sleep state it is liquid. In the solid state it is limited and gross and so it has finite experiences. In the liquid state it is limitless and so the jiva experiences the homogeneous, limitless bliss. In the deep sleep state there is no ego or individuality. There is no desire also. Hence, it experiences limitless bliss of Atman.

Mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food. It is not a heavy thing. It is like a light diffusable gas or vapour or fume. When a scented stick is burnt the fumes pervade the whole room in a minute. Even so, the mind pervades the whole brain as soon as it emerges out of the causal body from deep sleep.

Some philosophers say that the size of the mind corresponds to the size of the body with which it is connected, and that it contracts and expands like a light placed in a jar or a house, as the case may be. This is wrong. The flame of the light neither increases nor decreases, contracts nor expands according to the space. So also the mind remains the same always. The mind, therefore, is all-pervading and subtle.

The vast universe shines as the thought or imagination of the Self (atma-sankalpa). Only if there is mind will this universe exist. There is no mind during deep sleep. So there is no world. The more you think of the objects, the more this world will appear to you as real. The conception of the reality of the universe will increase if you think of sensual objects often and often. If all the thoughts are eliminated there remains nothing which can be called mind. So thoughts are the mind. Again, there is no such thing as world, independent of and apart from thoughts.

All duality is of the mind. The whole of duality is caused by the imagination of the mind. If all imaginations are withdrawn into the mind itself by constant practice of discrimination, dispassion, contentment, self-control and concentration, you will not experience the dual universe. The mind will become no-mind. As it has nothing to cognise, it will rest in the source, the Atman.

The mind is single, but through the power of illusion it appears to be dual in the dreaming state as the perceiver and the perceived. The mind itself takes the form of a rose, mountain, elephant, river, ocean, enemy etc.

Just as heat is inseparable from fire, so also fluctuation is inseparable from mind. It makes the mind restless. This fluctuation is caused by the power of rajas. It is the fluctuation that causes absence of peace of mind.

The bhaktas remove this tossing by repetition of a mantra and devout meditation.

The power of fluctuation is itself the mind. This fluctuating mind alone is this world. The mind becomes no-mind if fluctuation disappears. The mind ceases to exist if it becomes destitute of this fluctuation. What is called the illusory power of the Lord (maya) is this fluctuating potency of the mind. Mind does havoc through the power of fluctuation. It is this fluctuation that brings about the downfall of a struggling aspirant. Destroy this fluctuation through strong discrimination (viveka) constant meditation and ceaseless Brahma vichara (enquiry into Brahman).

As soon as the fluctuation manifests itself, various sorts of imaginations crop up. Imagination co-exists with fluctuation. Imagination is as dangerous as fluctuation. Fluctuation moves the mind, imagination fattens the mind. Minus fluctuation and imagination, mind is a mere zero. Fluctuation and imagination are the two wings of the mind-bird. Cut the right wing through enquiry of the Atman and the left wing through the practice of thoughtlessness. The great bird — mind — will fall dead on the spot immediately.

The one dividing wall between the soul and the body is mind. If this wall is broken by ceaseless enquiry of the Atman the individual soul (jiva) mixes with the Supreme Soul, just as the river mixes with the ocean.

In a dark room, if a pot containing a lamp inside it is broken, the darkness of the room is dispelled and you see light everywhere in the room. Even so, if the body-pot is broken through constant meditation on the self, i.e., if you destroy ignorance and its effect (such as identification with the body) and rise above body-consciousness, you will cognise the supreme light of the Atman everywhere.

Close your eyes. Meditate. Open your heart to the inflow of the invisible power. You will find in the Bible: "Empty thyself, I will fill thee." You will have abundant, super-intuitional knowledge which is beyond the reach of intellect. Just as water freely flows when the tap is turned, so also divine wisdom will flow freely when the obstacles of ignorance that stand in the way of knowledge are removed. You will get flashes of divine inspiration, revelation and intuition. You will have to put yourself in a state of quietude by silencing all bubbling thoughts and emotions and connect the mind with the Source by withdrawing the mind from sensual objects, just as you do with a telephone when you turn the switch off and connect the two persons who want to speak.

When your business fails or you are in heavy grief due to the death of your only son you get emaciation of body even though you eat nourishing substantial food. You feel tremendous internal weakness. When a lady is deeply engaged in the management of the affairs of her daughter's marriage she forgets to take her food.

She is always happy. Her heart is full of joy. The joy and cheerfulness are powerful tonics for her mind. She gets inner mental strength although she does not take any food. This clearly proves that mind exists and that cheerfulness is good mental food.

Change of thought, relaxation of mind by dwelling on thoughts of pleasant objects, cheerfulness, pure food and mental recreation of pure nature are necessary for mental health.

Mind is everything. Mind can make a hell into a heaven and a heaven into a hell. Keep this monkey-mind under proper control; then alone you can be really happy. Mind creates and destroys. It creates the whole universe by its power of imagination. The chief characteristic of the mind is imagination. It is the creator and enjoyer of all happiness and misery. It is the cause for bondage and liberation. Mind is all. It is everything. It is your true friend and bad enemy. The impure mind is your enemy. It causes various sorts of attachment. It is filled with various base desires and appetites. The highest mind is a rare friend and benefactor because it imparts true counsel in the way of obtaining the supreme goal of life. The higher mind becomes your guiding guru. Hear its sweet, small voice and follow its instruction. The voice of the pure mind is the voice of God. It is an infallible voice. In the Bhagavad Gita you will find: "A man should uplift himself by his own self, so let him not weaken the self. For, this self is the friend of oneself and the self is the enemy of oneself The self is the friend of oneself for him who has conquered the self, the self is inimical (and behaves) like (an external) foe for him who has not conquered the self." (VI-5, 6)

There is no other vessel on this earth to cross the ocean of worldly existence (samsara) than the mastery of the lower instinctive mind.

Mind always attaches itself to something objective. It cannot stand by itself. It gropes in darkness. It forgets. It is changing every second. If food is withdrawn for a couple of days, it cannot think properly. There is no functioning of the mind during deep sleep. It is full of impurities, desires and cravings. It gets puzzled during anger. In fear, it trembles. In shock, it sinks. How can you take the mind then as the pure Self?

A writer writes many books with the help of the fountain pen. The fountain pen is only an instrument of the writer. The fountain pen should not think: "I have written all these books, all the credit should come to me only." Your mind, senses and the body are only instruments in the hands of the Lord. God does everything: feel like this and abandon the doership or the agency. You will be freed from the bonds of karma.

A son inherits only the physical characteristics of his father, not the mental traits. The son has his own thoughts, temperament, tendencies, mental aptitude, mental traits, etc. A man with musical tendencies may get his birth in the house of a renowned musician in order to get favourable conditions for his further growth in the art of music. This does not mean that he has inherited his musical tendencies from the father.

Mind has got various preconceptions. When an artist begins to draw a picture on the canvas he draws the picture out of the materials preconceived by the mind. Any action that is done by the physical body is the outcome of a preconceived idea. The mind thinks, plans and schemes at first. Then the action manifests itself.
For instance, he who invented a watch at first had all ideas in his mind about the construction of the lever, various wheels, dial, minute-hand, second-hand, hour-hand, etc. These ideas materialised later on into action.

The best philosophers and seers (rishis and sages) are unanimously agreed that the mind cannot actually attend to more than one thing at a time. Two thoughts, however closely related to one another, cannot exist at the same time. You cannot attend to two different objects at a time. Mind can do only one thing at a time.

Because it moves with such a tremendous velocity backwards and forwards you think that the mind can attend to several objects or things at a time. You can only either see or hear at a time. You cannot see and hear at the same time. But this law is not applicable to a developed yogi. A developed yogi can do several things at a time because his will is not separate from the cosmic will which is all-powerful.

A speck of light presents the appearance of a continuous circle of light if it is made to rotate rapidly. Even so, though the mind can attend to one thing at a time (either hearing or seeing or smelling) and can admit one kind of sensation at a time, because it moves from one object to another with tremendous velocity there appears to be simultaneous activity.

You must train the mind properly and give it proper pure food for assimilation. Have a divine background of thought or mental image.

The mind becomes that on which it dwells. This is an immutable psychological law. If you begin to think about the defects of a man, for the time being at least your mind dwells on the bad qualities and becomes charged with these qualities, whether the man possesses these bad qualities or not. This may be your vain imagination only, because of your wrong thinking, wrong tendencies or wrong (bad) habits of the mind. He may not possess even a bit of the bad qualities which you have superimposed on him through ill-will or some form of jealousy or petty-mindedness or habitual faultfinding nature. Therefore give up the dangerous habit of censuring others and finding faults in others. Praise others. Develop the power or vision of finding only good in others. Do not bark like a wild dog about the bad qualities of others. Glorify others. You will grow spiritually. You will be liked, honoured and respected by others.

A mind always hopeful, confident, courageous and determined on its set purpose and keeping itself to that purpose, attracts to itself, out of the elements, things and powers favourable to that purpose.

Diversities or heterogeneities which you notice in this world are of mental creation. When the mind is annihilated by destruction of thoughts, desires and egoism, all diversities vanish. Wisdom alone remains.

Just as the body exists for the enjoyment of the senses, just as the senses exist for the enjoyment of the mind, so also the mind exists for the enjoyment of the Self (Purusha). Just as the house which has assumed its shape as such by various materials being brought together exists for the enjoyment of another, so also this compound mind exists for the enjoyment of the Purusha.

Just as there are doors in a bungalow between the outer and inner rooms, so also there are doors between the lower and higher mind. When the mind is purified by the practice of karma yoga, tapas, right conduct or the practice of yama, niyama, japa, meditation, etc., the doors between the lower and the higher mind are opened. Discrimination between the real and the unreal dawns. The eye of intuition is opened. The practitioner gets inspiration, revelation and higher divine knowledge.

Life in this physical plane is a mere preparation for the eternal life of everlasting sunshine and joy which is to come when one gets the knowledge of the Self through intense and constant meditation after purifying the mind. This immortal life of supreme joy is described in the Bible as the 'Kingdom of Heaven' which is within you, in your heart. Realise this immortal life by controlling the mind, and enjoy the supreme bliss of the Self.

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