FASTING OF THE HEART

Fasting of the Heart 

Form the habit of deep introspection. Good aspirants who enter into deep meditation also march forward in sleep. Taking food immoderately or at the wrong time will affect your system and render meditation difficult. Lead a life of self-restraint and back it up with meditation, japa (repetition of God's name), pranayama (yoga breathing) and asanas (postures). Fasting is beneficial. You can meditate well and seriously while fasting. The most significant fast is the fast of the heart - that is, renunciation of desires.

The mind may fall into a state of inactivity and the aspirant thinks he has reached the goal. This is a sad mistake. Divest yourself of anger, greed and attachment to sensual objects and their enjoyments. Be free from 'love' and 'hate' of others. Divest yourself from all affinities for objects. Follow proper diet, easy posture, purity of mind and body.

If the steps are not steady on the path, do more japa, intensify your vairagya (dispassion), sit in one place and meditate. Serve. Have unshakeable faith in the Lord. Cling to the Lord's divine name. Surrender to the divine Lord. Pray to him sincerely. The mind will be powerless. Hand over charge of your body to the Lord and cease to think of it. The Lord is everywhere. He controls everything. He will protect you from all danger.

Rely on the Lord alone. If you put into practise one hundredth of what I say to you, you will surely attain God-realisation now and here.

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A great emperor purchased a horse for ten thousand rupees. The horse was restless and no one was able to ride it. Then his son Sikandar said, "Beloved father, I can ride this horse." He sat on the horse and rode it in the direction of the sun. The horse galloped. The emperor was quite astonished. He said, "O Sikandar: How did you manage to ride this horse?" Sikandar replied, "The horse was afraid of his own shadow so I made him run towards the sun." Such is the restless horse mind also. If you turn it towards Atman (self) it will be peaceful. If you turn it towards maya (delusion) it will jump and dance.

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TRUE RENUNCIATION

True Renunciation 

The mind is the all in all. Its mastery leads to the renunciation of all. True renunciation is in the abnegation of the mind. It consists in renouncing all desires and egoism, not world existence. Through such mental abnegation you will be able to free yourself from pain. Then will come immortality in life - the enjoyment of the infinite delight of existence free from ego, founded on the oneness of all in Brahman.

Sanyasa (renunciation) is a mental state only. It is gerua (or colouring) of the heart and not of the cloth alone. He is a sanyasi who is free from passion and egoism, who possesses all the satvic qualities, even though he lives with the family and in the world. If you have a stainless mind you are a sanyasi (a renunciate), whether you live in a forest or in a city, whether you wear white cloth or an orange coloured robe, whether you shave your head or keep a long tuft of hair.

Shave the mind. This consists of getting rid of all attachment, passion, egoism, infatuation, lust, greed, anger, etc. Vedanta does not want you to renounce the world; it wants you to change your mental attitude. It wants you to give up this illusory feeling of 'I-ness' and 'mine-ness'.

Mind is a mass of objectified desires. Desire in the mind to eat has manifested as the tongue, the teeth and the stomach. Desire in the mind to walk has manifested as legs and feet. Control the mind and you control the desires. Eyes can only see. Ears can only hear. Tongue can only taste. Nose can only smell. Skin can only touch. The five senses are blended in the mind and the mind directly sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels. It does this quite independent of the senses.

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Understand clearly the aim of your life. Chalk out the line of work that is congenial to your aim. Then you should work hard to realise that ideal. Have your ideal ever before you and try, every second, to live up to it.

Develop a strong desire to remove carelessness and forgetfulness from your character. Have confidence in your own powers and faculties. Keep your mental poise in the world, without consideration of failure, without consideration of gain or loss, pleasure or pain.

Have the mind always rooted in God, amidst all the activities of life.

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NIRODHA

Nirodha 

Mind and breath are like milk and water. Raja Yoga is control of the mind. He who wants to become a perfect yogi and wants to experience wonderful samadhi (super-conscious state), must control mind and breath. He must continuously practise yoga and observe the rules. He must thoroughly overcome the five tatvas (elements).

Restraint of the mind (nirodha) leads to jnana. Nirodha is the culmination of yoga and sankhya (two paths to liberation). It is nirodha which underlies all sadhana (spiritual practice). Restraint of the mind is the essence of all worship. This is jnana (wisdom) and dhyana (meditation). The highest is attained by the restraint of the mind. The mind should be completely restrained from objects until it attains dissolution in the heart.

Atman or Brahman is your immortal self. It is the only blazing reality. Only if you know this Atman can you attain perfection. Perfection can be yours in this very life. Atman is to be recognised as your innermost being, through samadhi.
If you know the Atman, which is the ultimate reality, which is perfection, then only your life becomes useful and a real existence. The knower of the Atman, the inner perfection, crosses all sorrows and becomes free. If you do not know this Atman then there is great loss for you.

Samadhi is not a mere emotional enthusiasm or an exhilaration of feeling, it is the direct, unique, intuitive experience of truth or absolute consciousness or the ultimate reality. It is beyond all feeling, throbbing and thrill. The aspirant rests in his centre now - the goal of his search - and realises the absolute freedom, independence and perfection.

The aspirant should have a burning desire to free himself from the fire of samsara (worldly life). Then only he will be able to enter into deep meditation and samadhi. The mind becomes that very Brahman when it is purified and brought into the samadhi state. In samadhi there is no perception of duality, the cause of fear. Avidya (ignorance) is entirely absent in this state.

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To attain supreme bliss, you must have patience, perseverance, diligence, serenity, purity, one pointed mind and burning aspiration. He who does not strive for realisation lives in vain - though he is a man in appearance, he is in fact a beast.

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GUIDE TO SADHAKAS

Guide to Sadhakas

The first thing a spiritual aspirant has to acquire is mastery over the mind. Like a blind man - look at the objects. Like a deaf man - hear sounds. Do not allow the sense experiences to penetrate within. The mind gets fattened on account of its being fed by sense objects. Restrain the senses by the process of pratyahara (abstraction).

Why should you struggle to curb the mind? Its power is far greater than any other power, but it will become your slave if you surrender to the Lord and allow his divine power to work through you. The control of prana (life force) should be the natural and unfailing duty of all spiritually-minded persons. It is the control of prana which paves the way for the non-cogitation of all the externals and the conquest of death.

Firmness of practice in the stainless non-dual principle, control of prana and the subjugation of the mind - these three are the paths to realise the meaning of moksha. Out of these three, one should be mastered thoroughly. Then the effects of all three will be obtained as all three are inseparably related to one another.
If the mind and prana cease to exist, then thoughts will cease to arise - both of these are one only, like the flower and its fragrance, or a seed and the oil in it. Prana and mind stand to one another in the relationship of supporter and supported. If either of them is slain then the other also will cease to exist. The destruction of both will confer moksha.

Spiritual life begins with repentance. Spiritual life begins with aspiration. Genuine aspiration is the pre-condition of success in leading a spiritual life. Aspiration is indeed the fruit of good actions of the past. Guard your spiritual aspirations very carefully. Increase them through viveka (wisdom), sadvichara (pure enquiry) and satsanga (holy company).

Devotion to God and guru, practice of discipline, regular meditation - these will quickly lead to Self-realisation. Selfless work is for the purification of the mind. Self-realisation is brought about by discrimination, dispassion, determination and meditation. He who is faithful to truth and who diligently practises meditation, turning inwards in meditation, is put upon the ultimate path which leads to Self-realisation.

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MY TASK IS COMPLETE

My Task is Complete 

My purpose is achieved. The entire circle of birth and death is over. I have realised the perfect bliss of the Atman. I have known myself to be Brahman. I am free. I am perfect. I am independent. I enjoy bliss. I enjoy the bliss of the immortal soul.

I am brimful of perennial joy. A self-effulgent light burns in my heart. I have broken all illusory relationships. Now there is no husband, no wife. Now there is no cousin and no grandfather. It is all one homogeneous essence of bliss only. Now my task is complete.

I am free from doubt. I am free from delusion. Why should I study the scriptures? I rest in my own essential nature. Now, where is the necessity for meditation? I act like any other human being. I bathe, I sleep, I sing, I answer the calls of nature, I work, I write, I walk, I eat and I talk. And yet, I do not perform any action at all.

I am the witness of all these processes. I am identical with Brahman. These acts are not obstructions to me. All these dealings are perfectly harmless. I am not susceptible to vikshepa (the disturbance of the equilibrium of the mind).

Where is the necessity for samadhi for me? Vikshepa and samadhi are functions of the mind only. I have obliterated the mind. I am continuously experiencing the satisfaction which results from samadhi.

Let people have any opinion of me. Let them glorify me. Let them vilify me. It matters little. “Sivoham. Sivoham. Sivoham. Sivah Kevaloham”.

I have risen above ignorance. I have risen above my knowledge of this seeming universe. It is not only escape from misery and grief. I enjoy the joy eternal, the joy unspeakable, the joy supreme, the joy unbounded.

What is this joy that I feel? Who shall measure it? I know nothing but joy limitless and unbounded.

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WORLD OF OPPOSITES

World of Opposites 

One thing which is sweet and pleasant to you at one moment, produces the very reverse sensation in another moment. Who has not experienced this, in this world of opposites? Objects when longed for are pleasant but are bitter if not longed for. Hence vasanas (tendencies) are the cause of sensual pleasures. Pleasures will stop when you get satisfaction in them, but if vasanas cease, the mind will perish and all else will be destroyed. Therefore annihilate these vasanas, the enemies of atma jnana (self-knowledge) and immortality.

The mind clings to sensual objects. If the vasanas perish, the mind ceases thinking of objects and we attain the state of thoughtlessness. You will have a balanced mind despite adverse circumstances and many obstacles. Vasanas perish through dispassion, discrimination, control of the senses, enquiry of "Who am I?" and meditation.

The impure vasanas persist and resist. They lurk in the corners of the mind in a mysterious manner. They play tricks on you. They can change their colours like a chameleon. Under pressure of yogic practices they get suppressed for some time but if you are not regular in your meditation, if vairagya (dispassion) wanes, they will attack with redoubled force. You must have a sharp intellect to detect their presence. Vasanas have arisen through enjoyment in many thousands of lives. They are very potent. They only perish through protracted spiritual practices - japa (repetition of God's name), kirtan (chanting), meditation, self-enquiry, discrimination, sama (control of mind), dama (control of senses), pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind) and pranayama (yoga breathing).

You have to transmute the impure vasanas into pure ones, through constant effort. Change the current of impure vasanas and allow them to run in the channel of pure vasanas. But pure vasanas are also fetters, golden fetters. You have to destroy the impure vasanas with the help of pure vasanas   then you have to abandon these pure ones also. Desire for liberation (moksha vasana) also must die eventually. Then only you become that.

Separate yourself from the objects. In the absence of objects the 'I' does not exist; and these objects do not exist in the absence of 'I'. Have the strong conviction that 'I' does not belong to the objects, that the objects do not belong to the 'I'. Identify yourself with the infinite 'I' (the satchidananda Brahman) - and abandon the burden of the physical body. Become a videha mukta (liberated and bodiless) - all burdens will perish now.

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SUBTLE DESIRES

Subtle Desires 

The summum bonum of existence is the attainment of knowledge of the self, the realisation of the one homogeneous self. The knowledge of the Self can only dawn when there is extinction of all the vasanas. Vasanas are subtle desires; they are gross in nature. Some philosophers define vasanas as tendencies or inclinations. Others say they are blind clinging to sensual objects, through intense longing or craving, without deliberation or thinking.

There are two kinds of vasanas - the pure and the impure. Pure vasanas liberate one from rebirth. Impure vasanas cause the mind to fluctuate, producing agitation in the mind and affinity for objects. If you are led by pure vasanas, you will soon attain the immortal seat of ineffable splendour. The vasanas generated by you in past lives will cling to you in future births. But if pure vasanas cling to you, you will easily attain knowledge of the self, and through this you will attain liberation. If the impure vasanas cling to you, you will experience pain and sorrow; you will get rebirth in this world, again and again.

The tree mind has two seeds - one is vasana and the other is the fluctuation of prana (life). The seeds produce a big tree and the tree again produces seeds. So also the vibration of prana arises through vasana and the vasana operates through the movement of prana. If either perishes, both soon perish.

Egoism is the first asuric (demoniac) son of avidya (ignorance). Egoism has two asuric daughters - raga and vasana. There is an intimate connection between vasana and raga. Raga is attachment. Mamata (mine ness) is due to raga. If you want to kill raga and vasana, you must annihilate egoism. If you want to kill egoism you must first kill avidya. Destroy avidya first - raga and vasana will die by themselves.

Mind is the cause for bondage and freedom. A mind filled with impure vasanas leads to bondage, whereas a mind destitute of vasanas tends to freedom. When mind is no mind (through destruction of vasanas), then you become mindless. When you become mindless, intuition dawns and you are endowed with the eye of wisdom. You will enjoy indescribable peace.

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