tasya vachakah pranavah
It means, His own voice is Pranava, the Omkara. We all would like to reach Godhood. But how to reach Godhood? That is why we all go to temples, satsanga, and other such events. When we visit such places, what we get is a soothing feeling, a tranquil mind. But this tranquil mind doesn’t last long. The moment we come to the busy streets, immediately our minds get diverted and we remain the same before we went to the temple! The same restlessness, the same discontentment, the same negative thoughts.... Sometimes, one really wonders whether there is really God or not.
Why this Sutra? We all believe that we are in darkness. We continuously pray to the Almighty : Please lead me from darkness to light, from falsehood to the real, from mortality to immortality. Our buddhi is clouded with lot of negativities and that is why we don’t see clarity in our thought, positivity in our actions, and bliss in our being.
In the modern age, we live in fully lighted houses during nights. Even if current goes off, we have standby generators or inverters. We get enough light for a period of time. But imagine the days when you have no standby generators. All is pitch dark. You are sitting in a room, and your father is resting in some other room. Your father calls you to offer you something. How do you reach the place he is staying? Though you don’t see anything, you follow the voice of your father and as your father goes on calling you, you go on reaching him. Suddenly, you are there! You are at his feet!
Maharshi Patanjali had seen this long ago. That is why he has suggested this Sutra. When mind pushes the human being to get lost in the mad race of the modern times, he undergoes chaos, confusion & frustration. In other words, he is in utter darkness. Though he has all the gadgets to light his external living, there is no light within, no peace within. That is why, Maharshi Patanjali asks us to follow the voice of the Lord. He is testifying the voice of the Lord to be Om. This is also testified by those who have followed Om. It is the same truth for you and me. If you board the Karnataka Express train from Delhi, it takes you to Bangalore; it is the same for you and me. Even if a beggar takes this train, he is assured of his destination: Bangalore.
In the same way, if you sit in the ‘Train of Om’, the destination is sure: He Himself. Though you can chant it the way you like, the effective technique is as given in our Antar Darshana. You must sit quiet, stabilise the sitting posture, harmonise the breathing, watch your mind and allow the mental disturbance to settle down and then chant long Omkara for a few times. After that, chant short Omkara. You can go on chanting this. How do you have to chant it? It is said in another Sutra: tat-japah-tat-artha-bhaavanam.You must chant it with the meaning and feeling. What is the meaning? Om means the voice of the Lord, means He Himself. What can be the feeling? The confidence of reaching Him. Assure yourself that you would reach him one day or the other.
You can do this chanting anytime or everytime you feel like doing: whether walking, eating, giving, receiving, when you are angry, when you are sad, when you are elated. In all walks of life you can tune in to this Om as a background music. Inside, go on establishing this beautiful musical note. Om, om, om..... A day will come when this background music happens on its own. Then it is called ajapa-japa. You are not doing the japa, but it is happening. When this happens for a period of time, one day or the other, you would really listen to the Voice of the Lord.
I give you an example. You want to ring up someone, your dear one. You pick up the receiver and dial the number of your friend from your phone. The response you hear depends on the instrument and the number engagement. In the same way, you must attune yourself with the Voice of the Lord with the chant of Om. He may be busy talking to someone. Actually, our own instruments are faulty. We have a number of negative tendencies. These negative tendencies really come in the way of our tuning in to the Voice of the Lord. Continuously work with your tendencies towards life, towards yourself and towards the other. Just see how your tendency is towards your work, your wife, your family, your neighbours, and everyone around the globe. The more you divide, the more miserable you are. The more integrated you are, the better the tuning would be.
My request to you is, as you tune in with the Voice of the Lord, also work on yourself. Observe how do you perform your duties. Is it a burdened work? Is it a boring work? If so, change the attitude. Do you not like someone? Question yourself as to why you don’t like him/her.
Do you utter lies? For what? Do you avoid work? For what? Do you deceive people? Question the deceiving mind. What for is it deceiving? If you develop this deceit in you, the day is not far away when you yourself would be deceived totally by your own mind! Become aware of this! You may free yourself from some people. You can’t free yourself from this deceitful mind!
Set your instrument right. Keep yourself light by closely monitoring the way you work, the way you think, and the way you speak. Filtering of your actions should happen right at these planes. If you do it, nobody can stop you from regaining your Kingdom of Bliss. OM.
May your practice guide you and all.
Sri Pattabhiram
It means, His own voice is Pranava, the Omkara. We all would like to reach Godhood. But how to reach Godhood? That is why we all go to temples, satsanga, and other such events. When we visit such places, what we get is a soothing feeling, a tranquil mind. But this tranquil mind doesn’t last long. The moment we come to the busy streets, immediately our minds get diverted and we remain the same before we went to the temple! The same restlessness, the same discontentment, the same negative thoughts.... Sometimes, one really wonders whether there is really God or not.
Why this Sutra? We all believe that we are in darkness. We continuously pray to the Almighty : Please lead me from darkness to light, from falsehood to the real, from mortality to immortality. Our buddhi is clouded with lot of negativities and that is why we don’t see clarity in our thought, positivity in our actions, and bliss in our being.
In the modern age, we live in fully lighted houses during nights. Even if current goes off, we have standby generators or inverters. We get enough light for a period of time. But imagine the days when you have no standby generators. All is pitch dark. You are sitting in a room, and your father is resting in some other room. Your father calls you to offer you something. How do you reach the place he is staying? Though you don’t see anything, you follow the voice of your father and as your father goes on calling you, you go on reaching him. Suddenly, you are there! You are at his feet!
Maharshi Patanjali had seen this long ago. That is why he has suggested this Sutra. When mind pushes the human being to get lost in the mad race of the modern times, he undergoes chaos, confusion & frustration. In other words, he is in utter darkness. Though he has all the gadgets to light his external living, there is no light within, no peace within. That is why, Maharshi Patanjali asks us to follow the voice of the Lord. He is testifying the voice of the Lord to be Om. This is also testified by those who have followed Om. It is the same truth for you and me. If you board the Karnataka Express train from Delhi, it takes you to Bangalore; it is the same for you and me. Even if a beggar takes this train, he is assured of his destination: Bangalore.
In the same way, if you sit in the ‘Train of Om’, the destination is sure: He Himself. Though you can chant it the way you like, the effective technique is as given in our Antar Darshana. You must sit quiet, stabilise the sitting posture, harmonise the breathing, watch your mind and allow the mental disturbance to settle down and then chant long Omkara for a few times. After that, chant short Omkara. You can go on chanting this. How do you have to chant it? It is said in another Sutra: tat-japah-tat-artha-bhaavanam.You must chant it with the meaning and feeling. What is the meaning? Om means the voice of the Lord, means He Himself. What can be the feeling? The confidence of reaching Him. Assure yourself that you would reach him one day or the other.
You can do this chanting anytime or everytime you feel like doing: whether walking, eating, giving, receiving, when you are angry, when you are sad, when you are elated. In all walks of life you can tune in to this Om as a background music. Inside, go on establishing this beautiful musical note. Om, om, om..... A day will come when this background music happens on its own. Then it is called ajapa-japa. You are not doing the japa, but it is happening. When this happens for a period of time, one day or the other, you would really listen to the Voice of the Lord.
I give you an example. You want to ring up someone, your dear one. You pick up the receiver and dial the number of your friend from your phone. The response you hear depends on the instrument and the number engagement. In the same way, you must attune yourself with the Voice of the Lord with the chant of Om. He may be busy talking to someone. Actually, our own instruments are faulty. We have a number of negative tendencies. These negative tendencies really come in the way of our tuning in to the Voice of the Lord. Continuously work with your tendencies towards life, towards yourself and towards the other. Just see how your tendency is towards your work, your wife, your family, your neighbours, and everyone around the globe. The more you divide, the more miserable you are. The more integrated you are, the better the tuning would be.
My request to you is, as you tune in with the Voice of the Lord, also work on yourself. Observe how do you perform your duties. Is it a burdened work? Is it a boring work? If so, change the attitude. Do you not like someone? Question yourself as to why you don’t like him/her.
Do you utter lies? For what? Do you avoid work? For what? Do you deceive people? Question the deceiving mind. What for is it deceiving? If you develop this deceit in you, the day is not far away when you yourself would be deceived totally by your own mind! Become aware of this! You may free yourself from some people. You can’t free yourself from this deceitful mind!
Set your instrument right. Keep yourself light by closely monitoring the way you work, the way you think, and the way you speak. Filtering of your actions should happen right at these planes. If you do it, nobody can stop you from regaining your Kingdom of Bliss. OM.
May your practice guide you and all.
Sri Pattabhiram
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