9/6/11

Hello! How are you..?

Hearty wishes on the occasion of Ganesh chaturthi.

I would like to share some of my thoughts on the following two things on this occasion with you all, which is going to benefit you immensely. 


Everybody is driven by desires. These desires are powerful and potent enough to get us what we aspire. But, many times we fail to achieve our desired goals even with best of our efforts and perseverance. At such times ,we look up to something (the Divine Grace) or somebody who can make it happen for us. Despite this, things don’t work in our favour. This is so because our desire makes us blind. We always go by our desire and what we want rather than what is best and suitable for us in actuality. If we educate ourselves and learn to align our desires with the actuality, then it is certain that our efforts will fetch results in accordance with actuality. Friends, this message is very important for all of us to understand how one is protected and guided by the Divine Force always. 

Another stumbling block between a Sadhaka and Master is absence of Trust and Surrender. When we are stuck in a situation and don’t know how to come out of it, the Guru is ever ready to take us out of the situation. Despite this, why we suffer is because when we look up to our Master, we don’t have the absolute Trust and total Surrender. We want the Master to make things happen according to our desires and not otherwise. This is the reason why we feel helplessness and stress. When we completely offer ourselves at the feet of the Master, then the Master begins to work for you. Things will happen at the appropriate time. Unfortunately, we don’t have the patience and don’t wait for such time till things happen. This anxiety, lack of patience is the main hindrance between a Master and a Sadhaka. If a Sadhaka learns to be patient without deviating from the path of Sadhana, then such a Sadhaka experiences what is called Grace  or Blessings. 

With Prayers and blessings,
Pattabhiram & Jyothi.

Do's & Dont's for a Sadhaka

Guruji Pattabhiram, during his recent visit to Delhi, had a satsang, during which he touched upon the topic of Do’s and Dont's for sadhakas. Guruji in his usual simple yet forceful way wanted all of us to take up this as Sadhana. Clippings of these lectures are available below to keep reminding all of us about these do’s and don’ts for not only the smooth progress on this path but for leading a balanced life too.

Do's & Don'ts For Sadhakas - Part 1


Do's & Don'ts For Sadhakas - Part 2

Antardarshana

teevra-samvegaanaam-aasannah


Patanjali provides the gradations of our efforts. If one sits with intent feeling with shraddhaa-veerya-smriti, one is bound to reach samadhi. Patanjali gives a lot of importance to human endeavour, sankalpa. Patanjali is not throwing us to the mercy of unknown destiny, unknown praarabdha. He says - Yes, they are all there but teevra-samvega. If you sit and establish with deep intent feeling, you are very near to samadhi and will plunge into it very soon. Like Dhruva. Like Nachiketa. Dhruva said - O’ Mother, tell me where to find that Narayana, how do I find that Narayana? Mother said - Bete, if you want to experience Narayana, you have to go to the forest, you have to meditate. Dhruva said - Ma, bless me, I am going. At the age of 8 or 9, he got into the deep forest and he sat. He did not know how to meditate but his Mother had given some clues, like the basic posture of meditation. Then Narada appeared. He asked Narada - Tell me, how to meditate on Narayana? Narada said - Bete, it is too difficult. He said - Don’t bring all those negative thoughts. I am asking a direct question. If you know how to contact Narayana, tell me, otherwise get lost from this place. Then Narada initiated him into the ashta-aksharee mantra - Om Namo Naaraayanaaya. Dhruva started meditating. Even now you can see Dhruva in the north of the sky. Even now Dhruva is there to inspire you, saying that if you all become Dhruva, you will succeed.

Intent aspiration is important. Develop that intent pure fire. You must have a deep desire, the conviction, the commitment. We lack the commitment and we want quick results. We take a Coconut seed, we put it in the soil, pour water, and dig it out every day to see if it is growing. That seed has to go through a lot of changes. It has to bulge with water, it has to shrink. Have you seen how sprouting of a plant takes place? The seed goes through a transformation. First, it bulges out. Then it shrinks and keeps on shrinking, providing all the energy to the unseen plant which is inside it. Then it tells the plant - Now I am giving way to you - and separates itself into two. You have to then protect the young plant from stray cows. You have to erect a fence around it. One can do all this only when there is teevra-samvega.

One has to establish oneself in teevra-samvega, but this is only for first class sadhakas. For other sadhakas, Mridu-madhya-adhimaatra tathopi-visheshah

Mridu means very soft; we all are very soft, very mild. We don’t want to disturb our day to day activities. We don’t want to disturb and without disturbing anything, if we get ten or fifteen minutes, we will sit down to meditate! This is Mridu bhaava. I don’t want to miss the fun of the world but in the midst of it all if I get 5-10 minutes, I will chant 8 Gayatri every day. If you are that mridu; then Gayatri will also be mridu to you like sprinkling a few drops of rasna in one cup of water. Will you like it? No. This is mridu, you are not getting satisfaction and at the same time, you don’t want to give it up, so you chant only 8 Gayatri.

Another group is called madhyama, the middle. They say - Guruji, we are going to practice 48 Gayatri every day. Slight concentration. The third group is adhigama -- Tell me Guruji, how much I have to do every day? If I say - You have to do 108, they say - yes, we will do 108. This is Adhigama - great zeal. In sadhana, even though the Guru has given initiation to ten people in the same manner, all ten will not grow equally. Even in the classroom, even here, I am speaking and you people are listening but we don’t know who is where?

For many people nowadays, satsanga means to kill time or to tell stories. That is why we are all interested in Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata. Only stories. We are all interested in listening to the story of Rama, the story of Krishna but we do not want to listen to our own story. We analyse life through the story of Rama but we never analyse ourselves through our own stories. That is why we are not able to develop a relationship with those stories. They are there only to be heard and worshipped. After listening to the story, you do Aarati, have prasada and you think I have earned punya. Again, the next day, one more story, do naivadya, prasada and it is all over. We are analysing Rama’s life. Rama says - Don’t analyse my life. Why are you analysing my life? Use my life as a mirror and analyse your own life. We argue - Look at that Rama. Does he have any brains? Even after Seeta entered the fire and came out, he suspected her. What kind of a king is he? If I were in that position, I would have .....

Where do we stand? mridu, Madhya or adhigama? At what level are we standing? The Guru graces in accordance to the level. Do not blame the Lord. Do not blame the Master. Find out where you stand. You receive according to your capacity. The Lord is very impartial. He pours equally. You receive in accordance with your deservedness. Deservedness and desire. We live in desire but we do not develop deservedness. Mere desire will not give you anything. You have to convert desire into deservedness.

People think shradha is faith but according to my Gurudeva, the definition of shraddha is where your body, your intellect and your mind integrate themselves, harmonise themselves and work in the same direction, that is called shraddha. Your body has to listen to your mind; your mind has to listen to your intellect. Your intellect says that you must sit for one hour but the body says I can’t sit for one hour, the mind says I can’t stay with you for one hour and the fight begins. You lose your energy throughout the fight. So what is shraddha? It is a round table conference between the body, mind and intellect. They have to sit together and they have to discuss the issue.

Aatma-prasadana - to satisfy the constituents of the self. What are those constituents which are helping you? The body, mind and intellect. This is just like satisfying your family members. If your wife and children are satisfied, they will support you.

Once we have understood that our house is full of dirt, is messed up and that there is no order, all we need to do is clean it. Time does not come in the way, age does not come in the way and nothing is too late in life. Even if you do not have the samskara but have realised that there is something wrong inside, start now. Then the samaskaras will come to you. My Baba used to give an example. A hall may be pitch dark for thousands of years but to light it, one strike is enough. We don’t need hundreds of years to light the hall. If you realise that there is something terribly wrong inside, then that is the beginning of sadhana and new samskaras will start emerging. So, even if you do not have the shodasha-samskaara, you do not worry. Start now. Build new samskaras and give them to youngsters. Do not repent that you could not do anything in your younger years. You are so fortunate that at least now you can do it, you still have a lot of time and your entire life is only a preparation for death. It is not a preparation to live.

Yoga & Meditation DVD now available

Sadhana Sangama Trust has brought out various DVDs which are as follows:


By Shri. Pattabhiram:-

1. Antar Darshan (Set of 2 DVDs)
2. The Science of Meditation
3. The Role Of Guru
4. Experiencing Silence
5. Spiritual Dimensions Of Health (Set of 2 DVDs)
6. Your Questions Answered
7. Moving Beyond The Space Of Conditioning
8. On The Path Of Enquiry
9. Intensify Your Sadhana (IIT workshop) (Set of 2 DVDs)
10. Awakening Your Intelligence Through Gayatri Mantra (Set of 2 DVDs)
11. Grace and Deservedness
12. Creating a new setup for Sadhana
13. Developing Skills and Samskaras
14. An Insight into Mantra Sadhana
15. Health to Spirituality (Set of 2 DVDs)
16. Ashtanga Yoga (Set of 2 DVDs)
17. Dhyana Yoga (Set of 3 DVDs)
18. Exploring Different Dimensions of Sadhana (Set of 2 DVDs)
19. Arogyavardhini (Set of 2 DVDs)
20. Expansion of Consciousness Through Meditation
21. Meditation For Holistic Health (Set of 3 DVDs)
22. Self Discipline (Workshop in IIT) (Set of 2 DVDs)
23. Overcoming Fear (Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra) (Set of 2 DVDs)
24. Yoga Sutra (Set of 7 DVDs – Daywise)
25. Mandukya Upanishad (Set of 6 DVDs)
26. Harmony – The Purpose of Yoga
27. Yogasana (Set of 2 DVDs)
28. Nitya Sadhana (Set of 2 DVDs)
29. Upadesa Sara (Set of 6 DVDs)
30. The Inner Quest (Set of 2 DVDs)
31. Freedom – Are You Ready?
32. Maintaining The Right Balance
33. Obstacles On The Path Of Sadhana
34. Overcoming Obstacles
35. Removing Kleshas Through Kriya Yoga
36. Removing Impurities
37. Ashtanga Yoga-The Eight Fold Path of Yoga  (Set of 2 DVDs)
38. The Path Of Fire & Light  (Set of 3 DVDs)
39. Shakti Sumeru Dhyana  (Set of 2 DVDs)
40. Do’s & Don’ts For Sadhakas
41. Good Health-The Stepping Stone for Sadhana
42. Chakra-Prana-Mantra Dhyana (Set of 3 DVDs)
43. Awaken Your Intelligence  (Set of 3 DVDs)
44. Self Healing Through Yogic Kriyas  (Set of 3 DVDs)
45. Vyadhi Vs. Samadhi
46. Our Questions Answered
47. Harmony In Family Life & Relationships (IIT Workshop) (Set of 2 DVDs)
48. Experiencing Oneness
49. In Communion With Eternity
50. Tuning To The Supreme Consciousness
51. Goal Vs. Purpose
52. The Inner Realms Of Meditation
53. Meditation - The Art Of Dying
54. Touching The Divine Essence Through Meditation
55. An Enquiry Into The Self
56. Developing Deservedness
57. The Four Pillars Of Self Healing
58. Preparing For Self Healing - Stabilizing The Posture
59. Preparing For Self Healing - Cultivating Silence
60. Preparing For Self Healing – The Inward Journey
61. The Four Dimensions Of Self Healing
62. Meditation For Self Healing
63. How To Pray
64. Chakra Meditation  (Set of 3 DVDs)
65. Bhaja Govindam  (Set of 5 DVDs)
66. Secrets of Happy Family Life (2)
67. Ishwar Pranidhana MP3
      (Audio CD)  
68. Karmayoga MP3 (Audio CD)
69. The Art of Self Healing
      MP3 (Audio CD)
70. Victory Over Death
71. Himalayan Kriyas (2)
72. The Real Sadhana - Enquiry into
      The Self (Up. Sara) (2)
73. Sadhana Panchakam - (10)
74. Transcending the process of  
      Life ...
75. Life begins after Death ...
76. How to become Divine?
77. Teachings of Ramana Maharshi (Audio CD)
78. Guru Ashtakam MP3 (Audio CD)
79. Gateway to Transformation MP3
      (Audio CD)
80. The Path of Meditation MP3
      (Audio CD)  


By Smt. Jyothi Pattabhiram:-

1.   Rasa Yoga
2.   Japa & Its Four Dimensions (Set of 2 DVDs)
3.   Karma & Japa – Their Correlation
4.   From Dance to Spirituality
5.   The Concept of Guru
6.   Strengthening Your Japa & Meditation
7.   Understanding Bhakti Yoga
8.   Vibhaga Pranayama
9.   The Horizon Meditation
10. The Twilight Meditation
11. The Role of Dhyanamurti
12. Awareness to Illumination (2)
13. Concepts of Dhaarana (2)
14. Gateway to Illumination through
      Dharana (Delhi Programme) (2)
15. Sri Soundarya Lahari (2)
16. What is Sadhana?
17. Durga Saptashati (2)
18. Shakti Sadhana of Mother
      Divine
19. Tattva Shuddhi (2)
20. Tattwa Shuddhi MP3 (Audio CD)
21. Dharana – Gateway to Dhyana

      MP3 (Audio CD) 

DVDs (Abridged)
1.    Vyadhi Vs. Samadhi
2.    The Pearls of Wisdom
3.    Bhaja Govindam  (2)
4.    Upadesa Sara  (2)
5.    Meditation
6.    Chakra Meditation
7.    Mrityunjaya Mahamantra
8.    Gayatri  (2)

For DVDs please contact: +91 9871844295 or write to basantpnd4@gmail.com

Yoga & Married Life

Try to analyze from the very beginning and see how a child grows. A child comes to this platform and he lives with the values that he likes. Dolls, different colors, different things to play, but when that love grows, goes to higher avenues of life, then he finds more objects to fulfill his need. This his love goes toward beautiful clothes, beautiful things around him. Slowly he grows and he finds that he needs some recognition in the world and social status and he works for it. Again achieves yet he is not complete. Biological necessity in man and woman leads him to a state, then he thinks that he is not complete. He wants someone as his companion. He becomes aware that there is only one principle in him and that is called male principle and without female principle he cannot live happily. Yoga science also says the same thing. Yoga science has got its own philosophy behind it and that says Purusha and Prakriti. There are two principles in the universe. One is called male principle and another is called female principle. They cannot live without each other. There are born in the same but they are called two because of their two different functions. 

So when a man or woman, they get married; what for they do that, get married? Marriage is a little bit different a far more higher role than sex life. If you study a few ancient scriptures you come to know that marriage is not a contract. It was never a contract. Today our society created great, a great conflict between our training that we have in our childhood and our social life. Law says you can divorce but church says it’s not good. You should not do that. Now this conflict becomes a disease. What to do? Shall we go according to the trend of the time or shall we go according to the teachings of the church? The seeds which are sown in the childhood no matter how much we enlighten and educate ourselves they remain stored in our subconscious and they remind us again and again. They create conflict in our minds. Some are subtle, some are gross. Gross, subtle, gross expressions, we often express in ourselves but some of the subtle expressions which we are, are stored in the subconscious mind you cannot talk about them to anyone. And when you cannot talk about such things you start dreaming. So dreaming has become a sort of remedy for many, many diseases. Sigmund Freud started studying the dreams and by studying the dreams he came to know that which we consider life, a vast portion of that life remains buried and we hardly share that life with anyone. Wife and husband’s union and marriage is on the basis of equality even in Christianity. In all the great religions of the world you will find that wife and husband they got together and when the ring is presented it’s a beautiful thing. If you attend a marriage ceremony properly and what the priest says during that period you will come to know he says there is a piece of metal having two ends. Now these two ends are getting together and it becomes a ring. Man is not something separate from the woman. Woman is not something separate from the man. They are one and the same not because they are valued as only one; their aim is one. They are one because their aim is one. 

What is their Aim? We will see in next issue…

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