Hello! How are you?...

Guruji's Column

Dear Friends

Let me share something simple and realistic with you in this editorial. You can directly apply the message that I am going to share in your daily life. Now-a-days, everything comes in handy, like the mini visa card. It’s something similar to that.

We are all engaged in some activity or the other, almost for the major part of the day (say, 12 to 14 hours). While doing so, we unconsciously attach ourselves in successfully accomplishing the task at hand, be it a financial crisis in the family, or problem at work place, strain in the relationship etc. This attachment causes anxiety and as a result we do revolve. That means, despite our best efforts, the problem remains and requires our attention again. But friends, let me tell you, if we start revolving around anything, we will never evolve. Revolution causes “chakkar”. Because of this, we get into all kinds of unethical, unlawful and illegal activities and we slip off the path.

The very purpose of our life is to evolve and not revolve. However, we just do the opposite. That’s why teachers like me are kept constantly engaged and busy. As a first step, if you just stop revolving, leave alone making efforts to evolve, you can see a qualitative improvement in the way you handle things. Your fear disappears and your confidence sees new heights.

To put it simple, you can’t escape action. So, do it. But don’t involve yourself while doing any thing, for involvement causes anxiety and in the anxiety, we lose our wisdom. Tell me: Are we all active just to lose wisdom? Are we all active to further complicate the existing problems? If not, do all our work with this understanding. Let me also tell you the secret of success. If you want to succeed in all the three – kaaya, vaacha and manasaa—they have to be aligned and brought out as a single force. This can happen only when you understand the concept of evolution.

I believe my message might have reached you in its essence. Hope to see a brightly lit face with a wonderful smile when I meet you all in person next. Till then, take care.

In the service of Parampara,
Sri Pattabhiram.

Pain & Pleasure

Pain & Pleasure are two opposites that we experience in daily life, but they are relative terms. When one sees the horizon through the window, it appears very limited, but when one goes to the roof, he finds a vast horizon around him. In the same way, when one learns to expand his vision, the meaning of pain and pleasure also changes. Pain and pleasure are two concepts created by our mind and senses when they contact the objects of the world. But when the sense of discrimination is applied, they vanish because one’s values change. Pain and pleasure change their values when one attains a higher dimension of life. One feels pain and pleasure according to his inner strength, endurance, tolerance and purpose of life. One’s experience of pain and pleasure is dependent on what is important to him. For example, a mother experiences pain when she gives birth to a baby, but she goes through that pain because she wants to accomplish something higher.

Pain and pleasure have the same source. In the absence of one, the other appears. For example, if one loses his pen he feels emotional pain, but finding it gives a pleasant feeling. That which creates pain today can be a source of joy in the future.

In Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna that he should transcend both pleasure and pain and attain a state of equilibrium. He urges Arjuna to let go of the pain he is experiencing because of his narrow mindedness. Pleasure and pain, victory and defeat, gain and loss should be regarded with detachment and equanimity. Sri Krishna tells Arjuna to stand and fight with an inner peace based on that understanding.

In the modern world people become confused about what is right, and they are uncertain about which duties should be given the highest priority. The important is always important; therefore it should be attended to first even though it may seem to be painful. In performing one’s duty one should learn to go beyond his identification with pleasure and pain, loss and gain, and all the pairs of opposites.

Swami Rama

(Excerpts from the teachings of Swami Rama)

Guruji Visit to Mumbai

A Sadhaka Reports:

The Mumbai chapter of Sadhana Sangama organized two programs in Chembur. One for the general public of Chembur and the second for the residents of the Staff Colony of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

The First Program was on Dhyana Yoga at Saraswati Vidyalaya, Chembur. This program has now become an annual feature and the School Management is very helpful for holding such programs. We take this opportunity to thank the Board of Trustees of the School Management for giving this facility absolutely free to Sadhana Sangama Trust for conduct of the program for 5 days.

We had the morning Satsang with Guruji at Mr. Raghuram Kamath’s Residence and Guruji spent this time with the core group to evaluate the progress made by sadhakas in the spiritual arena and give his guidance for the future conduct of activities. Mr. Niranjan Hemmady also took a lot of interest and expended several hours of dedicated time to ensure success of the programs in Chembur.

Mr. Kannan, Sri Vidya Teacher, arranged for Gayatri Mahamantra Program for three days at his residence at Mulund.

We had arranged a retreat at Karla 1.5 km from Lonavala with Guruji. This provided the core group members an opportunity to spend time with Guruji informally and clear their doubts encountered while practicing the concepts of Meditation and Yoga.

Dr. B.K.Das, a Research Scientist with BARC arranged for a 5 day Program at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, a Government of India Organisation at the residential colony Anushakti Nagar. We are very thankful to the entire management of BARC and the Committee Members of the Yoga Club for creating such a conducive environment for the conduct of the programme.

There were 10 yoga teachers attending the program and about 150 other participants. All the yoga teachers were from the Scientific Fraternity who attended the programme with their families. The vibrations of the program were so positive that Guruji commented at the end of the program that he was delighted to get such a positive vibration from the intellectual participants. Dr. G.A. Rama Rao, the Convener, on the last day said that they were ready to host such a program as an annual event, which was very encouraging and heartening.

In all these programmes Guruji insisted on the importance of being in ‘ATHA’ i.e. NOW. He said past is gone and buried, present is the time we have to live in and future is yet to come. Nobody knows what is in store for us in the Future.

HE SAID IT IS NO USE PLANNING AND HE DOES NOT PLAN FOR THE NEXT DAY LEAVE ALONE FOR THE FUTURE.

He said think if a child is trained to become an Electronics Engineer, but his calling is Yoga and he took yoga. Think what will be the state of the parents. He then pointing to himself said that he is giving his own example.

Then Asked the Question – Now You Tell me what all the planning did. Did it Help?

He said, do not plan for your children what you could not achieve in your life, we all try to plan for our children our unfulfilled desires. If we cannot do something in life we try to fulfill through our children. He suggested please do not do that. Let the child decide for himself what he wants and guide him in that direction with best suggestions and facilities he can be given. He said if you do not throw the child in water how will he learn to swim. He said look at your child as a gift from God and that he has been sent here with a mission -- let him find his way – everything has meaning and the expression, everything is for our good.

There are incidents that strike us only when Guruji highlights to us. He kept repeating ‘Atha’ in his Lecture for full 5 days and we were interpreting it as normal phenomena but he stirred us with his comment – I do not plan for the next day. THIS SENT OUR MINDS RACING TO THE CONCLUSION HE WANTED US TO REALISE.

There is another instance of Guruji’s insight into Sadhakas mind – He said there is an area in all of us, which we need to free from negative vibrations and link us to the divinity. Meditation is the process where we free our conditioned mind from the negative vibrations.

That means no success can be achieved without MEDITATION and every inventor must be meditating on the concepts to make an invention and that is why all Scientists do RESEARCH – They Search for the solution by searching again and again, only when they empty their minds do they get the results which are already present in the universe but it is not realized by any of them till that time.

Antardarshana

(Patanjali Yoga Sutra)

The meaning of this Sutra is: "Then one sees his own true nature". This is with reference to the previous Sutra: Yogah chitta vritti nirodhah. When one controls the modifications of the mind, then he really sees what his true nature is; he sees who he is.

If it is really difficult to understand this way, let us try to understand it from an example. You might have seen a pond; presently most of the ponds have become sites of waste dump or have been used for residential purposes or as playgrounds. Many ponds have been filled with lot of waste things. The moment you reach a pond to see how clean or clear the water is, you feel like running away from it. Because, it contains that much filth. In the same way, one’s chitta is filled with lot of unwanted filth.

The constituents of mind (manas, the questioning faculty; ahamkara, the sense of I, chitta, the store house of memories, samskara, vasana, etc; and buddhi, the discriminating faculty of the mind) are called antahkarana. When this antahkarana is sensitive, transparent, then the inner bliss, the inner source, the truth abode, the true personality, shines forth. The inner Lord is able to shine forth only when the outer sheaths that cover the Lord are made transparent.

To see it more clearly, take the above example of pond. When the constituent of the pond, i.e., water is clear, then whatever the water contains is visible. Its visibility is again dependent upon the disturbance at the surface; i.e., its waves caused by wind, etc. Since we relate this pond with our chitta, the chitta doesn’t have any waves as we see in the external world. But this chitta is disturbed by our own acts, by our own association to the things external / internal, by our own whims and fancies, by our own likes and dislikes. It is like throwing stones in a pond. The moment a stone is thrown, it disturbs the water’s posture. When you see yourself in the troubled water, your reflection also is distorted.

You might have seen your distorted facial reflection in so many mirrors. In some mirrors, you look handsome, but in some, you don’t look that handsome. Some mirrors are concave and some are convex mirrors. The reflection is really adjusted according to one’s requirement. In that conditioned mind, in that conditioned chitta, the reflection of the True Personality is not possible. If at all it can reflect, it reflects only the distorted picture of the True Personality.

If this is the case in all of us, what is the role of a sadhaka now? The role is, first of all, to stop throwing the stones. In other words, reduce the disturbing tendency. You must watch your trikarana a bit carefully. Speech, thought and action are called Trikarana. Observe your talk. Is it creating harmony? Or, is it creating disturbance in you. It definitely disturbs others too, if it disturbs you. Leave aside the disturbance that you do to others in the first instance. At least, look at how it is disturbing you. You can do continuous experiments with your talk. Observe how the words are spoken – does it contain the grace of love? How is it received by others? If your talking is curt, becomes aware of that curt tone. The mere awareness will set the things right. Become aware of the tone of the talk. The moment you become aware, you move on to the next higher plane: the thought process. Observe what the intention of your thoughts is. Is it to defame others? Is it to boast of yourself? What is the pattern of your thought process?

If you do these two observations with love; naturally, your actions would become graceful. If you are in the habit of walking hurriedly, talking hurriedly, as your awareness increases, your actions would definitely slow down and the pace of actions, would come down to a manageable level. Presently, if you are a person of hurry, definitely, there is arrogance, whether you like it or not. If you want to reduce this arrogance, reduce the speed. In order to reduce the speed, you need to become aware of yourself in total. If it is not possible to be in the wakeful state always, atleast try it every now and then; one day, I am sure, you too will become Buddha, a fully awakened being.

In this process, every now and then, you will see a spark of your true nature. That is why it is said: then, you will see your own true nature. To say it in other words: Then, you will establish in your True Self. There is no problem with the True Self. But the ‘mere self’ is creating all the problems for you.

What is this ‘mere self’? it is that which is carved out of the experiences of the external world. Its intention is getting ‘quick bucks’ and ‘instant relief’ without caring for what would be the repercussions, whether it imbalances its own nature or the nature of the external world. It doesn’t worry. It needs comforts quick. That ‘mere’ personality is the ‘mere self’. When you stop throwing stones in a pond, the disturbing waves at the surface would slowly subside. Then alone would you see what your chitta contains. After you see the constituents of your chitta, then comes the next step: how to clear it of the dirt? That is why, Patanjali says, “You must make efforts of staying there and that is practice.” What is ‘There’? After seeing the ‘mere self’ you start experiencing the True Self; but you must try to be there with your efforts of cleansing yourself of your impurities. That practice is called abhyaasa. So, the emphasis is not merely to do bujanga-asana or shalabha-asana or some rounds of nadi-shodhana pranayama. The practice of staying ‘There’ is the goal. See the deceitful ways of this ‘mere self’, how it runsaway from seeing itself. It feels shy of itself. So, be courageous; stay in the art of ‘seeing’; go on practicing so that you establish yourself in your own True Self.

May your practice guide you and all.

Sri Pattabhiram

Hello! How are you?...

Guruji's Column

Blessings from the Parampara. Of late, during the programmes, many people ask me as to why one should take to meditation? What’s wrong with the present life style? With so many advancements, especially, in communication and medicine, does meditation stand a chance at all? It is an interesting question which I would like to address.

Man needs both medication and meditation because both come from the root ‘medi’ which means ‘to attend’. Medication attends to our physical problems and meditation to the emotional, psychological and mental problems. Medication has a very, very limited role to playing our lives. I am not ignoring its importance, its utility and its widespread use. What I mean to say is that it can diagnose and treat only the symptoms and not the cause. So long as the cause remains in us, the problems (effects) cannot be suppressed for long; it is common sense. So one has to deal directly with the cause and not with the effects only. If you learn to get hold of the cause, you can influence and control the effects. Wisdom lies here.

One many wonder how come meditation has any relevance in the conduct of our day-to-day affairs and to our problems and physical ailments. Take it from me, it has. It works like this. Many of our physical ailments are psycho-somatic in nature. So if you want to come out of them, you have to treat the cause, viz., the mind. If the mind is disciplined through the techniques of Pranayama, Japa and meditation, one can experience significant change in the quality of life. It is the abstract things that are within us-such as our feelings, emotions, attitudes etc. –that cause problem to us. Medication is useless here. It is only MEDITATION that plays a significant role here. If we see carefully, its meditation alone that makes life complete. If you want to be rich in life, to enjoy life, to understand life, then take to meditation and see for yourself the results.

Also medication will not be effective without meditation. Why so? Because it is so. That’s why. You ask any physician that if he advocates the same medicine, for the same problem, with equal amount of potency to two person, whose body constituents are exactly the same, will the recovery also be the same? The answer will be a definite “NO”. This means that our physical body has a direct relation with the mind. Now the question comes as to what we actually do in mediation and how it is different and higher as compared to medication. A compassionate nurse attends to the patient without any partiality whether he is a Muslim, Hindu or Christian. A nurse’s entire focus will be only on treating the disease and nothing else. In the same manner, during meditation, we start nursing all our feelings, sentiments, attitudes etc., with a view to refine them and bring the best out of ourselves and share the completeness that is within us with our near and dear ones. If you vow to do meditations regularly with this insight, let me assure that you regain your purity, innocence and wisdom. Meditation guarantees your communication with the Centre within you.

I would like to reiterate the assurance given to me by my Parampara: You do your meditation regularly; we’ll organize your entire life. Till today, I’m fulfilling my promise to the Parampara and so do they. Hope you will also continue in the same way as we do.

In the service of Parampara,
Sri Pattabhiram

Faith & Strength

Swami Vivekananda

He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.

The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the divinity within. You can do anything. You fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. As soon as a man or a nation loses faith, death comes.

Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God, this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological gods, and in all the gods which foreigners have now and again introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you.

Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin-to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.

Be free; hope for nothing from any one. I am sure if you look back upon you lives, you will find that you were always vainly trying to get help from others, which never came. All the help that has come was from within yourselves.

Never say, ‘No’; never say, ‘I Cannot’, for you are infinite. Even time and space are as nothing compared with your nature. You can do anything and everything, you are almighty.

Ye are the children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. Ye divinities on earth-sinners! It is a sin to call a man so; it is a standing libel on human nature. Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion, that you are sheep; you are soul’s immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal.

Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow-never a man. So never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the ideal a thousand times; and if you fail a thousand times make the attempt once more.

The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them.

If there is one word that you find coming like a bomb from the Upanisads, bursting like a bomb-shell upon masses of ignorance, it is the world, fearlessness.

If you look, you will find that I have never quoted anything but the Upanisads. And of the Upanisads, it is only that one idea strength. The quintessence of the Vedas and Vedanta and all lies in that one world.

Be strong, my young friends, that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to heaven through football than through the study of Gita. These are bold words, but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. I have gained a little experience. You will understand the Gita better with you biceps, your muscles, a little stronger.

This is one question I put to every man … Are you strong? Do you feel strength? - For I know it is truth alone that gives strength … Strength is the medicine for the world’s disease

This is the great face: Strength is life; weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is death.

Antardarshana

CHITTA VRITTI NIRODHA

(Patanjali Yoga Sutra)

The beauty of Patanjali Maharshi’s Yoga Shastra is: You contemplate on any Sutra for a continuous period, it would reveal you the subtle meanings by taking you through the subtle experiences.

In this sutra, Chitta means mind; it is not only mind but something more than that, but for the time being, let us take it as mind; vritti means reactions; nirodha means stopping. Vaguely, the meaning of the sutra is – stopping all the reactions of the mind is called yoga. You may wonder how would I live without reacting to the situations around me. You would appreciate it as you read further.

I am talking to someone; it is a season of insects and mosquitoes. As I talk, some mosquitoe sits on my hand and starts sucking the blood. Even without looking at it, my other hand would lift up on its own, and bulldoze the mosquitoe. I don’t even hear it death cry. As if nothing has happened, I continue my talk with added ease. Just see the sequence of events a bit carefully here. A moquitoe sat on my hand, I was not aware of it, when it started sucking blood from my veins, it did not attract my awareness; but only when it was painful did I react as a robot, without realizing what it is. I am not saying whether hitting like that is good or bad.

Look at it the other way. When it sat on me, I should have been aware of its sitting; leave it, we may not be that sensitive. Atleast, when it started sucking the blood, I should have noticed. Leave even this, as we were too busy talking. When it was painful, atleast then, I should have waited for a while, thought as to what the course of action should be. There is another possibility also. I could have driven it away by giving a love puff.

This is merely an example. In our daily lives, there are hundreds of situations when we act reactionarily, like a robot, with standard commands to the sense organs, and to the reactionary mechanisms. Here when sager Patanjali talks of chitta vritti nirodha, he talks of let go of the reactionary mechanism, like hitting that which troubles you. Instead, wait for a while, bring all the events under the scanner of awareness and become aware of the whole situation without depending on the reactions of the mortised system; and, decide the course of action independent of all the influence of memories, vasana, anger, frustration, etc.

Let me take you to another example. We have named people as good or bad. Say, you have a high opinion about me. You glorify me and my image. You say that Guruji is godly. It is okay, as far as mere opinion is concerned. But see a bit closely. See how it can damage you when you really add value to this opinion. You hold on to the opinion that Guruji is godly, and the moment you see something human-making mistakes here and there-that is the day when your image about Guruji is shattered. You start avoiding that person. That way you go on making friends and breaking that partnership. This type of behavior goes on and on.

See here, what is it doing to you? Likewise, we form opinion about wife, children, officer, subordinates, relatives, about a place of living… Try to see each and every image or every opinion that you hold on to. The more dispassionately you see these opinions/image, the more free you would be. This is the precise reason why one should practice meditation. Before meditation, you must watch your mind, the contents of the mind. If an opinion about a person comes, let go. If hatred towards a form comes before you, let go. You say to yourself that you are different and the form/opinion is different. Stop supplying the energy-either for or against-to any form or opinion you hold on to.

In this way, you would become light and light. Slowly, you would get stability in sadhana. This stability would take you to the next subtle layer of your personality. The process is the same again: let go of all the forms, images, opinion. The load of chitta becomes further light. The process continues, till you are clear of all the images in the chitta, all the worries that are stored in the chitta. When all the layers become transparent, at that time you stay in atha; the infinite personality you realize, the sat-chit-ananda-svaroopa that you are; That Shiva you are. What else? You are God.

Practicing mediation and pondering over the sutras of Patanjali, would give you a base where when you react to the external world, it would not be a ‘reaction’; it would be a response. You would slowly shift from reacting to responding. That is the zone of non-stress. That way, you would not creae stress around you. So, slowly, people would recognize you, people would respect you, because the base you are operating is Truth, nothing else.

I want you to understand yoga practically, applying it to your own life, and experimenting it on every aspect of your life. Thus, finding the truth from your own point of view. Yoga is a way of life. Each and every minute, you have to experience the touch of divinity that is within you. If you want to experience that, you must live in chitta vritti nirodha. If somebody does something to you, when you get into some uneasy situations, don’t react immediately. Observe, from where the reaction is coming; what is it that is forcing you to act in a particular way? Is it because you are hurt? Is the hurt because of your ‘conditioned’ mind? Is the reaction coming from your authority? Is it because you are frustrated?

There is nothing wrong in reacting. But react after understanding the source. If you know that you are reacting because of your hurt, realize what this hurt is. That is the beginning of a new life. Otherwise, it wouldn’t help you in bringing harmony in your relationship. The same reaction would come back to you in some form or the other, today or tomorrow.

In the service of Parampara,
Sri Pattabhiram

Rewards & Motivation

In Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to become aware of that which is his and that which is not his. He explains that one has the right to perform his duty, but he has no right to expect the fruits received therein. Neither duty performed with the motivation to acquire the fruits of one’s action nor attachment towards inaction is helpful. Both tendencies are harmful if the law of karma is not properly understood, one becomes helpless and inactive, or he performs actions with attachment to the results and thus becomes disappointed. Disappointment is a great enemy of self-reliance. It obstructs the faculty of discrimination, judgment, and decisiveness-the guiding factors within us.

There are two main principles to be followed when doing one’s actions: one should to act impulsively but should counsel within before acting, and one should not perform any action motivated by selfishness. Right action is superior to inaction. Inaction makes one lethargic, and one who becomes lethargic postpones his duties and joy’s placing them in the hands of his fate and future. Students are always warned by their teachers not to become victims of sloth and inactivity, for human beings cannot live without thinking and acting.

Because of the lack of real guidance, some people today take drugs. If one takes drugs, he cannot practice sadhana and make his mind one-pointed and inward. The use of drugs leads to inactivity and then to inertia, and one’s acts are then prompted by the motivation of tamas. A tamasic person deludes himself: he things that he already knows everything, that he has no need to learn and to transform himself, and that he therefore does not have to do his sadhana. He should understand that it is the tamasic quality of mind that disturbs his motivation for sadhana.

Motivation needs proper organization with the help of steady sadhana and the guidance of a competent preceptor. Motivation is action in a subtle form. It is what motivates one that is important because one’s motivation is responsible for molding his thought patterns and for prompting him to do actions. It is a guiding force, which if properly used can make one victorious in the external words as well as in the unfoldment of his inner potentials.

There are two kinds of motivation: one prompts the aspirant to perform actions in the external world, and the other helps him to make his mind one-pointed and inward. The motivation that prompts one to perform action with a desire for reward is predominant in the animal kingdom, so reward and punishment are two methods applied in training animals. The human being, though a higher species, is also motivated by reward and punishment. Yet he can go beyond that. Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to go beyond all expectations, for expectation is the cause of despair and disappointment.

The human being alone has the gift of judgment, discrimination, and decisions, every action has its consequent effect, and the fruition of the action is ordinarily perceived as either a reward or a punishment. But one can choose to make a loving offering of the fruits of his actions for the benefit of others. Then one performs his actions skillfully, selflessly, and lovingly, offering the fruits of his actions for the sake of humanity. Thus he is constantly praying. Such prayer is actual prayer; it is not at all like the prayer of egotistical people.

Most people are motivated to do actions for the sake of receiving rewards. Attachment to rewards is a deep-rooted habit. Most people do not understand how to be selfless. Such human beings are Rajasic. Reward-oriented people are very selfish. They suffer and they make others suffer. Perhaps that is one reason that the best of men have retreated to forest dwellings wondering, “why do human beings still behave like animals?” after intensive self-study those great ones devised practical methods for transforming humanity, and they gave us their wisdom through the scriptures.

Suffering comes when one is interested in reward. If one performs actions expecting rewards, he is bound to receive the fruits of his actions. The fruits then motivate him to do more actions, and in this way he finds himself caught in the whirlpool of life, never content, always seeking more and more for himself and ignoring or using others for his own gain. Actions done for reward thus create bondage. One becomes a slave to rewards in much the same way that the rat in scientific experiments becomes a slave to the pellet box, performing only those actions that bring him a token reinforcement. But there is a way to attain release from such enslavement: perform your duties skillfully and selflessly without attachment to reward. Then you will be free, a mukta travelling and singing the songs of joy without cares or fears.

(Excerpts from Perennial Psychology of Bhagavad Gita)

Hello! How are you?...

Blessings from the Parampara,

I would like to share a great secret with you all which would lead you to peace and eternal happiness i.e., your source. Of course, it depends on how you are going to assimilate it and make use of it.

All of us, deep within our hearts, have an opinion about ourselves that “we are good and are not capable of hurting or harming others”. We try to behave in such a manner as to reflect the above feelings. But still, we feel helpless, we undergo crisis, find it difficult to cope with life, not able to meet our commitments and perform our duties. We are puzzled by this. Friends, this is nothing but Praapti. Praapti means one gets what one deserves only. There is nothing wrong with our actions or intentions. Nor our method of action is improper. It is because of Praapti we get set backs, undergo crisis. Whatever actions we have done consciously or unconsciously, in our previous manifestations, when the fruit of these becomes mature and ripe, it enters our lives in the form of Praapti. We can't interfere with it, as the action has already taken place. No reverse gear is possible. This Praapti dictates our present life. But don't lose heart.

If that is the case, what are we struggling for? Where would the fruits of our present actions go? The efforts that we make here and now are called Purusha Prayatna (human effort or human endevour). It is certainly not to do away with Praapti or influence it. Then what is the use of this Prayatna? Prayatna is very important. Prayatna made in this life becomes Praapti in the next life or lives. This is well within our control… In other words we can influence our future Praapti by present Prayatna. Prayatna is the foundation stone for Praapti. We do Prayatna here and now expect it to nullify the Praapti that has already begun. This is where we go wrong. That's why we feel life is a burden! The moment we correct this attitude, half of the life‟s burden would get dissolved naturally.

There is one more thing that affects our life-Anugraha. This means Grace. Is it possible to invoke this Grace by human effort? Yes. In fact, our Prayatna in this life should be to invoke that Grace. What is Prayatna? It is self-purification, which means nothing but moving from 'I' consciousness to 'we' consciousness and from there to 'universal / cosmic' consciousness. When one reaches this cosmic consciousness, one experiences Grace. Prayatna should not be directed towards acquiring only material comforts. Of course, there is nothing wrong in it. Rather, it is a must. But the primary objective of our Prayatna should be to tap the Grace. Search for material gains through Prayatna should be subsidiary of our efforts to gain Grace.

Life = Prayatna + Praapti + Anugraha

Is life complete then? Yes. With a word of caution, I conclude here. Grace should not be hoarded. Nor should it be delivered for selfish gains. This marks the downfall of a Sadhaka. Grace should be allowed to flow gently like breeze touching each and every object of God‟s creation. Grace should flow through us and not into us.

In the service of Guru Parampara

Sri Pattabhiram

One Pointedness

Merely knowing what to do without one-pointedness of mind will not lead one to perform his duty accurately. Therefore the desired results will not be attained. Just as profound knowledge of what to do is essential, so having a onepointed mind is equally essential. The modern student tends to know intellectually but does not make sincere efforts to develop onepointedness of mind. Thus his mind remains scattered and all his actions result in disappoint-ment.

For lack of a onepointed mind, the modern student jumps from one path to another because he does not understand that it is his scattered mind that is creating barriers for him. He things that the barriers are outside. Assuming that another path or goal will be better is trickery played by the mind. One already knows what is right, but he does not know how to put it into practice. In childhood the fundamentals of all great truths are taught to us. Then we spend energy in trying to apply those truths, but we fail. We do not realize that with systematic practice we can succeed. The key point of practice as well as of success lies in onepointedness of mind.

Attention is the first step on the ladder to develop onepointedness of mind. One must pay wholehearted atten-tion to all of the things he does from morning until evening. The aspirant should also understand why he is acting in a particular way. Actions should not be performed as a reaction without understanding why one does them. The human mind is prone to be reactionary if it is not trained, and an untrained mind creates disorder, disease, and confusion. If one does something with full attention, he will increase his awareness and ability to perform his duty. If one forms the habit of attending fully to whatever he is doing, the mind will become trained, and eventually concentration will become effortless. It is a great quality for one to be able to express his knowledge through his speech and action with a onepointed mind. Thousands of thoughts remain waiting to be entertained. The purpose of Sadhana is to attend to those thoughts in a systematic manner so that they do not create unrest in the inner world.

Swami Rama

(Excerpts from Perennial Psychology of Bhagavad Gita)

Yogasutras of Patanjali

When yoga shastra started evolving, it started branching out into many ways--kundalini yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga… Hundreds of methodologies started coming out. About 3,000 years ago, a Maharshi called Patanjali collected all the knowledge on yoga, studied them and experimented them on himself and on his disciples. After experiencing and experimenting on them, he codified them in the Sutra form. A Sutra is a formula.

We talk a lot, yet we don't convey anything. But sage Patanjali, though he uses only few words, conveys a lot. One experiences it if he practices the sutra. There are 196formulas and they are divided into four chapters--Samadhi Pada, Sadhana Pada, Vibhuti Pada and Kaivalya Pada. Patanjala Yoga Shastra is also called Patanjala Yoga Darshan. What is darshan? It is to see things as they are. We all wear different glasses for different situations and persons. Patanjali suggests us not to see things according to the colours that one has within, but to see the things as they are by taking out the colours of one's mind. We shall see what is darshan in the resolution before beginning the study of this Yoga Shastra. It begins with atha yoga-anushasanam.

In the Indian tradition, if you want to perform any religious practice, it starts with a resolve. The beginning word would be atha or asya. If you study the Patanjala Yoga Shastra, you will realize that the sage has been very miser in using even syllables, leave alone words. He has not used even half a syllable extra. That being the case, why did he use atha before anushaasanam?

Before beginning to understand about God, the sage talks about discipline (or anushasana). His initial emphasis is on the discipline. Only after the discipline does he talk about God. Only after going through the discipline can you contemplate on God. Just look at the systematic way of learning pattern our ancestors have laid down. Our tendency is just the opposite. We would like to see the result first and only when we are satisfied, would we venture to take up discipline. One must allow himself to be on some discipline for a specified time. Now the question is: Why discipline? Only to realize oneself so that one lives in tranquility and bliss. With a mind full of turmoil, you can't even sit quiet, leave alone enjoying the life that one spends. For that, it is essential to go through a discipline which is compatible with our life. Look at the way one is living. Everyone either lives in the past or in the future, but never in the present. When I look at my wife/husband, I look at him/her through the screen of the past.

Let me take you to an example to drive home the importance of atha. You got married recently. In the beginning of the new married life, one day you shout at your wife for some reason. Your anger created an impression in your wife's mind, but she didn't mind it. After a few days, again you shouted at her. Even then she didn't mind much. You continued to shout at her at regular intervals. When the impression of your anger got imprinted more and more in your wife's mind, she formed an opinion, an image, about you, "My hubby is a short-tempered one." How did she form this opinion? Through her own experience. Gradually, she starts looking at you through the screen of your image in her mind--"short-tempered one".

Once you listened to a sage and you realized that shouting that way would not be in your interest and you resolved to stop it forever. When you go home, you are received as usual, with the image of 'short-tempered one'. You are expected to be a long-faced, reserved person. But, strangely, you are all smile on your face and people get a shock. This is because people have the screen of 'short-temperedness' in their mind about you. When you start smiling, people would react in a different way; they would think something to be wrong with you. When you go on making your efforts to smile in your expectation that people would recognize your improved behaviour, you are mistaken. Finally, you lose your control and you come back to your 'short-tempered' behaviour.

That is why, sage Patanjali asks you to stay in atha, in the present and not in the past or future. The expectation relates to 'future'. Find out whether you can look at people or things around you as if you are looking at them for the first time. Give a fresh look to each and everything, at each and every moment. If you are consistent in your efforts, it is not impossible for you. Don't look at people or things around you with a pre-conceived or concluded future saying, "I know him or her". Can you allow the past a goodbye and be in a zone where you accept anything and everything with a relaxed outlook, without forming any opinion about anything? Simply experience everything as if it is a first experience.

Try to see: whatever you have experienced in the past has no life in the present. It is dead and gone. Present is full of life. Try to live it, without seeing it from the images of the past. Can you realize that you are keeping the past alive in order to hurt people or get hurt by events? If you stay in the present, atha, then your life will be a beautiful one.

The future is nothing but an extension of the past. Just see this a bit carefully. Question your behaviour. Actually behaviour is a pattern by which I act and that has become a block in my free interaction with others. I am not able to share my love with others because of so many such blocks. That means, I must correct myself. In order to correct yourself, please see whether you can look at the complications created in your mind. See how they work on you. See them dispassionately, as a witness without associating yourself with the contents of the mind.

If you say that living in atha is impractical, that means you have already created a future. You have already named this as 'impractical' without even giving it a try. Be like a scientist. Even to say this impractical, you must experiment it for a period of time.

Can I ask you to practice it without saying no? Friends, kindly try it.

In the service of Guru Parampara

Sri Pattabhiram