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Who
is God?
GOD
is Satchidananda (Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and Bliss
Absolute). God is Truth. God is love. God is Light of lights. God is
all pervading Intelligence or Consciousness. God is all pervading
Power who governs this universe and keeps it in perfect order. He is
the Inner Ruler of this body and mind (Antaryami). He is Omnipotent,
Omniscient and Omnipresent. He is the silent Sakshi of your mind. He
is the Sutra-dhar or the holder of the string of your Prana. He is
the womb for this world and the Vedas. He is the prompter of
Sankalpas (Preraka). He has six attributes, viz., Gnana
(intelligence), Vairagya (dispassion), Saundarya or Madhurya (beauty
and grace), Aishwarya (Siddhis or powers), Sri (wealth), and Kriti
(fame). Hence He is called Bhagwan.
He
exists in the past, present and future. He is unchanging amidst the
changing phenomenon. He is permanent amidst the impermanent things
of this world. He is imperishable amidst the perishable things of
this world. He is Nitya, Sasvata, Avinasi, through three Gunas,
viz., Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas for His own Lila. He has Maya under
his control.
He
is Svatantra (independent). He has Satkarma and Sat-sankalpa. He
dispenses the fruits for the actions of the Jivas. He is all
merciful. He quenches the thirst of the Jivas in the form of ice and
succulent fruits. It is through His power that you see, hear and
walk. Whatever you see is God. Whatever you hear is God. God works
through your hands and eats through your mouths. On account of
ignorance and Abhimana you have forgotten Him.
Nitya
Sukha and Parama Shanti can be had only in God. That is the reason
why sensible, intelligent aspirants attempt to have Darshan of God
or God Realisation. God-Realisation can bring an end to the Samsaric
wheel of birth and death with its concomitant evils. This world is a
long dream. It is a jugglery of Maya. The five senses delude you at
every moment. Open your eyes. Learn to discriminate. Understand His
mysteries. Feel His presence everywhere. Feel His nearness. He
dwells in the chambers of your heart.
Spiritual Culture
a.
Gnana Yoga
Spiritual
culture is the king of all cultures. So I have given prominence to
this culture is refinement or education. Spiritual means that which
relates to the inner Self or Atman of Brahman, whose nature is
Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and Bliss Absolute. I do not
mean here spiritualism, which deals with ghosts, planchette,
table-turning a possession of spirits in medium, etc. Thinking on
Atma, (Alma Chintana), meditating on Atma, conversing on Atma,
hearing of Vedanta or upanishads, remembering of Atma will
constitute spiritual culture. The student should try to possess the
qualifications for realisation of Atma. These qualifications are
four in number, viz., (I) Viveka (discrimination between the real
and the unreal), (2) Vairagya, (indifference to sensual enjoyments
herein -and hereafter), (3) Shadsampat (six-fold virtues)-such as
Sama (tranquillity of mind) which results in the eradication of
Vasanas, Dama (restraint of the lndriyas), Uparati (satiety -or
Sannyasa or renunciation of works), Titiksha (endurance), Sraddha
(faith in the Vedas, words of the Guru and one's own Self),
Samadhana (one-pointed mind) and (4) Mumukshatwa (intense longing
for liberation from births and deaths). Study of 'Atma Bodha,'
'Tattwa Bodha,' 'Pancheekaran,' 'Laghu Vasudeva Manana,' 'Sankara's
Select Works,' 'Pancha Dasi,' 'Upanishads' and 'Vichar Sagar', is of
great help in spiritual culture in the beginning.
'The
Mantras for meditation are silent repetition of Om or Soham or Aham
Brahma Asmi or Sivoham. One can select any of these four according"
to his taste. He should feel: "I am the Immortal Self in all. I am
the living Truth. I am All-pervading Light, Intelligence or Pure
Consciousness," when he meditates on these Mantras. This will
eventually result in Atma Sakshatkara.
b.
Bhakti
The
other ways for spiritual culture are Bhakti yoga and Raja Yoga. A
man of devotional temperament should develop the nine modes of
devotion, viz., Sravana, Kirtana, Padasevana, Archana, Vandana,
Dasya, Sakhya and Atma-nivedana. He should select his Ishta Devata –
either Lord Krishna or Lord Rama – or Devi or Gayatri or Lord Siva –
and repeat the particular Mantras, i.e., Om Namo Bhagawate
Vasudevaya of Lord Rama, Om King Kalikayai Namah of Devi and Om
Namah Sivaya of Lord Siva, respectively, daily, for one or two hours
in the morning between 4 and 6. He should study the 'Ramayana' and
the 'Bhagawata.' He should be in the company of Bhagawatas for some
time. He should do Kirtana and sing His name. He should meditate on
His form in his heart. He should think of His attributes such as all
merciful, Omnipotent, Omniscient, etc. he should try to eradicate
the vicious qualities such as a lust, anger, greed, dishonesty, and
cruelty, etc. he should practise Ahimsa, Satyam, and Brahmacharya,
which constitute right conduct. He will slowly cultivate Bhakti and
have Darshan of his Ishta Devata. This is the path of devotion or
Bhakti, which is suitable for the vast majority of persons.
C. Raja
Yoga
There is another way for
spiritual culture. This is the practice of thoughtlessness or making
the mind blank. There are eight limbs in this Yoga. Hence it is
called Ashtanga Yoga. The book of 'Yoga Darshan' of Patanjali
Maharishi is the standard work on this subject. The eight limbs are
Yama (restraint), "Niyama (observances), Asana (pose), Pranayama
(restraint of breath), Pratyahara (abstraction or withdrawal of
Indriyas from sensual objects), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana
(meditation), and Samadhi (super-conscious state). One should be
well established in Yama and Niyama. Then alone he can hope to get
success in his branch of Yoga. Yama consist of Ahimsa (non-injuring
in thought, word and deed), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya
(celibacy or purity in thought, word and deed), and Aparigraha
(non-covetousness). Niyama consist of Saucha (internal and external
purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Swadhaya (study
of religious literature) and Ishwara-pranidhana (devotion of God).
Raja Yoga is an exact science. All the methods are very
scientific.
SPECIAL
INSTRUCTIONS
Take
up memory and culture in the beginning. Take to any exercise that
suits you best and put it in daily practise. Keep a daily record.
This is very important. Mere skipping over the pages will not do.
You will not be benefited. If you really want rapid improvement, if
you want to become a real man, put the lessons in practise and take
down note. You can watch your progress and correct your mistakes. I
want to make you a practical man quickly. Keep special notebooks.
Send me a copy of the notes of the exercises that you have done in a
month. I will make corrections and give you very valuable
suggestions. I will put you very valuable suggestions. I will put
you in the right path. If you are very earnest and sincere, you can
finish up the memory exercises in three months. For a mediocre I
allow six months. For a third class type I allow one
year.
After
you are well up in memory-culture, you can take up will-culture. You
have gained now some success through memory-culture. This will give
you a great impetus in the will-culture. You will be rejoicing now.
You will be training your every nerve in the practice of will
culture. You have already started the current. It will keep up your
zeal and enthusiasm. Practise the assertions boldly and calmly.
Fully understand the meaning of every assertion and try to feel it.
The feeling will slowly manifest. Do not be discouraged. You will
have to fight against your old enemies, the old Samskaras. Wait
coolly. Try to develop patience, attention, power of endurance,
balance of mind, presence of mind, etc. These qualities are very
necessary to develop your will. Develop attention also. Practise
will-culture for three months. You will feel your inner strength.
The things that appeared difficult sometime ago can be done with
ease now. You will feel that you now have an unruffled mind. Things
that easily upset jour mind cannot do so now. You can turn out
immense work, quite smoothly. Your walk is graceful. Your speech is
powerful. You are quite a changed man. There is a glow in your
cheeks and a peculiar charm in your smile. You are now able to
influence many. Your friends notice a magnetic aura in your face.
The
practice of concentration should go hand in hand with the memory and
will cultures. Concentration is an auxiliary in all cultures. No
culture is possible without concentration. Have regular
concentration daily in the morning for a half or one hour. Have a
spiritual basis in your concentration. You practise concentration
not only for developing your memory and will, but also mainly for
Self-Realisation. That is the chief aim. Never forget this point.
This is the fundamental difference between my system and the various
other systems. Brahmacharya and Self-Realisation are the keynotes of
my system. I harp on these two points in various places. I want you
to develop your memory and will for success in life and achievement
of Brahmic bliss eventually. Concentrate on the picture of Lord
Krishna of Lord Rama or Lord Muhammad, according to your
inclination. The practise of concentration will immensely help your
memory and will-culture also. Keep a record of your experiences in
concentration in your daily and send a copy to me every
month.
The
fourth point is the development of virtues. Go through the articles
"Character Building" and "Sub-Conscious Mind." You will understand
the method of developing various virtues. Develop that virtue which
you are hopelessly lacking in. Courage, mercy, universal love,
nobility, forbearance, contentment, frankness and honesty, must be
developed one by one. Take up one virtue every month and meditate on
that virtue regularly. You will manifest that virtue in your
character. If you develop one important virtue all other virtues
will cling to you. If you have humility and courage, all other
virtues will come of their own accord. You should spend daily
sometime; say half an hour, for development of
virtues.
If
you are established in Brahmacharya or truthfulness, all other
virtues will cling to you by themselves. Take up one of these four
virtues: humility, courage, Brahmacharya, or truthfulness, for
development.
The
fifth point is eradication of evil qualities. The development of
virtuous qualities will itself remove the negative qualities. But it
is better to make a positive attempt also in the eradication of
these evil qualities. Then the progress will be rapid. It is double
attack on the enemy. Then success become easy and sure. If you could
remove lust or anger or egoism, all other evil qualities will
disappear by themselves. All evil qualities are the attendants of
egoism. If egoism is destroyed, if the commander is slain, all the
soldiers and retinues will take to their heels, out of fright,
because they have lost their head. All sorts of vices will vanish.
Therefore concentrate your attention in killing egoism or anger.
Then the whole work is done and done perfectly
too.
The
sixth point is the discipline of the Indriyas. This is very
important. If the Indriyas are turbulent you cannot have
concentration. Watch every Indriyas carefully and curb it by
suitable methods, such as fasting, Mouna, Tratak, celibacy,
renunciation of articles, Dama, and Pratyahara (vide the article on
"Discipline of Indriyas.") Indriyas draw you out and make your mind
out-going. Curbing of the Indriyas really means the curbing of the
mind. The Indriyas cannot do any independent work without the direct
help of the mind.
The
seventh point is physical culture. I again reminded you that no
culture is possible if you do not possess a sound and healthy body.
Keep your body strong and healthy, vigorous and active by regular
exercises. You must have a beautiful, symmetrical
body.
The
eighth point is the keeping up of a daily diary. If you want quick
and rapid progress, if you want substantial growth, keep this diary
daily. Let this be a true diary with a clean conscience. Having
armed yourself with the above Sadhana, you can become a mighty
emperor of this world. You can enjoy health, wealth, spiritual bliss
and longevity. I have shown graduated exercises according to the
capacity of the students. " Now it is left to you to expand and
grow. You will have to apply yourself diligently. A hungry man will
have to eat for himself. A thirsty man will have to drink for
himself. Now drink the nectar of Immortality and become a spiritual
darling and hero. Get success in every department of your life.
These practices will now become part and parcel of your nature after
one year. You can go on developing them till you attain
perfection.
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