Today, the sixth day of the last month December, two thousand ten.
A day of complete surrender and undivided calmness and peace.
A day of renunciation of slightest personal will or individual desire.
A new dawn, a new beginning, a new start of my wonderful life.
A day full of inspiration, a day without any slight worry of future.
No note of discord, only notes of harmony, sweet music and melody of joy.
A life so new as though I read the pages of new stories of a new printed book!
As I say these words, before this there was a circle of opulent beatific Light.
Gathered in me between the two eyes of mine at kutashtha or third eye.
Pale yellow it was, within some instants it vanished and went back in the blue sky.
This is not any poem but the Great Masters’ Grace who are watching over us.
Giving us enlightenment, solutions and raising us to consciousness of higher level .
O lord of mine! Surrender, complete surrender to you,
I do today; I bow to you completely at Thy Holy Feet.
May You and I always be one like the wood and holy Vedic Fire.
The big woods burn in the flames of fire but in the end.
Where is the wood? Only fire.
May I burn like the sandal incense.
Soothing, sweet fragrance it has and calming touch.
And healing properties of inner soul.
Once all burnt, only deep fragrance left.
In the house, in the mind and in the remaining Soul.
May I too, Oh my beloved Lord! Burn like the incense,
Spread your Light, happiness and delight everywhere.
And emancipating knowledge of the Supreme to who are worthy.
But forever live in the inner chambers of your benevolent heart!
Hidden from the eyes of the people malevolent everywhere.
Yet I will serve them, my kind compassionate Master.
By serving them I express my love for You, my Beloved.
My life is fully devoted to you, even my each and every breath.
How can I express my deepest gratitude for Your arrival as Light?
The expression of my gratitude towards you can only be expressed,
In a very simple, humble way with these words in the morning of today!!
(Kumari Devi Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal)
There are 3 stages of a seeker or sadhak while advancing on his way up and they are-
- The stage of knowing
- the stage of practice &
- the stage of perfection.
First of all, the beginner becomes familiar with the efforts and the course of action to be taken.
Once that is known, the target set and the practice begins.
Through practice is attained perfection to reach the kingdom of God .
There are 3 stages of development and transformation of the mind towards its perfection-
-
Concentration- to stop wandering and scattering of the mind
- Stilling the mind- to silence it &
- Lastly the Transcendental stage- to reach the stage of Super Consciousness and practice of being in the Super Consciousness state as much as possible.
Concentration-By nature, the flow of the energy of the mind of all people is outward. The energy flows out through the five senses. Remember, the mind is first controlled by the senses. The senses are controlled by self control, self discipline and obedience to the Spiritual Master. The senses diffuse the mind in all directions and blind our intellect and reasoning so the first lesson in concentration is controlling the senses. The ideal way of controlling the senses is meditation whereby one disciplines himself by not moving the body, closing the eyes and stopping the mundane activities of the mind by concentration on a divine figure, a flame or light or his sacred guru. An expert master will emphasize on controlling the senses and all desires and will teach the student to practice this discipline with all his might and strength.
Once the senses are in good control, the mind becomes calm. In Bhagwad Geeta, Lord Krishna emphasized great importance of controlling the senses by which the mind’s restlessness and agitation could be ceased. It could then be made to concentrate at one point and that is the point between the two eyebrows, the centre of concentration.
The method by which the mind is focused at one spot or point by stopping it from dissipating is called concentration. Concentration leads to meditation.
Deep concentration is achieved by constant and regular practice.
Practice makes one perfect.
Those of us who are very much keen for self-transformation must try to reach their destination of self knowledge and self realization by the following helpful practices-
Here are five helpful points for practice to increase the level of our understanding and consciousness for the aspiring sadhaks. It can be done at home and workplace by mentally keeping the omnipresent Guru in your heart. Before you begin this practice, remember the revered Masters so that their invisible yet profound help and guidance reach you in all possible manner. Besides, their protection is acquired to act as a shield against all possible dangers in your path. Although most of us are leading a very fast and hectic lifestyle, yet we can continue practicing the given sadhana for our well being, self transformation and empowerment. So let’s begin with a very simple and practical step.
1.Reflect back the bad vibes that people throw at you. Do not absorb or reverberate the bad vibes, thoughts or ideas that people plant in your mind. Though it is not possible to keep away from people in this world completely, we can definitely cut off the unwanted thought power coming from them in the form of bad vibrations and bad thoughts. After interaction with them, clear your mind of their impact of their sanskaras, karmas effects. Live in an equipoise state of mind. If you happen to fail, rise again.
Stay like a lotus flower in this world. In spite of so much impurity around us, a true yogi, with continuous practice of bringing the mind back on the centre of God, attains peace and tranquility.
2. Create a reliable source, a sanctuary inside you to retreat. Inside the cave of your heart dwells peace and silence. Underneath the innermost layers of your mind is complete calmness. Create a sacred space inside filled with soothing peace and comfort.
3. Practice stillness of mind. Minimize fruitless activities like unnecessary socializing, entertainment and gossip in workplace and at home. Instead visualize your dream future and begin to act on it now with a few initial steps. As an aspirant, if you wish to become intuitive or an advanced meditator, you must begin now. Meditate for fifteen minutes in the morning hours and fifteen minutes in the evening or before sleeping at night. Slowly increase the time. Once you get in the compulsive habit of meditating, make your meditation more dynamic and intensive. Quality of meditation is more important than quantity. Stop your mind from scattering or agitating and in its place continuously practice calming and stilling the mind. Once you achieve this target, practice prolonging that stillness. During periods of stillness, hold on to the gentle peace that prevails.
In stillness of mind, ego is erased.
The more deeper you go, the more peace you will attain. Practice is required by the seeker to touch the deeper levels of the mind. Practice is the key word.
About the power of concentration.
There is a story in Mahabharat about the Master archer Arjun. Young Pandavas and Kaurvas were being given warrior training in the forest by their teacher Dronacharya. A dummy wooden bird was hung from a branch of a tree and all the students were asked by the master to hit the eye of the bird with their bow and arrow for archery practice. One by one, the students came forward. The master asked each student “What do you see?” Someone said that he saw the tree, the other said that he could see the bird, the leaves of the tree and so on. They all were asked to step aside. When Arjun was called out and asked what did he see, he very categorically said, “Master, I only see the eye of the bird”. Dronacharya was very pleased with the perfect answer and asked him to hit the bird with his arrow. He was overwhelmed by Arjun’s immense concentration and predicted that one day he would become the finest archer in the world.
When the swayamvar or contest of Draupadi took place, Arjun was able to win Draupadi’s hand in marriage because of his exceptional concentration. It was only him who could aim and hit at the eye of a revolving fish in oil’s reflection. As a child Arjun’s concentration was unfaltering and he spent all his energy by practicing it while others played. In future he became an expert marksman of that time.
A person who does one pointed concentration for a long duration with devotion is blessed with the opening of the third eye by Guru’s grace. Like a bird, the practitioner can fly in the limitless skies of Super consciousness far and wide. So, seekers should learn to concentrate like Arjuna and must improve and perfect the art of concentration.
4. Have a noble goal, a very big mission in life work towards it till those goals are met. If you have a goal of plunging and penetrating into higher dimensions and realms of your Spirit, then harbour and realize those beautiful dreams. Raise your consciousness in every thought and deed from the current level to the desired one. Look up to a great saint, a realized being and move towards your mission.
5. Practice meditation without fail. Sacrifice and give up food, a conversation with your friend, a movie or a party for the sake of learning the art of meditation and give it the top most priority if you want to achieve and succeed in all walks of life. Begin with concentration. Teach the mind to sit still and not fidget all the time. Stop its aimless wandering and meandering in the valleys and mountains of the mind. Do not allow the thoughts to float like helpless white clouds in the sky without any specific direction. Bring back and rivet the mind to the centre of Consciousness.
The state of Super Consciousness is reached by doing progressive meditation by which is meant that the aspirant must progress from lower chakra to the higher ones in meditation. One should start concentration from the solar plexus, then progress to heart and finally to the third eye.
# Concentration at the solar plexus. Concentrate and fix the mind in one firm place, the place of awakening and aspiring, the solar plexus. It is the center of agni or fire and aspiring. So ignite and awaken a flame of aspiration during meditation. Pray fervently. Plead God to give you the strength to aspire, aspire and aspire more. Pray to God to help you to walk and climb the steps towards Spirit one by one without any hurdle. Pray that all the hurdles be removed one by one so that you may tread freely and quickly. Some people may experience too much heat after prolonged meditation at this centre. Please discontinue this practice and shift to the next higher chakra, the heart.
# Concentration at the heart chakra. Clean the heart chakra by being generous in forgiving people. Real happiness and felicity will be attained when we forgive all those who were and are not kind and good to us. Once you forgive and move on in life and look forward to your bright future, you will attain calmness and poise. Practice sending out love to people who are in need and also to those who have negative feelings for you. Cleaning this centre accelerates the development of devotion towards God and humanity as a whole.
# Concentration at the third eye. Arouse your mind to make it alert, intuitive and subtle by concentrating at this sensitive place. This is possible if you concentrate regularly at the place between the eyebrows. It may bring some discomfort in the beginning but with continuous and long practice, it will vanish. Do it for ten minutes in morning and for ten minutes in evening and the duration like all other disciplines may be lengthened.
Along with this, if some of the readers who are very keen and interested in burning past karmas very quickly, then they must purify the merudand or the spinal cord by Kriya and Pranayam, but under some guidance of a teacher. Impurities of past karmas are deposited at various levels of the spinal cord technically called chakras or energy centres.
Also silent praying, chanting of mantras, yogic practice of pranayaam, kriya and continuous remembrance of a godly figure purifies the inside of the spinal cord thereby clearing the debris of karmas of past life incarnations.
To be continued…
(Related post- Awareness- the art of right living)
P.S. The first picture on the post is of Kumari Devi Temple in Kathmandu, an incarnation of goddess Durga worshiped by Hindus and Nepali Buddhists alike. If you noticed, there is a stupa at the bottom, then the face with very prominent eyes and finally a very tall golden tower (which could not be accommodated in the frame of the camera.) It looks like a pyramid and can be compared to the pyramid of chakras on which the humans ascend on the evolution path.
The second picture is of meditating Buddha and has a similar design representing the ascending steps like a pyramid.
Key Terms: #three Stages Of Sadhak #three Stages Of Transformation Of Mind #concentration #controlling Senses #opening Of ThirdEye #stillness Of Mind #Arjun Concentration #Draupadi Swayamwar #concentration At The SolarPlexus #concentration At Heart Chakra #concentration At ThirdEye
wonderful inspiration always welcome
om na mah shivayah
Stewart Benson
Thank you Stewart. Very kind of you to appreciate the work done. Trying to do my best. Om Namah Shivaya
Very beautiful, devotional and selfless lines at the top. It reminded me of the Bhagwad Gita where Lord Krsna asks Arjuna to surrender all his actions, thoughts and love to Him, only then can one be free of all the pain and sufferings. It is a very good analogy proving a point once again that indeed the Universal Truth is consistent through out the Entire Tree of Existence. Thank you once again for a gentle guidance towards the Ultimate Goal. I will remember the words of Sri Swami Vivekananda and set myself towards The Goal. 🙂 I have a passport sized photograph of Babaji in my room, and I am pretty sure His Grace has guided me to read this blog.
Dear friend, Surrendering the results of our actions is the key to master the essence of Geeta, the rest all follows. Surrendering to Guru and God means getting rid of your ego, desires and in return freeing yourself from successive suffering of birth and death.
Mahavatar Babaji is omnipresent in nature and has guided you here. May His blessings be with you always.
I am glad you have liked this post and I am sure this can be the starting point of meditation for you, if you have not begun yet. Begin with meditating on the image of Babaji if you wish.
Pranam ma, guru babaji. Thank you so much ma.
“O lord of mine! Surrender, complete surrender to you
I do today; I bow to you completely at Thy Holy Feet”