Updates- An intensive discourse of the posts- In Divine moments with Swami Kartikeyan -I, II & III was conducted in Madurai and Palani in the month of November from 10th to 12th. Some photos and summaries were posted on Facebook as- Recent event of Spiritinlife Part I on 09.12.17. These following files are of the […]
This is the last set of audios of this series. We did 3 posts. 1. When God wills. 2 What God wants from us and 3. In blessed moments with Agastya Maharishi-I, II. This is an important audio as it takes us to the higher realm or kingdom of the blazing enlightened Maharishis or very […]
My dear readers, very splendid and special Diwali greetings to you! Like many previous Diwali days, I have been absorbed completely in the process of compiling a new post. It is a remembrance and gift to all true seekers on this day; to light the lamp of their Spirit within. We are still continuing with […]
Dear revered readers, Bangalore Discourse was concluded on 17th September 2017. 4 posts were taken up for discussion on 16th September in long sessions. First two were from Face book and the rest two were from WordPress. They were- When God Wills! What God wants from us? In blessed moments with Agastya Maharishi-I In blessed […]
I meditated in early hours. Shri Mahavatar Babaji, Guru Gorakh Nath, a Holy Banyan Tree of Himalayas and a divine holy Rudraksh tree this early hour during Brahma Muhurat appeared before me. The time was too quiet, concentrated and tranquil at 5 am. Their blessings touched me gently and their guidance came to bless us all as I heard the last part of this audio. They advised us to follow this guideline-
Advised-Kindly listen to this audio first on Saturday, 19.08.17 any time in one flow and continuity. Then listen to the last one hour only where questions and answers and last paras of the above mentioned post are recorded between 4 am to 6.30 am for full advantage on Sunday 20. 8.17.
Maintain silence and calmness, maun on these days.
Revert only after full absorption is achieved; take more time till thoughts and precepts get crystallized well.
Jai Satguru!
Dear all, this post has come after a reasonable gap. However, we were busy in dealing with older posts from WordPress but they were taken up on Fb starting from Guru Purnima on 9th July 2017 and ending on 16th July for a week. They were from Segment-Our lost rich heritage. I chose those posts which were not heeded since the beginning and whoever devoted time to them were blessed and gained so much. In these posts, I included devotional songs here and there which were related to the topic but in the comment box. That eases the strain on the mind and gives us tremendous joy and even spiritual bliss to many. Those who have not yet availed the good opportunity may please do so.
There are many posts as poems posted on Fb which are difficult to decipher and understand. I took up one such post in Bangalore on 4th June 2017 and that explains the reasons why we should heed to our intuition and submit our mana or mind at the Holy Feet of the Spiritual Masters. And what happens after that has also been described in earlier posts like this one-Why is it important to submit the mind at the Lotus Feet of the Holy Master or Guru? (Fb post no 247 in index dated 21.08.16). This post will be dealt with in the upcoming another Bangalore Discourse on 16th Sept, 2017.
At some point of time, I took up a series of bhajans in 2016 between 27.07.16 and 02.08.16. They were 7 in number as Day 1 to Day 7 on Facebook. As the series of bhajans as posts were hard to comprehend, I have explained one such bhajan of Guru Gorakhnath in Bangalore recently. My posts and consequently their explanations are revelations of the sacred science of Moksha wherever they be-Facebook or WordPress. By understanding these posts, the disciple will be assured of the sincerity of this path besides its sacredness.
Besides, there are some posts on Fb which are directed towards me or my grandson but they benefit humanity because in them the Great Ones or the ancient Holy Sages either speak something about themselves which is completely unknown to the world; or they reveal the path of salvation through the sacred words. A few posts are instigated by one of the greatest rishis-Maharishi Kashayapa whose spiritual earnings are way beyond human comprehension and consumption. Today on this auspicious day, on Fb I will consolidate some posts of Maharishi Kashyapa; they shall benefit all those practitioners and seekers who are seriously seeking and wish to help themselves in knowing how we, as a single soul transcend from one point to another and how important it is to know God to mitigate our lingering sorrows. It was directed to my grandchild though but everyone is supposed to learn from these articles. We have just become mere conduits for the sake of revelation, I wish to clarify so that we all focus promptly and seriously as words are very grave and should be heeded.
Apart from a collection of older posts of Maharishi Kashyapa, a new post on Fb today is due. It shall come up as soon as I compose and translate the sacred words which are transmitted to me two days ago in my long meditations. On every 4th August there will be a new post on Fb in this chain of posts. The older posts of previous 4th Aug, of this series will be stringed every year as a pearl of necklace to beautify our souls and minds…..You shall soon see this new pattern of posts on Fb and savour its intensity.
The audio of this Discourse is a little more than 2 hours; it has the explanation of one poetry of Guru Gorakhnath-Bhola Mana Jane Amar meri kaya… to save your time and effort I have pasted the entire post from Fb on WP for your perusal since this bhajan or spiritual rendition was taken up in Bangalore and is very much present in my Talks.
In this way, I have also consolidated the recent Spiritinlife activities through this post about our activities so that the link between the author and the readers is maintained. Kindly be in constant resonance and connection so that you are always empowered with the energies that are endowed through these articles from time to time.
In the end in Bangalore, we all heard the above bhajan in the gathering but the recording of the song was not too clear. Hence, I have inserted 2 versions of the song-MP3 as well as You Tube. You may choose whatever you like the most or avail both. Please get inside the skin of this musical and lyrical composition and partake ‘prasad’ or grace from all the ancient Holy Masters who are very quietly guiding our Spirits in order to free us from the severe karmic bondages which we have created over centuries…..
Dear devotees and readers, today is an important day for us on which we in India, keep aside a lone day in our calendar to invoke and remember the illumined sages. We worship them. We also thank them and offer our heartfelt gratefulness. We renew our pledge to liberate and redeem ourselves from our own […]
Dear all, we got an inspiration from our Divine Gurus to simplify the process of accessing Spirit in Life discourses in our mobile devices effortlessly – “Podcast” A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files which a user can subscribe to so that new episodes/posts are automatically downloaded to the user’s own local […]
What happens if you submit your mind at the feet of your Holy Master?
This world is so inconstant, body so fickle, mind always restless.
The ephemeral nature of this ever shifting sand of desert-world
Will never allow you to rest fully if you do not understand this fact.
People come and go incessantly, waste their lives in absolute inessentials.
But never spend time to guard their own interests and become immortals.
They live only for sense pleasures and build structures and satisfy their egos.
The puzzle of this never ending delusive world can be cracked by only some.
They are the ones who are totally blessed and blessed by the Almighty God.
They are blessed because they have lived uncountable lives only by God’s will.
They are called Gurus or Sadgurus or Avatars or Chiranjeevs or Amar Atma.
They know how to teach someone crack this entrapping and puzzling Maya.
They are under constant God’s commands and always are doing His duties.
They will first call you, inspect you, and see what lies beneath your inner core.
The core consists of desires and imprints of all the actions performed in all lives.
They work on removal of those dark spots and untangle knots which create desires.
Once the knots are opened, the mind begins to see the facts which are beneficial.
The mind begins to create new actions which are not detrimental and only enhance.
The mind gets peace and rest and the senses begin to rest and the journey begins.
A new life starts which gives more time for the upliftment of one’s own Soul welfare.
The senses are slaves, mind servant, body worker and the Soul lifts and soars freely.
It unites with the Universal Consciousness, it permeates into highest Consciousness.
It is free from shackles of endless lives’ slavery of moaning fiefdom, mental darkness.
It is always free of unwanted fatigue of exhausting, immoral thoughts and sadness.
It is also free from the load of enjoying the ephemeral pleasures which are later painful.
The Holy Masters make you ever free, ever joyous, and ever present in every moment.
The future and past are nullified and each day is lived as a deep gratitude towards Him.
The Soul soars, mind is free and body is always complying since there are no tensions.
These Holy Masters will always guide you quietly and sincerely without your knowledge.
Until one day you wake up and see how hard it is to awaken a dead wood or a sleepy dough.
Once awakened, they shall also become joyous, sincere, one pointed and very concentrated.
They will never err again, they will never go back to their original state of drowsiness or laziness.
They will always be in poise and calmness, mind their own business and never feel ungrateful.
Sorrow and pain will never touch them, disease both mental and physical will be at bay invariably.
So trust your inner voice, submit your mind at the feet of your Holy Masters, do not disturb your poise.
Come to them with an open mind and a pure heart, they will baptize you, purify you with gentleness.
They will also make you soar like them one day in the everlasting heavenly kingdom of the Heavenly Father!
This time related rare Nirguni Bhajan is of Guru Gorakhnath, the disciple of Guru Machandarnath of Northern India sung by Kumar Gandharva again. http://gaana.com/share/titemI699422
“The mind or mana is divided roughly into three sections-lower, middle and top.
On top is the recording of the current or present ongoing activities happening to us.
They are recorded by our senses and interpreted by the everchanging mana or mind.
The recording is first in the senses, then in brain, sometimes called mind, and later in the body of the recipient and finally in mana or manas.
“But Rishivar, I interjected, “You have taught me that the mana is a separate entity while brain is separate and physical in form.
There is light in excess in some areas like the heart, brain and in Kundalini or naval area in someone.
And if the individual has made excessive spiritual progress, in that specific individual there is more light near the heart.
The minds of the rishis or sages are extra ordinary but they like to hide their personalities and stay in seclusion.
You have told me so many more secrets of extra ordinary humans or enlightened beings which I should never divulge to all since they are excluded from it.
It was only you who could answer me in wholesome and copious manner to my very old lingering question.
More than thirty-five years ago, I had asked this question in a big gathering of aspirants and you already know of it.
Prior to that, I read many books to hunt and know in detail about the so-called mind or mana.
This is a very intriguing and troublesome question since we all are suffering in so many ways.
All the holy scriptures like the Bhagwat Gita and Vedas clearly point out that one must control the mind to end the suffering.
I have always questioned right from the beginning- Where is my mind, how can I address it and put it in tight reins?
The brain is made of countless cells, how can the physical in nature thing and protein made cells guide or misguide me?
This means that the brain and mind are two different things, one is brain which is the master and guide of the body.
And the other is an entity which is invisible yet very prominent and forceful is its personality.
I can develop my brain with good food, exercise, sleep and mental, creative as well as other variety of exercises.
But where is my mana, the so called manas in scriptures? Where to find it? Where is its placement or location in myself?
In the past many years in my wonderful meditations beginning from Pondicherry onwards until now.
You have been very silently, sometimes without my even being aware have been sending out rays of your mental powers.
And powerful vibrations of highest kinds to transfer your brilliant knowledge slowly to me.
I am your best recipient of this stellar collection; I have received colossal divine knowledge from you.
Anyhow, I shall never tell the world about it in detail; they must earn it with their own hard penance.
Whatever God wants the world to know shall be revealed but only with your consent and agreement.
God has decided to tell the world about his hidden, brilliant children who did excessive penance in ancient times.
Kindly break your long silence Maharishi and tell the world something at least by which they shall be enriched forever.”
Two days went by but no words spoken by him; I decided to leave the subject where it was.
Then on an auspicious day of twenty-eighth October 2016’s afternoon, such plentiful peace rays fell all over my inner being.
An exclusive period of deep silence captured me, ah! peace in entire body and I went into very deep trans and further slipped inside.
I very easily knew it was him now who was telling me those further mystic revelations and I understood that it was time to now tell about the puzzling mind to you.
Bogar Rishivar- “Since God is very pleased with you for all the sacrifices you have made to serve us.
It is you in the history of mankind who will get the privilege of researching about mana and telling the world what it really is.
Since so many centuries, no one has made any research in what is mind, how does it work and where it is located.
Some modern researches has been done by doctors in brain but they are not rishis who have the third eye and vision divine!
“Mind and body are separate, in body is the brain which you call mana or mind erroneously.
Mana is in the subtle body though temporarily situated in the physical body when you are alive, but never inside it.
Its place is near the heart; it constitutes of ethereal layers and is made by food and your thoughts.
It is an instrument to feel, perceive, and even guide and is a force that is to be reckoned with if it is fully revived!
Do not be confused with these two terms, mana and mind, though they look alike but are so different and never one.
The people in the world are so muddled, they do not know what is mana or manas in Sanskrit.
There are two very distinct units, one is the visible brain or the supposed mind and the second is manas or mana.
Both look same but are never one because the first one is brain, the nervous system seated in the skull.
I pondered and interjected to enrich the conversation by asking a fair question without compromising on the sage’s honour and respect.
I politely questioned, “It is these cells in the brain which get connected and perform actions and our body functions properly.
How come that is not the mind or manas since it is the primary source of motivation and initiation?
All our life we all have understood that the mind is the brain and it is the mind that rules the body and also us.”
Bogar Rishivar– “God has kept this most intriguing fact hidden and very challenging to search and know until now.
From time since man came to be born, he did not know if there was any special power hidden within.
Which if tapped and developed in special ways could be resourcefully triggered and harnessed for optimum.
Only some millennia ago, some wise men went deep inside themselves by going into tranquil forests to research.
Silence taught them that peace within was so necessary for living and the ever-changing world was so ephemeral.
They found that there was a special source inside them which was a store house of incredible powers.
They shut out from the world and maintained silence for many years until the doors began to open.
They also stopped their unnecessary thoughts and stopped its wandering and made it more concentrated and linear.
They found that there is a place near their heart which first gets stimulated and stirs.
From there the vibration reaches the top of the head and a series of activities are undertaken after that.
This means that there was an initiating power, a motivating power which germinates from a source which they termed ‘manas’
‘Manas’ was a word which was close to ‘maanush’ or human being and ‘maanush’ stood out from animals and inanimate things.
First comes the vibration or ‘tarang’ in manas, through very small and through very fine nerves, the vibration is transported to a specific part of the brain.
The brain is like a machine which responds to commands or orders from yet another source or else who can make your brain function?
The ‘mana; first decides by its will power that it wants to do a particular action and wants to get it translated into reality in physical world from abstract.
The brain and the rest of the body get electric currents to start up and the parts of the brain from specific quarters are ready to answer!”
I was stupefied, I was awestruck, I was thrilled and I won’t be shy to tell you that I was nervous as well while I was writing all this.
If you are asked to do landmark actions in human history, who will not get nervous and edgy?
Turning the wheel around and creating new records are not only fascinating but are full of responsibilities and labour.
Honour and fame is not the goal, the aim is to correct the long stored records of human spiritual endeavours and the mind!
Bogar Rishivar– “The mind will be called mana and brain mastiksha by me to remove all your doubts.
Mana and mastiksha or mind and brain respectively are interrelated, are two very different identities.
Very intriguingly, there are three segments or levels in the mana –sthool, sukshma and kaaran.
Sthool means physical, sukshma subtle and kaaran causal-sthool concerns the physical realm, sukhsma subtle and kaaran causal realm.
The mana can be in three stages- the state of being in the physical world called sthool or physical.
It can next go a bit inside and enter sukshma or feeling, perceiving state and lastly it can go to its foundation- the kaaran or ego state-the ‘I am’ state.
Beyond these three states is shunya or emptiness or void where one meets God in light, peace and knowledge.
Since this topic is very hard to grasp for all, let me now elaborate for you further although speaking for so long is a tedious job!
Top is termed as conscious mind or mana, middle sub conscious and lower is the unconscious.
Everything that we think, wonder, do, act or observe is captured as a movie and printed in the various levels of mana.
Together it is a single unit and the printing on the surface is happening every moment to micro minute or second.
Though one unit, functions of levels are different because time, one’s will power and intensity also matters in its composition.
The mana is made of fragments of thoughts or sankalpas, imagination, ideas, creativity, will power, assumptions and a lot more.
It is like very thin shreds of thread which are not visible but the colour, texture, design of the cloth is so apparent.
The mind or mana is one unit though, but in fact it is a vast collection of many experiences, actions, resolutions and wills of humans.
It is the biggest power that any human can possess if harnessed and developed and retained well in multiple lives!
How is the mind formed? How should we look after our precious and impressionable mind?
How not to age or degenerate? How to preserve the longevity of the well-structured and advanced mind?
How to organize the mind to avoid losing its memory and functionality?
How to avoid the disturbing or destructive forces which reduce your power?
You must listen to me very carefully if you wish to do the complete restructuring of your mind to get a new one.
You must lead a very disciplined and austere life and finish all your social obligations to create time and space in your brain.
You will never again do any unsophisticated action and will always practice God union and communication.
You must use your senses only as doors or windows to receive outside information and never to indulge!
You are a tender soul my little girl and often wonder why are we always seeing so much unhappiness and grief and suffering?
What can be done to stop that and how can we bring more joy, peace and godly sensibilities?
In this time the Kaliyug era, maximum people are going astray and drifting; they seem to have lost control over their lives and are so disorderly.
I will tell you why all this is happening, it is you all who must find the answers to these questions in this elaborate rendition.
As you have already qualified all the requisitions my sweet daughter, I give you a bouquet of flowers as my gift.
I am satisfied with your hard work, honesty towards mankind, sincerity towards your sacred masters and family members.
You are a deserving candidate and my successor to this very hard to achieve sacred science and pious undertaking.
Only a part will be known to the world through you, rest of the science I shall impart to you exclusively individually.
The mind is a store house of rays of light composed at the first moment when an individual decides to enter a physical body.
Initially it is only and only rays of God’s light, energy, imagination or Kalpana, creativity and God’s power to think and propagate joy.
Slowly as delusion, the power of misconception and confusion becomes overwhelming, its gross element enters the first upper most layer.
If not removed, the dark matter particle enters the mind’s next layer and light ray is replaced by a dense particle of matter!
This was the first ever step when Atma became jeevatma and the mana, or mind a separate entity from God became two entities.
Over many lives, the mind became more matter and less Spirit as the three layers of mind were deeply dipped with thoughts of only matter.
The original state was lost to a new formed state of being and the new state brought along with it unhappiness, suffering and more complications.
All the three levels of the mind became permanent recipients of ignorance of God and God related subjects.
The main culprit in the corruption of the mind of today’s masses and public is the slow degeneration of sacred values and loss of virtues.
If the God ordained rules of rightful living and respect for sacred texts are forgotten by the individuals, they are sure to be doomed.
Human values are foremost values, God’s commandments in the sacred texts are the protectors of evils.
Human mind gets fully destroyed if it is not looked after its own wellbeing and its sanctity preserved.
If you wish to make your life and mind worth living and care to find out how from an ancient soul who never erred and always lived for God.
Take his very rich experience of knowing God to greatest heights and relive your life by following his beneficial advice.
Follow the holy scriptures, worship the wise sages, serve the saints, serve all humanity and take care of your family.
Consecrate this life in search of God and never allow your mind to again become restless, unhealthy and full of misgivings!!”
Hari Om Tatsat! Hari Om Tatsat! Hari Om Tatsat!
My request to all-Kindly read this post very, very carefully and slowly. It is one of the most challenging posts to compose. I am referring to part II and III only. The reason is-It was a very brief, lucid and abbreviated, neat post which I finished quickly on 26th October itself. Probably the first version was just for me. It was a difficult one. In the last two days, I was wondering if I should plead and ask the Maharishi to tell us more and explain exponentially. As it his nature to utter so little, God heard my dilemma and helped me out.
The poetry was elaborated and the present elongated version seems alright. Hope you can resolve many definitions of the mind or mana. You could also refer to Swami Shivanandji’s best commentaries on this subject in his book- Mind, its control and mysteries.
News
Dear Readers, it is a great day of joy and celebration when we have arrived on this day when Spiritinlife blog is nine years old! What an incredible journey it has been so far!!
My most humble pranaam and revered prostrations at the Lotus Feet of all our Gurudevas from Param Pujya Shri Mahavatar Babaji and his own Gurus and param Gurus, Swami Kartikeyan, Bogarnathar and other stalwarts like Guru GorakhNath and Swami Shivananda. It is because of them that I was able to achieve the capacity to receive extra ordinary spiritual knowledge in many meditations from none other than Swami Bogarnathar himself. It was a very unique, trying and grim subject with the title-What is our mind and how is it formed?
Not only this, it was equally if not more, a tough task to be able to explain and pass on this knowledge to the listeners in Rishikesh Worshop in April, a few weeks ago. (Rishikesh Workshop was held on 22nd, 23rd & 24th April 2017) It took a lot of courage from my side to permit myself to speak for the first time about my personal anecdotes and experiences of my spiritual life. Or even experiences of how I make these posts and how much more is given to me apart from these nuggets in posts! All this and much more you shall find in my Talks of these three days in Rishikesh posts of 22nd, 23rd and 24th April in a serial.
And these Talks are in Hindi for the first time and I don’t feel any difference in the standard as well as the quality of my Talks. On the contrary, it shall reach many more people and most of Indians especially the Hindi speaking gentry will get initiated into a subject such as what is our mana? The challenge was not the language but it was how do I explain in such a brief time such an in-depth and grave subject which was concise yet an ocean of knowledge given to me. There were question answers also in the gathering and hence the duration got extended in spite of me tracking time all the time.
There are 6 videos and audios of my talks in Rishikesh. Apart from that I have also inserted one post in all three posts of Rishikesh from Fb and WP to help you understand about these ancient sages. They are- i)The shining Stars in the Galaxy ii) Why is it important to submit our mind at the Holy feet of the master or Guru? And iii) What happens if your submit your mind at the Holy feet of the Master?
This post is dedicated to the one Spiritual Master who accelerated my spiritual growth after I surrendered to Him with all my faith and love some years ago. He unexpectedly arrived in my life as a sweet fragrance, as a gentle breeze, like a spectular golden yellow moonlight which brightens up the sky amiably on a dark, dark night!!
Yes, this post is again consecrated to my revered Holy Spiritual Master whose Grace fell on me during the most lean period of my life and it was because of Him that I resurrected from the ashes to the highest astral skies like a phoenix! It was due to His compassion that the frontiers of all the gates to the vast world of spiritual knowledge and other spiritual sciences were flung open for me so very generously!! My persistent quest in life at that time period was to decipher –
What is life? Why are we here? Why do we suffer so much? What happens after we die? Where do we go once we shed the cast of the soul known as body? What is liberation or moksha? When will I be liberated? Who will liberate me? What is Ananda or divine bliss? What is karma? Why is it that our karmas bind us? How not to be tied up with the result of the karmas done by us? What will I become or what will my life be like once I am completely liberated from the effects of all my bad karmas? What inspires someone to do good karmas? What is guru bhakti? What is Ishwar bhakti ? What happens when one is liberated? What is the state of mind of the realized soul or an illumined Soul? What is the nature of God? What is the relationship of a single soul with that of Universal soul? What is Cosmic Consciousness? What is Universal Self? How to communicate with that Universal Self or God?? How does my life alter once I can communicate with the Universal Self???And lastly the final question that I had to solve was- Who is my Guru and when will he come???
All these questions and many such more were answered when my Param Guru Shri Mahavatar Babaji made sure that I get to know them either directly from Him or other Gurus or some other sources and agencies of nature in this Universe.
My dear revered readers, there are long gaps in new postings on WordPress. The reason is valid; I am holding quite a few direct conversations and interactions with interested seekers in different cities. I am thoroughly busy with explaining the hidden meanings of my articles to people who come to meet me in my Workshops […]
Today, the sixth day of the last month December.
A day of complete surrender, and complete calm and peace.
A day of renunciation of slightest personal will or individual desire.
A new dawn, a new beginning, a new start.
A day full of inspiration and 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 a new book!!
As I utter these words of the Divine, there was before this a circle of opulent beatific Light.
Gathered in me between the two eyes of mine.
Pale yellow it was, and within some instants it vanished and went back in the blue sky.
This is not any poem but the flow of the Great Masters’ Grace who are watching over us.
Giving us enlightenment, solutions and raising us to the consciousness of level Higher.
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 burnt all, 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 and
Spread your Light, happiness and delight
And emancipating knowledge of Supreme.
And forever live in the inner chambers of your benevolent heart!
Hidden from the eyes of the people malevolent everywhere.
Yet serve them, my kind compassionate Master.
In serving them I express my love for you, my beloved.
As the expression of my gratitude towards you can only
Be expressed in no other but just this way!!
These lines of inspiration came as a surprise gift on a beautiful morning and is the precursor to the new post on the blog. The composition is also the continuation of the theme and subject that was dealt in the previous post as to how to increase the level of our Consciousness. The Great Masters are always there to show us the right path and methods of raising our level of consciousness. To know ourselves, there is a definite course of path to be undertaken by us as shown by the experts.
There are 3 stages of a seeker or sadhak while advancing on his way up and they are-
1. The stage of knowing
2. The stage of practice and
3. 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-
1. Concentration- to stop wandering and scattering of the mind
2. Stilling the mind -to silence it and
3. Lastly the Transcendental stage – to reach Super Consciousness and practice of remaining in the Superconsciousness state as much as it is possible.
Concentration-By nature, the flow of the energy of the mind of all people is outside. 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 mundance 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. No wonder in Bhagwad Geeta, Lord Krishna emphasized great importance of controlling the senses by which the mind’s restlesssnes 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-
Dear readers, here are 5 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 revd. masters so that their invisible yet profound help and guidance reach you in all possible maner and 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.
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. 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 flower and so on. They all were asked to step aside. When Arjun was called 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 immense and he spent all his energy by practicing it while others played and in future 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 practioner can fly in the limitless skies of Super consciousness far and wide. So we seekers should learn to concentrate like Arjuna and we 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 upto 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 superconsciousness 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 and 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 pranayam, 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…