Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Bliss is the experience when the soul is known;
Anguish, if the Truth remains unknown.
The knower of God verily becomes HIM.

Embodiments of the Divine Atma!

The Kundalini Shakti lies dormant in the Mooladhara chakra beneath the navel in man. In order to awaken it he should undertake dhyana. The awakened Kundalini proceeds from the Mooladhara chakra to the Sahasrara chakra (thousand-petalled lotus) through the Swadishtana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha and Ajna chakras.

The aspirant should sit in the Padmasana with his head, neck and spine in one straight line, as it were, to facilitate the smooth and unimpeded movement of the Kundalini power. Some hold the view that while engaged in dhyana the gaze should be fixed at the point between the two eye-brows. However, the Gita advises us to fix upon the tip of the nose (nasagra) and to contemplate upon the Lord who resides in our hearts. To experience the true delight of dhyana, the sadhaka should not shut his eyes completely, as this would induce him to laya or sleep. They should be kept half-open as this would help eradicate the Rajasic and the Tamasic gunas.

It is often the experience of the one who is newly initiated into the path of dhyana, that he is not able to enjoy fully the bliss of dhyana for want of mental tranquility. His mind, as a result of the intimate association it has had with the external world with all its fantasies and temptations, is unable to fix itself steadily on the object of meditation. The first imperative in dhyana, therefore, is the proper channelization of thoughts in the desired direction through mind control.

'Practice makes man perfect'. To gain perfection even in the most ordinary and routine acts like walking, reading or writing, constant practice is necessary. The process of dhyana, too, calls for steadfast and sincere practice.

The first step in controlling the mind consists in impressing upon it the fact that the world is transient and that, consequently, the pleasures derived therein are momentary. Sensory pleasures give no contentment. The more the sensory desires are satisfied, the more they grow in number and intensity, just as the fire increases in fury as we feed it with more and more of faggots.

The mind has no independent identity of its own. It is a conglomeration of the desires that sprout from the impulses. A cloth is essentially a bundle of threads. Threads, in their turn, are basically cotton. Similarly, desires arise from basic impulses and the mind is constituted of these desires. Just as a piece of cloth disintegrates if threads in it are pulled apart, the mind too can be destroyed by the eradication of desires.

The heart can be compared to the sky; the mind, to the moon; and the intellect, to the sun. The thoughts that are generated in the mind are like the clouds that pass away. The cause for one's happiness and misery or pleasure and pain lies in his thoughts. However, these twin ideas of happiness and misery or pleasure and pain obtain relevance only in the world of dualities. Just as the camera gives photographic impressions of the objects upon which it is focussed, the mind absorbs the impressions of the objects it is directed at. The more it is directed towards the world of sensory pleasures, the farther it makes man away from God. An episode in the Ramayana clearly illustrates this.

Sita, accompanying Lord Rama, went to the forest in an attitude of total renunciation of the world. However, she was enchanted by the golden deer in the forest and desired it. This desire separated her from Lord Rama and she had to languish in Lanka.

Sita is the divine daughter of Mother Earth. She knew fully well that the golden deer in the forest was not real. But, she chose to play this drama to warn man of the dangers wrought by a mind that hankers after worldly possessions.

The seeker in his practice of dhyana should not, therefore, be pulled by the fanciful vagaries of the mind. For the pursuit of dhyana, purity of heart is essential. Man should realize that the same Atma activates all creatures. He should share the joys and sorrows of others as if they are his own. When man develops this feeling of spiritual empathy, he becomes eligible to attain Divinity through the pursuit of dhyana.

Man's greatness is not revealed in the mighty tasks that he undertakes ostentatiously. It is displayed rather in the little acts executed with absolute sincerity and largeness of heart. We must seek to sanctify every little work we perform with a sense of dedication to God.

What is the cause of man's misery? Is sorrow natural to man or is it a mere artifact? Ignorance is the ultimate cause of sorrow. Attachment arises from ignorance and leads to birth, which may be called the immediate cause of sorrow. We must, therefore, strive to remove our ignorance and avoid sorrow. Sorrow is not natural to man. Were it so, its elimination would have led to the extinction of the human nature. The baby bubbling over with joy in its cradle points to the fact that joy is natural to man. With the child playing happily in its cradle, the mother nonchalantly carries on with the household chores. But, a sudden cry from the baby makes the mother give up her work and rush to it, and she searches for an insect or ant that could possibly have made the baby cry.

We never ask anyone why he is happy; on the other hand, we ask a troubled man the reason for his sorrow. Joy is indeed the natural state of man and sorrow is unnatural to him. Human life must radiate joy and happiness; to think otherwise is the result of ignorance. We must recognize and proclaim the real nature of human life and its innate divinity by observing certain disciplinary regulations.

Krishna taught the path of Truth to all mankind through Arjuna. 'Arjuna' means purity and sanctity. There is a renowned place of pilgrimage named 'Srisailam' in Andhra Pradesh. A great shrine where Iswara is worshipped as 'Mallikarjuna' and His consort as 'Bhramaramba' stands there. If we grasp the inner significance of these two names, we shall be in a position to understand the inner meaning of life. 'Mallika' is jasmine and 'Arjuna' means pure and white. Parvati, the mother of the world is compared to a 'Bhramara' or a dark bee. Thus the Divine Mother who is like the dark bee enters the heart of Iswara who resembles the pure and white jasmine and drinks the nectar of His love. The bee of our mind must enter the flower of our heart and drink the nectar of the grace of Iswara installed therein.

Often we refer to the 'brotherhood of man' as an ideal. But there are several brothers who quarrel among themselves and carry their litigations even up to the Supreme Court. To recognize the one-ness of the Spirit is an even higher ideal than that of the brotherhood of man. Therefore, seekers must strive to go beyond the level of 'brotherhood of man' and realize through experience that the same Atma dwells in all creations.