Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Truth about Oneself

The purpose of Shastra study is to discover oneself as whole, as secure. Dhanyoham, Shantoham, Asangoham, Purnoham, Triptoham, Shuddhoham

Dhanyoham – I am blessed

Shantoham – I am peace. I am silence.

Asangoham – I am unaffected – I am unattached – I am free

Purnoham – I am whole, I am secure, I am love, I am complete

Triptoham – I am fulfilled

Shuddhoham – I am pure

Acaloham – I am motionless


 

If this indeed is the nature of oneself, then only one can discover these facts. Shruti says this is the nature of yourself. Wise people who have discovered these facts say this is so.


 

So to help us to discover these facts about oneself – there is a whole methodology of teaching. The teaching takes into account that there is an individual living in the world, who wants to discover himself or herself as whole, secure and complete. This individual, thinks that to be whole and secure, he must make changes to the world around him or her.

The individual does not understand at first, that no matter what changes he brings about in the world around him, it cannot make him whole and secure … because a wholeness or completeness that is dependent on any external factor, is subject to change at any time.

Discovery of wholness, completeness and security has to centered upon oneself alone – a self who is not subject to time, place and object. If the self is subject to time, place or any condition whatsoever – then it is not possible to discover oneself as secure or complete … because there will be change at some point or the other.

So now the question is does such a self exist … a self that is not subject to time, place or any condition. Here is where Shastra comes in and teaches … YES … such a self exists … that self is whom we call GOD …. not subject to change.

You can say that I do not know of anything which does not change….

Hey the very fact that you know changes … points to the changless. Change cannot be known, unless there is a changless reference. The teaching of Vedanta points out that, there is a changless truth … and that changless reference is free of all attributes, is free of form and that is your self …. a self that is ever-present, ever-existent and in whose presence everything that is known or knowable is illumined. Not only is this changless self independent of everything… (now Shatra reveals a rahasyam ) this changeless prakashaka is also the very adhistana or basis or content of everything…

In Chapter 7 of Bhagavad Gita – there is a beautiful exposition of Isvara's svarupa. There Isvara is pointed out as para prakriti plus apara prakriti. The apara prakriti is the changing manifestation of Ishvara … and the para prakriti is the changless, formless nature of Isvara. There are four difference between these two :-

Para Prakriti

Apara Prakriti

  1. is the consciousness principle – cetana tattva

Acentana tattva - inert principle

  1. Attributless - nirguntva

With attributes - sagunatva

  1. Does not undergo any change

    Nirvirkara tattva – modification less, free of time, space – unconditional, unaffected by time

Subject to modificaton, subject to change – savikara tattva

  1. Satya Tattva – absolute reality – independent reality

MITHYA tattva – depends on para prakriti for its existence – has no independent existence – like wave has no independent existenec from water.


 

This Isvara alone was there before creation … sadeva soumya idam agra aasiit …

So this changless tattva is the illuminator ( of all changes) as well as the adhistana … the very basis or content of everything that is illumined….. totally free of all that is illumined.

Such a self is there … and this self is an already existing fact … this fact has to be discovered by each individual.

Vedanta is pointing out an existing fact … Vedanta is not a mere concept … There is an existing truth about yourself. Use Vedanta as a means of knowledge … for knowing the ever-existing truth about yourself that can never be negated.

The bottom line for that fact is that there is a fundamental truth about you the individual that does not change. So you must ascertain, what changes … and what does not change.

What changes is apara prakriti.

Let is ascertain what changes – the world around you changes

  • the body changes
  • the mind changes
  • the ego changes
  • the waker changes
  • the dreamer changes
  • the deep sleeper changes
  • the waking world changes
  • the dream world changes
  • the deep sleep absence of world changes


 

What does not change?

The light of consciousness, in whose presence these changes are illumined. This light of consciousness is the truth about you that can never be destroyed… it never changes … it is never born – it ever-is … it never dies. It is totally independent of all that is illumined in its presence, even though all that is illumined is totally dependent on it.

This light of consciousness in itself is totally free of all attributes. Yet it has the capacity to appear as all that is changing.

So Shastra wants you recognize this existing fact … this existing reality about yourself – without which you will not be able to have experience whatsoever.

In the light of that discovery, one meditates, one contemplates…..

I meditate on the Lord, the ever-auspicious, ever-present light of consciousness, the changeless core of peace and silence that is my self, that is ever unaffected.

Shantoham, Asangoham, Purnoham, Triptoham, Shuddhoham

Dhanyoham – I am blessed – the Lord the ever-auspicious, ever-present light of consciousness, the changeless core of peace and silence is verily my self. I am verily that light of consciousness.

Shantoham – I am peace. I am silence. I am changeless. I am indestructible.

Asangoham – I am unaffected – I am unattached – I am free – I am indeed satyam

Purnoham – I am whole – there is no dent in me – there are no parts in me.

I am secure – I am indestructible

I am the love, the ananda that everybody is searching for

I am complete

Triptoham – I am fulfilled

Shuddhoham – I am pure – I am totally free of raha-dvesha, I am totally free of ignorance

Acaloham – I am motionless


 

As individuals living in this world, we have total identification with the body. Even wise man has identification with the body – without body identification it is not possible to do anything. However the difference is that the wise man, recognizes, and acknowledges that he is indeed the indestructible truth – he recognizes the changless truth about himself …. and identifies with the changless. His "I" sense is no longer with the body-mind-sense complex only.

Since this truth is an existing fact… and recognition of this truth about oneself liberates one from endless suffering,shastra says you must make the effort to recognize this truth. First you must come to know about it using Shastra as a means of knowledge – let there be sravanam. This sravanam will not have effect unless there is anatahkarna shuddhi … so work for anatah karana shuddhi … let your life be transformed … live your life as a bhakta … a bhakta of truth … the truth that is God. The truth that is God pervades your daily life …. recognize the truth of God in your daily life…. be a devotee. Let your life be transformed with new attitudes … and the result is peace of mind and antahkarana shuddhi.

Now when you do sravana, it will begin to make sense. Still you have doubts … so let there be manana. …. to remove all your doubts. After that still the dehatma-buddhi is strong … so do nidhidhyasana .. contemplate … In a quiet frame of mind … recognize yourself to be the prakashaka…. the the one in whose presence all thoughts are illumined. Again and again may you contemplate, in different ways…. with "I"/ sakshi as locus and Brahman or Isvara as locus. … drshya anuviddha samadhi, sabda anuviddha samadhi…. and may this kind of constant contemplation lead to total uprooting of the dehatma-buddhi and being establised in Brahma buddhi.

Om Tat Sat

Monday, January 11, 2010

Meditation – Adapted from Swami Dayananda

OM...... OM...... OM........OM ......... OM .........

Unless you choose , there is no disturbance. The external world , consisting of these sounds from birds would disturb you , if you choose. The choice is relatively silent situation.

The birds would not disturb you if you let go your choice and be yourself. The external world simply becomes a fact. If it consists of words like these or chants or the noise from the birds, they are all the facts. It has no capacity to disturb you. The external world can disturb, can hurt the physical body… not the simple conscious being that you are.

As a person, the external world has no capacity to disturb you when you recognize yourself to be the ever-present simple conscious being always. In this meditation let go your choice and simply be. Become familiar with what it is to be oneself, without being the one who has to choose always. If you are familiar with yourself as you are, free of roles, free of choice, you never choose to get disturbed. This is a very basic fact.

One has to be familiar with oneself, free from choice.

You are a conscious person. Without choice you hear these words. What choice did you have, when you hear the external sounds? You have no choice. That is how the fact is. If you can hear, you hear OM ....... OM ...... OM ...... OM ....... Let whatever happens in your mind. When you are accepting it, you are accepting yourself. You are non-judgemental. In other words, you are kind to yourself. Kindness to another person is to be non-judgemental. Understand, it's the same thing with reference to yourself, as being non-judgemental. Let the mind be as it is.


 

OM .......... OM .......... OM ...... Sri.. Rama ... Sri .....

Rama ..... OM ..... OM ..... OM ....... Sri Rama ... OM .......

Santih ........ Santih ........ Santih ....... OM ........

Thursday, January 7, 2010

‘Creation’ in Hinduism – Swami Dayananda


 

Hinduism is the tradition based on very ancient Scriptures called the Vedas. Like other religions, Hinduism has its own theological concepts about God and heaven. But what makes it special is that it says that 'You are the Whole' - meaning it talks about your basic identity with God. That is Vedanta, which is the essence of the Vedas and the very foundation of Hinduism. Everything that helps you discover the truth of yourself - attitudes, values, emotional growth, spiritual practices - is a part of Vedanta.

A spiritual pursuit is that which is to be accomplished here and now, by gaining the vision that you are the whole. So a Vedic religious life culminates in Vedanta, in the discovery that you are the whole. Everything else in the Vedas, is a preparation for that discovery. Your entire life is a part of that preparation. That is the Vedic vision.

Again the Vedic vision of creation is meant to help one discover the truth of one's identity with God. In the Vedic vision, creation does not mean that there is somebody sitting somewhere who has created this world. In the Vedic vision, this universe is looked upon as a manifestation, an intelligent, unfolding of the Lord's Omniscience. The Lord is looked upon both as the efficient cause and the material cause of the Universe.

This vision is what will be unfolded in the rest of this article in the words of my Guru H.H Sri Swami Dayananda Sarswati.


 

Understanding the Lord as the Maker and the Material of the Universe


 

The Lord is the cause for whatever is here, known or unknown.

When I look at the world, i find a scheme of things enjoying a certain order. Whenever there
is an assembly, made up of a number of components put together intelligently, serving a certain purpose, we call that assembly a creation. When things are not put together chaotically - like one's throwing things in a garbage can - but put together in a meaningful way, such that all things become total, that single total entity is called a creation. The chair on which you are sitting is a creation. A chair is an assembly, consisting of a number of components put together meaningfully and serving a certain purpose and therefore it is a creation. Similarly, a car is an intelligent assembly; it consists of a number of components such as engine, radiator, tires, gears and so on. A heap of these components would not make a car. When they are intelligently assembled such that the engine is where it should be and the wheels are where they should be, what should be moving moves and what should be stationery is so, there you have an assembly to serve the purpose is designed for. Thus a car is a creation. A clock is a creation. Your shirt is a creation. A nucleus is a creation. A solar system is a creation. All the laws o nature are creation.

This physical body is a creation, a marvelous creation. You look at any part of the body and you will be convinced of this fact. These arms have the right number of joints, otherwise they would not be able to perform the functions they are performing now. Eyes, ears, heart, legs - these are not ordinary designs. Look at the function of the heart. It is a simple pump that continuously performs its function for a number of years. It takes a great deal of engineering and a great deal of money to make an artificial heart.

Thus the more we think the more we see the meaningful order in the creation. I find that everything is a marvel when I look into it. Every cell is a marvel. Even the man-made things such as rockets, computers etc. are marvels and I have been given an intellect to discover and enjoy the marvels.


 


The Creator Must be Omniscient and Omnipotent


 

Thus, this world is an intelligent assembly, serving a definite purpose and therefore it is a creation. It is an intelligent creation, which implies knowledge. the maker of a given thing must have the knowledge of the thing. Whether it is a pot or a cloth or a bread, you must know all about it before you can make it. Whether it turns out to be the way you wanted it depends upon your experience, skill, resources etc., but you must necessarily know about it before you start making it.

The logic is that the creator of a given thing has the knowledge of that thing. The creator of a pot has the knowledge of the pot. When we extend this logic to the creation of the universe, it can be said; that the creator of everything must have knowledge of everything. He must be Omniscient.

Over an above the knowledge; the creator must also have the skill and energy to create. so, the creator of the universe must have all the power and skill to create everything. In other words, the creator must be Omnipotent.

Once we accept that there is a creator for this universe, then it follows that the creator must be omniscient and omnipotent. And the knowledge and skill always rest in a conscious being and so the creator of the universe must be a conscious being who must be omniscient and omnipotent.


 

Where is God?


 

Now a question naturally arises with respect to the creator. Where is this creator? It is quite clear that the creator is not here nor anywhere around and therefore we assign him a place that is beyond our reach, beyond the reach of our eyes, ears and thoughts. We call that place the heaven, where our sense perception, our inference, our pesumption have no access. Some people call it Vaikuntha, some call it kailasaa. Let us call it heaven. And where is it? Up there. That is why people look up, throw their arms up when they pray to God. No one ever looks down while addressing God.

Now a question arises, if God in heaven created this world, who created Heaven? we have to say God. Since heaven is also a part of creation, it could not have been thre before creation, so the next question is: Where was God before the creation of heaven?

The question remains unanswered and that is part of one's problem gtoo because one is as good as one's understanding. If one is not at home with one's understanding, how is one going to be at home with oneself, how is one going to accept oneself?


 

The Maker and the Material are One.


 

The question as to where God is, does not get answered unless we look at the whole thing as the Vedas do. When we inquire into the creation and its cause, we should not confine ourselves to a part, but should look at the whole. We cannot get the right answers if we ask the wrong questions, because the answer is always in keeping with the question and so, if we ask the right question, there will be a right answer.

When we inquire into the nature of the cause for creation, we find there must be two causes for any creation: the maker and the material. the maker, the one who is responsible for creation, is called the efficient cause or nimmita-karana. And there also must be some material out which any given thing can be created. For creation of a pot for example, such as clay or copper or brass, out of which the pot is made. For baking bread, there must be a baker and also the flour out of which the bread can be baked. With reference to the creation of the universe if the Lord, God is the maker, the efficient cause, the question is : What is the material out of which God created this world? When we are inquiring into the nature of the cause of the creation, we must take into account the material also.

Where did the Lord find the material? Here, we must also bear in mind that both space and time are part of the creation and so, before creation, there is nothing outside the creation because 'outside' is a concept in space which is not yet created. Therefore, there is nothing outside the Lord before creation and so the material should also be within the Lord. That is why he is called the Lord. Therefore not only is the Lord the maker, but He is the material too.

tasmaad vaa etasmat akasha sambhutah (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1.1) - from the Lord that is this self, akasa the space was born. From the space was born air, from air was born fire; from fire, water; from water, earth was born. Vedas give us this model of the five elements for the creation of the world. The world is nothing but these five elements and their combinations.

While explaining how the maker and the material o this universe are one, the Vedas give us the illustration of a spider. yathornanaabhih srhate grnhate ca (Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.7) just as a spider creates a (web) and withdraws it too. The spider is the efficient cause of the web because it has the intelligence and the skill to create the web. It chooses the right place for the web where it would not be swept away by the lady of the house and where it can get its prey. This shows the spider has intelligence. And the material for the web is the secretion of a gland which it finds within itself. So too,, the Lord projects this creation and withdraws it unto Himself at the time of dissolution.

It is like your own dream. In the dream, you are the maker of the dream world, and you are also the material cause for the dream manifestation. Therefore we only use 'creation' in the sense of the knowledge that is involved, the vision that is involved. In that sense we can say the universe is a creation. But from the stand-point of the material cause, the universe which consists of both known and unknown, is a manifestation of the Lord.

In the dream you are the maker of the dream world. You are a knowledgeable person endowed with the capacity (sakti) to make that dream world. And being not separate from the material that is necessary for the dream world, you pervade the entire dream world. The dream space is you, because the effect is always sustained by the material. Your shirt, for instance, is sustained by the fabric; it cannot be independent of the fabric. You cannot even imagine a shirt minus some fabric. That is an astounding fact. This is true with reference to any one thing. You can't think of a building without thinking of the materials that have gone into it. When you see this kind of a situation, one thing becomes clear - no object can be independent of the material of which it is made. Even though the object is named differently from the material - shirt and cotton - spelled differently, and understood differently, at the same time, the two objects referred to by two different words really refer to one substance alone. that is cotton. We can go further and say that cotton is but fibers, the fibers are molecules, molecules are atoms, atoms are particles and so on. Everything is sustained by something else. At the particle level it becomes a concept.

Therefore we see that an effect is not separate from its material cause. In understanding the Lord we use the dream example to assimilate that fact that the Lord is not separate from all there is. In the dream, the world is sustained by me; I am the cause for the dream world, dream space, dream time, and so on. I pervade every one of them. It is only because I am the material cause that I pervade the dream world, otherwise I'll be like the pot-maker who is elsewhere. When you buy a pot and bring it home the pot-maker does not come home with you, because he has not made the pot out of himself. the material is separate from him. When you bring the pot you can't leave the material, whereas you can leave the maker behind. Between the maker and the material three is a separation.


 

When we are talking of the total, however, there is no separation. The material cause being yourself in the dream, you pervade the whole world there. Space, time, stars etc have come out of you. If that is understood, the Lord can be understood as the one who is manifest here in the form of space, time and everything that is empirically experienced by you. This empirical reality means 'this is a chair', 'this is a microphone' etc for all of us. This entire universe which is empirically real, is a manifestation of the Lord who is Bhagavaan.


 

Lord is to be understood, not believed


 

The lord is not a matter for belief. He is a matter for understanding. This world is not a matter for belief because you perceive it. Therefore Lord is also not something to be believed, it is a challenge to understand him. If the Lord in heaven, not within the range of your perception or inference, then He becomes a matter of belief. In that case you simply accept what you are told without asking questions. But the Lord of the Hindus is not a matter for belief. Hindus do not simply believe in God, they understand God. that is the reason why Hindus even worship space. There are temples in India that worship the five elements.

You don't require a particular altar to invoke the Lord. You can invoke Him anywhere because what is it that is not the Lord? the whole Order is the Lord, all the laws are the Lord. We are objective when we are alive to the reality. We are talking about what is and so there is no question of belief. We can see that gold is different from copper and that is different from lead because each metal has its own atomic weight, its own physical and other properties. But a physicist knows that all of them are nothing but energy, quanta of energy. That is not a belief. If someone says, 'I don't see that', then that person may have to believe, but that is not a belief that one has to live with and die with. What we have here is belief pending discovery. There is something to be understood. we understand the difference and at the same time, understand the non-difference, something more than meets the eye. that is the vision of the Veda that this whole universe is non-separate from the Lord because He is the efficient cause as well as the material cause.


 

Since the Lord is everything, he is all the names, all the forms and therefore we can invoke Him in any name, any form. This is the mature way of looking at the worship of God. We can pray to Him in any language because He is Omniscient and therefore should know all languages. In fact He should respond even before we call Him. This is not tolerance or anything, this is only understanding. They say that Hindus are tolerant of various forms of worship. We are tolerant no doubt, but in this particular case, we are not just tolerant. We have total acceptance as far as worship is concerned, prayer is concerned. That is why very often we find many devatas, deities in a typical room of worship. Every aspect of the Lord is represented there. We look upon the Sun as God, so we have Surya devataa. We look upon air as God, so we have Vayudevataa; we look upon earth as God: so we have Prthividevataa and so on. We worship the efficient cause, the intelligent cause and the material becomes the symbol for that. We worship the omniscient, omnipotent Lord through the symbol of the material. The sun, the moon, air etc become the symbol through which we worship the Lord. We have a variety of devatas (deities) through which we worship one God.


 

The Only God


 

We don't even say, 'one God'. We say 'only God'. When you say there is one God, that means you are different from Him and He is situated somewhere else. If God is different from you, He does not include you, which means His power does not include your power. If He is different from you, then He is different from me and different from all the living beings. That means God's power does not include the power that you have, I have, that other gods and demi-gods have, that the mosquitoes and the bugs have. Then He can only be mighty but not Almighty. the He is like my uncle who is also a very powerful man. But even a might person is subject to limitations. Even the president of the U.S.A, a mighty person, is subject to mosquito bites and attacks from viruses! Similarly, the mighty God will also be subject to such limitations.

So, understand, it is not there is one God. There is only God and so if someone invokes Him as Allah, that is fine; if someone invokes Him as Jesus, that is also fine. We have no problem at all. If someone cannot accept the fact of people invoking God in different names and forms, it is his/her problem. We have no problem because we do not have many gods, we do not even have one God, we have only God.


 

Om Tat Sat

Meditation – Swami Dayananda

Om..... Watching your breathing is an important step in meditation. It is also in keeping with teaching. Anything we do should be in keeping with teaching. To be a sakshi, to be a witness of your breathing will help you. Also watching your mind is to be a saksi to whatever happens in you. This watching your breathing is a great help. It takes certain practice . During the day. Whenever there is time, you must practice this. Just watching your own breathing. More you practise, easier it would be. The watching takes place as the air is inhaled and exhaled at the nostrils. You don't require to watch air inhaled into lungs. All the way you do not watch. You watch only as the air is inhaled at nostrils. As it is exhaled again at the place. The mind has an occupation , just watching, which does not involve thinking. In the process, the body gets more relaxed. If you watch your breathing, you have pulled you away from your physical body, the annamaya. Doer along with the pranamaya is interior to the body. Therefore body is relaxed, more relaxed. OM....... OM........ OM........ OM........ .

Now, You are yourself, OM...... OM......OM...... OM .......

As you hear these chanted words you recognise this fact. The fact is, there is an external world reported to you by the ears. These words are formed by the external world. The ears hear these words without your will. Hearing takes place, Let the hearing take place. You don't interfere it with your will. You don't know what is going to be the next sentence. What type of sound or words you are going to hear. You don't know nor you want to know. At this moment, this is what you hear. Again at this moment you hear these words. Now you hear Om.... Om.... Om...

What do you hear , does not alter you. You remain the same person. Suppose your mind has a process of thinking, there again you don't interfere. You don't judge yourself on the basis of your mind. If you are not judgemental with reference to yourself, you can appreciate what it takes to be kind to yourself and others.

Sri ..... Rama ....... Jayaram ....... Jaya .... Jaya .... Rama ..... OM ........ OM ...... OM .......


Om Santih Santih Santih.

Meditation – Introductory– Swami Brahmavidyananda

Meditation is not a technique but for meditation we may use certain preparatory techniques

I, the meditator have to be available as the meditator,

I, the meditator, am a simple conscious being, one who is aware of, to whom everything is known or becomes known and the one who is self-aware – I the meditator am an awareful conscious being.

To start, I sit in a steady and comfortable posture- one can sit in padmasana, if one is familiar with that – or one can sit in sukhasana – legs corssed in a simple way of sitting – or ardha-padmasana. If I can't sit on the floor, I can sit on a firm chair ( a rocking chair or easy chair will not do ). I sit with my back head and neck in a straight line – I don't sit in a tilted posture. I am relaxed – steady, straight, and in a comfortable sitting posture – and my hands rest on my lap – clasped lightly- fingers touching each other– or one can keep hands on the knees – I sit in a steady, comfortable posture – this is called asanam – just a sitting posture for meditation.

I sit in a clean, quiet place, which has a good environment, and a time like the morning time, in which I am available for meditation. If I cannot sit on the floor, I sit on the chair. If I need some back rest it is possible I can lean the bottom of my back on some support if it is there – while meditation if I need to make small adjustments so that I can be comformtable, I can make – and if I can sit in this comfortable sitting posture for a length of time – say half an hour or 45 minutes – that is very helpful for meditation. This comes by practice – asanam.

Om ….. Om….

Having been seated, having taken a few rounds of deep breathing – juts simple deep breathing – say 10 rounds or 15 rounds…..one can do nadi shuddhi or pranayama if one is familiar with that….

When I take deep breahing – my breathing cycle becomes steady – breathing becomes normal. As my breathing becomes steady … I relax … my body relaxes .. my breathing becomes steady. There is a technique called pranavikshanam – observing mentally ones own normal breathing … this is a useful technique for relaxation … people do this for hours and hours… we do not do this for too much of time … but for a few minutes it helps. Whenever you have time to relax, you may sit and do this prana vikshanam – observing ones own normal breathing … it is a useful technique. This is not meditation – but as a technique useful. Prana vikshanam……

One can take to these techniques whenever one needs, whenever one want to … observing ones own breathing… and deep breathing – these are useful techniques –these help me see my self as being relaxed … I see myself as being relaxed and I see tht I am relaxed… I am quiet… I am relaxed… and I am awake and relaxed

Shri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya raam

I am relaxed... I am awake but relaxed. I, the meditator am role-free .. for the time being… I drop, I suspend all the roles… for the time being I have no roles – neither an man or woman – I suspend all my roles deliberatly for the time being. Roles and with their attendant requirements … all my worries I suspend … I decide to take care of them later… all deliberate decisions too … I keep all external things external…. My ambitions.. my desires…. All of them I suspend for the time being…. It is possble for me to suspend these roles… baahyan sparsaan krtvaa bahi – keeping external things extrenal … I tell myself I will take approprate care, appropriate actions later in an appropriate time …now I suspend them all… even that I am a man, I am a woman, I don't bring in…. I am young, old, I do not bring in all these now…. I suspend…. even though I play a lot of roles… I take on lot of roles….

With them I cannot be the meditator…. I cannot meditate…. As a role… this is important … as a role I cannot meditate effectively and it is possible for me to suspend… this we have been doing so many times each day… when the lady looks at the husband… the wife role… when the lady looks at child… the wife roles gets suspended… the mother role come in… this suspending the role we keep doing day in and day out… it is not something which is not known or not possible. I, the role- free person… relaxed person… the sef-awareful person… the awareful person… I am the meditator…. I meditate on Ishvara…. I meditate on Ishvara…

Shri Raam Jaya Raam … Rama Raama Raama Raama Raama Raama

When we conclude the meditation session – we can chant the Om Shanti 3 times and if one wants to continue for a little while one can contine and others can quietly leave

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

 

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Meditation Introduction – Swami Dayananda

Please sit errect. Both the hands joined. The fingers clasping each other. They are on your legs, just relax. Among the asanas, there is one asanam
called - savasanam, in
this
asana you lie down your back fully stretched and you begin to mentally go over the whole physical body, limb by limb, part by part and feel relaxed.The same principle you can apply here to get relaxation. Eyes closed you visulise part by part as I say and feel relaxed from head to toes. Mentally visualise. Imagine, visualise your own head, head to toe. Forehead, eyebrows, eyelids, nose, visaulise lips, cheeks side - left, right. Hands - left, right - hands upto the fingers, right chest, abdomen, back sides - left, right. Waist - left,leg thigh, left knee, below the knee, calf ankle, foot, toes, so too visualise right thigh, knee,calf ankle, feet and toes.

Now go back left toes, feet, ankle, calf, knee kaya - right - right toes, feet, ankle, above the ankle up to knee, knee above the knee, feel they are ok. If they are not ok., acknowledge any pain anywhere. If there is pain, acknowledge and proceed. Waist, abdomen, chest, left hand up to the shoulder and right hand. Back - go up to shoulders, neck, cheek, lips, nose, forehead, stop. Right cheek, right earlobe, left earlobe. The body is like a breathing statue. From within, look at your body, as you see a statue, a breathing statue.

Just relax mentally. Relaxing mentally is just to let go of your will. Allow the mind to be as it is. Let whatever happen to it. Let go your will so that the mind be as it is. Just be yourself, (will) does not want to change your mind or the external world. Let go of your will for the time being, to be just yourself. Put the same differently, let the will be resolved into yourself. Just let things be as they are, learn to be just yourself. Be yourself, do not imagine any self, eternal self etc. Forget all that. Just be yourself. Whatever you are be yourself.

At this moment, whatever happens in your mind, let it happen. Whatever happens outside, which the mind reports to you, let it be so. As you hear these words, allow them to happen.You hear not because you have mind, the perception of sound takes place. Be yourself. Any pain accept it. Be yourself.

OM ............. OM ........... OM ........... OM ........


Om Santi Santi Santi.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Meditation – Swami Viditatmananda

Om Namo Shivaya……. Om Namo Shivaya……. Om Namo Shivaya…….

Om Namah Shivaya… My salutations to Lord Shiva. This is an appointment with myself. An appointment with the self that is of the nature of peace and silence. And hence this is an appointment I look forward to. There is no anxiety, no excitement. Just to be myself.

All the time, I am trying to change … it is my opinion that I am not alright as I am and therefore I constantly strive to be different from what I am… so that I can become acceptable t myself… so that I would be comfortable with myself.

I am not comfortable with myself as I am and hence I think, that I should change … should become different from what I am and then I would be comfortabe with myself.

Since I am not comfortable with myself many of my activities are for escaping from myself. I keep myself busy. I keep myself occupied so that I do not have to confront myself. Generally I try to avoid myself.

This is happening because of my perception of myself … that I am a woman or a man, mother or father, worthy or not worthy. Successful not successful.

But Vedanta teaches us that these perceptions of myself are not correct. These are the false perceptions about myself. And therefore in this appointment I want to be objectitive with reference to my own self.

What is happening is that the changing body-mind is mixed with changeless self and therefore the self, the I appears to be limited. The sense of limitation is not the true perception of myself. Limitations belongs to this body.

It is true that the body is limited. Body is limited in time, It had a birth, it grows, it changes, matures, declines and someday, it will die also. These are all attributes of the body.

But can I say that I am the body? Is it not that I am aware of this body? Just as I am aware of the neighbours body. I can visualize my neighbours body in my mind, and so also I am aware of my body. I am aware of all the limbs and organs of the body. Hence the body is an object of my awareness. I am the awareror of the body. To see this fact is called creating a distance with the body.

Not a physical distance … it is not that I physically stay apart from the body … it is the distance of knowledge. I am the self … the body is drshya. I am the knower , the body is known. I am the awaror, the body is a subject of my awareness. The knower is always different from what is known.

Hence I, the knower of the body am different from the body. This body I am not.

The birth is in body. There is no birth for I. The growth, the changes, the decay, the decline, the age- all of these are attributes of the body. I am the witness - sakshi. I am the awaror and hence youth, middle age, old age, decay, decline, death, disease, all these I am not.


 

Young man, woman, father, mother … alll these are the attributes of the body. I am not father, I am not mother. I have no birth. I have no death. I am the knower of the birth, knower of the death of the body. knwoer of the father, knowere of the mother. Janma the birth is not in me. Mrtyu the death is not in mee. I am neither father nor mother. And at the same time, I have no father, I have no mother. Father, mother, relative friends, all of these are relations of the body … not the relations of the self.


 

These relations belong to the body. To the costume with which I play different roles. Sometimes father, sopmetimes son and sometimes friend, sometimes wife, sometimes mother, daughter, engineer, accountant, doctor… these are all the roles. The body is the costume, but I who play all these roles am different from the roles. The birth and death, the groth and old age, all these belong to the costume, to the role.


 

I am the conscious witness unaffected by the attributes of the roles. I am father with reference to body … but I am self with reference to myself.

na me mrtyu shanka… na may jati bheda pita naiva …. there is no question of death for I. There is no jaati for I … man or woman, human being or otherwise. … Indian or Canadian… this caste, creed, community, race is not in me. It is all in the body. I am the conscious witness independent of them. Pita naiva, naiva me maata … I have no father. I have no mother … meaning I am not a son. I am not a daughter. I am not a grandson nor a granddaughter. All of these are the roles with respect to the body. na may janma … the birth also is not in me. I am free from birth and eath and caste and creed and race and gender. Na bandhu na mitram … I am not a relative. I am not a friend. I have no relative. I have no friend. These are all relationships at the levl of the body.

Guru naiva shishya … I am not a Guru, nor do I have a Guru. I am not a shishya … nor do I have a shishya… Guru… shishya… the teacher… the taught… all relationships at the level of the roles. The friend is a role. Relative a role… disciple … a role. Teacher …a role. Father, mother, son, daughter all of these are roles. I am not the role. I have no role.


 

Transcending the roles, cidananda rupah … I am cit, the onsciousness, ananda …the joy, the wholness, the completmess…. shivohama … the silent, the auspicious I am.


 

Na may mrtyu shanka… na may jaati bheda … pitaa naiva mataa na janma

Na may …. guru naiva shishyam Cidananda rupah shivoham shivoham… (3)


 

Shiva … the silent … the unattached, the auspicious, the joyful. The silent I … I don't have to become Shiva … I have to recognize that I am Shiva inspite of this body which limited in every way, which may be called impure or inauspicious. inspite of it all, I am Shiva, the Auspicous, the Joyful, the Silent, the Untainted.


 

To see this nature of myself, is an appointment with myself. When I see myself as silent, as content, as self-sufficient, then there is no need to change …. no need to become. Free from the need to change… freedom from the need to become. I am free…. from every need..


 

Cidananda rupah shivoham shivoham… (3)