Japa A Support for Concentration - Sri Chandra Swami Udasin

A type of support that can be given to the mind for concentration is that of a name or word. Let us consider this now. The support maybe in the form of one name, or in the form of any mantra. The mantra is a phrase or formula bearing a certain meaning that affirms the existence of God and embodies a certain idea of feeling in relation to God, such as surrender unto the Lord or the feeling of the divine presence,  or it may inspire devotion with a certain prayer raised unto the Lord. Any one name of God or Mmantra or phrase is selected according to one's faith and conviction. It is to be mentally or vocally chanted. It is to be repeated gently and calmly. Gradually consciousness is centred on hearing of this name or mantra. This practice is called Japa. Science may not prove it today, logic may also fail to do so,  but experience has proved that such intonation and repetition of God's name has a marvelous effect in tuning The mind with God - the spirit that is all and beyond all. There is tremendous power in the name of the Lord. The Lord's Grace does descend  through His name on one who has faithfully and wholeheartedly repeats it.  This is a fact confirmed and  reconfirmed by the saints of all religions. The proper place for concentration on the Lord's name or on Mmantra is in the Heart Centre, which corresponds to the anahata chakra in yogic parlance.

Let it be pointed out here at the shorter the mantra or word the better it is,  because it becomes easier to concentrate on.

The japa of any name of God or mantra can also be practiced by connecting that name or Mantra with the rhythmic incoming and out coming of breath and by chanting it mentally. And in this practice the attention of the mind should not be focused on the navel centre because through this practice the vital being becomes active which might cause a severe agitation or sudden explosion of the pranic force. If the discriminating power in the sadhaka is not sufficiently developed, if he does not possess complete mastery over his senses and mind and if above all he is not single- mindedly devoted to the ideal of God- realisation, the violent awakening of the proanic force may lead him astray in his  Sadhana and consequently, throw him into the absyss of sin and sorrow.  Unless the centre of command what is the aajnaChakra and the heart centre of the aspirant have been adequately purified and unless they have resumed full control over the navel Centre, it is not proper for a man to practice Japa with the incoming and outgoing of breath by fixing the mind on the navel Centre. This practice should not be performed by anyone. If a practitioner wants to do Japa by associating with incoming and outgoing of breath then he or she should keep the attention at the heart Centre. There is no danger in doing this. The practice of Japa can lead even if performed to the exclusion of all other methods of concentration to the highest spiritual recognition. In fact in its advanced stage the Japa itself turns into deep and dynamic spiritual concentration. As such by becoming a dynamic concentration, it brings about an extraordinary transformation in the external life of that  sadhaka, who practices it regularly and sincerely.

 Chanting of the Lord's name is an exercise divine and spiritually rewarding indeed. There have been many Saints who devoted themselves to this method of spiritual concentration alone and to none other and realised the Lord.

Sri Chandra Swami Udasin
🌷🕉🌷

Satsangs Schedule at Dehradun

All Online Satsangs thru Google Hangouts

Revised Schedule for December 2017  and January 2018

Monday     7.30 - 8.30 pm Rudram Chanting

Tuesday     11.00 - 12.00 am  Bhagavad-Gita Chanting from Dec 12th Online

Wednesday   5.30 - 6.30pm   Vishnu Sahasranama

Thursday    11.00 - 12.00 am  Upadesha Saram

Friday         11.30 - 12.30 am  Tattvabodha  (Satsang)   from Dec 15th Online
Friday           7.30 - 8.30 pm   Rudram Chanting

Saturday       5.30 - 6.30 pm   Vishnu Sahasranama

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From Feb 2018 Chanting continues online - rest below
Monday        11.30 - 12.30 am  Upadesha Saram
Sewla Kalan

Tuesday         11   - 11.30 am Chanting
Sewla Kalan  11.30 -1 pm Bhagavad Gita

Wednesday                         Upadesha Saram (Online)
(night)

Thursday       5  - 6 pm     Drg-Drshya Vivek
Indira Nagar

Friday
Ram Vihar     11.30 -12.30pm Tattvabodha
Vasant Vihar   2 -2.30 pm  Chanting BG
                           3.30-4.30 om Bhagavad Gita      

Sep 2017 Revision of 'Pujya Swamiji The Mahatma I Know'

Press the link below to go the page on 'Pujya Swamiji The Mahatma I Know' - I have revised it slightly to include some mention of Pujya Swamiji's writings.

https://tattvavidya.blogspot.in/p/pujya-swamiji-mahatma-i-know.html

Calling The Ego’s Bluff

The ego which believes itself to the body-mind complex, separate from everything else, poses as a real entity.

What is the meaning of being a real entity? A real entity is that which is always there. If you can prove its absence even in one instance, then you cannot call that thing as real.

First let’s understand what are the constituents of the ego?

That I am a conscious being I cannot dispute. I am a conscious being, conscious of myself as a historical being. This historical being is just the roles assumed by the conscious being during the process of living life, as well as an intricate network of association of ideas, memories constituting the sub-conscious, the unconscious, and conscious memory etc.

If you really analyse it the historical person has no autonomous existence of its own, moreover  it is always in a state of flux changing from one personality to another, as conditions changes and the situation demands, or as some event triggers some memories.

Is the historical being intrinsic to the consciousness that I basically am?

To be intrinsic to consciousness that I am, it must always be there, exactly in the same form.

However what I find is that it not always there. Consciousness is always there, illumining not only the changing flux that is the historical being, but also the absence of the historical being, as in sleep, or a moment of joy, or a quiet moment in meditation.

Historical being is there -------- > Consciousness is there

Historical being is absent --------- > Consciousness is there.

I am the consciousness in whose ever unchanging presence, the absence as well as the presence of the historical being is illumined, is revealed.

So in the consciousness that I am, the historical being is an appearance only – the personality is not intrinsic to consciousness.

Consciousness is in reality totally free of the historical person, whereas the historical person is totally dependent on consciousness to enliven and reveal its presence.

This knowledge is very freeing, very stabilizing.

To recognize that one is indeed independent of the historical personality at all times, is truly stabilizing and liberating.

I have a friend, a Vedanta student, who in the core of her psyche, suffered from the extreme sense of helplessness and powerlessness. It controlled her whole life, in an unconscious manner. She was a dependent personality, always unconsciously looking out for support from stronger personality figures. 

As she began understanding Vedanta, she began sitting for longer hours of meditation. In one of her meditation sessions, she experienced an incredible sense of helplessness, powerlessness – a black black feeling. She was completely identified with it and sank along with it.

For a day or two she suffered with this nameless sense of helplessness. Finally she called me. I had to work with her at several levels. First I explained to her it was old feelings from her troubled childhood coming up. Instead of rejecting the feelings, could she just stay with the feelings in loving awareness of it – holding them as it were, even as she would a helpless child. Just compassionately stay with the feelings and it would dissipate. She did that and reported that though they did dissipate, she had a very uncomfortable feeling inside.

I then asked her, “Are you helpless in your life right now?”. She had to admit that she was not.  In fact her life was going well – she had adequate support from the people in her life on all counts. Now she was able to see, that these helpless feelings were from the unconscious from the past – stored there and being triggered now. Understanding this was a big relief. I pointed out to her that these experiences of helplessness had left her with a strong conclusion centered on ‘I’ – namely ‘I am helpless, I am powerless’.

Now I asked to examine if this conclusion was true in the present time. She had to admit it was not true. Then I gently pointed out that in fact she did not need to hold on to this conclusion in her life anymore. She could let it go. If again she faced difficult situations, she could always ask for help either from Lord or people or both. She agreed.

Now since she was an advanced Vedanta student, I took it further. I reminded her that essentially she is consciousness, the witness,  in whose presence this feeling of helplessness is being  illumined. She must ascertain for herself, if the feeling of helplessness belonged to the consciousness being that she is.

Her years of Vedanta study helped her. She told me the helplessness feeling is drshya ( seen) and I am the drk  (the seer, the subject). The subject being always different from the object, the feeling of helplessness  cannot belong to the consciousness that she is.  Again she herself pointed out that this feeling of helplessness, was not always there – it came up very occasionally. Again in deep-sleep it was totally absent – whereas the consciousness is there.

So she ascertained for herself very conclusively that the conclusion ‘I am helpless, I am powerless’ was false – totally false. This was very liberating for her. She understood the importance of immediate recognition of consciousness being changelessly ever-present and independent of the body-mind complex.

So in Vedanta, it is important to negate obtaining erroneous conclusions about the self, and recognize the nature consciousness that one is essentially, being totally independent of the body-mind complex. Logic in keeping with what one has studied from the scriptures is very helpful for this.

Firstly intimately understand the nature of the body and mind being mithya. Mithya means it has no autonomous existence – this is easy to understand – you can see that the body-mind complex is only a coming together of various interdependent constituents, which are ever in state of flux. And eventually the entire body-mind complex is dependent on consciousness to enliven it and reveal it. So dependence, change, and being objects of consciousness characterize both body and mind.... so it is mithya not real. Again the presence of body-mind is not always there – the three states of experience show us that. The consciousness of absence of body-mind, in deep-sleep, again helps us to see that any conclusion about oneself which has reference to the body-mind is false.

Thus any conclusions, centered on Consciousness-I, who is the drk,  which have the body-mind as a reference point can only be false and they must be negated as false, at an empirical psychological level, as well as at the level of ascertaining the true I.  In the process of negation the emotional holding onto those conclusions loosens and wears off eventually.

Om Tat Sat