Looking at the tall trees standing in a garden, a visitor remarked: These trees have grown very tall”. The gardener replied, They have nothing else to do except to grow tall”.
There is nothing which does not do something. Everything — animate or inanimate, conscious or unconscious — is active. The thought that we are not idle makes us feel good. Society is not prepared to accept idleness as a virtue. We have become too involved in relentless activity. The important man frets to stay dynamic. Caught in
vicious circle of activity, we think of renunciation as an empty ideal. But blind devotion to activity has destroyed peace of mind. We fail to appreciate non-action, because we stand committed to action.
We need to strike a balance between action and inaction in order to develop a realistic understanding of the philosophy of renunciation. Inaction is not less valuable than action. An appreciation of the value of inaction will enable us to understand the value of action better and avoid its harmful consequences. The Gita says that all our actions produce harmful results in the same way in which fire produces smoke. So learn to compromise.
All our actions spring from the body. In order to be inactive we will have to abandon the body, to render it completely idle, so that our instincts cease to function. This is called Kayotsarga in Jain Yoga, immobilisation of the body. Usually we abandon the body only when we die. Another kind of abandonment is abandoning the body even while we are living. Gautama asked Mahavira, “What do we achieve by Kayagupti or the abandonment of the body?” The latter replied, “Kayagupti results in Samvara”. In Jain philosophy, Asrava means induction of foreign matter into the soul. The soul by its very nature is pure. It becomes contaminated when foreign matter enters it. Asrava can be stopped. We can preserve the pristine purity of the soul. By plugging off the sources of impurity, we produce a state of Samvara, a state in which nothing enters the soul from outside.
The soul receives foreign matter through the body. Heaps of atoms enter the soul through mental action, speech and breathing. All this infiltration will stop if the body is immobilised. A state of total inactivity of the body is the state of meditation. It is not exclusively a mental state. Jain Yoga has conceived of three kinds of meditation: of body, word and mind. Meditation is a state of mental and physical equilibrium. It is a state of equipoise.
Meditation literally means contemplation. The meanings of words undergo contractions and extensions in the course of time. The extended meaning of a term is much more than its etymological significance. In the same way the extended meaning of the term meditation is much more than contemplation. It means fixing the body, mind and speech. A fixed mind enters into a state of meditation. Fixed speech becomes word meditation.
Physical meditation is the base of all other meditations. Word meditation must invariably be preceded by physical meditation. Mental meditation comes only after word meditation has been mastered. There can be no breath control without fixing the body, and meditation on the mental plane is impossible until respiration has been controlled. In this way Kayotsarga or Kayagupti is the base of meditation.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Draw Energy From The Power Of The Name
Reciting the name of God, Naam, is a way of thanking and praising the Nami who is the Omnipresent and timeless Creator. When you recite Naam and love God without any motive, He cleanses your mind. There is light in your heart, and the Naam heals your mind, eliminating all negative thoughts; only positive thoughts remain. The hidden joy, love and fearlessness within you will become manifest.
It is not that God wants our praises. The effect of Naam works on us. Our body is just a house where we live. Our life is governed by our karmas, the effects on our life of our sanskaras, our habitual thoughts and actions from this life and from previous births. Our karmas are like great waves that are not under our control. Naam breaks those waves.
As you recite Naam when you are worrying — through word, thought and every breath — those waves start to break up here and there. As you recite Naam there is a small break in that train of thought. You feel, “It will be okay”. But at this stage you are still reciting Naam only with your tongue. Your thoughts and your awareness are not on Naam, and soon your mind returns to its old pattern.
As you go on reciting Naam, you will experience a little light inside, a brief moment of samadhi, a kind of spiritual absorption. But then the mind starts running away again at great speed, and the little bit of light you perceived ‘disappears’. Then a longing for God may begin to grow in you, although it is very faint at first. As you are singing or reciting Naam, you may experience a brief communion with the Nami.
To become closer to God, focus your mind on your Isht or that form of God in whom you have faith. At first, your Isht may seem just a faint image in your mind, but gradually its presence becomes a reality. Slowly that Power gives your mind confidence and you begin loving that Isht you are trying to focus your attention on. It takes a long time but gradually you will feel the presence of your Isht within you.
Once you feel your Isht inside you, through the power of Naam, you will begin to see that your Isht is actually controlling everything outside you as well. You will see your Isht is pervading everywhere and everything.
As you keep reciting Naam, whenever you begin to feel anger, greed or ego, the feeling does not last long. It moves aside. Why? Naam is washing away the dirt of your past tendencies; the Light of divine wisdom is burning up your past actions. Gradually, you cease to feel anger or greed and you feel that you are nothing great. You become very humble.
All ignorance ceases as the light of Naam manifests fully. If you reach this stage of enlightenment through continual recitation of Naam and concentration on the Nami, you will see only God everywhere. Like God, you will feel neither enmity nor fear. You will recognise that the Nami is sustaining and controlling all life. Naam will make your actions bright and will give you clear inner vision, truthfulness, renunciation, the desire to help those in need, and the power to do anything, for the Power of the Nami has manifested in you.
It is not that God wants our praises. The effect of Naam works on us. Our body is just a house where we live. Our life is governed by our karmas, the effects on our life of our sanskaras, our habitual thoughts and actions from this life and from previous births. Our karmas are like great waves that are not under our control. Naam breaks those waves.
As you recite Naam when you are worrying — through word, thought and every breath — those waves start to break up here and there. As you recite Naam there is a small break in that train of thought. You feel, “It will be okay”. But at this stage you are still reciting Naam only with your tongue. Your thoughts and your awareness are not on Naam, and soon your mind returns to its old pattern.
As you go on reciting Naam, you will experience a little light inside, a brief moment of samadhi, a kind of spiritual absorption. But then the mind starts running away again at great speed, and the little bit of light you perceived ‘disappears’. Then a longing for God may begin to grow in you, although it is very faint at first. As you are singing or reciting Naam, you may experience a brief communion with the Nami.
To become closer to God, focus your mind on your Isht or that form of God in whom you have faith. At first, your Isht may seem just a faint image in your mind, but gradually its presence becomes a reality. Slowly that Power gives your mind confidence and you begin loving that Isht you are trying to focus your attention on. It takes a long time but gradually you will feel the presence of your Isht within you.
Once you feel your Isht inside you, through the power of Naam, you will begin to see that your Isht is actually controlling everything outside you as well. You will see your Isht is pervading everywhere and everything.
As you keep reciting Naam, whenever you begin to feel anger, greed or ego, the feeling does not last long. It moves aside. Why? Naam is washing away the dirt of your past tendencies; the Light of divine wisdom is burning up your past actions. Gradually, you cease to feel anger or greed and you feel that you are nothing great. You become very humble.
All ignorance ceases as the light of Naam manifests fully. If you reach this stage of enlightenment through continual recitation of Naam and concentration on the Nami, you will see only God everywhere. Like God, you will feel neither enmity nor fear. You will recognise that the Nami is sustaining and controlling all life. Naam will make your actions bright and will give you clear inner vision, truthfulness, renunciation, the desire to help those in need, and the power to do anything, for the Power of the Nami has manifested in you.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Game of Sudoku Mirrors Life
Su means number and Doku means single. The game of Sudoku has many similarities to the game of life. The game consists of a 9x9 grid divided into nine 3x3 boxes in which a few numbers called “given” — the number of givens varies between 17 and 30 for a puzzle to be reasonably viable — are already in place.
In life, too, you start with a given set of vasanas and then work from then on. In Sudoku, you need to follow a set of rules to build up the grid, filling each row, column and box with numbers ranging from one to nine, so much like in life where you have to go your way without antagonising anyone else, maintaining peace and harmony in all relationships. Respect every number (everyone) and things would be just fine. While trial and error may or may not work, the correc technique is in eliminating the numbers that don’t fit in a particular box. In other words, keep eliminating your faults for progress in life. The grid is the same every time, the numbers keep changing. The soul is the same in all, just the bodies are different.
In Sudoku, the arrangement of the given numbers is symmetrical. Even if you rotate the puzzle through 180 degrees the pattern of the filled-in squares remains the same. This is instructive in life, on how to maintain steadfast faith, poise and equanimity despite situations when everything turns topsy-turvy .
Often at first glance when the givens are few, you are numbed into inaction. Realise, the puzzle is there to be solved, so just go ahead and do your duty. Solve a couple of easy ones and sooner or later the ego gets in the way and you are stuck in the next puzzle. Analyse your life, more often than not you’ll clearly see how your ego has been the stumbling block.
While playing, you never think of the end (the result); you just keep working on the numbers and the final result (fruits of action) accrues on its own. Extremely difficult puzzles may take hours. Similarly, to achieve desired results in life may take years. According to the law of karma, fruits of action in some cases might fructify after successive births!
Now and then you get attached to a particular number and are hell-bent on fitting it in, in any which way; it seems like big trouble. Just let go of your attachments and things will work out on their own. The game of Sudoku and the game of life are best played in a calm but focused state.
Everything has to go in tandem in a Sudoku grid: the rows, columns and squares. Ditto in life. Your duties towards your family, teachers, society and country all go on simultaneously. Variations in Sudoku include the diagonal, the odd and the even, the extended, overlap, and even the monster. Life too presents complexities in the form of loss, illness, death and failure. Patience, faith and continuous struggle is the key to both.
There could be an underlying subtle difference between Sudoku and life. Make a mistake and you can erase it and begin all over again in Sudoku. Not so in life. You can learn a lesson, though, and avoid making the same mistake in future. Hone your skills. Excel. Realise the singularity for the One and only Truth. For that is the solution, the answer, that arises out of a steady mind.
In life, too, you start with a given set of vasanas and then work from then on. In Sudoku, you need to follow a set of rules to build up the grid, filling each row, column and box with numbers ranging from one to nine, so much like in life where you have to go your way without antagonising anyone else, maintaining peace and harmony in all relationships. Respect every number (everyone) and things would be just fine. While trial and error may or may not work, the correc technique is in eliminating the numbers that don’t fit in a particular box. In other words, keep eliminating your faults for progress in life. The grid is the same every time, the numbers keep changing. The soul is the same in all, just the bodies are different.
In Sudoku, the arrangement of the given numbers is symmetrical. Even if you rotate the puzzle through 180 degrees the pattern of the filled-in squares remains the same. This is instructive in life, on how to maintain steadfast faith, poise and equanimity despite situations when everything turns topsy-turvy .
Often at first glance when the givens are few, you are numbed into inaction. Realise, the puzzle is there to be solved, so just go ahead and do your duty. Solve a couple of easy ones and sooner or later the ego gets in the way and you are stuck in the next puzzle. Analyse your life, more often than not you’ll clearly see how your ego has been the stumbling block.
While playing, you never think of the end (the result); you just keep working on the numbers and the final result (fruits of action) accrues on its own. Extremely difficult puzzles may take hours. Similarly, to achieve desired results in life may take years. According to the law of karma, fruits of action in some cases might fructify after successive births!
Now and then you get attached to a particular number and are hell-bent on fitting it in, in any which way; it seems like big trouble. Just let go of your attachments and things will work out on their own. The game of Sudoku and the game of life are best played in a calm but focused state.
Everything has to go in tandem in a Sudoku grid: the rows, columns and squares. Ditto in life. Your duties towards your family, teachers, society and country all go on simultaneously. Variations in Sudoku include the diagonal, the odd and the even, the extended, overlap, and even the monster. Life too presents complexities in the form of loss, illness, death and failure. Patience, faith and continuous struggle is the key to both.
There could be an underlying subtle difference between Sudoku and life. Make a mistake and you can erase it and begin all over again in Sudoku. Not so in life. You can learn a lesson, though, and avoid making the same mistake in future. Hone your skills. Excel. Realise the singularity for the One and only Truth. For that is the solution, the answer, that arises out of a steady mind.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
You Are A Continuous Process, Not Product
In Rabindranath Tagore’s poem Upagupta, when the dancing girl invites the ascetic Upagupta to her house, he says: “When time is ripe, i’ll come to you”. The beautiful young girl is taken aback. What did he mean by saying, “time is not ripe?” For Upagupta, time here is not a material entity of years or months. It is the period of the evolution of consciousness or awareness. But for the dancing girl, it is materialistic. The conversation comes to an end as both speak from two different realms.
Later in the poem, when the girl is banished from the city, denounced, her body full of sores, the ascetic comes to her saying: “The time, at last, has come to visit you, and i’m here”. She now realises what he meant by ‘time’. Here time is not linear but cyclic, true to Indian ethos. Communication between the two is smooth now. She who was “drunk with the wine of her youth” is now conscious and awake and has seen the real and eternal. She is sober, and free from delusion, fit for the spiritual path.
Each individual is a process, not a product. The process varies from person to person. The enlightened one recognises it and so remains compassionate. That is why, we find enlightened souls taking the risk of talking or preaching. To say is to miss the real. To teach is to disturb the process in an individual. We know that the Buddha hardly answered questions put to him often. Krishna says in the Gita: “All are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me” (4.11).
The pace varies from person to person. Some walk, a few run but all are bent on reaching the destination. The passengers in a bus or train have different speed irrespective of the speed of the vehicle. Some are in a hurry, a few relaxed and some in between. But they all have to reach there and will one day. Give them their time. Don’t try to change them.
Swami Vivekanand says, “The child is the father of man. Would it be right for an old man to say that childhood is a sin or youth a sin? It is the necessary stage of life... Man is to become divine by realising the divine. Idols, temples, churches or books are only supports of this spiritual childhood, but on and on he must progress”.
If at all the enlightened have ever tried to teach something, it was out of extreme concern for humanity and as a warning knowing that their words alone wouldn’t bring any change but can accelerate the process in an individual to a little extent at least.
Imitating the enlightened can mislead us. Our process is quite different, so is our path. Keep asking questions; don’t worry about answers. Nobody can give an answer because the answer is within us. It has to be discovered. If we analyse we can see that question emerges from answer and dissolves in it as bubbles appear on water and dissolve in the same. Wait, watch and be alert. God is omnipresent. It is our right to know Him.
The parable of the prodigal son in the Bible is about the same ripening of time. The son had to go after material pleasures, exhaust himself in order to come back home, to his father, God. Till one is fully evolved to consciousness or awareness, one is bound to move in ignorance. There is a time lag between lower truth and higher truth.
Later in the poem, when the girl is banished from the city, denounced, her body full of sores, the ascetic comes to her saying: “The time, at last, has come to visit you, and i’m here”. She now realises what he meant by ‘time’. Here time is not linear but cyclic, true to Indian ethos. Communication between the two is smooth now. She who was “drunk with the wine of her youth” is now conscious and awake and has seen the real and eternal. She is sober, and free from delusion, fit for the spiritual path.
Each individual is a process, not a product. The process varies from person to person. The enlightened one recognises it and so remains compassionate. That is why, we find enlightened souls taking the risk of talking or preaching. To say is to miss the real. To teach is to disturb the process in an individual. We know that the Buddha hardly answered questions put to him often. Krishna says in the Gita: “All are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me” (4.11).
The pace varies from person to person. Some walk, a few run but all are bent on reaching the destination. The passengers in a bus or train have different speed irrespective of the speed of the vehicle. Some are in a hurry, a few relaxed and some in between. But they all have to reach there and will one day. Give them their time. Don’t try to change them.
Swami Vivekanand says, “The child is the father of man. Would it be right for an old man to say that childhood is a sin or youth a sin? It is the necessary stage of life... Man is to become divine by realising the divine. Idols, temples, churches or books are only supports of this spiritual childhood, but on and on he must progress”.
If at all the enlightened have ever tried to teach something, it was out of extreme concern for humanity and as a warning knowing that their words alone wouldn’t bring any change but can accelerate the process in an individual to a little extent at least.
Imitating the enlightened can mislead us. Our process is quite different, so is our path. Keep asking questions; don’t worry about answers. Nobody can give an answer because the answer is within us. It has to be discovered. If we analyse we can see that question emerges from answer and dissolves in it as bubbles appear on water and dissolve in the same. Wait, watch and be alert. God is omnipresent. It is our right to know Him.
The parable of the prodigal son in the Bible is about the same ripening of time. The son had to go after material pleasures, exhaust himself in order to come back home, to his father, God. Till one is fully evolved to consciousness or awareness, one is bound to move in ignorance. There is a time lag between lower truth and higher truth.
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