Saturday, May 28, 2011

Ganga Snana

I was born near Ganga. All our agricultural lands are irrigated with water from canals drawing water from Ganga. We used to swim and drink water from these village canals. As children and young boys we also often used to go to Haridwar mostly to see movies. On those occasions we also used to go to Har-ki-Paudi to have Chat and Kulfi in a good ambience of Ganga but never took a dip in it (water being very cold even in summer - we only used to put our feet in it that too for a little while). We heard about greatness of Ganga, but never believed that taking a dip in a river can help in washing of one’s sins. To us it appeared as a blind faith with no base. It continued that way till recently.

In the meantime, I continued meditating which I started in the year 1985. Meditations helped me in getting rid of anger and fear to a very large extent. But my experience of meditation in the presence of a Guru was the same as it was in my home. I thought that I need to work on the instructions and techniques given by the Gurus with all sincerity and that it is my effort alone which is going to sail me through. Though I read and heard that presence of Gurus helps a sadhaka in his journey, I had no experience of it and consequently did not believe in it. Similar was the position with regard to the role of places of pilgrimages, temples, Samadhis of saints and dip in holy rivers as I had never experienced any energy field or had some sublime experience in any of these places.

Later, it was in the year 2004 that for the first time I felt some sensation in my body while visiting two of the temples in Mumbai and stronger sensation while visiting one of the advanced Sadhaka. It made me realize the truth that there are powerful and transforming energy fields around the Gurus and Samadhis of saints like Raman Mahrishi, Shri Aurobindo, Osho and Shridi ke Saibaba.

A year later, I found that even living in the house of a sadhaka (even if sadhaka is not present) may affect physical preferences of a person like eating habits. If it can affect the gross body, inescapable inference would be that it has power of transformation at subtler levels of the mind and beyond.

I thus knew that the energy of saints can be absorbed and held by apparently by inanimate matters like earth, plants and house etc.

That opened me up to the grace of the Gurus and made me somewhat aware of their mysterious powers of transformation.

Now coming back to energy and vibrations of inanimate objects, it is well known that everything (like oxygen, water, potassium cyanide, plants, animals, human beings) is constituted of same energy (science calls it energy and religions call it God). Nothing but energy exists in everything we can perceive in this world (also those which we cannot perceive with our limited sense perceptions). Each mineral, plant or animal is manifested by particular arrangement of same energy. That is how planets and different kind of therapies like crystal therapy, flower remedies (collection of dew drops sitting on flowers), magnet therapy etc. work and affect our body, mind and even circumstances in life.

It is also well known that thousands of great saints inhabit Himalayas all the time. And this has been so for millions of years. If remains of a saint can make his Samadhi a powerful place capable of transforming lives of many, one can imagine what will be the effect of the presence, bathing and remains of thousands of saints over millions of years in the Himalayas.

Now, if the dew drops sitting on flowers (used in flower remedies) can absorb their vibrations and cure a person, the water (Ganga) flowing from and through Himalayas would definitely absorb mysterious and transforming energies of various kinds including the energies of Saints. These energies will obviously transform the lives of many who take a dip in it. This is my simplistic and extremely limited understanding of the significance of Ganga Snan. There may be several other dimensions to its mysterious transforming powers which, as of now, I am not aware of!

While on the issue I may mention an interesting story in Shrimadbhagwat about the effect of bathing of saints in Gangaji. English translation thereof is reproduced hereunder :

“When Bhagirath requested Gangaji to come to this earth, she asked him to think that when people will wash their sins in her, where will she wash those sins? (Shrimadbhagwat 9:9:5)

Bhagirath responds by saying that her sins will be destroyed by the touch of the bodies of those saints who have shed the desire for worldly and other worldly objects, wealth, women and son; who are no more interested in the world and have become restful; who are absorbed in Brahma, bring purity to all the worlds and work to help others. Because in their hearts reside God to kill demons (Aghasur)."
(Shrimadbhagwat 9:9:6)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

How were we … Part – XII

Very next month on a Saturday (June 2006), Aspatwarji asked me if I were free and that he wanted to take me to a Guru (Moksha Guru referred to in first Para of preceding post). He did not tell me anything about the Guru. My wife and daughter also accompanied me. From a shop near the place of Guruji, we took some flowers for offering at his feet. After the usual prostration, we sat comfortably before Guruji (Shri Prahalad Shetty).

He asked me, “Have you seen yourself?” I did not understand what he meant by that. After a while he clarified what he meant was whether I ever moved out of my body and saw my own body from outside (out of body experience). I said, “No.” He then asked if I would like to see myself that way. I replied in the affirmative. While replying I was thinking that if I can be out of my body and see it, then I will experientially (otherwise we know it only theoretically) know that I exist even without this body and this experience may help break strong identification with body and mind.

Next question he put to me was, “Would you like to meet ghosts?” After thinking for a couple of seconds I again replied in the affirmative. In that time I was thinking that as of now I do not fear anything but if ghost appears, it will invoke fear in me. But if I meet the ghosts consciously through some spiritual practice, being mentally prepared, expecting it and with the support of Guruji, I will be rid of this fear as well.

He then said that next Saturday is very auspicious for initiation on account of a rare combination of stars and that I should come that day. I went to Guruji that day and he gave me a Mantra from Atharvaveda to be chanted for a duration of 7 to 20 minutes twice or so a day. He also gave me a little Kesar and Kasturi. Kesar was to be put in warm water for taking bath in the night before going to sleep and Kasturi was to be applied after the bath.

I did so and was expecting to see the Ghosts that night. But nothing happened. After a couple of days I was chanting the Mantra and experienced very pleasing fragrance. I looked around to see if someone has put on some perfume but there was none and there was no smell. I again started chanting Mantra and again that fragrance was there.

About the process of out of body experience he explained it to me in a very simple way. What he said was that Jeeva is trapped in this body constituted of five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space). If one masters these five elements, one would be free from their captivity. He further explained that Atharvaveda has Mantras for each of the elements which enable a practitioner to be free from their captivity. He gave me Mantra for mastering the element ‘earth’ in the first instance to be followed by Mantras for water, fire, air and space, in that order (gross to subtle).

Later, reflecting back I found that the desire for having ‘out of body experience’ was subtly implanted in me long back while reading a book by a disciple of Shri Aurobindo (book discusses this phenomena in great details) and this desire may have further been strengthened and the desire for meeting ‘ghosts’ may have been put in me while I was with Sadguru Jaggi Vasudeva (he used to narrate some instances of such happenings during his courses which I had attended). Though these thoughts were not on my mind at that time, these desires hidden even from me in that moment were surely seen by him and that is why he spoke of only these two when I met him first. With others, he usually talked about health and material things in life.

When Guru speaks of a matter which is central to the disciple (even if one is not conscious of it at that time), one finds oneself connected to the Guru - one gets hooked. Thereafter, I started visiting Guruji every week or fortnight. He gave me other Mantras from time to time without telling me the purpose. I also did not ask because if it were necessary for me to know, he would have told me.

Many people used to visit him and ask about what is going to happen in their lives with reference to specific issues relating to material world (getting a child, health problems, getting a job, improvement of a relationship or business, resolution of court cases etc.). He used to tell them something like, “Do not ask me about what is going to happen, ask me what you want. I will give that to you. This place is like a garage where vehicles are ‘repaired’.”

Slowly I came to know that he is a Tantrik and that he himself mainly does work relating to diagnosis of problems and giving Diksha for spiritual evolution of his disciples. As for the ‘repair’ work, it is entrusted to Tantriks who are mainly based in Kerala on payment basis. The payment, he explained, is necessary as the families of Tantriks survive on that. They have no other source of income.

His abilities to see the physiological problems such as parameters used in medical diagnosis (blood count, sugar, cholesterol level, sperm count etc.) and damage to internal organs (like spleen, liver, kidney, heart etc.) is astounding. Once he explained it to me that Atharvaveda has Mantras for each organ of the body. And broadly speaking what he does is to direct the Mantra to a particular organ, if there is a problem there, Mantra gets absorbed and does not come back. Otherwise it comes back to him.

Sitting before him often, I got convinced that when we take external assistance of doctors (and do not leave things to our fate) for treatment of an ailment (using different systems of medicines and therapies like Alopathic, Homeopathic, Ayurvedic systems of medicines as also crystal therapy, magnets, wearing stones, Rickey, Pranik Healing etc.), if Mantra can do the same thing, why not to make use of it.

He could know the health problems even if the person concerned was not before him and even when the person asking the question himself was not aware of the problem of person concerned. So it is not even a case where he reads the mind of the person sitting before him. It is much deeper than that.

To give an example, once one of my colleagues who had some health problem (fluctuating blood pressure – sometimes it used to shoot up and some time it came much below the normal) and who knew the efficacy of Tantra Sadhana asked me to find out if he could be helped. I just told Guruji that one of my colleague working at such and such place is having some health problem (I had not even mentioned name of my colleague and I did not have his photograph either) and Guruji started telling, “Yes there is problem with formation of blood cells from the bone marrow leading to fluctuating blood pressure and that his thighs are shrinking and when he has acidity, he shakes his hands.” Now I knew about blood pressure but not about shrinkage of thighs and shaking of hands. Sitting before Guruji I rang up my friend and he confirmed what was told by Guruji.

Scriptures say that ONE manifests in many forms and that forms are mere illusions, realty is one. Guru, being one with the whole, can access any form and know its past present and future – for him everything is here and now – no past, present and future. Time and space are creation of mind alone. When one experiences the reality beyond time and space, everything is found to exist simultaneously.

There are also persons with specific Siddhies (not being realized masters). They may perhaps be something like hackers who can merely gain access to information in other computer systems.

One more thing Guruji told me once was that if one has Punya Karmas to one’s credit but there are some obstacles (Paap Karmas – adverse impact of planets), it is an easy job for a Tantrik to remove the obstacle and then one would reap the benefits of one’s Punya Karmas. But creation of something positive to help a person is very difficult as it involves great effort by Tantriks and its cost may be prohibitive. He gave an illustration by saying that it is easy to get a scavenging work done for a small cost and so many persons are available to do that job but renovation of house is an expert job and costs involved are high.

I once showed him photograph of my brother and his son who were not doing too well financially. He told me that nothing can be done in their cases as they have no Punyas in store. He also added that any financial assistance to such persons from others also does not help them, it goes down like things go in a bottomless pit.

Being convinced of efficacy of Tantra in resolution of worldly problems (with limitations as aforesaid), I recommended this option to many. Many got what they wanted (a child, marriage to a particular person, transfer, winning a hopeless court case etc.) – there were also a few cases where desired result did not materialize (cancer patients, persons with financial problems etc.) but this is so with every other remedy also – one cannot discard it on that ground.

To be contd. …

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Spirituality and escapism

Faced with some problems at home or work front a few people seek relief from some Gurus or take to some spiritual practice and in many a case some of their problems are soon resolved. They temporarily feel the effect of blessings of the Guru and understand the efficacy of the practice. But mind being what it is, immediately moves on and demands something else. More often than not, it does not materialize and disillusionment starts – as they say the existence can provide for needs of everyone but is incapable of satisfying the wants of even one person. They then start questioning and doubting their own positive experience – taking it to be a coincidence.

One of my friends was having problems at home front and was suspended from service. His headquarter was also shifted to some other inconvenient station. After initial doubts and finding no other way out, he went to a Guru who blessed him with changes for the better soon. On my advice, my friend started some spiritual practices as I told him that the blessings work best when one makes an effort to move on a spiritual path.

Within two days of taking up receiving the blessings and starting the practice, his headquarter was changed which was a big relief. I told him that God has given you a clear message through this relief that you must have trust in your Guru and the practice given by him. My friend agreed and continued with the practice. In a couple of months his suspension was revoked. Now he wanted the cases against him to be cleared and many other things. This is what he had to say to me :

“Sir we all face one or the other problem in life. We have enemies or we may meet people those who harm us severely for no reason. We may not be able to lead a normal life in this competitive world without being enough smart and without earning money. Is it not absolute escapism to indulge in spirituality and lose the touch with reality? As I have observed, immediate outcome of spirituality is we start becoming feelingless. Intensity of emotions come down. We change. Our response to situation changes but situation and conditions remain the same.”

My response to this is :

Effort to make a living using the physical and mental skills and attributes with which one is born is a must. Non-use takes the mind on wrong path. As the saying goes, empty mind is devil's workshop. With engagement alone one is cleansed.

But as we often see around, skills and efforts alone do not determine our placement or status in the society. Many a person without much intelligence and effort are highly placed by virtue of their birth in a rich or powerful family. Some born in ordinary families and average skills reach upper ladders. Some born with silver spoon in their mouth and with all their efforts and skills have a great fall in their fortune and reputation.

If one sincerely looks around (also past happenings in one's own life), it is not difficult to realise that there is something other than skills and efforts that determines one's success in terms of wealth, reputation and relationships. That something, we call as fate or Prarabdha. This is a consequence of one’s own actions in this life or in the lives before.

Success and failure thus does not depend solely on our skills and efforts in this life.

We also need to understand that there is no injustice in this existence, we get only that which we deserve. There are no enemies or persons who harm us without any reason. Such persons or circumstances are mere instrumental in dealing us what we deserve – the same way as witnesses, policeman, public prosecutor, judge and the hangman are instruments of justice. We fail to see the link between what is meted out to us and our actions as we have memory of this life alone and further, many a time, we may fail to take notice of our wrong doings in this life as well.

One has to contemplate deeply and realise this truth. If this is not realised anything what is said hereafter will not make any sense.

Now coming back to the issue, as mentioned before, one has to make all possible efforts to use skills of one's body and mind to deal with a situation – no issues on that.

Now the only question that remains is – how to respond to a situation when outcome of one's effort is not what one wanted it to be. If one does not take it as unfolding of one's own fate or Prarabdha, one will hold others (perceived as enemies – so called enemies are mere parts of a big and complex jigsaw puzzle of interwoven Karmas) responsible for one' plight. This will trigger reactions such as depression, vengeance, anger and violence. Anything done with such an emotion will be a fresh negative Karma which in due course will bring its own consequences – taking one from a bad to worse situation.

On the other hand if one's action is not accompanied by negative emotions, no fresh Karma is created and Prarabdha is exhausted. One is unburdened. This in no way implies that one should not be doing what requires to be done in a given situation – one can do it with all smartness at one's command but without illwill.

Spiritual practices only help us in acting without negative emotions but do not affect one's capabilities or efficiency. Only feverishness is gone which may sometime be mistaken for lack of drive, feelings, emotions or motivation by a beginner on this path.

If one continues (perseveres) with the practices one is sure to find love and joy all around (including one's own body - as Kabirdas says "rom rom pulkit bhaya") – a state far superior to the experience of feelings and emotions we know of – coloured stones appear to be a treasure till one finds diamonds.

I would conclude by saying that spiritual practices may not change the external situations but definitely equip us better to go through and deal with them.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Inner chattering does not stop

To a friend who is having much problem in concentrating while being in maunvrat as Karta bhava does not vanish and inner chatting does not stop.

In one of the bhajans disciples of Osho sing –


"Nahin jeetna hai is mun ko, mun ko sirf samajhana hai.
Yeh sevak se nahin hai jyada, is se nahin ulajhana hai.
………
Mun kaa koi dosh nahin hai, is ka kaam bahakna hai.”

You might have also heard of a story –

“One person approached a guru with a request for getting some mantara to achieve sidhies. Guru did not find the man eligible for a mantara or sidhies. Just to ward him off, the guru asked him to be in the monastery for a month do some chores and come after that. The person did all what was told and came back. Guru again told him to do the same things for another three months and come back. He did that sincerely and came again. Seeing the persistence of the person and at the same time not finding him fit for initiation, the guru found a way out. He gave him a mantara with the condition that when he recites it, he should not be thinking of monkeys. The person said that is not a problem at all and he never had any thoughts of monkeys all his life. He happily came back to his place took bath and sat for recitation of mantara. As soon as he remembered of the condition, the monkeys started jumping all over in his mind. He tried, tried and tried but the very attempt to ensure that the thought of monkeys is not there, there were monkeys all over. He was getting neurotic. He went back to the guru and requested him to take back the mantara and get him free from the monkeys.”

It is, therefore, necessary to understand the nature of mind. This understanding alone leads to state of freedom. The mind works at three levels.

At one level random thoughts involuntarily pop up in mind. These (information inputs) are necessary for the reason that but for random thoughts one would not be able to switch over from one activity to another when the situation demands it. At this level, options are tossed up without value judgement and without any suggestion to act or not to act on the information. This process does not consume any life energy (prana) because one is not causing them to arise. It is just happening – existentially. All great inventions, spiritual revelations (vedas, upnishads) and great works of art like poetry, dance, paintings etc. are the results of this functioning of mind. While in meditation, one should not try to stop this process knowing that it is the basic nature of the mind (Mun kaa koi dosh nahin hai, is ka kaam bahakna hai) and it is a help rather than a hindrance – one would definitely fail if one tries to stop it.

Now suppose you watch a TV serial and sit in meditation after that or the next morning and when trying to concentrate on some object of meditation, the face of TV artiste comes before your eyes, it is OK. The mind has stored a photo or recorded a thought which just pops up – no harm. If we go a little deeper, every image, thought or emotion is nothing but a manifestation of energy (may call it god) – so where is the problem if god appears in those forms. One needs to understand this deeply and thereby peacefully co-exist with the random thoughts that pop-up – not attaching any importance to their rise and dissolution.

Paramhamsa Nithyanandji says that anyone who claims that he becomes thoughtless in meditation is telling a lie (or mistaking sleep for meditation) – even when there is no other thought, the thought that “there is no thought now” is still there. In the state of Samadhi alone one would become thoughtless – not before that.

At the next level, the mind latches on to one of the random thoughts and starts thinking (mind selects a thought for being pursued on account of preferences and prejudices caused by genetic coding and social conditioning – strengthened by repetitive behavior). Here one is involved in the process. The consumption of life energy in this process is low. That is why if one simply (without anxiety) thinks in connection with planning and execution of a task (or while joyfully playing), one does not feel mentally tired or exhausted. If this process starts in the mind while meditating, one should not feel disturbed knowing that this is how the mind functions. At this stage when one remembers that one has strayed from the practice (nama japa, mantra, watching breath, looking at Ajna Chakra, body awareness etc.), the trick is to affectionately bring back the mind to the practice. Bhagvatam says that when the mind strays from the image of the god “to use bahala fusla kar vapas le aao.” Knowing that to stray is the nature of mind – it is not unusual – it is meant and trained to be in that mode – one has to be very patient with it – as soon as one comes to know that mind has strayed – bring it back affectionately. To be one with the infinite, one needs to have infinite patience.

What I have stated above actually works. Being in a state of thoughtlessness may be a final culmination of sadhana but it is not necessary for a sadhaka. Let me tell you, in 25 years of my sadhana, I have never experienced state of thoughtlessness. Still I am almost free (being modest) from all attachments and ambitions and my body and mind are often filled with joy. And Gurus view me as an advanced sadhaka.

Another thing to know is that the frequency and duration of being caught with a thought (straying from object of sadhana) depends upon level of life energy which one has. If one is low on this energy (predominance of tamas) the frequency and duration would me more. Person will be sucked into repetitive thought pattern and will find it difficult to come out of it. It is, therefore, necessary to know as to how to raise the level of life energy (level of consciousness) and work for it. Before discussing that, first let us have a look at the third level at which mind functions.

The third level is where the thinking process triggers an emotional reaction or desire. When emotion or desire is triggered, it acts like a hole in a pot (making the pot empty) or short circuit in an electric circuit (if a very low resistance wire is connected in parallel to an appliance, the current does not pass through the appliance and it stops working). In this state all the life energy is consumed by the emotion or desire and the person looses the control over the mind – the thinking process stops as life energy is not available to that part of the mind which is responsible for thinking. While on the issue, let us not forget that nothing which we are endowed with is useless. This process was also essential in primitive stages of human evolution for survival inasmuch as in the state of danger to life, the emotion of fear or violence will channel all energy to help one to escape from the situation or finish the aggressor (fight and flight syndrome) – the thinking process which necessarily involves time would have been an impediment in such a situation.

But now that there is as such no threat to the body, there is no use of emotion of fear (anxiety) and violence (anger). But these are seated in the inner layers of the mind and the superficial layer (conscious mind) of the mind has no control when emotions get activated. That is why one finds it difficult to come out of anxiety or depression. When one is low on life energy, one has nothing which can help one to come out of the repetitive thoughts or emotions.

So thoughts will come, emotions will arise. This is the nature of mind. If we have higher level of consciousness (life energy – prana), we can come out of it immediately like a child or a saint and become available to the next moment – not bogged down by the past event(s). If life energy is low (we are dominated by tamas), we get caught up by the thoughts and emotions and have no ability to come out of it.

That is why Paramhamsa Nithyananda says that 90% of sadhana is breaking tamas. Osho also asked his disciples to start with dynamic meditation – involving lot of chaotic breathing and physical action.

Now the real thing. How to raise the level of consciousness? Simple – increase the intake of life energy (prana) and reduce its leakage which takes place on account of emotions and desires.

For increasing the intake of life energy (and thereby breaking tamas) one has to bring back one’s breathing process to normal like that of a child (stomach should be made to contract and expand while breathing and not the chest), deep and fast breathing for a while (say 7 to 10 minutes), taking up yogic exercises, brisk walk etc. Paramhamsa Nthyananda’s Nithya Dhyan is also very effective – it is less vigorous – seven minutes of chaotic breathing, followed by 7 minutes of humming and other simpler steps.

And for avoiding emotional reaction (anxiety, sadness, guilt, feeling of uselessness etc.), maun accompanied by some nama japa or mantara (to engage the mind in some activity – it cannot remain idle) and blessings of an evolved one (a master) would help. There is no easier way to get charged (with life energy) and thereby avoid grip of thoughts and emotions than Satsang – being with the evolved ones and with the ones on the path (sadhakas). The japa and mantara in fact do not greatly help unless received from a master – it is his energy that makes them effective.

As for the Karta bhava, it never leaves anyone in any form of sadhana other than bhakti. Reason is simple – in every other form of sadhana, one is supposed to do something and obviously if one is doing it (trying to concentrate) the sense that “‘I’ am doing it” cannot be separated from the act. But even in other forms of sadhana, if one undertakes them playfully (with regularity of course) and with infinite patience (though putting all the effort into it) – there will not be much of a problem. Karta Bhava will continue in subtler form but at the same time one would become sensitive to presence of energy in a charged place (samadhi of a master, temple etc.) or in the presence of master or advanced sadhaka. This opens one to the mystery of existence – one is overwhelmed! That starts the process of dissolution of Karta Bhava and leads one to trust in the intelligence of the existence. This feeling of getting overwhelmed by the reach of the masters and the existence which acts through them gives rise to devotion (bhakti) – one follows the master without doubt even if it is against one’s convictions (sheesh uthaye bhui dhare). In the state of bhakti, there is no Karta Bhava and one is consequently unburdened. The reason being that bhakti, like love, is its own reward – joy by itself, not for fulfillment of any other object. Karta Bhava remains till there is goal to be achieved – in the state of joy (bhakti) there are no questions and no Karta Bhava.

Bhagawat Geeta first takes one through Gyan Yoga, Karma Yoga and Dhyana Yoga. This does not, however, dissolve the confusions (or ego or sense of “I”) of Arjuna. Then Krishna first overwhelms Arjuna with a glimpse of the infinite (mysteries and immensity of existence) and when in that state ‘ego’ has no place to stand, tells him to leave everything and surrender to him. Geeta ends with bhakti yoga. This is how it is.

Till one pursues spiritual quest on one’s own, Karta Bhava will never go. The thoughts would keep arising while one tries to meditate. Effort will eventually tire one out. Consequently one would either give up the quest out of frustration (less likely to happen) or will come in contact with a guru (to seek a way out) who will patiently (no hurry) and lovingly lead him onto the path of Bhakti. Karta Bhava effortlessly dissolves in the presence of a guru leading to bhakti – a way full of joy – all responsibility is his (guru or god).

You have reached a crucial stage in your quest (hare ko hari nama) – this is the purpose of all sadhana – the door is going to open now!