Satsang by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Guru Chants
- Introduction By Sw Satyasangananda
- Guru Stotra by Sw Satyasangananda
- Guru Paduka Stotra by Kanyas of Rikhia
- Guru Prartharna by Kanyas of Rikhia
- Guruvashtakam by Kanyas of Rikhia
- Sivananda Mangalam by Kanyas of Rikhia
- Dev Dev Sivananda by Kanyas of Rikhia
- Sadguru Vandana by Kanyas of Rikhia
- Purusha Sukta by Sw Satyasangananda & Kanyas of Rikhia
- Satyananda Gayatri by Sw Satyasangananda & Kanyas of Rikhia
Kanya Kirtans
Saundarya Lahari
Tapowan Sangeet
Rikhiapeeth Events and Courses in 2012
June 15th–28th: Yoga Sadhana and Ashram Life Course
July 1st–3rd: Guru Purnima (Diksha on 3rd)
Jul 6th–8th: Antar Mouna
July 29th–2nd Aug: Sri Radha Krishna Jhoolan (Diksha on 2nd)
Aug 9th: Krishna Janmasthami
Aug 15th–4th Sept: Hindi Yoga Teacher Training Course
Sep 1st-8th: Srimad Bhagwad Katha & Swami Sivananda Janmotsav
Sep 12th: Swami Satyananda Sannyasa Day
Sept 14th–16th: Ajapa Japa and Yoga Nidra
Oct 16th–23rd: Ashwin Navaratri Sadhana (Diksha on ashtami)
Oct 26th–4th Nov: Chakra Sadhana Course
Nov 13th: Diwali
Nov 7th–13th: Prana Vidya Course
Dec 14th–17th: Sat Chandi Mahayajna/ Sita Kalyanam
Dec 24th–28th: Yoga Purnima
24th December: Christmas Eve
Dec 31st–Jan 1st: New Year
Jan 2nd–8th 2013: Kriya Yoga & Tattwa Shuddhi Course(Eng)
Jan–Oct: Introduction to Ashram Life
For further information on the above events and courses please click on the tabs at the top of the page or on the links below:
For Events in 2012: http://www.rikhiapeeth.net/p/rikhiapeeth-events-2012.html
For Courses in 2012:
http://www.rikhiapeeth.net/p/rikhiapeeth-courses-2012.html
The following events are held at Bihar School of Yoga, Rikhia on a regular basis throughout the year. All sadhaks, devotees and wellwishers are welcome to attend:
Rudrabhishek: every Monday
Sri Vidya Puja: every Friday
Mahamrityunjaya Havan for universal health: every Saturday
Akhand Gita Path: every Ekadashi
Sundar Kand Path: every Poornima
5th & 6th each month: Guru Bhakti Yoga
July 1st–3rd: Guru Purnima (Diksha on 3rd)
Jul 6th–8th: Antar Mouna
July 29th–2nd Aug: Sri Radha Krishna Jhoolan (Diksha on 2nd)
Aug 9th: Krishna Janmasthami
Aug 15th–4th Sept: Hindi Yoga Teacher Training Course
Sep 1st-8th: Srimad Bhagwad Katha & Swami Sivananda Janmotsav
Sep 12th: Swami Satyananda Sannyasa Day
Sept 14th–16th: Ajapa Japa and Yoga Nidra
Oct 16th–23rd: Ashwin Navaratri Sadhana (Diksha on ashtami)
Oct 26th–4th Nov: Chakra Sadhana Course
Nov 13th: Diwali
Nov 7th–13th: Prana Vidya Course
Dec 14th–17th: Sat Chandi Mahayajna/ Sita Kalyanam
Dec 24th–28th: Yoga Purnima
24th December: Christmas Eve
Dec 31st–Jan 1st: New Year
Jan 2nd–8th 2013: Kriya Yoga & Tattwa Shuddhi Course(Eng)
Jan–Oct: Introduction to Ashram Life
For further information on the above events and courses please click on the tabs at the top of the page or on the links below:
For Events in 2012: http://www.rikhiapeeth.net/p/rikhiapeeth-events-2012.html
For Courses in 2012:
http://www.rikhiapeeth.net/p/rikhiapeeth-courses-2012.html
The following events are held at Bihar School of Yoga, Rikhia on a regular basis throughout the year. All sadhaks, devotees and wellwishers are welcome to attend:
Rudrabhishek: every Monday
Sri Vidya Puja: every Friday
Mahamrityunjaya Havan for universal health: every Saturday
Akhand Gita Path: every Ekadashi
Sundar Kand Path: every Poornima
5th & 6th each month: Guru Bhakti Yoga
Namo Narayan
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Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Purpose of Meditation (Part 1 of 2)
Satsang by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
What is the purpose of meditation?
Some people proclaim it is a way to self-realization and the fusing of
individual awareness with higher awareness. In my humble opinion, this aim is
too high and the outcome of a psychological error in human minds. Meditation is
for self-realization, but very few people can teach it in this light, very few
can learn it and fewer still can practise it. Until the mind is sound and healthy,
and the subliminal inhibitions and personality errors are completely remedied,
it is not at all advisable to take to the practice of meditation for the
expansion of cosmic consciousness. Otherwise it tends to be self-hypnosis.
Human welfare
I want to discuss yoga in relation
to human welfare, not divine awareness. Spiritual awareness may be the summum bonum
of life, but it is too early for us to think of it because we are not healthy. We are suffering from not only chronic physical illness,
but also mental illness. We are not aware of the deep-rooted tensions guiding
human behaviour. The individual afflictions and subliminal pains in our lives
are guiding the destiny of the world. The restlessness throughout the world is
an outcome of the sickness in man's mind. There must be some way to cure this
illness, some method to develop a healthy environment in society, the
community, the family and also in the individual mind.
Religions have failed; economic
programs have also failed to bring peace to mankind and to solve the problems
of the individual, the community and the society. The problems start with the
individual, and they can only be resolved by the individual.
What is meditation?
If you agree that meditation is a
science of mind and not a science of God; if you agree that it is a system for the reorientation of human personality as a whole and not
mere physics; if you agree it is a system through which we can root out the individual's pain,
the unseen afflictions and tensions around us, in the muscular, mental and
emotional bodies, then let us go ahead with the subject.
Our behaviour, thinking, actions
and reactions are guided by the soul, by the consciousness. This consciousness
is not pure; it works in association with the atmosphere, environmental
conditions, etc. As a result, tensions pile up in the different spheres of our
personality and we are not aware of it. Therefore, we suffer from insomnia,
inhibitions, juvenile delinquency, sexual anarchy, hatred, restlessness,
anxiety, worry and so on. Then we look for peace and tranquillity, but peace
does not come from outside and tranquillity cannot be introduced. They are the
result of unfoldment, but we do not know real unfoldment.
Meditation is a system by which
we are able to get rid of the tensions and at the same time analyze the
deep-rooted psychological errors. After surveying the different meditation
movements throughout the world, I am sorry to tell you that people do not know
what meditation is for. Concentration of the mind on a particular point is not
meditation. Developing inner awareness is not meditation.
Eliminating tensions
The first step towards achieving
meditation is relaxation. It is not the relaxation where you lie down, close
your eyes, and feel yourself becoming lighter, happier and so on. This method
of auto-suggestion is the hypnotic method. In yoga the process of withdrawal is
the process of relaxation. What Patanjali calls pratyahara, withdrawal of
external consciousness, or dissociation of consciousness from external objects,
is relaxation. It cannot be complete unless you have relaxed all the tensions
within the system.
Tensions are physical, mental and
emotional. Unbalanced hormonal secretions due to faulty living, faulty
breathing and so on can cause tensions. They are not necessarily due to the
psychological problems of society or the emotional maladjustment of the family.
There can also be nervous disorders and other physiological problems.
Therefore, in yoga, asana and pranayama come first in order to get rid of muscular
and physical tensions, to eliminate the toxins from the body and, at the same
time, to balance the hormonal secretions. For instance, over and under
secretion of the pituitary hormones, the sexual hormones, adrenaline, thyroxin,
all have a great influence on our behaviour and thinking.
These tensions can be solved by
the practice of hatha yoga. Asana and pranayama are not just exercises, and
should be performed with great care. Scientific investigations carried out in Russia , Poland ,
India , France and Germany have shown that the whole
endocrine system is greatly influenced during the practice of asana. As a
result, toxins are eliminated and energy blocks are cleared. Therefore, asana
and pranayama remove muscular tensions and then mental tensions, which are the
greatest tensions.
Overthinking, wrong thinking and
vicious thinking, which we do in our day-to-day life, cause these mental
tensions. To eliminate them, we must practise relaxation where we withdraw our
consciousness. When the withdrawal or the negation of consciousness has taken
place, the next step is the expansion of consciousness. So the whole process is
divided into two stages: negation and expansion.
In the process of negation, there
are different techniques to withdraw or calm the tensions created by the ocular
system, the auditory system and the nervous system, and those created by
internal functional deficiencies.
Relaxation and meditation
When we practise mediation or
relaxation, we must have a technique. Not all techniques are suitable for
everyone, but various practices can be taken up without any difficulty or risk.
The easiest one is ajapa japa, spontaneous awareness of japa while
concentrating on the breath. When you concentrate on the breath, you try to
formulate an ascending and descending process. Then the consciousness is
withdrawn; the area of experience is diminished. The consciousness functions in
a limited area and thereafter you start with a symbol.
You have an image; you have a
centre. You try to develop a clearcut psychic, internal, non-sensuous, mental
awareness of that symbol. This symbol must become clear to you. You should be
able to see it consciously in order to effect complete relaxation. It is not
enough just to visualize your subconscious mind. Yoga believes that in
meditation you should be able to see your conscious mind, your subconscious
mind and also your unconscious mind, which is very difficult.
The moment the experience of the
unconscious personality arises, complete relaxation takes place. There are
moments during deep sleep when we become aware of the unconscious mind and
afterwards we feel completely relaxed. In the science of yoga, it is believed
that when the awareness is detached from the conscious, subconscious and
unconscious, and when the individual awareness functions independently of these
three dimensions of consciousness, relaxation takes, place and meditation
begins.
Meditation can never begin before
relaxation, and relaxation is the most difficult thing. You may think that
meditation is difficult, but it is not. Meditation is accomplished
spontaneously. Meditation comes to you and it does not take a long time. But in
order to develop the spontaneous state of meditation, it is necessary to go
through the whole process of relaxation.
Perception of consciousness
In yoga this process is called
pratyahara and dharana. Pratyahara means withdrawal of consciousness, and
dharana means conception of consciousness in a particular way. You are your
consciousness; you see your awareness but it is an internal perception. It may
be a round stone, a triangle, a flower or anything, but you should be able to
see it. The object you see inside is not imagination; it is a form of your
consciousness.
The triangle you see inside is
made up of your consciousness through which you understand me. It is the same consciousness
through which I am able to speak to you on yoga, It is the same consciousness
through which you know what is right, through which your intellect functions.
It is the same consciousness which manifests in day-to-day life in the form of
memory, and through which you understand hatred and love. It is the same
consciousness which functions in the world. It is not imagination or hypothesis
but a force, an awareness, an instrument of knowledge, or medium of
understanding, the substance of perception.
It is this consciousness that is
withdrawn from objects, from intellectual knowledge, from experience and memory
of the past, from the knowledge of right and wrong. When it has been dissociated from the different bases of perception, but at the same
time it becomes clear to you in the form of a triangle, flower, stone, light or
an animal, then it means that you are seeing your own consciousness. This is
the fundamental secret of yoga and meditation.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Right Conduct: the First Step
Satsang by Swami Sivananda
Spiritual life is not a light
matter. Always regard yourself as a beginner just commencing your sadhana.
Never underestimate the importance of yama, niyama and sattwic virtues. They
are everything. Self-realization and dharma, righteousness, are inseparable.
Man evolves through the practice of dharma according to the situation in life,
and eventually attains self- realization, the ultimate goal.
Sadachara or right conduct is the
foundation of yoga. Yoga is rooted in virtue. Ethical discipline is very
necessary for success in yoga. One should be well established in sadachara right
from the beginning of one's spiritual life. Sadachara is the practice of yama
and niyama. Right conduct is superior to all branches of knowledge and the root
of all prosperity. It is conduct that begets virtue, and it is virtue that
prolongs life.
A person of right conduct has
ideals, principles and mottoes. He strictly follows them, removes his weaknesses
and defects, develops good conduct and becomes a sattwic individual. He is very
careful in behaving with his elders, parents, teachers, acharyas, sisters,
brothers, friends, relatives and strangers. He attempts to know what is right
and wrong, by approaching the wise and the saintly and studying the scriptures
very carefully, and then treads the path of dharma.
Do unto others - the essence of right conduct
An aspirant went to Veda Vyasa
and said: "O Maharshi, I am in a dilemma. I cannot properly comprehend the
right significance of the term dharma. Some say it is right conduct. Others say
that which leads to moksha and happiness is dharma. Anything, any action that
brings you down is adharma. I am bewildered. Kindly give me a very easy definition
of dharma to enable me to follow dharma in all my actions."
Maharshi Vyasa replied: "O
aspirant! Hear me. I shall suggest an easy method. Always remember the following
sayings with great care when you perform any action. 'Do as you would be done
by. Do unto others as you wish others do unto you.' This is the whole of
dharma. Attend to this carefully. You will be saved from all troubles. If you
follow these wise maxims, you can never give any pain to others. Practise this
in your daily life. Even if you fail one hundred times, it does not matter.
Persevere. You will succeed in the attainment of the goal."
This is a very good maxim. The
whole gist is here. If one practises this very carefully, he will not commit
any wrong act.
Pursue duty, not pleasure
The first step in right conduct
is to reflect upon ourselves, our surroundings and our actions. Before we act
we must stop to think. When a man earnestly attends to what he recognizes as his
duties, he will progress and in consequence thereof his comfort and prosperity
will increase. His pleasures will be more refined; his happiness, enjoyments
and recreations will be better and nobler.
Happiness is like a shadow; if
pursued it will flee from us, but if a man does not trouble himself about it
and strictly attends to his duties, pleasures of the best and noblest kind will crop out everywhere on his path. If he does not anxiously pursue it, happiness
will follow him. Apply yourself diligently to daily duties. Consult the
scriptures and saints whenever you are in doubt. Build up your character. This
will give you success in life. Practise daily to remove old evil habits.
Establish virtuous healthy habits daily.
Yama and niyama
Yama and niyama are the two moral
backbones of yoga, which the aspirant must practise in his daily life. These
correspond roughly to the ten commandments of Jesus or to the noble eight-fold
path of Lord Buddha. Practise of yama-niyama will eradicate all impurities of
mind.
All aspirants commit mistakes in
jumping to samadhi and dhyana as soon as they leave their house without caring
a bit for yama and niyama, The mind remains in the same condition although they
have practised meditation for fifteen years. They contiriue to carry the same
jealousy, hatred, idea of superiority, pride and egoism. However, when one has
ethical perfection, meditation and samadhi come by themselves.
Yama: The practice of yama
is the very foundation of yoga, without which the superstructure of yoga cannot
be built. Yama is the practice of ahimsa (abstinence from injury and killing),
sat yam (truthfulness), asteya (abstinence from theft or false- hood),
brahmacharya (continence) and aparigraha (abstinence from
avariciousness or greed). Patanjali Maharshi mentions the above five chief
items for practice in yama. In every religion you will find these ideals. Great
emphasis is laid in every chapter of the Bhagavad Gita on the practice
of yama.
Ahimsa, for example, is not to hurt
the feelings of others in thought, word and deed; not to speak harsh words to
anyone; not to show anger towards anybody; not to abuse others or speak ill of
others. If you abuse anyone, if you hurt the feelings of others, really you are
abusing yourself and hurting the feelings of God. You must always speak sweet,
loving words. You must not speak any word that is calculated to hurt the feelings
of others. You should weigh your words well before they are spoken. You must speak
a few words only. This is austerity of speech or vak tapas that will
conserve energy and give you peace of mind and inner strength.
Do not cause pain or suffering to
any living being from greed, selfishness, irritability or annoyance. Give up
anger or ill-will. Give up the spirit of fighting, heated debates. Do not argue
or contradict. Do not try to convince persons who are unreasonable and
undeveloped. Avoid too much mixing with people. Avoid the company of those whom
your mind dislikes. If you quarrel with somebody or if you have a heated debate
with anybody, you cannot meditate for three or four days. Your balance of mind
will be upset and much energy will be wasted in useless channels. The blood
will become hot and the nerves will be shattered.
Himsa, injury, is a deadly
enemy of bhakti and jnana. It separates and divides. It stands in the way of
realizing unity or oneness of Self. That act or exertion which does not do good
to others or for which one has to feel ashamed should never be done. The person
of right conduct always cares for the welfare of all beings. He lives in
harmony with the neighbours and all people, never hurting the feelings of
others.
From ahimsa comes satya,
truthfulness. You must practise austerity of speech if you really want to
attain quick progress in sadhana. You must speak truth at any cost. Note
carefully how the rishis had given instructions to their students when they had
finished their course of study: "Speak the truth. Do your duty. Do not
neglect the study of the Vedas. Do not swerve from truth. Do not swerve from
duty. Do not neglect your welfare. Do not neglect your prosperity. Do not
neglect the duties towards God and forefathers. May the mother be your God (Matri
devo bhava). May the father be your God (Pitri devo bhava). May the
preceptor be your God (Acharya devo bhava). May the guest be your God (Atithi
devo bhava). Do such actions as are blameless. Those that are good actions,
they should be performed by you, and none else. Those brahmins that are
superior, should be comforted by you with seats, etc. Give with faith. Do not
give without faith. Give with joy, with modesty, with fear, with kindness."
Do not indulge in sundry talks
and miscellaneous thoughts just to ease the mind. These are common obstacles
for the spiritual aspirant. Become silent. If you can give up idle talks and
gossiping, and if you do not meddle in the affairs of others, you will
immediately free yourself from all sorts of obstacles. Still the mind. Select
your words carefully. Turn your thoughts constantly to the spiritual path.
Think and talk only of that which will transform you into a divine being. Niyama:
Niyarna is the observance of the five canons: shaucha (purity), santosha
(contentment), tapas (austerity), swadhyaya (self-study) and Ishwara
pranidhana (dedication to the highest principle).
Shaucha, for example, is external
and internal purity. Washing the hands, taking a bath, etc. are intended for
external purity. Filling the mind with pure, divine thoughts is internal purity.
Patanjali has said that the mind becomes pure by cultivating habits of friendliness,
joy and compassion, and indifference towards happiness, misery, virtue and
vice. The dirt of envy leaves one who shows friendliness towards all who are
enjoying pleasure and joy towards those who are virtuously inclined. When the
mind shows compassion towards those who are suffering from pain and the wish to
remove the miseries of others as if they were one's own, the dirt of the desire
to do evil to others is removed. Whoever shows indifference and does not side
against the viciously inclined, the dirt of impatience is removed from his
mind.
By this removal of the characteristics
of the qualities of disturbing energy, rajas, and inertia, iamas, the
characteristic of essential purity, saituia, manifests itself. The mind
becomes possessed of a very high manifestation of essential purity. When the
mind becomes pure it attains the state of steadiness and becomes one-pointed.
Aim to perfect one yama or niyama
One should be well established in
sadachara if one wants to attain perfection in yoga. Aim to perfect at least
one yama and niyama. When one is established in it perfectly, then samadhi or
nishtha will come by itself. Remember this point clearly. Constantly reflect
upon it. Know what true spirituality is. Fully realize the importance of
becoming a changed person morally and ethically, before you can claim to be an
aspirant.
Carefully avoid the dangers of
self-deception by means of constant vigilance and introspection. When your
entire nature is changed, purified and prepared, grace will flow by itself in the
firmament of your pure heart. Bliss will spontaneously flow and fill you when
you have emptied yourself of all egoism, harshness, pride and passion.
Perfection and immortality will be yours. Where there is kindness, humility,
purity and love, there spirituality springs up, saintliness shines, divinity descends
and perfection manifests itself.
Shake off all weakness. Stand up.
Evolve quickly on the spiritual path. Wake up. Open your eyes. Learn to discriminate.
Do not trust your senses. They are your enemies. Stick to yama and niyama with
leech-like tenacity. Life is short. Time is fleeting. Keep up the ideal
character always before your eyes. This is your very being. Evolve. Expand.
Grow. Realize.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Balance between Extroversion and Introversion
Satsang by Swami Satyananda
Many people with spiritual
aspirations are faced with a dilemma: whether to live in the world of action,
or to only practise meditational techniques. The Ishavasya Upanishad gives a
clear answer. It says that both must be done simultaneously. One must be both
extroverted and introverted, and supplement and express one's inner experience
with outer actions. This is stated in no uncertain terms in verse 9: ''Those
who follow the path of action alone will surely enter the blinding darkness of
ignorance. Furthermore, those who retreat from the world in order to seek
knowledge through constant practice of meditative techniques, similarly remain
in the quagmire of ignorance." This is like the razor's edge: there must
be a balance between excessive worldly interest and activity, and excessive
introspection, if samatvam is to be attained.
One must try to integrate the.
paths of extroversion and introversion. If you consider great yogis, saints and
sages through history, you will realize that they all continued to express
themselves in the outer world, even though they experienced the infinity of
enlightenment. This applies to Buddha and Christ, to Mahatma Gandhi, Swami
Vivekananda and many others. They taught their disciples, they travelled giving
sermons and tried to help people who sought their guidance. These illumined
people continued to act and express themselves in the outside world according
to the natural dictates of dharma. Some became hermits; others such as Swami
Sivananda and Mahatma Gandhi worked ceaselessly for the general welfare of
their fellow humans. None of them became human vegetables. This applies not only
to those who live in and know the highest states of illumination, it also
applies to you. You too must strike a balance between external action and
introspection.
The Ishavasya Upanishad further
emphasizes this important point in verse 10: "That which is known through
doing only external actions, is different to that which is known through introversion. Thus it has been said by the wise." Total concern
with the outside world leads only to intellectual knowledge, not intuitive
knowledge. Only by understanding the internal sphere of existence will you be
able to bring about deeper understanding of the material world in which you
live. On the other hand, rejection of worldly life and complete concern for
meditational practices and the mind is also a block.
The reason is simple. Without
resolving and harmonizing one's outer life, one can never really know deeper
states of knowledge. Higher states of awareness only occur when there is perfect balance both in the inner and outer worlds. People who have a
tendency to reject so-called mundane worldly activities as irrelevant to their
spiritual evolution still tend to have many unresolved problems.
Dual process
Rejection of the world does not
remove personality problems, which merely lie dormant in the mind, acting as
obstacles to success in meditational practices. Failure to clear up the outer
conflicts and concerns automatically prevents one from gaining the highest
benefits from introspection. Therefore, there must be a dual process of
external activities combined with periods of trying to explore the mind.
The Bhagavad Gita says that
spiritual aspirants should never shun the active life; they must devote time to
the performance of karma yoga because it is very necessary for a meditator to
have some outlet for the expressions of spiritual power. If this is done, then
the spiritual power generated through meditation can be practically channelled,
and properly utilized and directed. In this light, all spiritual aspirants must
take up the path of karma yoga, particularly in the early stages of spiritual
life, for eventually there ceases to be any difference between the inner and
outer world. This is what Ramana Maharshi meant when he said: "Setting apart
time for meditational practices is only for beginners. A man who is advanced in
the spiritual path will begin to enjoy deeper beautitude whether he is at work
or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in
solitude."
However, as most aspirants are
beginners it takes a combination of karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga and jnana
yoga to remove the cause of tension and unhappiness, not partially, but as a
whole. The human personality can be divided broadly into four fundamental
categories: emotional, active, intuitive and volitional. Each person has a
different temperament and inclinations according to a predominance of one or
more of these traits. Accordingly, the yogic path has to be designed to suit
the specific characteristics of an individual. Raja yoga is difficult; bhakti
yoga is simpler, yet karma yoga is the simplest. However, that does not mean
you should only do karma yoga. You must practise a synthesis of all four yogas,
because in this way the paths of extroversion and introversion are integrated
and emotional balance and mental peace acquired.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Attention, Memory and Will
Satsang by Swami Sivananda
Saraswati
Attention is of two kinds - voluntary
and involuntary. When the attention is directed towards external objects by an
effort of will, when you have an express volition to attend to this or that, it
is called voluntary attention. You understand why you perceive. Some deliberate
intention, incentive, goal or purpose is definitely involved. Voluntary
attention needs effort, will, determination and some mental training. This is
cultivated by practice and perseverance. The benefits derived from the practice
of attention are incalculable.
Involuntary attention is quite
common. It does not demand any practice. There is no effort of the will. The attention
is induced by the beauty and attractive nature of the object. Individuals
perceive without knowing why, and without observed instruction. Young children
possess this power of involuntary attention to a greater degree than adults.
Attention is the basis of will.
The force with which anything strikes the mind is generally in proportion to the
degree of attention bestowed upon it. Attention on any object may be either
subjective (internal) or objective (external). Attention is steady application
of the mind. It is focusing of consciousness on a chosen object. Through
attention, you can develop your mental faculties and capacities. Where there is
attention, there is also concentration. Attention should be cultivated
gradually. It is not a special process. It is one aspect of the whole mental
process.
Perception always involves
attention. To perceive is to attend. Through attention you get a clear and
distinct knowledge of objects. The entire energy is focused on the objects
towards which attention is directed. Full and complete information is gained. During
attention all the dissipated rays of the mind are collected. There is effort or
struggle. Through attention a deeper impression is made in the mind. If you
have good attention, you can attend to the matter in hand exclusively. An
attentive person has a very good memory and is very vigilant, circumspect and
alert.
Attention plays a very great part
in concentration. When properly guided and directed towards the inner world for
the purpose of introspection, it will analyse the mind and illumine very many
astounding facts for you. Attention is one of the signs of a trained will. It
is a rare faculty which can be cultivated and developed by persistent practice.
The human mind has the power of
attending to only one object at a time, although it is able to pass from one
object to another with a remarkable degree of speed. So rapidly, in fact, that
some have held that it can grasp several things at a time. But the best
authorities, eastern and western, hold to the 'single idea' theory as being
correct. It agrees with one's daily experience also. There are yogis who can do
eight or ten or even a hundred things at a time. This is not strange. The whole
secret lies in the fact that they have developed their attention to a
remarkable degree. All the great people of the world possess this faculty in
varying degrees.
Memory
The Sanskrit term for memory is
smriti. Smarana is remembering. This is the function of the subconscious mind
or chitta. The samskaras, or habits, of thinking and acting are deeply
impressed in the chitta, which is like the sensitive plate of a camera. All
impressions are indelibly recorded there. Whenever you attempt to remember past
events or things, they come to the surface of the mind through the trap door. They
come out in the form of big waves of thought or as mental images.
Memory culture is very important.
It brings success in God-realization as well. A person with a strong and
retentive memory has success in all undertakings. One who has a good memory can
conduct his business affairs very successfully. A student who has a retentive
memory will have success in all his examinations. Intelligence is only
one-tenth of memory.
Take up memory culture. Take any
exercise that suits you best and put it into daily practice. Keep a daily
record - this is very important. Mere skipping over the pages will be of no
benefit. If you really want rapid improvement, put the lessons into practice
and take notes. You can watch your progress and correct your mistakes.
Whenever you meet a person, look
at his figure carefully from top to bottom. Mentally note any peculiar features
- the condition of his eyes, eyebrows, teeth, arms etc., the sort of dress he
is wearing, what kind of cap he wears, whether he has a moustache or not.
Notice his behaviour, his looks, his gait, whether he seems to be kind-hearted
or cruel, whether he is intelligent or dull, polite or impolite, his colour and
so on.
Many people cannot give a clear
description of the faces of their own friends, or their own parents! The
obvious reason is that they have not developed the power of memory. Enter your
friend's room; notice carefully all the things you see there. Then close your
eyes and reflect. Come out of the room and note mentally all the things the
room contains, in order. Then re-enter the room and verify what you noticed.
Practise this for some months - you will develop a wonderful power of sight.
Develop willpower
Learn the art of extracting work
from the subconscious mind. If you want to remember a forgotten passage, give a
definite message to the subconscious mind just before you retire to bed. Talk
to the subconscious mind, just as you would talk to a friend. Give the order in
clear terms. The following morning it will place the words before you. If this
fails, wait with a calm mind till the answer comes from the subconscious mind
itself. After you are well up in memory culture, you can take up will culture.
You will train every nerve in the practice of will culture. You have started
the current and it will keep up your enthusiasm.
Practise the assertions boldly
and calmly. Fully understand the meaning of every assertion. Try to feel it. This
feeling will slowly manifest. Do not be discouraged. You will have to fight
with your old enemies, the old samskaras. Try to develop patience, attention,
power of endurance, balance of mind, presence of mind and so on.
Pay great attention to this; you
will derive great benefit. Will is dynamic soul force. If rendered pure and
irresistible, it can work wonders. There is nothing you cannot achieve with a
strong will. Most people have no consciousness of will or mind or intellect,
though they talk much of 'will' and 'mind'.
The will has become weak through
desires or vasanas. When a desire is controlled, it becomes changed into will.
Sexual energy, muscular energy, anger etc. are all transmuted into will force
when they are controlled. The fewer the desires, the stronger the will.
Attention, endurance, overcoming
likes and dislikes, patience, keeping a daily diary - all pave a long way towards
developing the will. You should patiently hear the words of others even though
they are not interesting and charming. You should not fret and fume. Patient
hearing develops will and wins the hearts of others. Do actions or tasks that
are uninteresting - this also develops willpower. The actions that are
uninteresting will become interesting after some time.
If you have every comfort in a
place, you will not grow strong. Your mind will be puzzled in a new place when
you cannot get these comforts. Therefore, make the best use of all places.
Never complain about bad environments. Create your own mental world wherever
you are, wherever you go. The mind deludes you at every moment, at every step.
Do not try to run from bad, unfavourable environments. God has placed you there
to grow quickly.
If a calamity occurs, the mind
should not be upset. Keep an unruffled mind. Do not be carried away by bubbling
emotions. Control the mind. Reflect how the calamity has come about. There is
always scope for suitable, effective, easy methods to tide over the crisis.
Develop foresight, wisdom - many obstacles will be obviated. Do not brood over
failures and mistakes. This will weaken your willpower. Let the defects remain
there. They will be removed quickly when the will grows and when the will
becomes purer and purer, stronger and stronger.
The practice of concentration is
of great help in strengthening the will. You must have an intelligent
understanding of the habits of the mind, how it wanders and how it operates.
You must know easy and effective methods to control the wandering of the mind.
The practice of thought culture, the practice of concentration and the practice
of memory culture are allied subjects. All are of immense help in the practice
of will culture. You cannot draw a line of demarcation to denote where the
practice of concentration or memory culture ends and the practice of will
culture begins. There is no hard and fast rule.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Ashram Life
Satsang
by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
I
have travelled far away to fascinating places all over the world. One of them was
Thailand ,
which impressed me a lot because of the visible traces of Vedic culture in its
traditions and heritage. Vedic concepts are so intricately woven into their
religion, social culture and folklore that it is certain that there was a very
strong link.
The
legend of Rama is a household one. Just as we do in India , the Thai people enact the
story of Rama through their song, dance, art and sculpture. Just as he is for
us, there too Rama is both the perfect man as well as divinity incarnated. The
streets and roads are named after the heroes of the Ramayana and so too are the
hotels and businesses. This indicates a mass awareness of the tales of Rama and
Sita.
There
I visited a gigantic Brahma temple. Apart from India , the land of the Vedas, this
is the only other place in the world where Brahma, the creator, is worshipped.
Part of the Vedic trinity, Brahma is worshipped as the creator, along with
Vishnu, the preserver, and Mahesh or Shiva, the transformer or destroyer.
Naturally, once the creation has taken place, the creator has no role to play
after that, hence the scarcity of Brahma temples as opposed to Vishnu and Shiva.
In
the Vedic rites and rituals, apart from the trinity, Brahma is also eulogized
as one of the panch mahadevas along with Vishnu, Mahesh, Devi and Ganesha. In
1968 when I visited that temple over one crore rupees of incense was burned
daily in worship. Apart from that I also visited grandiose Buddha temples,
which were simply spellbinding because of the sheer enormity of their size as
well as their attention to detail. I also felt that these were not just monuments of a dead and gone tradition but one that was vibrant and alive even today.
As I moved out
of the capital city of Bangkok into the villages and rural area, I came across its monasteries, which maintained many of the same traditions as sannyasins in India
do for our people. After all, it is the sannyasa traditions and wandering mendicants or sadhus that are to be applauded
for preserving these traditions for us. If they did not
do it, we would simply have no access to this knowledge.
I lived in their
monasteries as a bhikshu, which is the name given to their renunciates
who subsist solely on bhiksha or alms. Each morning the bhikshus set out for the villages nearby and after collecting
alms from five homes they sit down somewhere
to have their only meal
of the day. These monasteries do not
have kitchens. Each
and every inmate has to go out for bhiksha.
This
has been the tradition in many ashrams of India
too since very ancient times. In
the sannyasa tradition of
India
this practice played a very important part in a sannyasin's life. It gave
him the practical experience of aparigraha or non-possession,
which in turn purifies the ego and gives rise to an inner
surrender to the will of the divine. Nowadays, however, if a sadhu
goes for bhiksha in the village,
he will get nothing. When you do not have food for yourself, what can you give
to another? This tradition and culture is only possible in a prosperous
society where you have plenty to feed yourself so that you can also think of others as well.
I saw
that Thai men, women and children all come to these monasteries and spend a few days there, out of their own choice. This has become one of
its unwritten traditions, so
much so that even the king and queen
live in the monasteries for some time to attain
a new kind of experience. During their stay
each and every person, even if they are from the royal family, followed the routines, disciplines and etiquette of the monastery. They wore unstitched cloth, slept on the
floor without
a special bed, shaved their heads, moved out for bhiksha like the reminciates,
and followed all the other disciplines of that life in act, work and deed. Then
when they came to leave they returned with a new and better focus, which gave
them the skills needed to excel in life.
Training
ground for life
This is a most valuable
contribution that ashrams have made to society. Just as in the Vedic era when
the ashrams of Valmiki, Vashishtha and others were visited by people of all classes
and all relevant sciences were taught to them according to their needs, in the
same way the ashrams today provide a learning ground for children, youth and
adults.
In my
own life I have realized that all that I learnt at my guru's ashram was what
was useful for me in life, not what I learnt in the textbooks in school. To know in which century Ashoka ruled the empire of India had
no relevance to my life, but to know how to build a house did. All the crafts I
have Iearnt or skills I have developed, whether it is writing, speaking, managing,
administering, organizing, teaching or propagating, have been through my total
and complete involvement in the activities and affairs of the ashram.
I
learnt to cook and feed others and also to look after the needs of the sick and
ailing. I learnt how to assume responsibility for my duties and tasks and how to
complete them successfully. I learnt crisis management too. Sometimes we would
wake up to find a problem and the whole day would pass trying to solve it. It used to be a challenging experience from which I always
learnt a lot.
Once
when we had to construct a building and had no water, we decided to dig a canal
from high up in the mountains where there was a stream and bring it down to the
ashram, which was many kilometres away. For this we made a big tank or
reservoir in the ashram and collected the water. When released at the top, the
water took a full month to reach the tank - that is how far it was.
There
are lessons that each individual has to learn about life so that he can face it
squarely. Unfortunately this is not provided in schools or colleges and nor do
the parents assume that role or responsibility towards their children. However,
this training is crucial for the success or failure of an individual. Even if a
child has no academic qualifications, if he has learnt these lessons he will be
able to survive in life without difficulty. Because these lessons relate to his
capacity to interact with life, to be able to take the correct decisions and
formulate the correct ideas about what he should or should not do. Luck and
opportunity knock on everyone's door at some time or the other, one should only
know how to utilize it.
Here
in India
each family goes to an ashram for some time. Parents introduce their children
to ashrams at a very tender age so that they can imbibe a strong and resilient
foundation for their lives. Now, even that is not necessary because the
children themselves are keen to visit the ashram. In an ashram you get a chance
to forget yourself for a few moments and live only for others. This in itself
gives you a new vision and concept, which is full of promise and confidence in
yourself.
The
greatest lesson we have, to learn is the lesson of life. And this becomes
available to us when we decide to step out of our routine existence and adopt
some different ways to live by, even if it is for a short time. One of these
ways is ashram life, where you can stay for a few days as a sannyasin and live
a life that is diametrically opposite to yours and learn how to deal with
different situations, different people, different problems and, at the same
time, also learn to deal with yourself. Both children and adults should have
this experience. Children, however, will gain more from this experience as
their acceptance of the ashram is simple and
straight
from the heart.
In
his youth, Rama lived in an ashram for twelve years, acquiring the skills
needed by a young prince who is one day destined to rule. Sita, too, lived in
Valmiki's ashram with her sons, Luva and Kusha. Krishna
also lived in the ashram of Sandeepany. They too went out for bhiksha, slept on
the floor and wore the simplest of clothing, although they were from the royal
families.
Why
were they sent for that life by their parents, who could have educated them in
the palace itself by calling the best tutors for their education? We cannot
merely say that it was the custom. Instead we will have to realize that it
became the custom because of its relevance in the life of every individual.
Relevance today
Ashram
life is as relevant in our lives today as it was then. Even today, to live in
the ashram for a few days as a sannyasin offers you the scope for enlarging
your vision about yourself, and about life as well. You begin to understand
yourself better, which in itself is a great achievement because it is our great
misunderstanding of ourselves that leads us to disharmony.
School
going children feel more confident about themselves after residing in the
ashram. They also begin to feel a responsibility towards life and the necessity
for a sense of direction and focus. College kids are able to gain much more
through their stays in the ashram by involving themselves totally in the ashram
activities and routine. Through this they inculcate discipline and a sense of
perfectionism and commitment to work, where the work is done not for its
rewards but as an expression of creativity' and joy. Newly married couples
learn to shoulder their new responsibilities better through their stay in the
ashram and adults gain from the spiritual environment that permeates the place.
The ashram acts a shock absorber for each individual. The
traumas, stresses and strains of life sometimes get too demanding for us. They
eat up our energy and deplete our reserves. The ashram is an ideal place to
stay and recharge yourself by stepping out of your normal life and living not
just for yourself. Or if you feel that some unknown obstacle is disturbing your life on account of which you are unable to progress.
Often the studies are disturbed or the job unstable. Or the marriage is not
materializing. In some cases lack of direction, commitment and seriousness
about life could be the cause of disharmony. No matter what the cause, the
ashram is a panacea for all ills.
I have seen
many people who came to the ashrams at Rishikesh, Munger and even to Rikhia,
and after living there for some time engaged in ashram life had a breakthrough.
The ashram is not anyone's home. It belongs to everybody and yet to nobody. No
one stays in an ashram forever. They come and go like flowing rivers finding
new pathways and new terrain.
Spiritual lifeline
The word ashram
is derived from the word shram, which means to labour. So shram forms the
foundation of ashram life. Anything you set your heart on to achieve cannot be
attained without struggle or effort from your side. A student labours hard to
get good marks. A housewife labours hard to look after her family. A husband
labours hard to meet the needs of his children. Each and every living creature
struggles hard to survive.
In the ashram
too the sannyasins labour very hard, but this struggle is for perfection of
one's thoughts, words and deeds. The effort is towards attaining balance in
these different facets of one's personality. The head, heart and hand must
synchronize if you want to realize your goals, whether they are material, spiritual
or both. The ashram provides a suitable environment for this metamorphosis to
take place because the lifeline of the ashram is spiritual. By spiritual I mean
pure and untainted.
Purity of
environment enhances that side of our personality which is ready to accept
inherent weaknesses and blemishes, change our outlook and opinion as well as
improve ourselves. The fault is not in the environment or in the people with
whom we have to interact, the problems we face arise from within. The
circumstances only act as a catalyst to bring them to the surface. Everything
you feel, think, say or do is coming from deep within. Ashram life gives you
the chance to reflect on this and therefore the changes that take place in you
after spending time in the ashram are more permanent and abiding.
Ashram culture
is going to be a panacea for the people of this modern era because it will
provide them with a positive environment to explode that seed of creativity
which is dormant within them.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Music Yoga
Satsang by Swami Sivananda
Music or sangita is the essence of
this universe. It is the very breath of God and food for the soul. Sangita
vidya is a sacred science, its goal being God-consciousness. Music is not art
instrument for titillation of the nerves or satisfaction of the senses. It is
yoga sadhana, which enables one to attain atma sakshatkara, direct realization
of the soul. Music should be treated as yoga. True music can only be tasted by one
who has renounced the world, freed himself from all taints of worldliness, and
who practises music as a sadhana for self-realization.
When a devotee sings with
intuitional and overflowing love of the Lord and Guru, he realizes God. Music,
when clearly expressed with rasa and bhava, sentiment and feeling, bestows the
wisdom of Brahman wherefrom arise the highest virtues of peace and patience.
However, you must be the very greatest among renunciates if you are to realize
the Supreme Being through adoration of His first manifestation - sound. Not a parrot-like
repetition of words, not a masterly rendering of music perfectly set to scale
and rhythm, but singing with the heart, playing on the inner veena on the
strings of bhakti and love alone will enable you to enter into the spirit of a
nada yogi.
Blend of all yogas
Music is a synthesis of the
various yogas or paths to God-realization. It is a hatha yoga sadhana, for it
involves a good amount of control and regulation of breath. There is deep and full
breathing involved in singing, and this greatly strengthens the lungs and
purifies the blood. Moreover, the various musical notes have their own
corresponding nadis (subtle channels in the vital sheath of the body), and
music vibrates these nadis, purifies them and awakens the psychic and spiritual
power dormant in them. Purification of nadis not only ensures peace of mind and
happiness, but goes a long way in yoga sadhana and helps the aspirant to reach
the goal of life very easily.
Trapped in music, the mysterious
mind with its thousands of vasanas and vrittis, lies quiescently on the lap of
the sadhaka, and he can make it dance to his tune, control it according to his
will and mould it as he pleases. Mind, the magic wand of maya, the terror of
all spiritual aspirants, is there in the hands of the music yogi under his
perfect control, for music makes the mind one-pointed quickly.
The wonder of wonders in the case
of music yoga is that it is not only the musician whose mind is thus controlled,
but the minds of all those who listen to music become calm; peaceful and
blissful. That is why great saints like Mira Bai, Tukaram, Kabir Das,
Thyagaraja, Purandhara Das and others wove their teachings into sweet music.
With the sweet music, their sublime thoughts would easily penetrate the heart
of the listener, which is at other times zealously guarded by the cobra of
worldliness. It is music yoga that effortlessly brings about chitta vritti
nirodha, control of mental modifications, practised by the raja yogi. When thus
the mind is steadied and purified, and merged in nada, primal sound, the eye of
intuition is opened and the music yogi gets yoga siddhi or samadhi.
Music is, of course, an integral
part of bhakti yoga. Sankirtan, singing of God's name, and bhakti are
inseparable. Music purifies the emotions and fills the mind with sublime,
soul-elevating higher emotions. The devotee sits with his ekatara or tanpura to
melt his mind in his Lord in silence. Narada rishi roams about the three worlds
with his tanpura, singing the Lord's name. Music helps the devotee to commune
with the Lord. The bhakta enters bhava samadhi by singing devotional music. He
comes face to face with the greatest storehouse of knowledge and wisdom, ananda
or supreme bliss, and emerges from this samadhi as a jnani radiating peace,
bliss and wisdom all around.
The true musician is the highest
nishkama karma yogi. He removes the sorrows of the people who listen to him.
Music cures incurable diseases, dispels the gloom of ignorance, wrong notions
and despair from the heart, and instills joy, cheer, happiness and hope. You
cannot easily repay the deep debt of gratitude you owe to the music yogi who
renders you this inestimable service.
Music breaks the three granthis
or knots of ignorance: brahma granthi, vishnu granthi and rudra granthi. It easily
awakens the cravings and restlessness, and removes all sorts of whims, moods,
fancies and wild imaginations. It removes the three doshas: mala, impurity;
vikshepa, tossing of the mind; and avarana, veil of ignorance. It annihilates
the three kinds of fevers: adhyatmika, spiritual; adhibhautika, caused by
extrinsic agents; and adhidaivika, caused by supernatural agents. It eradicates
the five kleshas or afflictions: avidya, ignorance; asmita, sense of doership;
raga-dwesha, attraction-aversion; and abhinivesha, fear of death. It destroys
the three kinds of karmas: sanchita, accumulated; prarabdha, bound to fructify,
agami or kriyamana, current actions. It destroys rajas, passion, and tamas,
inertia, and fills the mind with sattwa, purity. The mind, concentrated on the
melodious sound, easily achieves the state of laya, dissolution or involution.
Just as the snake is charmed by a melodious sound, so also the snake-mind is
charmed by the sound of music. He who practises music forgets the body and the
world. Music removes dehadhyasa, identification with the body, and brings
super-intuitional knowledge. Practise, try, fill yourself. Just as the
intoxication of opium lasts for several hours, the practice of kirtan continues
to bring spiritual waves from the indweller of the heart. Such is the glory of
music yoga.
Therapeutic effects
Music is an aid to treatment of
diseases. In ancient Egypt ,
music was used in temples in healing diseases of the nervous kind. Sages affirm that many diseases can be
cured by the melodious sound of a flute, violin, veena or sarangi. They maintain
that there is an extraordinary power of music over diseases. The harmonious rhythm
caused by sweet music has an attractive property. It draws out disease. The
disease comes out to encounter the music wave. The two blend together and
vanish in space.
Music soothes the brains and
nerves. It lulls the whole system. It stimulates, energizes, galvanizes and
vitalizes the whole system. It affects the emotions and arouses the impulses to
action and thereby influences all the vital functions. It consists of a series
of harmonious vibrations, electrical in their nature and make-up.
Music relaxes nervous tension and
makes parts of the body affected by tension to resume their normal functions. Music
is highly beneficial in the treatment of nervous disorders, sleeplessness, etc. Music has a tremendous power to bring comfort and solace
when one is in a state of despondency or pain. Sangita or kirtan is the best
medicine when all other systems of medicine have failed to cure a disease.
Kirtan will work wonders. Try this unique medicine and realize its marvelous
benefits.
Sweet melody exercises a powerful
influence on the mind and physical nature of every living being. If someone is
suffering from a disease, sing kirtan near his bed. He will soon be cured.
.
Basis of music
How music transmutes human nature
into divine nature, how it overhauls the old detrimental samskaras, how it
changes the mental substance, how it transforms or metamorphoses the diabolical
nature into pure sattwic nature and how it brings the devotee face to face with
God is a mystery. Science and reason can hardly explain the modus operandi of
sankirtan.
Music derives its mighty power
from the supreme music of Brahman, the sacred pranava, the mantra Om. Listen to the vibration of the tanpura or the veena:
do you hear the majestic pranava nada? All musical notes spring from the
pranava. Music is intended to reverberate this pranava nada in your heart. For Om or. the pranava is your real name, your real swarupa,
essential nature. You love to hear music because it is but the most melodious
intonation of your own essential name. When the mind thus gets attracted and
unified with one's essential nature, the great power of the primal Self stored
there wells up and heals the body and mind.
Easy and effective sadhana
Music is the easiest, best and
glorifying sadhana to attain moksha in this age of Kali Yuga. In fact, music
enjoys the unique privilege of defying one of the fundamental spiritual
doctrines: 'That which is pleasant is not good, and that which is good is not
necessarily pleasant.' It is in music that you find the sole exception to this
rule. It is both pleasant and good, preya and shreya, in the terminology of the
Kathopanishad.
Where is music not wanted? In
war, in peace, in joy, in sorrow, in palaces and in ashrams, it is welcomed
everywhere. It has different expressions to suit different occasions. Music
caters to people of all temperaments, wins the hearts of all and transforms all
beings. The gods are pleased and easily propitiated by music. Even animals are
charmed and tamed by sweet, melodious music. The enchanting power of music draws
every living being. Music melts the hardest heart. Music softens the brutal
nature of man. Music heals. a million maladies. It gives peace and
tranquillizes the agitated mind. It gives you the strength to face the
difficulties in the battle of life.
Music has a very high educative
value. It is the most valuable means of upbringing the young. It adds to the character,
ennobles the mind, awakens and feeds the aesthetic sense and gives grace to all
human expressions. A composer can easily express his thoughts through the
medium of a song. It is one of the joys of humanity and is the most harmless of
pleasures. No art stirs emotions so deeply as music. Music is international and
knows no barriers of religion, race, creed or caste. It makes one forget oneself,
carrying one into a sort of trance, and helps enjoy divine bliss.
Even the great saint Narada is
believed to have been told by Lord Narayana:
Naaham vasaami vaikunthe, yoginaam hridaye na vaa;
Madbhaktaa yatra gaayante, tatra tishthaami Naarada.
Madbhaktaa yatra gaayante, tatra tishthaami Naarada.
I dwell not in Vaikuntha (heaven), nor in the hearts of
sages
and saints, but where my devotees sing there I am, O Narada.
and saints, but where my devotees sing there I am, O Narada.
Music is not a thing to be
neglected or brushed aside. It, must be the aspiration of every person to
either sing or play some instrument. So, start now in right earnest and
practise music with bhakti bhava. A strong habit of singing can be formed in six months.
Even when someone is in a dying state, the habit of singing the name of the
Lord will come to the rescue at the last moment.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Guru Purnima - Rikhiapeeth 1st to 3rd July 2012
For
thousands of years Vyas Purnima or Guru Purnima has been celebrated as a day of
worship of Guru. On this sacred full
moon of July we can receive the grace and blessing of all Gurus who have ever
lived, who are alive today, and those who are yet to be born. Guru worship is
the ultimate of all yogas. This is a
glorious time to connect with the subtle, vibrant and spiritually powerful
energy of Guru tattwa.
During
his stay at Rikhiapeeth Swami Satyananda did not ever conduct the Guru puja
here, as although millions all over the world saw him as their Guru, he himself
said, "I am foremost and will always remain a disciple not a Guru, it is
discipleship that is important not Gurudom."
This
year Guru Purnima will be commemorated at Rikhiapeeth in honour of the disciple
of disciples, Swami Satyananda who lived and
breathed only for his Guru, Swami Sivananda Saraswati. During this
most sacred event Rikhiapeeth, the tapobhumi of Paramahansa Satyananda, will come
alive with prayers and worship of Sadguru Swami Sivananda, Swami Satyananda as
well as all Gurus of the universe who inspire our lives. Traditional worship of
Guru will be performed along with havan, mantra chanting, spiritual discourses
and diksha.
The Guru Purnima anusthan from 1st to 3rd
July 2012 will culminate with the sacred Guru Puja from 7–11 am on the 3rd
July, and diksha will be given on 3rd July. The grand scale event will be presided over by Swami
Niranjanananda and Swami Satyasangananda. Devotees who wish to offer their love
and devotion to Guru and invoke the grace and blessings of Guru Shakti into
their lives may register by phone, email or letter at the earliest.
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