The Spiritual Battle

Spiritual seekers (sadhaks) are brothers and sisters in arms in the battle of life. They come together in satsang (spiritual company), and their very company acts as an invisible buffer against the downward forces that drown the masses. Any time there is a gathering of sadhaks, have no doubt that they are joined by the unseen ascended Yogis. Even when one practices in solitude, they are also present unseen to guide and encourage the seeker – there is no doubt about this. They are aware of the difficulties of navigating out of this world and bestow their grace and blessings.

Time is Short

How many more days we will have left to practice? Death often comes with no warning at all.

” Any person can expire at any time.”

Parahmahamsa Hariharananda

The yogi is the brave hero who chooses to face this now rather than later. When through his deepening experience of the bodiless state he reaches, via spiritual practice, the state in which he is dead while living (jivanmukta), then when the time comes for the body to drop away, it is like nothing at all – for he has already come to perceive himself as Spirit.

And fear is one of the main reasons why we do not take to the spiritual path in the first place – we are afraid to transcend the mortal coil in meditation. We are like the bird who has become so accustomed to its cage that he is hesitant to fly free even when the door has been opened.

Yet fear is not the only restraint that restricts us from our flight – our attachments and desires are also a great weight…

Lightening Our Load

How does the hot air balloon ascend in flight? It begins with so many sand bags, but in order to go higher, it must begin to release more and more bags. The more bags are released, the higher it is able to ascend. So it is with our desires and attachments which serve as the weight that keeps us earthbound. If we destroy them, realizing that they only result in pain, then we lighten our load, so to speak.

In the same way that one who sees clearly will not chase after a desert mirage, knowing it to be unreal, the wise sage does not chase after worldly objects.

“O Raghava, abandon all desires inwardly, be free from attachments and latent impressions, do everything outwardly and thus play your part in the world.”

“O Raghava, adopt a comprehensive view, characterised by the abandonment of all objects of contemplation, live in your innate Self, liberated even while alive (jivan-mukta), and thus play your part in the world.”

“Eliminate one concept by another and the mind by the mind and abide in the Self. Is this so difficult, O holy man?”

-Vasistha (Vasistha Sara, 7:2, 3, 10)

But how do we rid ourselves of the weight of our attachments when they are so strong?

Sages such as Vasistha instructed that viveka and vairagya (discrimination and dispassion) are the means. Discrimination is keeping the mind focused on the truth that the Self alone is real – all else is fleeting, transistory, a passing dream.

Vairagya will also result if we remain fixed on the above contemplation, and if we duly reflect on the short-lived nature of sense pleasures. If the mind stubbornly remains filled with thoughts of the world, it will continue to appear as a solid reality and Self-realization will not dawn…

“Why do people not visualize the atma? (perceive the Self) It is because the mind of the being is so pre-occupied with its false images that it is busy in collecting them. If he mangages to get them, he is overjoyed, but if he is unsuccessful in his efforts then he gets heart-broken. Whatever the case may be, the truth is, that it is not the truth, but, alas! at that time the capability of understanding the reality is not there. Therefore the mind keeps swinging from branch to branch or happiness to unhappiness and the being cannot get peace unless he rids himself of his illusive imaginations.”

Spiritual Gita Bhupendranath Sanyal

XIII, 10

There is no unmixed happiness in life, yet the mind vainly and stubbornly ignores this fact, holding out hope that it is possible. Duality is part and parcel of relative existence. The only way to permanent happiness is Self-realization (the “Kingdom of Heaven” referred to in the Bible). Until then, happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain, etc. will continue changing hands – and this continuing oscillation is in itself suffering. Yet when the joy of the Self is reached one becomes like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s sailor who, after much toil and effort, is at last successful in erecting the mast and can sit back, light a smoke, and enjoy the ride. He continues to function in the world and to others looks like a normal man, but they cannot comprehend his divine Joy…

“These saints of the paravastha – after their achievement of the same are not totally cut out from worldly acts, but since they have subjugated all worldly desires, nature cannot bring them down from their high post. They are out of this world in the paravastha or advanced stage or kriya, where rajoguna or tamoguna cannot even approach them.”

Spiritual Gita Bhupendranath Sanyal

XIV, 22

Body is a Sinking Ship

The sages and saints who have found the life vest of God have taught this truth in many ways through the ages, all expressing the same fact – God is the only constant, and all else is but a passing dream. This is why the wise sadhaks, the spiritual seekers of clear vision, toil and labor for God alone. The financial investor works extremely hard, seeking to build capital, as if material wealth, even if he is able to get it, will grant him eternal life. Yet if, owing to his prarabdha karma, ill health or death is his destiny at a given time, no amount of wealth will be of any use. Remember the words of Lord Christ – “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) Also, Sri Shankara wrote that life is ever as unstable “as a water droplet on a leaf.” We should keep this ever in mind and know that true wealth lies with God alone. We should fight on with faith and courage. The true yogi must be a warrior. It is not by accident that the setting of the Bhagavad Gita is a battlefield.

Despite life’s uncertainty and instability the yogi, knowing the Self to be indestructible, should have no fear:

“Without the sea there are no waves. Without waves, the sea still exists. When the wave of an individual body and personality perishes, the soul remains. The soul is immortal; the wise do not lament for the dead. Seek your immortality.”

The Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Kriya Yoga, II:12 Paramahamsa Hariharananda

Please Lord, lift up, protect, and guide all seekers of Truth. Watch over us and guide us in our journey. Enable us, through your grace, to emerge victorious in the battle of life.

OM

Bliss of Renunciation

Many struggle with renunciation, feeling frustrated at past habits which, like a great anchor, seem to keep us weighted down, preventing us from flying skyward. Yet when a plane takes off, is it at cruising altitude all at once? It continues its flight on the force of its engines. It does not stop. We must be patient with ourselves and simply trust in the grace of the Lord while continuing onward with our practice without expectation for results. Renunciation will come naturally as inner joy increases. Over time, the inner intoxication will win out and render sense attractions powerless. The naturally renounced sages are not giving up anything, nor do they feel this way. As Swami Pranabananda once told Yogananda, when the joy of the Self is reached, it is the world sense-addicted souls who are seen as the true renunciates.

When the drunk partakes in his drink, he at once laughs and dances like a carefree child, forgetting all of his problems. He becomes numb to the world and forgets himself.

So it is with the realized yogi.

Yet unlike the worldly drunk whose behavior results in deterioration of the body, mind, and soul, binding him to the world of sorrows and keeping him deluded, the yogi enjoys the divine intoxication of the Self, which eliminates permanently all sufferings and delusions. The soul experiences itself like the limitless expanse of sky – and no longer is there any body or sense of “I.” Sri Sanyal Mahasaya wrote of this in Spiritual Gita, which is quoted variously below…

“Therefore what is required is a well concentrated practice of kriya, by which a sort of drunken or intoxicated feeling develops, and the mind is not attracted by outward things. Due to this drunkenness the sadhak forgets himself as well as the outside” (Spiritual Gita III, p.34)

Yet many starting on the path of meditation give up so quickly.

How many put in great efforts and long work hours in pursuit of material wealth? What can be greater wealth than eternal, unbounded bliss and joy of one’s own Self? If persons invested the same efforts in spiritual practice, they would advance rapidly. What a shame! Furthermore, the phantom of Death is ever keeping close tabs on the life of embodied beings. No one knows when He will pounce. The wise seek the lotus feet of the Lord and Guru in practice.

“Alas, when by the grace of God and the Guru or when he’s had enough of the world he turns to sadhan and looks towards his real self and his actual origin and home. In course of time, realizing the self – he situates in it and as a result, interest in other subjects diminishes.” (Spiritual Gita III p. 12)

Renunciation that is outward only, while still maintaining desires and related thoughts in the mind, is no renunciation at all. It is much better to lead a well disciplined life of moderation and self-control while concurrently continuing faithfully with one’s sadhana. In time, as the inward intoxication increases, the cravings of the senses will be rendered powerless and renunciation will happen naturally.

“Those who are intoxicated by their kriya’s advanced stage (paravastha) do not have worldly attitudes, thus the subjects or objects of this world are immaterial to them.” (Spiritual Gita III, p.31)

Also, to illustrate this point (regarding natural renunciation), Sri Ramakrishna would tell his disciples that the tail of a tadpole must be allowed to drop off naturally in time. If it is forcibly removed prematurely, the tadpole may die.

It is better that we just keep practicing, offering our practice to the Lord, while contemplating the defects of a life lived solely for the senses…

“In the beginning to curb the attitudes of the chitta or mind, it should be understood that any pleasure received by the indriyas (senses) through worldly or material enjoyments is short-lived. Then, for curbing of the sense-organs yogic acts of pranayam and (posture or) asans are reauired, thus the yogis give them much importance.” (Spiritual Gita III, p. 25)

Yogic sadhana such as Kriya Yoga enables us to gradually settle in a more refined or subtle bliss. In time, the senses will begin to lose their allure and charm as they will be clearly seen as far inferior in comparison to the inward joy of the Self which is without limit. One feels sugar is great – then he tastes honey.

Some sadhaks who begin to experience some intoxication mistakenly believe themselves to be free, and prematurely stop their sadhana. This also is a grave error. Until firmly established in the Self, there ever remains the possibility of a fall.

“So long as you breathe the free air of earth, you are under obligation to render grateful service. Only he who has fully mastered the breathless state is free from cosmic imperatives.”

(Autobiography of a Yogi, Years in My Master’s Hermitage, chapter 12, Paramahansa Yogananda)

So the way to practice in the spirit of the Gita (as also, should be our attitude in life), is to practice without the notion of doer ship, considering that the Lord is performing our sadhana – and to practice without expectation for results. The Lord will take care of all.

I bow to God, Gurus, and devotees of all traditions.

vy

Service of Self-Realization

Sri Ramana Maharshi Maharaj once remarked that one’s own self-realization is the highest service one can offer the world. Other great ones have also echoed this sentiment.

At the mention of the word “service,” for many, images of feeding the poor, making donations to worthy causes, and other such charitable activities come to mind. Yet even these noble acts are inferior to the providing of spiritual upliftment from one who is himself free. Why?

Ramana Maharshi:

“A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draws many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.”

The very vibrations of the Self-realized radiate into the world in the form of unseen blessings and benefit others far and wide. In addition, many perform actions out of a sense of doership and desire for reward/recogniztion, and actions performed in this spirit are somewhat tainted or impure.

All have heard the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish and you feed him for life.” Feeding the hungry is a most charitable act, indeed. But there is nothing more charitable than one who is God-realized helping another to become so. Feeding the hungry or providing some other kind of physical assistance helps the body, but the underlying cause that gave birth to that body, avidya (absence of Self-knowledge), will undoubtedly give rise to another, and hence continued suffering. It is like treating the symptom of a disease yet neglecting to find its underlying cause, which alone can solve the problem.

The great Ones often teach out of silence. They are able to do so because it is their very vibration that uplifts – merely being in their presence. One cannot think impure thoughts in the presence of a saint. Such is the power of their vibration.

Even the vibrations of a sadhak, or pure-souled spiritual seeker, greatly benefits others. And the more one progresses spiritually, the greater service one offers – simply by being. Think of the degree of ego (or false identification with individual self or body) as being akin to static on a radio. The greater the false ego identification, the greater is the static that blocks the inner radiation of the Self, just like clouds obscure our view of the sun. But the more the false ego is burned away, the greater the radiations/vibration of the inner Self, and the greater the service to one’s community, environment, and even the world beyond.

We are here to serve all beings, and this should include providing material help to those in need without a sense of doership or desire for reward, as well as engaging in sadhana or spiritual practices performed in the same spirit.

I bow to the inner Self in all beings.

vy