Become Ye Krishnas Sri Swami Sivananda Children of God! The life of Bhagavan Sri Krishna is an illustration of how an ideal, exalted life is to be lived. The best commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is the life of its own author. Sri Krishna lived what he taught and he taught what is of the highest and of the greatest value. Sri Krishna was an integral person who led the integral life with the consciousness of the integral Reality. He was one of the busiest possible beings, a matchless statesman, an expert in every art, living in the midst of a large family of heterogeneous temperaments, undertaking to bring peace to the earth by destroying antagonistic powers and raising up the down-trodden Dharma. And yet, with all these multifarious activities of an all comprehensive type, he was continuously rooted in the Omnipresent, Eternal, Absolute Consciousness. He was a synthesis of the One and the many, a reconciliation of the Unmanifest and the manifest, a soldering of the Infinite and the relative. For Krishna, there is nothing to acquire and nothing to renounce, for He is the Conscious Truth within both the opposites. He is a synthetic man who acts with prudence in this world, whose actions are based not on personal interests but on Truth-consciousness, not on the particular but the General Being. Hence, to become complete and perfect is to become a Krishna who was complete and perfect. In everyone, there is this ideal, Krishna, hidden within. Everyone is a potential Krishna. The Krishna-consciousness is already in you; you have only to manifest it through self-discipline and meditation. To live the philosophy of the Gita means to become Krishna Himself. In spite of distractions of the world, Krishna keeps up the unbroken relation of self identity with the highest Spirit. No greater man and yet no greater Divinity has ever appeared on earth than Sri Krishna. The same Krishna, the friend of the simple cowherds, the same humble servant who washed the feet of the guests in Yudhishthira’s royal sacrifice, was that all-devouring Virat the Universal Being, that dazzled the representative of man, Arjuna, and struck him with all awe. We do not find another to be compared with this glorious example, either as a perfected individual or as the revelation of the Supreme Being. The ideal of Sri Krishna is the one to be striven for by everyone through renunciation for the sake of knowledge of the Self. To be in the world and yet out of the world, to see the universe of plurality in the light of unity, to be man and yet know the Spirit in man, to work in the world and yet be untouched by its ways, to work as a master, to live like God, to work as a devoted, humble servant of all, to sport in the relative while resting in the Absolute, is the lesson which Sri Krishna teaches to the world. Become yourself Krishna, the Ishwara moving on earth, by practising the Yoga of synthesis which is the theme of the Immortal Bhagavad Gita. May you all shine as Krishnas! Taken from D.L. 1949

Behold The Light of Lights–The Atman Sri Swami Chidananda Dipavali or Divali means a ‘row of lights’. This festival falls on the last two days of the dark half of Asvina (Sep.-Oct.). For some it is a three-day festival: the first day is Naraka-Chaturdasi, the second is Lakshmi-Puja on the New Moon day and the third is Bali-Padya. The festival of Dipavali is observed as the joyous commemoration of the victory of the Divine forces over the dark ones. On this day, according to ancient tradition, Sri Krishna killed the demon Narakasura. In our own bodies, egoism or Ahankara is the real Narakasura. Kill this egoism through the sword of Atma-Jnana or knowledge of the Self, and merge in Sri Krishna, the Supreme Light of the world, and thus enjoy the spiritual Dipavali or inner illumination. Many Dipavali festivals have come and gone, and yet the hearts of the vast majority of people are as dark as the New-Moon night. The houses are lit with brilliant lights, but the hearts are full of the darkness of ignorance. O Man! wake up from the slumber of ignorance, eradicate your ego or Ahankara (the real Asura), completely, and realise the eternal Light of the Soul, through meditation, and Vichara or enquiry, and dispel the darkness of ignorance, and attain full inner illumination. The screen that obscures the splendour and the light of the Atman is called the veil of Ajnana or Maya. Maya is Trigunatmika, viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas combined, Ajnana is manifest in the individual consciousness in three forms: Mala (impurity), Vikshepa (distraction) and Avarana (veil). After the destruction of the first two, it is on the final piercing of the Avarana that all dualities cease to be and the highest non-dual consciousness of the Atman alone shines there in all its radiance and brilliance. This truth is brought out to us by the battle between the Atma-Sakti as represented by Sri Krishna and the demon Narakasura, who is annihilated in the end. The ultimate aspect of Ajnana (Maya) is nothing but the human ego which continues to persist to the very last, and it is a prolonged struggle by which the Sadhaka ultimately overcomes it and has Aparoksha Anubhuti or direct realisation. The ego of man persists right up to the threshold of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. We are told that ever, in one of the highest types of Savikalpa Samadhi, when all other aspects of Jiva-consciousness are completely eradicated; the mere feeling of ‘I am’ (Asmita) persists. We learn from this that it is only when we begin to go deeper and deeper into Dhyana that certain obstacles, deeply hidden Vasanas and Samskaras of bygone experiences, begin to make themselves felt. In the first superficial stages of meditation most of the deeply submerged Vasanas do not come up in the form of Vrittis, because they are deep down in the unconscious of the individual. It is only when the meditation proceeds and becomes deep that these hidden Vasanas suddenly spring up into life and begin to distract the inner meditation of the Sadhaka. It is the keen one-pointedness of the meditative mind, the absolute fixity of concentration, the Tivra Ekagrata, the Brahmakara-Vritti which is generated and held steadily that overcomes: the last attack of the suddenly aroused hidden Vasanas, in a final assault. From the foregoing a great truth is revealed to us, viz., the ego is very hard to identify, to pin down, to catch and to destroy, for we do not know in what particular form it actually persists. Therefore, even the greatest of wise people, the most earnest and sincere of seekers and the cleverest of Yogis are, too, often deceived by the different forms and disguised shapes, which the Bahurupi (all-formed) ego assumes. It is a master-strategist. We will be looking for the ego in some particular form with a particular notion of its nature; but we will find that it is not there. And we will be caught unawares; we will be careless with a false assumption that the ego has now been completely removed. But to our surprise we will notice that the ego has always been there, that it has so completely changed its form that we do not find it in the form we thought of, but is in a totally different form which we did not at all recognise. Ego is the first son of Maya, it is a superb actor. No vigilance is too much on the part of the seeker, if he is determined to track down the ego to its last stand and destroy it. The ego can deceive and enslave all parts of the seeker, but not that part which is formally and wholly given over to the Divine. The Divine cannot be deceived. The only insurance against the deception of the ego is a whole-souled giving ourselves to the Divine, so that we become completely merged in the Divine and allow the Divine to take complete possession of us. For, it is the Lord alone who can ultimately overcome Maya. No amount of individual cleverness can ever be of any avail in rooting out this product of Maya, ego, because the very fact of individuality is within the realm of Maya. Individual consciousness flows from Mula-Avidya (primordial ignorance). While you are in Ajnana, you can never perceive its nature in all its subtle aspects. It is by a complete handing over of ourselves to the Divine that we shall be able to get beyond the pale of our ignorance or Avidya. This is a very subtle truth which will be apparent only after much reflection, Vichara. One should develop keen Vichara shakti (power of discrimination). Vichara is the greatest friend of the aspirant, well-wisher and guide at every stage of Sadhana, right up to the very end, until he is merged in Samadhi. Progressive aspects of finer and finer Vichara Sakti are indispensable companions to the Sadhaka on every stage of the ascent. If the leader is

Primary Principles of Sadhana And Their Perversions Sri Swami Sivananda The path of the spiritual aspirant verily lies through a bewildering jungle of difficulties and dilemmas of problems and paradoxes. One of such vexing paradoxes is that your mind is both your best friend as also your bitter enemy. Mind becomes a true friend only after being gradually trained to be so. Mind begins to be really helpful after the aspirant has progressed sufficiently in spiritual Sadhana. Until then it should be regarded as a troublesome and treacherous enemy inside us. It is extremely diplomatic, cunning and crooked. It is an arch-deceiver. One of the master-strokes of the mind’s artfulness is to make the aspirant feel and smugly imagine that he knows his mind perfectly well and cannot be led away by it and at the same time to delude him totally. The mind has the knack of making the unwary aspirant confidently think himself its master, while it makes a hopeless fool of him. Its deceptions are subtle. You have heard the saying, “The devil can quote scriptures for its purpose.” Similarly the mind can use a virtue to indulge in a vice. It has an inborn inclination to perversion. It can even take the support of a perfectly good principle seemingly to justify the most unprincipled sort of action. Unless it is scrutinised dispassionately its tricks are never fully discovered. Certain of the perversions usually noticeable are described below. This will be valuable to sincere aspirants who are eager to study their minds and eliminate defects and shortcomings. These are extremely useful tips specially in the working field, for aspirants engaged in active Seva in the midst of other people. Sadhakas are told, “Keep up Matri-bhava or Devi-bhava when you move with women.” This is a grand principle to safeguard your purity and spiritual progress. But this does not tell you, “Move with women;” nor does this advice mean that if you try to have this attitude then you may go on freely mixing with the opposite sex without any limit or restraint. The mind will ask, “Why not? What if I do? To retreat from their presence is sheer timidity. No fear when you do so with Devi-Bhava!” Beware, O Aspirant, beware of this tendency! Divine Bhava is not a licence to throw away all restrictions of the Sadhaka’s path. The permanent injunction for Sadhakas is to totally eschew all contact with the opposite sex. When unavoidably such contact becomes necessary, then, “Have Matri-bhava; have Devi-bhava” etc., are prescribed. Also this is to caution the aspirant not to hate women or become a misogynist. Women should be reverenced but from a safe distance. Let not Devi-bhava, etc., be taken to mean that you should be all the time in the midst of them. Watch your mind! Then there is the advice which says, “You may hiss but not bite.” This safe counsel was given to a fabulous snake which in a too extreme excess of piety became so totally docile and harmless that it got severely man-handled by a set of mischievous urchins. It was given as an example to over-timid householders and people struggling in the very midst of the harsh realities of competitive ‘Vyavaharic’ life. Here an overdose of ‘Avanty-brahmin’–like humility might well make life impossible amidst the Asuric elements abounding in the world. Therefore, just an outward show of pugnacity may be countenanced in so far as this does not affect your basic goodness and brotherhood. But this policy is not for the spiritual aspirant in the path of Sadhana and Nivritti. Definitely no. Let aspirants take heed of these words. The Sadhaka is neither to ‘bite’ nor is he to ‘hiss’ even. This ‘hissing’ business will soon become a part of your nature. You will soon find yourself hissing for everything, at everything, at everyone, in and out of season. This hiss will include every variety of rudeness ranging from hot argument, sharp retort, curt reply to angry glaring, shouting and abuse. Thus, short of physical violence and fight, every type of verbal brutality will be put into the “hissing” category. This will ultimately lead to spiritual ruin. The mind is ever waiting to take advantage of even the least concession shown to it. Its natural tendency is to go downward. O Aspirant, do not bite or even ‘hiss.’ Be humble, be sweet, be gentle. Be firm but be soft, polite and courteous. If you wish to ‘hiss’ then ‘hiss’ at your own mind. Thrash the ego. Fight the Shadripus. Watch the mind! Another victim to perversion is the piece of advice: “Be resolute. Stick to your principles. Never budge an inch”–the best possible advice to a sincere Sadhaka, but unfortunately often made the basis for the worst possible trait, i.e., obstinacy. This is a Tamasic trait. But the mind will make believe that you are manifesting Atma-bala or a divine determination. This is its work–to make him cling tightly to his ego. Hence this deception. But the careful aspirant must discern the difference between Sattvic Nishtha and sheer stubbornness. Atma-bala is not a cheap commodity to be got without a great deal of earnest struggle, discipline and will-culture. Determined adherence is advocated in respect of truly high and noble principles and not of self-conceited notions. By all means stick to spiritual Yogic Niyamas but avoid becoming obdurate in nature. Do not be deceived. Watch your mind! “Speak the truth always. Be frank.” Thus is the Upadesa. This means when you are required to talk then speak only the truth. It does not at all mean that you must go about telling everyone to his face what exactly you think of him or her. This is unwarranted behaviour. Under the garb of frankness to give free expression of opinions without caring for other peoples’ feelings is not ‘Arjava’ or frankness or straightforwardness. At the least it is thoughtlessness; at its height it is sheer brutality. It does not bespeak well of an aspirant. The same teacher

The Remover of Darkness Sri Swami Chidananda Radiant children of Light! Beloved and blessed Sadhakas upon the spiritual path, sincerely aspiring to lead the spiritual life of servicefulness, worshipfulness, meditativeness and God-awareness. To you all assembled together here, please ponder in whose presence you live and move. You live in the presence of Gurudev, one who is known as a Guru, and your ancient scriptures bring out the implication of this term ‘Guru.’ ‘Gu’ and ‘Ru’ together mean ‘the remover of darkness’–the remover of darkness and the giver of light. It means that through his life, teachings and personal example he fulfils the ancient prayer Tamaso ma Jyotir Gamaya (Lead us from the darkness to the light). Now, are you earnestly, enthusiastically and determinedly trying to fulfil in your own life what you are praying for in that prayer? That is a crucial question. You may pray to God for light and for the illumination of your inner being, but at the same time you may live in such a way that in many small details you are shutting out the light–both the light coming from without as well as the light within, so that it has no opportunity to shine and illumine your interior. There is this prayer towards the end of the Isa Upanishad: “Radiant, shining light in the heavens, please remove this covering that hides You so that we may behold Your shining face.” But then, we also have to try to remove the covering from our vision. If we in our personal life and in our relationships with others are not continuously removing from our own eyes anything that hides the vision, then even if God should give us Darshan today–He stands there right in front of us in all His glorious splendour–we will not be able to behold Him, because we have our eyes open only to behold other things. We are not open to see the subtle reality that is hidden within the outer names and forms. If you pray day-after-day, “Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms,” but you behold only the gross outer name and form, then how can you behold Him Who is in all names and forms? If you ask for Him to reveal Himself through names and forms, you also have to try in every moment and in every step of your life to continuously keep on this process of seeing through the names and forms and affirming the Reality within. You have to do this process of taking away from your inner vision, your heart and mind this narrow view of, “This is a being, this is a thing, this is an object that is to be enjoyed through the Indriyas.” Like that, if you see only the objects of enjoyment and only persons with certain specific relationships with you, then how can your consciousness rise above this mundane consciousness of this earth plane? If a great one such as Tulsidas realised something, in what way are you the gainer? He is the gainer, as he beheld through his earnest efforts. He has enriched himself, he has blessed himself, but if we continue to only see the names and forms, in what way do we stand to gain? We gain nothing. Therefore, if we can strive diligently to keep our eyes and inner awareness open and to keep ourselves open only to the Reality, and we close our eyes to the apparent passing appearances, then day-after-day our relationship with all things around us will change. We will be ultimately enabled to live in this life and yet maintain a state of God-awareness and spiritual-consciousness. We maintain a state of being in this world but not of this world. We are not related to things in the way that a common man of ignorance is related to things. For him, the world is a field for enjoyment, filled with objects of sense experience. However, to the Sadhaka there is lessening attraction for the world, because he knows that all names and forms are merely temporary and perishable appearances, and he is ever intent only upon beholding the Reality. He ever strives to live in the light of the wisdom and the vision given by the remover of darkness and the bringer of Light, which the Guru is and which all the scriptures are. The scriptures exist in order to remove darkness and bring the Light of a new vision into our eyes–both the physical eyes as well as the inner psychological vision–where we are ever intent upon beholding the Reality that is hidden and not the appearance that covers and hides It. We want to see the indwelling Reality in all beings. We are intent upon seeing that all-pervading Presence and not being satisfied by remaining confined to this little narrow vision of name and form: “This is an object of enjoyment, this is a person from whom I can gain an advantage,” and so on. Like that, people are regarded as the source of advantage and gain or of being of use to us or of being pleasing to us in some way. All this can be transcended only if we are ever making effort in all our movements to continuously remove the covering of names and forms. Just as the ancient seeker prayed to the Lord in the Isa Upanishad, we continuously engage ourselves as part of our Sadhana to behold Bhagavan and not the name and form. We behold the Purusha and not the outer Prakriti covering and hiding the Purusha. As part of our Sadhana, we are ever doing Vichara to see the Nitya hidden in the Anitya. If we are constantly engaged in doing that, then our prayer, “Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms,” will be backed by our own life and action. When our prayers and actions become mutually complementary and supplementary–supporting and furthering each other–then life will flower into divinity. Here and now we can enjoy

Testing One’s Spiritual Progress Sri Swami Chidananda ‘Essentially, each seeker should know “What am I aspiring for? Is my aspiration being fouled by the occasional reverse gear–if not frequent reverse gears or a permanent inbuilt reverse gear–or am I totally out of gear?” All the calls of the Gita to Arjuna are to stand up and shake off weakness. “Strive” is what all the scriptures say. Some time back one of our Divine Life Society Branches printed a card with the title “Spiritual Barometer.” It was meant to show the progress a person had made upon the spiritual path, in spiritual qualities and in all the various dimensions of spiritual life. For example, how far had you moved towards maturity in your newly unfolded spiritual consciousness; how far are you gradually trying to become established in your native dimension of consciousness where nothing can affect you, where the changing conditions of the body, mind, emotions, fears, imaginations, memories and projections into the future have no place? Were the spiritual qualities such as endurance, patience, strength and unshakability present? So, this was the purpose of the barometer: to test oneself. But it was by no means comprehensive. It was a very good thing and it tested a certain aspect of the individual’s spiritual progress, but there are other things that a Sadhaka needs to know about himself. For example, it would be a good exercise to know how really interested we are in our own progress, meaning thereby, “How much am I developing in the Jnana aspect, which includes right enquiry and discrimination, and arising out of right enquiry and discrimination a state of inner detachment and dispassion? How much am I progressing in Bhakti and the devotional path? Am I constantly in remembrance of God? Is God to me a higher value than anything else in the world? Is He central to my life, or are other things occupying the centre, and God is an also-ran? How far am I progressing in Karma Yoga, selflessness, keen desire to serve, enthusiasm in serving and expecting nothing in return? Then, how far am I progressing in Yoga and all that Yoga implies–concentration, Pratyahara and Abhyasa?” Similarly, it is worthwhile asking the question, “How far am I really interested in my spiritual progress?” If a person is really interested in physical culture and in developing a good, strong body, look at the extent to which he will go! He will sacrifice everything and commit to a strict diet and exercise, and day and night he will deny himself. These are all indications of how someone behaves who is really interested in some type of development. In your own field, are you doing all that is necessary in order to progress upon your spiritual path? How to know the answer to this? You have to devise your own test. If a patient is really interested in getting well soon, he will cooperate hundred percent with the doctor and cut out all articles of diet which are not good for him, and he will do all the things he has to do to get better. These are just two examples in other areas of life, but if these signs are not there in our spiritual life, are we then not deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are keen on our progress? Really deep within us there may be something else occupying us–not this spiritual progress, nor devotion, nor God-Realisation–something else that is unknown to us and therefore we are deceiving ourselves. Gita contains the quintessence of the Upanishads–the Jnana Kanda of the Vedas–which is the very basis and foundation of the Hindu religion. It is the highest Vedanta, the highest philosophy. It is also the science of Yoga and spiritual development and realisation. It is a Yoga Shastra and Brahmavidya of a very high order. It was arising out of a dialogue between God Himself and His nearest devotee, Arjuna, who was a friend, relative and favourite of His. These were the Divine words of God Himself. Therefore, whatever is expounded through such a conversation would be of the highest order of Brahmavidya and Yoga Shastra. There can be no doubt about it, because it was given by Lord Krishna Himself to someone very dear to Him. It is the highest word, and therefore it is said that it will bring you close to God. It is so very important, so very valuable, so very precise, and everything that is necessary to be brought to our knowledge in order to progress to the highest spiritual experience is provided. Even a little of that Vidya will save you from great sorrow. In this way it is lauded. Are you really and truly interested in expanding in knowledge, in progressing in wisdom, Jnana, Bhakti and Brahmavidya through divine teachings? Or, are you more comfortable in Tamas? You see, the question is very simple, and I will also put it in a simplistic manner. A car has essentially four gears–three forward and one reverse–and the question is, can the car move forward if it is in reverse gear? There is no use pretending that you want to go forward if the car is in reverse! You may not be pretending; you may be sincere and very honest in telling yourself you want to go forward, but nevertheless, you have put your car in reverse gear. The mind needs to be in the top gear, and a steady, unhampered movement forward is indicative of top gear. See whether the mind is in this gear, or is the mechanism sometimes in reverse gear? If you find it in reverse gear, you can ask yourself, “How can I expect to move forward if I have put this propelling mechanism into reverse gear?” At this important juncture, let us move forward in a steadily upward ascent, a ladder to heaven. Let each day be a new rung towards the ultimate supreme pinnacle. Strive to make it an actuality that each day is an upward-ascending stairway.