Mind, World, Inner Discipline And Spiritual Progress Sri Swami Sivananda I. MIND AND THE WORLD The body is the root of the tree of Samsara or the earthly existence. There was not pot in the beginning and there will not be any at the end. But if you see the pot in the middle, then your attitude towards it should be detached i.e., you should not believe in its permanence. So also, there was no body in the beginning, and there will be none at the end. But that which exists in the middle and not in the beginning or at the end, should not cause bondage to you, i.e., you should not get attached to it. Identification with the body is the cause for pleasure and pain. Where there is pleasure, pain is present in the background. The characteristics of the body, senses, vital force, mind and intellect are superimposed on the pure Atman, which, in reality you are. You labour under the false notion, “I am the doer; I am the enjoyer, I am the sufferer” in relation to your body, mind and senses, and thereby come to grief. The senses are the avenues for sense-knowledge. They are the gateways of perception for the mind. The mind works always in conjunction with the five senses. It is drawn out by the five senses to the external objects, and thus the world is perceived. Mind generates endless thoughts in relation to its perception through the senses, and the world comes into being. Thoughts and names and forms are inseparable. If thought ceases, the world also ceases. Perception gives stimulation to thought. The nature of the mind being extrovert, it tries to derive pleasure through stimulation of thoughts which are effected by the contact of the senses with the objects. Not being satisfied with one object, the mind jumps from one to another, because no object can give continued satisfaction, and therefore they have to be changed constantly. Thus the mind is restless. In a restless mind, no true knowledge, which is extra sensory supra-mundane, can dawn. Therefore, the necessity of the control of thought, and then its annihilation. Then intuition dawns, which is beyond the means of thought. Acquire mastery over the mind. Make it your servant. Allow it not to become your master. Practise Yoga. Discipline the senses and control the mind. Open the portals of intuition and let divine knowledge flood over the mind. Be bold. Be courageous. Be manly. Yield not to temptation. Be not dejected. Stand up. Gird up your loins, achieve victory over the mind. The external world cannot affect you if you have mastery over the mind. The impressions of your past actions, tendencies and aptitudes are left in your subconscious in the form of Samskaras. All your past experiences, though lost to your memory, are deeply rooted in the subconscious. These Samskaras, some of which or the most of which may have been acquired in the past birth or births, are revived in the present life. Though external environmental factors mould your propensities, the past Samskaras are not lost. They may acquire a different mode of expression but never lose themselves. The sum total of Samskaras constitutes the mind, together with its various agencies. This mind is a strong wall that stands between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. The nature of mind is to create distinctions and differences. It separates, divides, limits. It is a storehouse of errors, cravings, doubts, delusions and the primordial ignorance. The lower mind is your real enemy, because it binds you to the Samsara. The higher mind, which is endowed with the faculty of right perception, is your aid in the spiritual path. The lower mind is filled with Rajas and Tamas, or passion and inertia or ignorance. The higher mind is filled with Sattva or purity. The Atman never feels any pleasure or pain. The mind feels the different conditions of life. If it is controlled and well-cultivated and guided in the right groove, then one attains happiness, being not entirely dependent on the external conditions. Equipoise of mind is the ideal sought by all, consciously or unconsciously. II. ANALYSIS OF MIND If the senses of perception are restrained, the mind can be greatly neutralised. For the moment the mind may be restless, not finding the service of the senses, but later on it will quiet down and be amenable to your directives. Intellect should guide and mould the emotions. The higher mind has a large measure of pure intellect which enables right understanding or evolution. Perverted intellect may cause unhealthy emotions, and is often a great obstacle to Self-realisation. Unbridled emotions can bring about a good deal of harm even to spiritual aspirations. Emotionalism is certainly not devotion. Intellect is not Self-luminous. It borrows its light from the Atman. Higher emotions that are well-cultivated and directed in the right grooves, can lead one to God-realisation. Ahamkara or “I-ness” is the core of the mental world. Ahamkara denotes identification. Identification causes the generation of Vrittis or modifications. Identification with the Atman helps one to rise above the mundane world. This is the process of Vedanta. The lower impulses are subdued and scorched out by the higher emotions through the process of Yoga. III. INNER DISCIPLINE The senses are the gates. Close the gates of the senses by the practice of Dama and Pratyahara (abstraction). You will have deep concentration. Even if the external senses are controlled, the mind will be dwelling on the sensual objects. Therefore the mind also should be fixed in the lotus of the heart or the point between the two eyebrows (Ajna Chakra). Then the thoughts can be controlled. Develop one-pointedness of mind. Fix your mind on the Lord. If the mind wanders bring it back again and again to the object of meditation. Collect all the dissipated rays of the mind. Gather all thoughts through discrimination, dispassion and concentration. You will be free from wavering or oscillation of

What is The Central Message of The Gita Sri Swami Chidananda For those who want to attain God, for those who are turning upward, what is the central teaching of the Bhagavad Gita? You see that the end citation of every chapter always says, “Thus in the Upanishad of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture on Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends such and such discourse, entitled The Yoga of Such and Such…”. You have each chapter ending with reference to the Gita as an Upanishad, as an exposition of Supreme wisdom, as the Science of Yoga and as a personal teaching out of love from Lord Krishna to His friend Arjuna. Each chapter ultimately refers to each of the teachings as Yoga because that teaching will bring man close to God and help to unite the human with the Divine. Granted that all chapters comprise all these things, but what is the central teaching of the Gita for the seeker who wants to attain God? The essence of the Gita is that attainment of God is possible through the life that you are living! Within the selfsame pattern of life, you must bring about a spiritual awakening, a cosmic vision, a higher divine understanding. Your daily life is not in any way going to be affected, but it is going to be enriched and reoriented. The central message of the Gita is an inner revolution of the being who has been fortunate enough to come into contact with the living gospel of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. The various views about the Gita have partial truths in them, but they lack the grasp of the central message. Some even say that the Gita is advocating war, because Krishna told Arjuna to fight. But the same Gita abounds with teachings of absolute Ahimsa, forgiveness, kindness, compassion and not hurting a single creature. The Gita advocates that you should not run away from your duties and obligations. You should be wise, and through your obligations sincerely discharged and done in a worshipful way, in a spiritual manner, you may attain that Being who is at the very heart of your work. He dwells in all obligations that you are discharging seemingly towards those of this earth, He is within the innermost core of all beings to whom you are related. Right at the very heart of all those beings abides that Divinity, that Supreme Reality, whom you want to experience: Ahamatma gudakesha sarvabhutashayasthitahAhamadishcha madhyam cha bhutanamanta eva cha (B.G. 10/20) “O Arjuna, I am the Self seated in the hearts of all beings;I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of all beings.” Where you are, there He is! As you act, He is in the middle of the activity and with whomsoever you are dealing, He is there. Why don’t you recognise this closeness and act with the awareness of this closeness? This is what He wants you to do. Work, but be aware of His immediate Presence. Then your activity becomes a consecrated offering to His immediate Presence. The central gospel of the Gita is that everyone can realise God. Everyone: the cobbler, the carpenter, the fisherman and the road mender, the butcher, the baker, the artist, the musician, the businessman, the politician and the diplomat, the doctor and the lawyer, the engineer, the architect, the housewife and the father of the family… all can realise God. Man, woman and child are all entitled to His Vision. Living the life in the same manner, they can attain Him. Doing the activities which they are required to do, they can attain Him. This is what Krishna said when He delivered His eternal message to Arjuna. And through Arjuna to each and everyone of us — today, tomorrow and into the future. The Gita is a universal scripture. Vedic wisdom is global human heritage, and the Bhagavad Gita is the very heart of the spiritual wisdom of the Vedas that is contained in the Upanishads. Arjuna is the representative human, and Krishna is the Divine, the Eternal, the Universal Soul. This is the truth. The Gita is a Gospel that comes to your doorstep, enters into your home and works with you when you go to work. It tells you how by the manner of your living your life, by the manner of dying when you are about to depart, you can realise God. It is the gospel of attaining illumination in and through the very worldly activities, which are revealed as not being worldly. It gives out an extraordinary concept: the concept of action in inaction and at the same time inaction in action. It does not speak to the Yogi, it does not speak to the Jnani, it does not speak to the Bhakta, it does not speak to any particular person, it speaks to you! It speaks to the ‘worldly’ creature caught in the net of so many duties and activities. It is not addressed to the monastic only or to the dedicated all-time seeker, it is meant for everyone. Therein lies its special relevance to people of this age, and to people of the West as well as of the East. If you want to sum up, the most important message of the Gita for modern man is God-realisation through your duties well-done, in the right spirit. Then does the Gita not have a place for spiritual Sadhana, Yoga? Most certainly it has! All the 18 chapters expound Yoga Shastra, transcendental wisdom, science of Yoga. Then how do you reconcile the statement that the central message of the Gita is God-realisation through your duties well-performed? How do you reconcile this statement with the affirmation that the Gita does speak of spiritual Sadhana? You do not have far to seek. Consider both these things: duties well performed, activities done in a spiritual way, and spiritual Sadhana on the other side. The first is that one of the most

Glory of Satsang Speech at the Gita Mandir Dehra Dun, on 7th March, 1954 This is a dream within a dream. They say that the world itself is a long dream. This is a dream within a dream. My health does not permit me to tour about. I like to go about; I like to work. I want to do intense work. But my present health does not permit this kind of touring work. Yet remaining in my Kutir in Rishikesh, I try to do very good work. I am very fond of selfless service. I wish to tour throughout the world. Nowadays the physical condition compels me to confine myself to my room. However, through correspondence and at heart, I am in touch with the whole world. I did not know that I was coming here. My disciples cheated me. They said: let us go to the Leper Colony in Rishikesh. I like to go and meet sick people. So I agreed. Then I found that they had arranged for a Prabhat Pheri. I like Kirtan. So I joined them. Kirtan is a very good tonic; it is the best Makaradhwaja and Chyavanprash. In this Kali Yuga the Lord’s Name is our sole refuge. To destroy all your old sins, the old Vasanas, a single repetition of the Lord’s Name, of Ram-Nam, is enough. But, because there is a great accumulation of evil Vasanas, it requires a great number of repetitions of the Lord’s Name in order to attain perfect purity of mind and heart. I visited the Leper Colony. I think that social workers and leaders should frequently visit these places and acquaint themselves with what is going on there, what sort of arrangements are made for the lepers, for their comforts and treatment and what they need. When we go there, we can find out their grievances, and the authorities also take more interest in their welfare. Then we went to the Vishwanath Bagh. From there we went to the Shivalaya. Then suddenly I found myself in the Gita Mandir! I am very happy to be in your midst. Sohanlalji has invited me to the Gita Mandir several times. But I was pleasantly surprised to see Sohanlalji and others come towards the car with garlands! I did not know who informed the people of Dehra Dun that I was coming! But I am glad that I have this opportunity of serving you all. This opportunity has been granted to me by my senior most disciple and now the great “cheat” Sri Swami Paramanandaji! God is the greatest cheat! He is One, but appears to be many. He is all Ananda, but has projected out of Himself this universe of birth, death and misery. Let us all repeat Ram-Nam. Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Rama Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram. Even during work, go on repeating Ram-Nam. It is a great tonic. It will destroy the Pancha-Kleshas; Avidya, Asmita, Raga-Dwesha and Abhinivesha. There is a great power hidden in Ram-Nam. It will bestow bliss upon you. Do and experience it yourself! Just as in order to derive the maximum benefit from a medicine you are taking, you have to observe some dietetic restrictions also; so also, if you are to derive the maximum benefit out of Japa and Kirtan, you should side by side observe some Niyamas. You should never utter falsehood. You should not become angry. Purification of the heart is necessary in order to get quick results from Japa and Kirtan. Sri Sohanlalji is a great Kirtanist. Perhaps you think that we belong to that great association known as the Mutual Admiration Society: he sang songs in my praise, and now I glorify him! But, no! I know him from the days when he was at Rawalpindi. He does wonderful Kirtan. He has also composed many songs. He had a great desire to construct a Gita Mandir; and it has sprung up here! This is a great need of the hour. Many people can gather together. When people join together and sing the Lord’s Name and pray, a great spiritual force is generated. That is the glory of Satsang. If you shut yourself up in your room and do Japa and meditation, you may not progress so fast; if you form a small Satsang group and all of you do Japa together and meditate together, the spiritual force generated will help you all. You will make rapid and wonderful progress. When you attend a Satsang, you will forget the worries of the world. You are in an entirely different atmosphere. It is Satsang alone that can transform man in these days. Sublime ideas must be constantly dinned into the ears of man. Then only will his heart be transformed. Pundit Thakur Duttji said during the course of his speech at the Parliament of  Religions that nowadays there is such dishonesty in business that every article is adulterated. Adulteration of foodstuffs is rampant everywhere. Man is selfish and has no sense of duty. At the moment of death, your conscience will prick you. You will have no peace of mind either now or at the time of death or ever afterwards. Dishonesty kills your conscience; it is worse than Atma-Hatya. It is like killing yourself. Be honest. Have a pure heart, clean mind and clear conscience. Even if you are poor, you will be happy. If you are honest, the whole wealth of the world will belong to you. A man is not rich because he has a lot of money in the bank; only that man is really rich whose heart is rich. Each virtue is worth more than a crore of rupees. Cultivate a charitable heart. You are spending a lot of money on the clothes for your wife and children; give plenty of money in charity, for the construction of temples and Satsang Bhavans! They are great assets for the

The Call of The Higher Life Sri Swami Sivananda The New Year heralds to you the advent of a time when you have to cast a retrospective look at your experiences and achievements of the past and use your higher reason to direct the course of your life towards better aims and ideals and better methods of endeavour. The past leaves its impressions on the present, and the present contains the future as a potentiality. Let the future, therefore, be the result of a natural opening of the bud of the present and let it blossom into the flower of nobler experiences yielding the fruit of the achievement of the goal. Offer your prayers to the Lord as the Supreme Measurer, and step into a newer mode of living. The grace of the Sovereign of the universe is upon you. It is flowing perennially and you have only to be ready to receive it and be ever blessed. Cleanse your feelings and invite the Divinity within. Forget the past and its failures, and try to rectify errors. Memory of past misfortunes is a hindrance to furthering the great work on hand. Gain fresh strength and be a new person. Try to be reborn now in your consciousness. Breathe the spirit of higher aspiration and vivify yourself. Muster in hope and courage and utilise all your God-given powers to develop all the sides of your personality. Become whole. Let all the parts get harmonised. You have to enter the Infinite, and a mind with crumpled notions, religious perversities, and caste bigotry cannot gain access into It. To enter the Infinite is to comprehend It, which means to become the Infinite. To expand the mind to the Infinite is to cast aside the shell of cramped individuality. It means to become a changed being altogether. To attain the fellowship with other beings, to think in terms of everything that is around, to share in the feelings of the different contents of the universe, in other words, to give freedom to your inner expressions and potentialities, to raise yourself from narrow thinking, and to surrender the physical and the mental consciousness to the still higher unifying substance, is indeed the precondition of the truly happy and perfect life. It is wrong to act against the law of Nature, and it is this trespass on the part of man that is the cause of all his miseries. Let this New Year begin with a lesson to follow the course of the higher nature. Let not what ‘I think’, or ‘you think’, or ‘anyone thinks’ be the law; the law is what Nature is, not what one thinks of it. Remember that Nature’s law is freedom not bondage, knowledge not ignorance, universality not individuality, love and unity not hatred and separation. Love is the supreme rule of the virtuous life. Love is the heart of truth, goodness and beauty. Wisdom and justice melt in love of the Divine in all things. The moral law is the command of God and it is based on the knowledge and love of God. Ethics is rooted in the science of Reality. The road is not known when the destination is not known. The means loses its meaning and value when the end is cut off from it. Virtue, which is the art of the life of freedom, has its foundation in the consciousness of Truth. There is no righteousness without virtue. Virtue has Divinity behind it, and wherever is Divinity, there is virtue. Open yourself to the God within and without. You shall be an embodiment of virtue. Let not the vicissitudes of life move you out of the balance of your consciousness. Let not social and political dissatisfaction break down the city of God within you. The world shall be a haven of rejoicing when all men and women take interest in hearing the voice of the Silence which rings through all created things. Believe not in your earthly powers. They are vain and mortal. They may desert you any moment. They may leave you at sea. The only power that can sustain the nations of the world is a wholehearted recognition of the innate divinity in man, selfless service and prayer. The message of the New Year is courage, hope, effort, cheerfulness, perseverance and nobility of aspirations. The message is of the profoundest world-and-life-affirmation in which one lives his life in the loftiest spiritual and ethical plane. It is a dynamic life of extreme usefulness, not an idealism. The highest fulfillment is the result of self-surrender to the Almighty Lord, a negation of the ego-sense, not complacence. If the retina of perception is cleansed, everything would reveal its infinite nature. Therefore, the New Year gives the message of opening the avenues of consciousness. It is the message of spiritual awareness, selflessness, restraint and illumination. Individual life, family life, social life and national life are one in respect of obedience to the inner spiritual urge. Society and nation are made up of individuals as cloth is made of threads. The cultural regeneration of the individuals, particularly the younger generation, is the betterment of the whole nation. Each person will have to reform himself or herself and sweep the nation clean of its dirt and impediments, of narrow outlook, racial prejudice, and fanatic adherence to man-made, unhealthy conventions. If the threads are clean, the whole cloth shall be clean. Let each one recognise in himself a citizen of the world and act in allegiance to the order of the oneness of the spirit. It will facilitate a general, gradual advancement of the individual, in himself and in society, intellectually, morally, and spiritually. The message of the New Year is the call of the higher life, the beckoning from the spiritual Presence. To respond to it, is your duty. To realise it, is your right. Sadhana is your duty. God-realisation is your right. Assert the right and plod on with your pursuits. Strive, and you shall triumph. Maintain

The Key Stone in Sadhana Sri Swami Sivananda Having checked all other operations of the mind, bring it to bear upon a single point. This gathering together and bringing to bear upon of a force at a given point on any object, idea or act, forms the process of concentration. The concentrated application of a force makes for maximum results with minimum time and effort. This law is equally applicable to man in all branches of his life’s activities. With the utmost concentrated and careful attention the surgeon executes minute operations. The deepest absorption marks the mental state of the technician, the engineer, the architect or the expert painter, engaged in drawing the minute details of a plan, chart or sketch where accuracy is of paramount importance. A like concentration is displayed by the skilled Swiss workman that fashions the delicate parts of watches and other scientific instruments. Thus in every art and science. The tremendous power that any force develops when collected and directed through a given point is fully recognised. This is seen in the rush of the water at the sluices of dams, in the impelling power of steam from a railway boiler. As the sunlight when passed through a lens emerges as a single fiery ray of intense power, the whole mind attains a single-pointedness through Dharana. Now experience has shown that interest and attention of the mind is attracted by three distinct means viz., sound, vision (physical or mental) and imagination or idea. The Yogi enters into deep meditation by concentrating his mind upon the mystic inner sound of Pranava. This is the Anahata Nada which becomes audible when the inner sheaths are perfectly purified and harmony established; or again a Mantra is repeated in a harmonious tone and the mind is concentrated on the continuous unbroken sound. A concrete form of any aspect of the deity or the syllable OM is chosen for fixing the mind. The rational and Vedantic type fills the mind with some sublime idea or formula upon which the mind is made to dwell intensely and continuously. During concentration the mind becomes calm, serene and steady. The various rays of the mind are collected and focussed on the object of meditation. The mind is centred on the Lakshya. There will be no tossing of the mind. One idea occupies the mind. The whole energy of the mind is concentrated on that one idea. The senses become still. They do not function. When there is deep concentration, there is no consciousness of the body and surroundings. He who has good concentration can visualise the picture of the Lord very clearly within the twinkling of the eye. Manorajya (building castles in the air) is not concentration. It is wild jumping of the mind in the air. Do not mistake Manorajya for concentration or meditation. Check this habit of the mind through introspection and self-analysis. Meditation in Different Paths There are different kinds of meditation. A particular kind is best suited to a particular mind. The kind of meditation varies according to taste, temperament, capacity and type of mind of the individual. A devotee meditates on his tutelary deity or Ishta Devata. A Raja Yogi meditates on the special Purusha or Ishvara who is not touched by the afflictions, desires and Karmas. A Hatha Yogi meditates on the Chakras and their presiding deities. A Jnani meditates on his own Self or Atman. You yourself will have to find out the kind of meditation that is suitable for you. If you are not able to do this, you will have to consult a teacher or preceptor who has attained Self–realisation. He will be able to know the nature of the mind and the correct method of meditation for you. A Raja Yogi enters into the meditative mood deliberately by practising Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara and Dharana. A Bhakta enters into the meditative mood by cultivating pure love for God. A Vedantin or a Jnana Yogi enters into the meditative mood by acquiring the four means and hearing the Srutis and reflecting on what he has heard. A Hatha Yogi enters into the meditative mood by practising deep and constant Pranayama. Regular meditation opens the avenues of intuitional knowledge, makes the mind calm and steady, awakens an ecstatic feeling and brings the Yogic student in contact with the source or the Supreme Purusha. If there are doubts, they are all cleared by themselves when you march on the path of Dhyana Yoga steadily. You will yourself feel the way to place your footstep on the next rung of the spiritual ladder. A mysterious inner voice will guide you. Hear this attentively. When you enter into deep meditation, you will easily rise above consciousness of your body and surroundings. You will have equanimity of mind. You will not be easily distracted. There will be stoppage of up-going and down-going sensation. The consciousness of egoism will also gradually vanish. You will experience inexplicable joy and indescribable happiness. Gradually reasoning and reflection also will cease. When you enter the silence through deep meditation, the world outside and all your troubles will drop away. You will enjoy supreme peace. In this silence is supreme light. In this silence is undecaying bliss. In this silence is real strength and joy. The entire system is renewed and invigorated in the depths of Dhyana. Faith (Shraddha) or confidence is the power of Yoga. Power (Veerya) for the concentration of mind, memory (Smriti) for contemplation, Prajna, discernment, for the direct perception brought about by meditation becomes the means for the attainment of Samadhi, the final limb of Yoga. The Factor of Grace But the final leap across the barrier of relativity piercing the evil between the individual and the Absolute is ultimately a question of Divine Grace. Surrender draws down grace. The individual becomes one with the cosmic will through surrender. Grace makes the surrender complete. Without grace perfect union is not possible. Surrender and grace are interrelated. Grace removes all