MEDITATION, WORK AND REST Sri Swami Sivananda A microscopic minority only are fit for whole-time meditation. People like Sadasiva Brahmendra and Sri Sankara only can spend the whole time in meditation. Many Sadhus who take to Nirvritti Marga become completely Tamasic. Tamas is mistaken for Sattva. This is a great blunder. One can evolve beautifully by doing Karma Yoga in the world if he knows how to spend his time profitably. A householder should seek the advice of Sannyasins and Mahatmas from time to time, draw a daily routine and adhere to it strictly amidst worldly activities. Rajas can be converted into Sattva. Intense Rajas takes a Sattvic turn. It is impossible to convert Tamas all of a sudden into Sattva. Tamas should be turned into Rajas first. Young Sadhus who take to Nivritti Marga do not stick to a routine. They do not hear the words of elders. They do not obey the orders of the Guru. They want absolute independence from the very beginning. They lead a happy-go-lucky life. There is no one to check. They have their own ways. They do not know how to regulate the energy and how to chalk out a daily programme. They aimlessly wander about from place to place. They become Tamasic within six months. They sit for half an hour in some Asana and imagine that they are realised souls. If an aspirant who has taken to the Nivritti Marga finds that he is not evolving, that he is not improving in meditation, and is going into a Tamasic state, he should at once take up some kind of service for some years and work vigorously. He should combine work along with meditation. This is wisdom. This is prudence. This is sagacity. Then he should go in for seclusion. One should use his common sense throughout his Sadhana. It is very difficult to come out of the Tamasic state. A Sadhaka should be very cautious. When Tamas tries to overtake him, he should immediately do some sort of brisk work. He can run in the open air, draw water from wells. He should drive off the Tamas by some intelligent means or the other. Meditation and Work He who meditates is not able to work. He who works is not able to meditate. This is not balance. This is not equanimity. The two principles meditation and action, must be well balanced. If you are ready to follow the divine injunction, you must be able to take up whatever work you are given—even a stupendous work—and leave it the next day, with the same quietness with which you took it up and without feeling that the responsibility is yours. You must be able to work hard in the world with tremendous force, and when the work is over you must be able to shut yourself up in a cave as an absolute recluse for a long time with great peace of mind. That is balance. That is real strength. Then only you have gone beyond the qualities. Then only you have become a Gunatita. “He, O Pandava, who hateth not radiance (Sattva) nor outgoing energy (work), nor even sloth and slumber (Moha) when present, nor longeth after them when absent—he is said to have crossed over the qualities.” (Gita, XIV-22). When you have a disinclination for work and a desire for meditation only, you can lead a life of complete seclusion, living on milk and fruits alone. You will have good spiritual progress. When there is an inclination for work, when the meditative mood vanishes, take up work again. Thus, by gradual practice, the mind should be moulded. When you advance in the spiritual practice, it will be very difficult for you to do meditation and office work at the same time, because the mind will undergo a double strain. Those who practise meditation will find that they are more sensitive than the people who do not meditate and because of that, the strain on the physical body is enormous. The mind works in different grooves and channels with different Samskaras during meditation. It finds it very difficult to adjust to different kinds of uncongenial activities. As soon as it comes down from the meditation, it gropes in darkness. It gets bewildered and puzzled. The Prana or energy which moves inward in different grooves and channels and which is subtle during meditation has to move in new, different channels during worldly activities. It becomes very gross during work. When you sit again for meditation in the evening, you will have to struggle hard to wipe out the new Samskaras you have gathered during the course of the day and get calm and one-pointedness of mind. This struggle sometimes brings in headache. Therefore, Grihastha Yogic students will have to stop all the worldly activities when they advance in meditation if they desire to progress further. They themselves will be forced to give up all work if they are really sincere. Work is a hindrance in meditation for advanced students. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says in the Gita: “For a sage who is seeking Yoga, action is called the means; for the same sage who is enthroned in Yoga, who is in the state of Yogarudha, serenity or Sama is called the means”. Then, work and meditation become incompatible like acid and alkali or fire and water or light and darkness. Advanced aspirants should stop all sorts of work and study of religious books even, if they want to enter into Samadhi quickly. They should observe Mauna and remain in a solitary place on the banks of the Ganga, Yamuna or Narmada or any river. They should live on milk alone or milk and fruits. They should plunge themselves in Sadhana in right earnest. They should reduce the sleep to 2 or 3 hours. They should start the practice in the beginning of winter, in November. There is real rest in meditation. This rest for half an hour or one

Introduction To Yoga Sri Swami Sivananda Yoga aims at controlling the mind and its modifications. The practice of Yoga disentangles the Jiva from the phenomenal world of sense-objects. The Jivatma becomes Identical with Paramatman. This union with Paramatman is the goal of human existence. The western philosophers—Plato, Emerson, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, Descartes, Prof. Max Muller and Paul Daussen have eulogised the study of the science of Yoga very highly. There are various kinds of Yoga. It varies according to the temperament of the practitioner. Yoga in a generic sense refers to Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Hatha Yoga. In a restricted sense it refers to Raja Yoga. Hatha Yoga is not separate from Raja Yoga. Hatha Yoga means the Yoga or union between “Ha” and “Tha”. “Ha” means the sun. “Tha” means the moon. Prana is known by the name of sun. Apana is known by the name of the moon. Therefore Hatha Yoga is the union of the Prana and the Apana. Hatha Yoga prepares the student for the Raja Yoga. It is only as auxiliary to Raja Yoga. Yoga is a perfect practical system of self-culture. You can attain harmonious development of your mind and soul by the practice of Yoga. It is an exact science. You can acquire absolute control over the whole nature by the practice of Yoga. It helps the student to attain ethical perfection, perfect concentration of the mind and to unfold various psychical powers. It teaches applied psychology. It helps the practitioner to enter into conscious communion with the Lord through Samadhi, to separate himself from three Gunas and to attain Kaivalya or independence eventually. Yoga is turning away of the objective universe and the concentration of the mind within. Yoga is eternal life in the soul or spirit. Yoga transmutes a man into divinity. Yoga brings a message of hope to the forlorn, joy to the depressed, strength to the weak and knowledge to the ignorant. Yoga is the secret master-key to open the realms of eternal bliss and deep, abiding peace. Raja Yoga is an exact science. It concerns with the mind and the suppression of all its modifications. The mind being the cause for the existence of this phenomenal world, its annihilation will eventually lead that Yogic practitioner to the highest goal, i.e., Asamprajnata Samadhi, wherein the Yogi rests in complete peace, in union with the Supreme Soul. So it is called Raja Yoga or Royal Yoga or King of Yogas. Yogic students are classified into three degrees or classes, the first, the second and the third. Yogarudha is one who has climbed the highest summit of the hill of Yoga. Yogarudha is a Yoga-Bhrashta or one who has fallen down from Yoga. He has finished all the preliminary practices of Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara in his previous births. He at once takes to meditation in this birth. He is established in the highest Asamprajnata Samadhi. He belongs to the first class. Sadasiva Brahman of Nerur, South India, Jnana Dev of Alandi near Pune, belong to this class of Yogins. Yunjana is one who is deeply engaged in the practice of Yoga. He belongs to the second class. Arurukshu is one who is attempting to climb to the steps of Yoga. He belongs to the third class. The arduous practice of Yoga demands an abundance of energy and nerve-power on the part of the Yogic student. If one conserves the seminal energy only he can have an abundance of energy and nerve-power. Therefore the practice of Brahmacharya is of paramount importance if one desires to practise Yoga and achieve the highest end of Yoga quickly. If there is slackness and irregularity in the practices, a fit of passion or worldliness may blow away the little good result which the Yogic student has achieved and it will be very difficult for him to rise again to the original heights he has climbed. That is the reason why one has to do arduous practice of Yoga till he is established in the highest Samadhi. That Yogi who has controlled his mind through the arduous practice of Yoga for several years will be able to cognise the immutable Reality that is behind this empirical existence or the world of names and forms. That is the reason why Patanjali Maharshi also says, “Practice becomes fixed and steady when practised for a long time, without any break and with perfect devotion” (Chapter 1, Sutra 14). The intelligent, skilful and over-vigilant Yogi is ever ready with his arrow to kill this wandering, mischievous, turbulent mind. He attains ethical perfection, disciplines the senses and the mind, steadies the body, regulates the breath, adjusts the diet, controls the semen and finally hits at the mind straightaway. Then he enters into deep Asamprajnata Samadhi. You will find in Mundaka Upanishad, “Pranava or OM is the bow, the mind or the lower self the arrow, and the Brahman the mark or the target. If one carefully shoots at the mark, he becomes one with it.” Just as the hunter catches a deer by spreading a snare, so also the Yogic student catches the mind by the snare of Nada or Anahata sounds heard in his right ear. The Nada or sweet melodious sounds that are heard in the ear first attract the mind. Then they bind it and eventually annihilate the mind. The mind is absorbed or dissolved in the Nada. Binding the mind means rendering the mind quite steady. To kill the mind is to make the mind absorbed in the Sound. Then it cannot run towards objects. If you concentrate the mind at the tip of the nose, you will experience super-physical smell (Divya Gandha); if you concentrate at the tip of the tongue, you will experience super-sensual taste; at the centre of the tongue, super-physical touch; at the root of the tongue, super-physical sound; at the palate super-sensual colour. The super-sensual experience will serve as a sort of encouragement and will strengthen

Absolute Subdual Of The Mind Sri Swami Sivananda Mind, through ignorance and indiscrimination, considers its false personality to be true and thinks it is the doer of all Karmas and thus becomes egoistic. It imagines that it is in bondage. It identifies itself with the Jivatma; it becomes Jivatma itself and takes the responsibility upon itself for doing good or bad Karmas and enjoying or suffering from their fruits. Hence is mind the doer of Karmas (action), and responsibility for the Karmas, therefore, rests with it. Mind is the stealer of Atman. It is a thief. Mind drags the Jivatma into Vishaya (sensual enjoyments). Jivatma is the Abhasa of Chaitanya or reflected intelligence in mind. Mind and Jivatma always live together. They cannot be separated. Slay the mind, the stealer of Atman, through Vichara, Manana and Nididhyasana (constant and profound meditation) on Brahman. Mind has the potency of creating or undoing the whole world in the twinkling of an eye. Therefore, slay this mind the slayer of Atman, whether through the destruction of Vasana (latent, subtle desires) or Vakya Chintana. The best means of disposing of the great danger of Maya, involving all in pains, is the destruction of mind. With the destruction of the mind, all the three periods of time vanish into nothingness. With the destruction of mind, Atmajnana begins to dawn. The extinction of Vasanas (Vasana-kshaya), Manonasa (annihilation of the mind), and Tattva-Jnana (understanding of the Reality), when practised together for a long time, are regarded as fruitful. They should be practised at a time. So long as these three are not equally practised, again and again, the Supreme Seat (Parama Pada) cannot be attained even after a lapse of hundreds of years. Through the practice of these three for a long time, the firm knots of the heart are cut without doubt, like the breaking of the threads in a lotus-stalk rent in two. Destruction of the mind does not mean annihilation of the self. The Vedantin divides the mind into the higher and the lower, of which the lower one leading to desires is asked to be destroyed. Destruction of desires, annihilation of Ahankara, destruction of Sankalpa—all mean control of mind or annihilation of mind (Manonasa or Amanaskata). Destruction of egoism, raga-Dvesha (attraction and repulsion for objects) and all Vasanas along is Manonasa. Manonasa comes through the destruction of the Vasanas. Manonasa does not mean that you should take a sword and cut the mind to pieces. Manonasa means the death of the present form of the mind (i.e., the instinctive mind of emotions and passions), the form which perceives differences where none exists, which identifies the Self with the body. Its death really means its transformation into and, therefore, the birth of cosmic consciousness. Vast majority of persons live in Annamaya Kosa only. Their thoughts are directed towards eating, cleansing the body and putting on neat dress. That is all. Even the so-called educated persons live in Annamaya Kosa only. Sometimes, they live in Manomaya Kosa (mental sheath). A spiritual aspirant and Viveki live in Vijnanamaya Kosa (Buddhi Sheath). The Vijnanamaya Kosa is developed by abstract thinking and reasoning by systematic meditation, Brahma-chintana, study of the Upanishads, Yoga-Vasishtha and Brahma Sutras. You must all develop the Vijnanamaya Kosa by the study of Vedantic literature and pure thinking. Then you are safe. Mind will stop to deceive and torment you. Mind is absorbed in Mahat or Buddhi. Individual Buddhi is absorbed in the Cosmic Buddhi; Cosmic Buddhi in Avyakta; Avyakta in Brahman. This is the Laya-Chintana of Antahkarana or Mind. Sambhavi Mudra, Bhrukuti-Drishti (looking at the spot midway between the two eyebrows), Nasikagra-Drishti (looking steadily at the tip of the nose), Nadanusandhana. (hearing the sounds of the ear)—all belong to Laya Yoga. By these practices the mind gets Laya soon. The Unmani state supervenes rapidly. The Unmani Avastha of Laya-Yogis corresponds to the Bhava-Samadhi of Bhaktas. In Sambhavi Mudra, the eyes are open but the mind is fixed on the Lakshya. The eyes do not see the external objects. When the mind and senses are thinned out and eventually controlled, Smaranendriya-vyapara (the various activities of Antahkarana and senses) ceases. Jivatva (personality-nation and sensation) vanishes. Brahmatva (existence) remains. That is Kevala Asti. Manonasa is of two kinds, viz., (1) Svarupa Manonasa, destruction of the Svarupa of mind, as in the case of the Jivanmuktas and (2) Arupa Manonasa, destruction of the very form of the mind, as in the case of Videhamuktas, when they leave off their physical bodies. The first is termed “destruction of the mind with form.” The second is termed “destruction of the mind without form.”

See The Great Reality Even In Obstacles Sri Swami Chidananda Worshipful homage unto Thee, Thou eternal, all-pervading and indwelling cosmic Spirit Divine! May Your grace be upon all those sincere seeking souls who are assembled here in Your divine presence! Grant them the blessedness of an unceasing aspiration, and a determined resolution to fulfil this aspiration, no matter what the obstacles, what the difficulties, what the adverse circumstances. Grant them the insight, the vision and the wisdom to see in these obstacles necessary disciplines that are meant to strengthen their inner sinews, necessary disciplines that are meant to awaken in them their hidden powers which may then be manifested and exercised for this great attainment. May they not see adverse circumstances as adverse circumstances or obstacles as obstacles. Grant them the vision and the wisdom to see them as opportunities, to see You present as obstacles, not thinking them to be the manifestation of something opposed to You, contrary to You, a second factor, a cosmic dichotomy. For we are within the tradition of the great sages and seers of the Vedas and the Upanishads. We believe in a supreme, transcendental, absolute, non-dual Reality, which does not admit of any eternal cosmic dichotomy between the Divine and the undivine, the plus and the minus. For us sarvam khalvidam brahma; ekameva’dvitiyam brahma; brahmaiva satyam; ekam sat—All this is Brahman; Brahman is one alone, without a second; Brahman alone is Truth; Truth is one. Therefore, grant them, by Your grace the wisdom to perceive the one great Reality even in the form of seeming obstacles. Difficulties are not difficulties to those who are resolute and determined. The boatman who has to row across the flowing river only knows that hard rowing is necessary. He does not deem the rapid flowing of the river to be an obstacle. He just knows that he has to make it to the other shore. The only awareness in his mind is the need to persist in putting forth ever greater power until the other shore has been reached. In this way, may Your grace manifest in them as resolute determination, as a vision and wisdom with which they face, accept and welcome everything that life is, and see in everything Your own manifestation, manifesting as an opportunity and an occasion for putting forth greater effort and as a situation brought in order to serve as a discipline through which to generate greater strength, to come out stronger. Thus may Your grace manifest in them in these positive ways as spiritual qualities that will train them for the total perfection which is their great destiny! Loving adorations to revered and beloved Holy Master who thus faced in his own spiritual life all that confronts a yogi or a monastic or a sadhaka upon this rugged path, and who emerged as a highly disciplined and determined Yogi and Vedantin. He not only emerged stronger, wiser and even more determined than ever, but greatly ripened and mellowed, with sympathy for seekers for all times, knowing through his own personal experience what they may have to face, may have to overcome, and may have to go through. He used to say that suffering instils mercy and compassion in the human heart. Having undergone the same experience one is able to know and sympathise with the sufferings of others. May his benedictions and glance of grace instil in us a sympathy and an understanding of the problems of sadhakas; and, above all, may it bring before us the necessity to generate from within ourselves a great perseverance, a powerful determination and a firm resolution. For these are our friends and assets on this rugged path. It is not only rugged, it is arduous. It is not a short cut, but a lengthy, continuous journey unto the last. It therefore requires great patience, great fortitude. One should not think of its length, but as the wise Chinese philosopher said: “The longest journey is but one step.” Keep on taking this one step without stopping, without lagging behind, without sitting by the wayside, without wandering into the bypass of the pursuit of pleasure or satisfaction. If we keep on taking that one step, no matter how rugged or arduous the path, then one day we are destined to reach that Goal Supreme. We are made to claim and obtain our birthright, our divine destiny. This is the truth.

On Meditation Sri Swami Sivananda Some time ago, there lived in Karur, a big mercantile town, in Trichinopoly District, a fully developed Raja Yogi, by name Sadasiva Brahman. He was as famous as Trilinga Swami of Benares. He used to sit in Samadhi for six months. He was a great Titikshu and a Vairagi. He used to have a Kowpeen only and sleep on bare ground. Once, there was a huge flood on the Cauveri River, and Sadasiva Brahman, who was in Samadhi, was carried away by the floods and deposited in some other place. One day, he was lying on the bare ground and had two pieces of bricks as his pillow. Some boys who were tending the cows mocked at him saying: “Look at this Mahatma; he has nothing except a Kowpeen and yet, he wants comforts. He wants a pillow. Can he not lie down without pillow?” This little word produced a sudden vibration in his mind and affected him a bit. He immediately threw away the bricks. This goes to show that even great saints who can remain in Samadhi even for months together are liable to be affected by praise or censure. Such is the force of Samskaras. From time immemorial, praise and censure have produced their impressions of exhilaration and depression on the mind. Yajnavalkya also once cursed a man to death. It is said he had also minute traces of anger, subtle desire for money and cattle as was shown in the court of Janaka despite of his Brahma Jnana. There is a popular view that Jnanins also will have a slight trace of Raga, Dwesha, anger, etc. But this is Abhasamatra, for namesake only. Not real. The difference between a Jnani and a wordly man is that in the case of the former, it will be momentary as in the case of children, while in the latter it will be continuous. A Jnani will forget it immediately, but the worldly man will keep it in the heart for a very long time. The impression of anger that is produced in the mind of a Jnani may be compared to the impression produced in water by a stroke of a walking stick. It is not lasting. The wave dies instantaneously. Most of the difficulties in our daily lives come from being unable to hold our minds in proper check. For instance, if a man does evil to us, instantly we want to react evil, to revenge, to pay him in the same coin, to extract tooth for tooth, tit for tat policy–to return anger for anger. Every reaction of evil shows that we are not able to hold the Chitta down. It comes out in waves towards the object and we lose our power. Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so much loss to the mind and every evil thought or deed of hatred, if it is controlled, will be laid in our favour. It is not that we lose by thus restraining ourselves but we gain infinitely. Each time we suppress hatred, or feelings of anger, it is so much good energy stored up in our favour and that energy will be converted into higher power. Anger, when controlled properly, becomes transmuted into an energy so powerful as to move the world. The sum total of impressions always remains in the mind. Impressions, though they become latent for a time, remain in the mind all the same and as soon as they get the right kind of stimulus, manifest themselves. The vibrations of the Chitta subside externally, after each direct perception, but continue to go on in it like atomic vibrations, and when they get the right kind of impulse, come out again. Only a word is uttered and we do not wait to consider its meaning, but jump to a conclusion immediately. It is a sign of weakness. The weaker the man is, the less he has the power of restraint. Measure yourself always with the standard of restraint. When you are going to be angry or miserable on hearing some news, reason it out, for yourself and see how it has thrown your mind into such Vrittis. Restraint does not come in a day, but by long continued practice. Suppose, when you are passing through the bazar, a man comes and takes away forcibly your nice walking stick. That throws your Chitta immediately into the form of a wave, termed anger. Do not allow that wave to develop. If you can prevent the formation of that wave, you have strong will-power, renunciation and Vairagya. Watch your mind always very carefully. Be ever vigilant. Be on the alert. Do not allow waves of irritability, jealousy, anger, hatred, lust to arise from the mind. These dark waves are enemies of meditation, peace and wisdom. Suppress them immediately by entertaining sublime divine thoughts. Evil thoughts that have arisen may be destroyed by originating good thoughts and maintaining them by repeating any Mantra or Name of the Lord, by thinking on any form of the Lord, by practice of Pranayam, by singing the Names of the Lord, by doing good action, by dwelling on the misery that arises from evil thoughts, by abstracting the mind, by analysing the origin of the thoughts, by enquiry of ‘Who am I?’ or by the force of the will resolving to suppress evil thought. When you attain the state of purity, no evil thoughts will arise in your mind just as it is easy to check the intruder or enemy at the gate, so also it is easy to overcome an evil thought as soon as it arises. Nip it in the bud. Do not allow it to strike deep root. 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, and heated debates. Do not argue. If you quarrel with some body or if you