The World Is Not Our Enemy! By Sri Swami Chidananda Our goal is the one non-dual Supreme Being. However, we live our spiritual life in the midst of this outer world. We are obliged, therefore, to function not only in the inner spiritual world, but in the outer spiritual dimension–which is manifest as something gross, material, physical, with varied multiplicity. Placed amidst these two seemingly different factors, we are required to consider the mutuality and interaction between the two. Are they to be tolerated and suffered as a negative, minus factor in our life, or are they to be understood in a different light? Are they meant to be understood, utilised and profited from in a way that, in spite of duality, there is no contradictory dichotomy between the two? In this connection, is there something that nature has to offer us, some insight, some guidance? Where there are dual factors, is opposition inevitable, or do dual factors provide two halves that ultimately go to make a whole–they complement and complete each other? What exactly is the situation? In the Gita we are told that we have to deal with the three gunas because we are in prakriti, cosmic nature. And prakriti is made out of the three gunas. So they are part of our life. Sattva guna takes one upward, rajas plies on the horizontal plane and tamas takes one downward. Seeming opposition, but the great insight given to us is that all three are necessary and each has a legitimate function. They are indispensable. And if we observe nature, we see a tree able to exist on a piece of ground because its roots go deep into the soil. At the same time the roots tend to make the ground hold firm and strong. The roots provide, as it were, a framework, while it is the ground that enables the tree to stand firmly and strongly. There is a duality, yet it seems to be to the advantage of both. The ground is necessary for the tree; the tree also gives something to the ground. We are surrounded by a world of many things. Are they necessary? Are they unnecessary? Are they so many obstacles to our spiritual evolution? What exactly are they? If they are unnecessary, God would not have put them there. If they are necessary, they must have a purpose. What is their purpose? To hamper our spiritual progress? To become so many obstacles, so many troubling factors? We must think deeply over this and benefit out of this reflection. Sometimes seemingly opposing factors serve a purpose. The arouse from within us certain faculties, certain determinations, certain plus factors like strong resolution–“I must overcome this!” They offer a challenge, and you are meant to exercise your intelligence–how to meet the challenge and overcome it. They are factors that make many positive things happen within our psyche. We take it as a challenge; we use our intelligence to ponder, “How can we deal with this?” They bring about the power of resolution and determination: “I must deal with it!” So they are stimulators of many things from within, which otherwise would not be stimulated. We would be dull and drab. Thus, because they stimulate the inner aspect of our being, antahkarana, they don’t seem to be entirely negative. They do serve a positive purpose, a constructive purpose, that goes beyond mere mutuality or interaction. They seem to have a positive purpose. Without a pair of oars, the boat cannot move. Without the boat, the oars are useless; they serve no purpose. When both are together, they help us to cross the river. The upper and lower teeth are not at war against each other. Both are necessary if we wish to chew our food properly. Perhaps this is how we should view our life and things and factors, both outer and inner. God is all-intelligence. He would not have committed an error, a blunder. All other forms of life, no matter how strong, how dynamic, how well endowed they are, when they are moving forward and come across a formidable obstruction, change their direction. Man alone asks how he can scale it, how he can overcome it. He does not think of changing his direction. He thinks of continuing his onward movement. If a river comes, build a bridge to cross it! If a mountain obstructs a railroad, bore a tunnel through it! Perhaps this has something to teach us. Man alone does this–no other creature. Thus, all things have been provided because they are necessary. They test us, try us: How far are we really sincere? How far as we determined? What is the quality of our aspiration–how authentic, genuine and true? Therefore, they are necessary. They offer challenges. They also offer us a way of estimating our spiritual life. They thus become contributors to our meaningful progress. If we thus begin to understand them and view them, our reaction to them will also change. We will not be so frequently overcome by despondence or be taken aback and doubt the possibility of moving forward when these negative things come and bother us. We will not lose confidence and be disheartened when we begin to see that all these things are necessary. They come to test and train us, to arouse from within us dormant faculties. They are challenges. When seen as such, a whole new vision dawns upon you. Your approach to them is an intelligent one. All reactions to them become positive; your entire life, in addition to your spiritual life and sadhana, takes on a new attitude and nature. It no longer reacts in a negative way. It reacts in a positive way: “God has sent these things; they are necessary. I must try to understand in what manner I can gain, in what manner I can utilise them.” The whole approach, therefore, is not one of diffidence or trepidation or insecurity and doubt. The whole approach is very positive and understanding. It is creative and constructive, and the very approach itself is

Take Refuge NOW! By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh For most devotees the religious or spiritual life is part of their ordinary life. It may be the most important part of their life, but it is part of their normal living. It is only when God’s grace comes into our life that our spiritual life takes on another dimension. We could call it a vertical dimension because we seem, in one way or another, to be lifted out of ourselves. It may be the result of a meeting with a teacher; it may be some book we read; it could be a spiritual experience; but something changes. Something new has come into our life. The result may not change our outward life very much, or it may change it so dramatically that we leave our old life and go to an ashram, even seek permanent entry there. But whether the result is that dramatic or less dramatic, it seems to be inevitable that after a period of time we settle down into a mundane life again–whether it is in an ashram or still in the world. We somehow seem to have lost that vertical dimension, that dimension that was changing everything for us. And the truth is that unless we can somehow regain that vertical dimension, that dimension of grace, our spiritual life will not really move. But how can we bring God’s grace back into our life again? When it did change our life, it was not something that was under our control. It happened spontaneously. Does that mean then that there is no hope for us? Fortunately, Pujya Swamiji tells us that God’s grace is always blowing. But it is up to us to put up our sail. Originally, God didn’t care whether our sail was up or not; He just came into our life. But it seems that at some point He says to us, “Now it is time for you to put up your sail.” But how do we put up our sail in order to catch His grace? The Lord gives us a secret in the last teaching verse of the Gita: “Abandoning all dharmas take refuge in Me alone.” Our problem is that even when we want to take refuge in God, our fundamental reliance remains with ourselves. We’re scared of letting go. We don’t really want to leave the results of our life to God. We want to keep firm control of the rudder of the boat of our life, and we’re reluctant to put up the sail in case God’s grace blows us in directions that we don’t want to go. So it is our choice. Do we want to continue our mundane life, or do we want to have the adventure of God’s life? Do we want to keep our life the way it is, or do we want God’s grace in our life? Do we want to keep control over our life, or do we want to take the risk of going God’s way, to put up our sail and let Him take us where He wants to take us. The spiritual life is always now. It is not in the future when we are ready. It is always now. So, if we want to bring back that original thrill, that original grace into our life, the answer is to put up our sail, let go of the rudder and trust God now. The need is to take refuge now!

The Need for Both Dispassion and Practice By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh The normal way of thinking about the spiritual life is that the individual soul has taken birth after birth and needs to be liberated from this round of births and death. But the scriptures tell us that we are already what we are seeking: That thou art… You are the Atman, ever-free, ever-pure. If that is so, then where is the question of any bondage or any liberation in reality? The scriptures explain that it is the mind that is the cause of both bondage and liberation in the human being. In other words, it is an illusion that the mind believes in, and, therefore, how to control the mind, how to correct the mind, how to purify the mind, becomes our task. This gives special significance to Lord Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna in the sixth chapter of the Gita. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to sit for meditation in order to control the mind. Arjuna protests: “It’s easier to control the wind than to control the mind.” Lord Krishna doesn’t say that it is easy, but He does say that it can be done through dispassion and practice. So if bondage and liberation are both in the mind, and we need to learn to control the mind, then perhaps the words dispassion and practice contain the essence of the spiritual life. Dispassion means dispassion for thinking that we can get permanent happiness from anything of this world be it physical or mental, and practice is the practice of the presence of God. As seekers it is important for us to realise that we require both dispassion and practice and usually a judicious balance between the two. It is possible to develop dispassion for the world, to see how fickle our own mind is, how impure our intellect, and thus develop true dispassion for everything about the world including ourselves, but if we haven’t developed the practice of the presence of God, it will be impossible for us to truly understand what liberation means. On the other hand, if we ignore dispassion and only practise the presence of God, we may experience the liberated state, understand liberation, but ultimately the pull of the world will make us unable to sustain that bliss and understanding. The mind will continuously pull us down by telling us that there is happiness to be had in the things of this world. Therefore, the importance of following both of Lord Krishna’s instructions. We must develop dispassion and at the same time practise the presence of God. And as both bondage and liberation are in the mind, this combination of dispassion and practice will ultimately allow us to see through the illusion and to recognise that we have ever been free.

Affirm the Reality Wherever We Are At! By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh When Pujya Swami Chidanandaji comes here to Gurudev’s holy Samadhi Hall in the mornings, his talks are usually very down to earth and practical. Almost always he urges us to intensify our sadhana in one way or another. However, occasionally he will give a Vedantic type of talk that can be very thrilling. Two years ago, he gave such a talk; he spoke about the unreality of this world and the body. But the morning after giving this powerful talk, Swamiji didn’t arrive here until well after 6.00 a.m. He then began to tell us why he was so late, describing how it had been almost impossible for him to get up that morning. After being awakened he had risen and then had just collapsed on the floor–two mountains upon him, one a mountain of drowsiness and the other a mountain of sleep. Then he said, “Yesterday I was talking high philosophy, about how there is no reality to the body; but, the fact is, as along as we experience hunger and thirst, heat and cold etc., the body has a reality.” This is an important point for us to remember. When we surrender, when we repeat God’s name, when we meditate, it is quite possible for us to withdraw our energy and attention from the body and the world around us. We come into what Swamiji has described as an interim stage that is seemingly much more real than our body and mind and the world around us. It is a place of greater power and peace and energy. Naturally we consider it to be a higher state; it has a feeling of Divinity about it. So this we call reality as opposed to our normal body and mind consciousness. However, the teaching we must never forget is, “All this is verily Brahman.” An analogy that is often used is that whether the ocean is calm and has the capacity to reflect the moon or the sun in it, or whether the ocean is disturbed and wavy, the reality of the ocean is salt water. And so whether our attention is on that part of our consciousness which is very active, perhaps disturbed, or whether our attention is on that part of our consciousness which is full of power and peace and reflects a divine feeling, it is all Divinity–because there is nothing except Divinity. We are apt to look for our reality somewhere else other than where we are at. Perhaps what we should be doing is affirming the reality exactly where we are. Ultimately this becomes the true sadhana. And it is essential, because it is difficult to control where our attention has to be. Sometimes our attention will be on that peaceful part of ourselves; most of the time it is on the active part of ourselves. The secret is to see the Divine in both, and to actually not prefer one over the other. Lord Krishna tells us that a sage is the same whether sattva, rajas or tamas is present. Therefore, we should try to avoid the trap of identifying God with some particular state, some sattvic place we have found or imagine. We should follow the instructions of Lord Krishna and see the Lord in all things.

Purposefully Direct the Power Potential Within By Sri Swami Chidananda Worshipful homage to the supreme, eternal, infinite Cosmic Spirit Divine. Worshipful homage to the supreme Cosmic Power of the Divine which is both a transcendental divine force and the first manifestation of the Unmanifest. Therefore, it is different from the Unmanifest, but at the same time integrally one with the Unmanifest. Because the supreme, ultimate, transcendental Reality is one alone and non-dual, ekameva’ dvitiyam, there cannot be any question of manifestation being apart from It, because whatever is must be Its expression. Non-dual means that there is nothing other than That. There is no second factor. Manifestation cannot be something created out of a second factor because there is no second factor. Therefore, all manifestation is another aspect, facet, of the Great Reality. Thus, even when it shines as another aspect, distinct from the transcendental Reality, yet nevertheless, it is at the same time essentially one with that Being whose aspect it is. Therefore, the supreme Cosmic Force, transcendental Cosmic Force, para sakti, is a transformed aspect of the one non-dual Reality. Thus it is said that para sakti and parabrahman are one, a distinction without a difference, an apparent appearance that does not in any way affect or alter the absolute non-duality of the Reality. It follows, therefore, that in this variegated phenomenal appearance, this infinite multifariousness, that the infinite pairs of opposites–light and darkness, beginning and end, liberty and bondage, peace and restlessness–are manifestations of the same one, non-dual, transcendental Being. And that supreme Cosmic Force resides within you as numerous types of forces–physical force of the body, thought force of the mind and the force of rationality, logic and analysis of the intellect. It is also the force to recollect and bring back into present remembrance long-forgotten things. It is the force to project into the future as well, through planning, scheming and imagination. Whatever you possess through which you move, act, function, carry on some purposeful work, you do through the grace of the supreme Cosmic Power, para sakti, dwelling within you as an integral part of yourself. She is thought, She is intellect, She is analysis, She is concentration, She is meditation, She is memory, She is imagination. She is the original, primal blueprint for all that we produce in the form of work–good or bad. So within you, you have all these forces, and you have the choice of moving in so many different ways. You can push someone into a pit, or if someone has unfortunately fallen into a pit and cannot get up, you can bend down, grasp hold of their hands and pull them out. With the selfsame force you can either push or pull. Therefore, we have to be very cautious, circumspect, thoughtful, discriminating and careful in what way we make the forces within us manifest themselves in this world of living beings and in this world of human affairs. What exactly you will be in the midst of this set-up of your global human family entirely depends upon you and your carefully, well-chosen decision in what manner you direct the innumerable forces that are within you. Therefore, think well in what way you utilise and manifest this inner force. This force is amoral. It can also remain within you as a potential, as static, not manifest. You have the potential to do ever so many things, but unless you actually put it forth into motion, it remains there as potential, as a deposit in a bank. If you so decide, it is instantly at your disposal. The moment it is called forth, it is there in the form of activity. When it is directed, it becomes a certain power–the power of thought, the power of the Spirit, the power of love, the power of a selfless desire to serve. Therefore, be constantly alert in discrimination, and at each moment go on directing this great potential of cosmic power that resides within each one of you. For it is sacred, for it is divine, for it is spiritual. It is not meant to be frittered away. It is not meant to be wrongly used, to be misused. It is meant to be purposefully, powerfully directed and used for progress, to bring into being better and better states of existence. This potential is meant to be put forth and used, in the words of Lord Buddha, “for the happiness and welfare of all creatures in God’s creation.” And if you want to put it in the words of our lawgivers: “This power potential within you has to be carefully and wisely manifested and brought forth in order to achieve the four great objectives, values, of human life–the ethical value, the economic value, the vital, emotional, value, and the ultimate, supreme highest spiritual value. You have not come here to merely bear the brunt of karma, to suffer and then one day to be extinguished. No, not at all! You have come here with a great destiny; you have come here with a supreme purpose, with the highest objective to attain. You have been sent here. You have come here to fulfil God’s plan for you. To that end you must work. See that His wish prevails and manifests Itself in and through you. God’s plan for you, His will for you, is ultimate divine perfection–which is already within you. Through Yoga and Vedanta attain Self-realisation! Through working for the attainment of the fourfold supreme values, purushartha chatushtaya, make your life a grand success in achievement, in ultimate attainment!

A New Angle of Vision By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh There is a saying, “The goal is one, but the paths are many,” or sometimes they will say that we are all climbing the same spiritual mountain: The objective is to get to the top; it doesn’t matter from which side we climb up. Actually, while we call religions by different names and while we call yogas by different names, they are all being practised by human beings. Therefore, our spiritual practices ultimately are not a matter of outward form, but of what we are within our own interior. And as we are all basically thinking, feeling, and willing, then it is logical that no matter what the outer path, that as we move towards the goal, there should be a similar requirement in order to reach the objective. What could be that similar requirement? Gurudev said, “Change your angle of vision.” But what does that actually mean? In the last teaching verse in the Gita, after having given us so many yogas, Lord Krishna says, “Abandoning all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone. Don’t worry, I will save you.” Gurudev perhaps put it even more simply: “Surrender everything unto the Lord, place your ego at His feet and be at ease.” So it would appear that no matter what path we are following, there comes a point in our spiritual life where we must simply let go, where we are meant to lay down the burden we have been carrying and let God carry it–while we be at ease. But does this being at ease mean that we’re lying on a comfortable couch with somebody doing everything for us? Our common sense recognises that this cannot be the case, even though the words taking refuge and being at ease could give us that impression. Rather we are meant to discover–after we have laid down our burden–a place of total ease within ourselves that has always been there. We are meant to recognise that that place–which we can never grasp with the mind–is our real home, a home that we have left when we got lost in the maze of the world. The world is actually part of the Reality, but it is a passing part. We are meant to always be aware of that which never changes. When That which never changes becomes the most important part of our life, then we are truly at ease, and we function with balance and intelligence in this world. That is what Gurudev demonstrated to all of us–an extremely active life, a life of benefit to all, but a life anchored in the truth, in the oneness of all things. And that is what he wants us to discover–no matter what path we follow. All paths are valid as long as, in the end, we’re prepared to lay down both our burden and our ego, so that we can have a new angle of vision.