Testing Our Spiritual Life By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh It is normal in human life that if we put a lot of time and effort into any endeavour, we want to be able to measure our progress. Whether it is studies, professional life, or business, we want to know in some way what our score is, how well we are doing. The same seems to apply to the spiritual life. After we have put in sufficient effort, sufficient time, there is a factor in us that wants to know whether we are getting proper results. Normally that inclination is discouraged in the spiritual life, and it is discouraged for three reasons. First of all, scriptural. “Yours is the effort. The result is up to God. Leave it to Him.” The second reason is a very practical one. There is no practical way that we can judge whether we are being freed from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy or whether divine virtues are developing in our heart. If we try to keep score, it will normally be a matter of self-deception. Rather, as Pujya Swami Chidanandaji once said, “From time to time you discover what changes have come about. Sometimes, this can be a pleasant discovery. Sometimes it can be rather a shocking one–some negative factor that you thought had long ago disappeared suddenly comes to life again. Therefore, any judging we do on our progress should be left to discovery rather than to analysis. But there is a third reason that we’re discouraged from trying to keep score on our spiritual life. And that is that the ultimate spiritual life is at a level deeper than virtues and vices. One teacher has said that there are only two things, finally, in this universe: one is love; the other is fear. This love, of course, is not the normal type of love, but rather a divine love that has no object. It is just love or perhaps more correctly, it is described as universal goodwill. The other factor, fear, is also not fear with an object, but rather an underlying sense of fear that at any moment can light upon an object such as death, old age, ill health, loss of money, security etc. Therefore, in the final analysis the only way our spiritual life can be judged is to the degree that universal goodwill and trust has replaced that nagging feeling of uncertainty or fear in the depths of our being. How do we bring about this ultimate change? There is no other way than a total letting go and trusting in God. That is why Lord Krishna told us that the only way we can cross samsara is by taking refuge in Him alone. And even more specifically, in the last teaching verse of the Gita, He tells us to abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Him alone. Therefore, we cannot really judge our spiritual life by normal measurements. Ours is to make the effort; the results are in God’s hands. From time to time we discover whether we have made progress or not, and ultimately the only real test is the degree of total surrender in the depth of our heart, which means that universal love has replaced all fear.

God Is Present in the Midst of the Human Condition By Sri Swami Chidananda Worshipful homage to that supreme, universal Spirit Divine that is here and now mingling with the spiritual presence of Gurudev in this sacred Samadhisthan. Gurudev’s spiritual presence is here because the mortal vehicle in which he dwelt and used for bringing about a spiritual renaissance in the modern world has been interred here with due honour. The supreme universal Spirit is here because although It is transcendental, It is at the same time intensely relative and personal. The great mystery of Its transcendence, immanence and indwelling presence is the experience and declaration of sages of towering spiritual illumination and experience. Thus it is that we are in a dual presence, at once spiritual, at once divine. It is in this context that we have to see that both a method of spiritual evolution and attainment as well as a certain solution to our human predicament is contained in this truth. A method has been given: Keep yourself aware of this truth, then no matter where you are your experience will always be God-experience. No matter where you are, in what state, what surroundings, what condition, you will know that simultaneously you are in the presence of God. Therefore, the practice of this presence becomes to you a method of growing in God-awareness which will ultimately culminate in God-experience. Simultaneously, this truth also offers a solution to the human predicament. The human problem is that the place where He has reserved as the most suitable place for you to be constantly in communion with Him–the inner spiritual heart–usually is invaded by multifarious, miscellaneous considerations about the passing world. The great ones, who had established themselves in that transcendental experience, have come forward and told us, “Do not distress yourselves. In the midst of all this so-called invasion by outer factors and distractions, there is this centre of ever-present, undiminished, unshaken Divinity. In the midst of all vikshepa, all turmoil and all miscellaneous thought, This abides at the very centre, unassailable.” To cling firmly to this unassailable truth, this reality within, to abide ever in that reality of His presence, is to be practised with every breath. Then, even dwelling in the world, you will be dwelling in God. Even in the midst of ever-changing situations and experiences that are part of your unavoidable and inevitable earth life, there is this never-changing, unaffected truth about the reality within. To contemplate it daily–to consciously contemplate it–is the heart of spiritual sadhana and spiritual life. And this awareness is greatly helped by satsanga, by svadhyaya, by smarana, remembrance: “I abide in You. You abide in me.” This is the truth. All other things may be changing. They do keep changing. This is the Unchanging in the midst of countless ever-changing movements in this outer world. Contemplate this truth! Cultivate the practice of this truth, and thus find your own solution to your human predicament. Success is sure because God made you in His own image to succeed in life and not to fail. He did not send us here to fail but to succeed. And this privilege, this birthright is the common heritage of all human beings of all times, for all are made in the image of God. It is the uniqueness of man, but it is a common human heritage. If you have inherited it, it is not because you are something special. It is because of your uniqueness which you share with all other human beings. You are unique in the eyes of God, but you need not think that you are special in the eyes of God. If you are special, then everyone is special. Therefore, we should be humble and simple and not be unduly self-important, because we are not very important. We are important, as all other human beings are important, but not in any special way. So the fine distinction between being unique and being special should be grasped. Special brings with it the danger of being ego-oriented regarding ourselves, whereas uniqueness makes us humble. Uniqueness does not carry this inherent danger of ego. Thus, the truth to be practised is that even in the midst of our human predicament, God is very much there. So this fact, this truth, should be made our focus. We should emphasise more on it than upon the human predicament. It should be given greater importance, more value, more emphasis in our being. Then all will be well. When you make God central, other things naturally have to occupy the circumference–because there is only one centre. So there is the key to being established always in the feeling of God’s presence. Make Him central in your life. Then other things will fall into their place. May the grace of God and the loving blessings of Gurudev enable us to achieve this truth-oriented state of inwardness, this state of mind!

The Practice of Truth By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was a votary of truth. He used to declare, “They say that God is Truth. But I declare unto you, truth is God.” This would suggest that when Gurudev wants us take a vow of truthfulness, satyam, that if it is practised in all sincerity, then we become God. But what is involved in the practice of truth? If we reflect upon it, we will recognise that we need to practice truth at three levels of our being. The first level of the practice of truth is the obvious one, of telling the truth to each other in our day by day affairs. To practise the truth to the standard of Mahatma Gandhi means that ultimately we become incapable of telling a lie. If by chance a lie should escape our lips, we become immediately aware of it and make the necessary correction. The next level of truth is the practice of truth in our inner being. Gurudev said, “Scrutinise always your inner motives.” Normally, most of us have two reasons for doing something: One, a reason that sounds good to ourselves and others, and second, the real reason. We have to scrutinise carefully our inner motives, recognise what our real motives are, and never claim to be doing anything for other than our real motivation. But there is a third level of truth that most of us find almost impossible to practice. And that is truth at the level of yoga. The scriptures can declare “That thou art,” we can affirm, “I am Brahman,” we can believe with our intellect that “All this is Brahman,” but to come to grips with the truth of it is something else altogether. It requires tremendous strength, tremendous clarity of intellect, tremendous devotion to the truth, tremendous will-power and, above all, the character built by the practice of truth with others and within ourselves. It is this final practice of the truth that will convert us into the Divine. But it is an absolute practice and it is not a practice that we can do in the ordinary way. It is a practice–no matter how we describe it–of total letting go, total renunciation, total surrender, and it is affirming that the ultimate Truth is That which we can never grasp, in anyway, with the mind. The scriptures declare that we are That. But they also declare that That is unknowable and unthinkable. So to practise the real truth, we have to exchange that which we think we are for the truth that is unknowable by the mind. It is this practice that brings us to the peace that is beyond understanding. It is this practice that results in total humility. We are nothing, but paradoxically, we are everything. We have given up everything; we gain everything. We had confusion; now we have clarity. It comes through the practice of truth at all levels of our being.

The Path and the Goal Are the Same By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh Most of us here are what we might call children of the Vedic way of life. Of course, some of us are adopted children, or as Swamiji once said, we have adopted the Vedic way of life. But in any case, to each one us, consciously or unconsciously, the Vedic way is central to our life. And of all the ramifications of the Vedic way of life, there is nothing more important or more intelligently thought out than the stages of life–student stage, householder stage, retired stage and sannyas or renunciate stage–and the aims of life. Indeed, if we wanted to describe the Vedic way of life–like any way of life–it could be described in terms of its aims. While the Vedic way of life lays down four aims–dharma or righteousness, artha or the earning of wealth, kama, the satisfaction of legitimate desires, and moksha, liberation–in actual fact, the earning of wealth and the satisfaction of legitimate desires are meant to be done in the context of dharma with the ultimate aim of moksha always in mind. So that from this point of view, we could say that the essence of the Vedic way of life is dharma and moksha, and certainly that would not contradictGurudev Swami Sivanandaji’s teachings. He constantly said that the goal of life is God-realisation and his fundamental teaching is Be good, Do good. Generally speaking, dharma usually means the way we should act and moksha our eventual liberation. However, the fundamental declaration of the Vedic way of life is that One alone is without a second. Therefore, any other teachings or aims must derive from that fundamental truth. Dharma, therefore, means functioning in accordance with the truth that One alone is. What am I to do in a certain situation? Remember that One alone is. Everything is my own Self, and I act in accordance with that truth. That knowledge solves all ethical questions for us. How can we justify acting in a selfish way when everything is our own Self? We, therefore, act in harmony with the will of God. And what is moksha? Moksha is spontaneously acting according to the will of God. It is the firm knowledge that all is One, and spontaneously we act in the light of that knowledge. What then is the difference between dharma and moksha? Dharma means that with our minds we consciously act according to the will of God. Moksha means that we do it spontaneously, because there is no second factor in us saying I am a separate individual who needs to act according to dharma. The question of separation is gone forever, and, therefore, we act according to our true nature spontaneously, instead of acting according to our true nature by effort. This equivalence between dharma and moksha reminds us of the saying: The path and the goal are the same. What is the difference, in the final analysis, between someone who is spontaneously acting in the knowledge that all is One and one who is consciously, by surrender, by understanding, acting in the knowledge that all is One? Furthermore, if One alone exists, then the only real sin in this world is not acting in that light–it is acting as if I am a separate individual who can look after my selfish interests and ignore the Whole. This is what creates karma which will have to rebound on us. However, if we consciously act in the light of dharma, on the basis that One alone is, then we are free from karma and the ego, we are liberated from them. But, of course, our goal is to be permanently liberated from them, and that is why the goal of life is God-realisation. This is an entirely different way of looking at our sadhana. Because most of us feel that I am a separate individual who needs to be liberated so I won’t be reborn. Whereas, in actual fact, I am That, because there is nothing except That, and my salvation and happiness is in living according to that truth–until I become so habituated to it that it becomes my natural state. Whether it becomes my natural state by an awakening, that is, as Swamiji once described, “Oh!” or whether it becomes my natural state through some cosmic inner explosion, doesn’t matter. If One alone is, all that matters is that we are acting in accordance to Its will. Lord Krishna says, “I have got everything in this universe, but I keep working, I keep acting.” We were born into this world to act, not to sit and do nothing, not to reach some blissful state. Our glory is to act according to the will of the universe, to participate in the universe, not as a tree or a cow, but as an intelligent human being. Swamiji has also, in his own way, tried to point out the equivalence of dharma and moksha, the path and the goal. I would like to read a couple of passages that will help to illustrate this. The first one is from his latest booklet called Renunciation. “When the early enthusiasm and anticipation in the spiritual life has worn off and seekers seemed to have got stuck somewhere midway, neither here nor there, making no progress, I always used to ask them to take a second look, from a different angle. I said, ‘This is all due to a wrong view that you have taken–that we have come here in order to attain God-realisation, and so it is something, a distant goal to be attained; therefore, we should be up and doing and daily moving forward and upward towards that goal, in that direction. ‘This is a view given in the beginning to attract the worldly-minded person. But then, in actuality, the life that has been

Looking at Problems from a Different Angle of Vision By Sri Swami Chidananda Sometimes a seeker will ask themselves a question: Why is it that a spiritual seeker seems to be plagued with so many vexing problems, obstacles, hurdles and various complicated situations that do not seem to be present in the life of a normal human being going about his secular vocation? He may have some problems with income tax or getting his child admitted in a proper school, but he does not have too many deep problems and complications in the inner dimension of his subjective life. The answer is because spiritual life is going against the stream of life. It is like the difference between a person swimming downstream, going along with the current and a person swimming upstream against the current. So naturally the person swimming upstream has a great deal of counter-force to overcome, whereas the person going downstream need not make much effort. They take the means of least resistance, so flow along. This is an explanation of why you have these problems. You have set yourself a great goal, and to move towards it with the minimum of difficulty, one method is to walk in the footsteps of the great ones who have gone before. They went the same way, lived the same life, encountered many difficulties and attained the goal. Follow the steps they took to overcome everything until they reached the goal. So contemplate the lives of saints. Keep them as your ideal, see their life and draw inspiration. Be guided by their wisdom teachings also. They have given their life as an ideal, and they have left valuable pointers through their own personal teaching and words of advice. We get all these things from the lives of saints. So keeping the life of some ideal saint as your inspiration and guidance is the wise method of progressing upon this path. A second method of sometimes dissolving what appears to be a big difficulty, a hurdle on the way, is to look at it with a different angle of vision. Say: “No, this is not a problem. This situation is necessary for me. God knows my degree of evolution, where I stand. At this point in my spiritual evolution, this is what I require in order to learn many insights and to put forth my inner resources so that I may progress further.” This, therefore, is another way of looking at a problem. Welcome it! “This is necessary for me, therefore, it is coming. Otherwise, it would not come. If I go into a higher dimension or plane of evolution, then such things will not come because I have already gone beyond them. I don’t need them.” Thus, we take the problem not as a problem, but as an opportunity, an occasion, to manifest whatever inner resources we have developed up till now through our spiritual life and spiritual sadhana and practice–our dispassion, whatever we have learned. Now we have to test it in the field. Therefore, the situation, the seeming problem is giving us just that opportunity to test how far we are well established in our progress. We take it as a challenge, an opportunity to convince ourselves that we are well established in whatever we have gained thus far–we are not standing on a foundation of sand, but of rock. So, take everything in a creative attitude, in a positive and constructive attitude. This is the way to keep up enthusiasm and thus thrive in your spiritual life. See the inner value of these situations; know that they are important and necessary and that we can gain from them! May God bless us all!

Practise Your Conviction By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda Early Morning Meditation Talk given in the Sacred Samadhi Hall of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh The scriptures tell us that we live, move and have our being in God. More than that, they affirm our identity with God. To realise these truths, Gurudev urged us to practise integral yoga: “See your work as worship. Be devoted to God. Repeat His name. Meditate on Him. Think about Him. Enquire who am I?” But even if we are fortunate enough to have the temperament and ability to fill our days with spiritual practices, we can come to what could be called a stalemate. Pujya Swami Chidanandaji dealt with this in his book Ponder These Truths in a talk called “Practise Your Conviction.” In that talk, Swamiji related how a devotee had approached him saying, “We are convinced of the truth of the scriptures. There is no doubt in our minds that God alone is; He is the only permanent Reality. But our conviction doesn’t seem to make a change in our lives. We seem much the same as we have always been.” Swamiji offered a solution. Not a magic one, but a very practical one that follows the scriptures. He said, “You must practise your conviction.” Is there a difference between doing spiritual practices and actually practising them? The truth is, we can live a spiritual life without coming to the essence of it. So Swamiji said, “You are convinced that God alone is; He is the only reality; your only true relationship is with Him–which means that all other relationships are false relationships–therefore, practise that conviction. Constantly affirm the truth of your true relationship and deny and reject all other relationships.” This includes our relationships to our family, to our institution, even to our guru. All these are temporary relationships. Our only true relationship is with God. Swamiji continued, “If you will practise this, then gradually your intellectual conviction will deepen into feeling. You will feel the truth of it, and ultimately that bhav will ripen into anubhav or direct experience.” We can bring about the same results through devotion, through surrender, offering everything to God and putting ourselves into His hands. But it is only when we move away from the surface of our life right down to where we live, to where our deepest convictions are, that our spiritual life actually begins to move. We have to get down to who we think we are and to where our relationships have their source. Most of us are filled with a network of relationships and identities that have nothing to do with God in His essence. We must deny all those temporary relationships and affirm the truth of our real relationship. This is the practice of our conviction that Swamiji urged us to follow. He said, “This is the Vedantic method–the affirmation of your true relationship with God and the denial and rejection of all false, temporary relationships.”