There is no remedy for foolishness in any system of medicine

I have a cat. It is very lazy. I have never seen it hunt or do anything tiresome. It sometimes eats the flies that fall down below the lights. All the time it lies down and mews when it is hungry. If I put some rice on its plate it complains and demands for something else. If I pour some butter milk, it asks for milk. If I put some milk, it asks for cream. If I do not oblige, it mews around for a while and tries to find something else interesting to eat. If it does not find anything else, then it silently eats what ever is offered on the plate and goes back to sleep. Items fried in Ghee are its favorites. It is irregular with its timings and if I put its food on its plate and call it to eat, it does not bother to move until it is really hungry. Then ants and crows feast on its plate and later when the cat wakes up, it starts pestering me again. I think its sense of smell is underdeveloped as it stupidly moves without realizing that food has been served unless I put it on the plate in front of its eyes.
One day I put its usual quantity of milk on its plate during lunch time. The cat just drank half of it and went back to sleep. I do not like things to be wasted. So I dragged it to the cow shed and started explaining it how difficult it is to get milk. I showed it how the cow has to be fed, cleaned and milked. Then the milk has to be boiled. Only then can the butter and ghee produced. I told it, “If you do not value the industry and still want to drink milk, you can milk the cow yourself from tomorrow”.
Neighbor Kittu was passing by the cow shed and heard the last phrase. Kittu loved to gossip. When he reached the grocery store, he started “Did you know that Ananda, my neighbor has a wonderful cat? It has special intelligence and Ananda was able to teach it how to milk a cow”. The grocer said in disbelief, “No way!!” Kittu continued, “Yes really, I saw it with my own eyes. When I was walking towards the shop, both Ananda and the cat were at the shed and the cat filled the entire bucket as we were watching. Ananda was happy and told the cat to milk the cow by itself from tomorrow. I think the cat was a great yogi in its previous life and hence it remembers the past.”
My bored cat went back to sleep after my sermon and continued its vile ways. One noon, it was no where to be seen during the lunch time. It had probably found a frog or so in the garden. I did not like my cat eating meat. So in the evening when it returned, I angrily picked up the gunny bag over which it slept and moved it outside my house. I made a temporary shelter for it from rain and sun and told it, “If you can not follow the rules of my house, you have no right to stay in it. Take all your utensils and stuff and live outside from now. Then you can live the way you want.” I expected the cat to miss living with me and change its habits for the better.
The next day Kittu was telling somebody in the market place, “My suspicion was confirmed yesterday. The cat being a hermit wants to meditate and live by itself. So it has moved out of Ananda’s home and built a cottage for itself. I saw Ananda move all its stuff to the cottage and then kneel before it and request it to live the way it used to in the previous life. If you want you can come and see for yourself”. Many curious villagers came by the cat’s hermitage to check. They were initially skeptical but then when ever they saw the cat, it was always engaged in deep meditation with its eyes closed. They bowed down with respect. They wanted to ask Ananda more about the miracles that the cat performed but Ananda was always in silence and never spoke to the villagers.
Days rolled by and the cat slept in the shed and mewed at my door when ever it was hungry. It dared not to enter as I would chase it away. Out of compassion, I continued putting some food on its plate in the shed and it enjoyed sleeping there all the while. I saw that some villagers visited its shed and somebody even had placed some kumkum outside the shed. I was disappointed with my undisciplined cat and was least bothered about it. Though the rainy season had long started it had not rained this year. In the nights there was a stay male cat that started disturbing my sleep by its loud cries. I did not want the cat to lay a litter and create more trouble for me. So when the male cat came next night, I approached my cat and told it, “This male cat will just mate and run away. The responsibilities of raising the litter will the thrust down on you. Being as lazy as you are, you will not be able to bring the little ones properly. Do not expect that I will feed your family”. I tried shooing away the male cat but it would not comply. So I started making some loud noise with my puja gong and threw some twigs and fire sticks at the unwelcome visitor. The cat was persistent and I had to repeat my commotion. Drunkards returning home saw this but I did not care. Then it started raining and I retired for the night.
Kittu went early to the market square and told his friends, “You know the cat saved us from a big famine this year. Though it is an entire month since the rainy season started it had not rained a single drop. Last night Ananda married off his cat. I woke up to the sound of some puja and came out to investigate. I saw him chanting some divine mantras, make a fire and offer sacred sticks into it. The stray male cat from the village and the yogi were married and they took rounds around the fire. The Gods were pleased and sent the rains. Did any of you ever see a cloud in the sky till today?” Rumors also spread that the Gods attended the wedding, which was actually a divine sacrifice and then the five Gods appeared and granted a wish each to the cat and this time there were lots of witnesses to testify.
Meanwhile at the end of the rainy season, what I feared did happen. My idle cat gave birth to a litter with 5 kittens. The villagers started visiting the cat more often and started putting lots of food in the shed. Their frequent noise disturbed me and I started yelling at them.
Kittu said, “Ananda is angry because he is selfish and does not want to share his gifts with us. Each of the five kittens is an incarnation of the 5 base deities and will bring their owners tremendous luck.” Soon enough all the kittens were taken away by the villagers and Ananda thought “Good riddance”. But the stupid cat would not leave him.

-Ridiculed by AtmaAnanda

Yogabrastha

Sometimes you may wonder what happens if this life comes to an end before realization. The same doubt was cast on Arjuna’s mind and he asked the Lord, “The yoga that you mention is difficult to perfect. What happens if this body is cast off before the yogi has attained the goal? (Becomes yogabrastha)”.
The Lord pacifies his insecurity with the following explanation. There is no downfall here after to a person who has started treading on the path of yoga. Nothing bad will ever happen to him in this world or any other worlds. If his body is cast off, one of these two things will happen.
He will obtain the higher worlds such as the heaven which only the people with accumulated merits are entitled to. People craving such worlds will have had worked hard to gather the required merits during their stay in earth. But the yogi who lives his life selflessly without even thinking about the higher worlds will obtain it easily. He will enjoy there for a long period of time and will then be born again in a rich family with strong values. Though all the pleasures of the senses will be available to him, he will not get immersed in them and will start working beyond expectations of the fruits for his actions. He will be drawn to the spiritual path because of the training of his mind and will continue his Sadhana from the point where he left it previously.
If the person is of much more dispassionate and very meritorious then he will directly be born in a family of intelligent yogis and will lead an exceptionally religious life. But such births are rare are difficult to obtain. Swami Rama, Paramahamsa Yogananda and Swami Satyananda are some such examples of recent times.
This is the promise made by Krishna to all the aspirants who will ever tread the path of yoga. We are offered this protection and there is nothing more to fear. Guruji has also repeated this so many times. If we change towns in our mundane lives, our kids do not restart our education from the beginning. Similarly in spiritual life, aspirants will continue to progress from the previous lives and will never lose anything.
But if the aspirant applies total effort, with the support of the Sanskaras of previous lives, it is possible to experience the results in this very birth. The yogi can become complete and released from all the sins of the past and reach the highest state immediately. Hence Krishna appeals Arjuna to become a yogi in the current life as that is the most superior way.
-AtmaAnanda

How stressed are you?

Urban life is full of stress and tension and most people do not even know that they are affected by it. Here is a 5 minute exercise that will help you diagnose your situation and help you understand what you need to do.
Sit in a comfortable position and take a couple of deep breaths. Close your eyes and try to think about nothing. Try to keep your mind blank and discard any thought that comes up. Breathe normally and start counting your breaths till you reach 100. Try this once before you read further to help gauge yourself. Within a few seconds you will start remembering your pending errands. You have a meeting with such and such person, you need to prepare something, you need to pick up or drop off something, you need to buy something, you need to tell somebody something and thoughts like these start pestering your mind. This is natural and a result of tension. Try not to follow the chain of thoughts and keep focusing on completing the count. Most of the people who do not meditate will have one of the following experiences.
1. You will be drifting back and forth between thoughts and finally manage to complete the count. You may not be so sure about your count though.
2. You will drift away half way in between and do not remember what happened.
3. You will become restless and feel that you are wasting your time when you have so many things to do. You actually discard the practice and try to do something to complete the tasks ahead of you.
Here is how to interpret your experience. If your experience matches case 3, it means that you are extremely stressed out and need to make changes to your lifestyle immediately. You may need to take a step back and relax, take a vacation, resort to yoga or any other therapy. Your mind and body can not take this kind of abuse for long and it is important that you take a remedial step. If not then the stress that is accumulated will come back as a mental break down or some sort of a disease, a cancer that will mar the rest of your existence. If your experience matches case 2, then it still means that you are stressed out and are taking more than what you can handle at this point. Though you do not need to get admitted right away, you need to slow down or increase your internal capacity somehow. Do not expect that you will deteriorate into case 3 before something bad happens. You can breakdown all of a sudden if you are in this stage for long. On the other hand if you are a case 1, then you have some stress in your life. A little bit of stress is required in everybody’s life to make you progress. If this absconds then you will not make any progress in your life. You will be a satisfied and contended being. Earth is one planet where you can not be satisfied. Everybody is working to better their position either materially or spiritually. The scriptures say that there are other beings like the angels, presiding deity, Gandharvas who exist in other planes who are completely contended in their duty and do not evolve any further. Humans on the other hand are gifted with this discontentment that makes them progress and eventually evolve their consciousness to reach the state of the supreme. But if you are drifting away too often, you are taking too much tension from your work load. A little bit of yoga and relaxation techniques will surely help you improve your productivity and quality of life.
Now if you are a meditator, your experience may match one of the following.
1. You are able to complete the count without any interruption and able to keep your full attention on your breath.
2. You loose track of the count and drift into a sort of semi-consciousness. It seems that you fell asleep but it is not actually a sleep. You wake up fresh and sometimes exactly after the duration of time that you intended to sit in this practice. Sometimes the count may be progressing sub-consciously
3. You actually fall asleep, start dreaming, your poster collapses.
If you fall asleep, then it means that you are physically too tired. Or may be you are just learning how to sit in meditation. You have a long way to go. You need to learn more techniques and need lots of practice. If your experience matches case 1, then it means you have mastered concentration (dharana) which is the sixth of the eight steps of Patanjali. You are able to control your mind to some degree and are productive in your work. Ordinary people will have a dispersed mind and will not be able to concentrate on their work completely. Their mind will be recalling some event in the past or planning for some event in the future rather than focusing their complete attention on the task at hand. So their productivity is not at the best possible level and there is scope for betterment. But if your experience matches case 2, then you are reaching a state called laya. Opinion is divided among the spiritual community about this. One school of thought that Shankaracharya, Patanajali and others subscribe to say that this has to be avoided at all cost. Though there will be a spiritual communion with the supreme you will not be aware of it and will have no control over it. So they categorize this state equal to sleep. Now Astavakra and others feel that this practice is the highest yoga. In this state of ignorance, the individual consciousness will wake up one fine day and will be able to tap into the supreme. When one reaches this state, he is said to be realized.
If you are stressed, then you need to inculcate some type of stress relief exercise into your routine. You can walk for a while, play some music, do some gardening or something that works for you based on your temperament. My favorite technique is to perform a yoga nidra. When Swami Satyananda was teaching this in the western world somebody asked if everybody in India practices this. He quickly replied, Indian population is primarily rural. People may practice some yoga for their spiritual progress. They may be poor but their lives are well balanced. They do not need to practice any stress relief. You need to. That was in the 1980’s. Now the western lifestyle has spread to the entire urban world.

Dharmasankata-1

Q: Is it OK for us to hire some domestic help? It is a different case if one is sick or old. But a healthy person who is quite capable of doing his chores, should he hire a helper? A driver, for his car just because he has the money to afford it? All great Yogis have shown by example that one has to do his work himself. But there is a counter argument that some people put to hire them. All people are not created with equal talents. So if we do not hire these less talented people as domestic servants, they will not be able to find employment and they may turn to negative paths or live in abject poverty. Indirectly we are helping them to have a better life and earn their living while engaging them in some productive activity and also get our work done. How much strength lies in this argument?

Guruji: Look at nature. Each entity does its work by itself without complaining. The Sun does not say “I am on vacation”. The rain does not tell “Water the plants for me”. The Earth does not say “Give me a couple of pushes so that I can keep rotating”. The tree does not say “Give some shadow to the travelers on my behalf as I am tired today”. Each entity does its work by itself and does it every day without fail and without complaining. God feeds the tree growing on the ledge on the top of a dry hill. So he will take care of providing for each person he has created. You do not have to play God and try to provide for your servants. No person should make another person serve him. There is God in each and every person and once you start seeing this you will not be able to allow him to clean up your mess. The argument that you are helping the maid is a moot point, a justification for your laziness, an excuse for your incompetence.
Devraha Baba was a great saint popular in the North. Some say that he was 600 yrs old and others that he was 800 yrs old. When I went to meet him during Kumbhamela, he was himself carrying the big pieces of wood and erecting his “manch”. If some devotee offered to help, he used to say – “Door Javo – Hamra kam Ham kudh karengey(Get away – I do my work myself)”. He used to build his own wooden tree house or platform and bless all devotes by placing his feet on their head. When I was working in Trivandrum, there was a centurion, a widower who used to live by himself. He was a retired commissioner, a vedic pundit and a very pious man. He used to wake up every morning at 4:00, do his Sadhana, cook for himself, clean his small hut and wash his clothes. Though his children lived near by, he used to eat at their homes only on special occasions and when he fell ill which was very seldom. When ever he heard that I am in the area, he used to run to where I was and engage in Satsang. He used to say that he does all his work so that he can be independent. He lived this way till the day he died. Sadhaks have to stay fit and only then can they engage in Sadhana. These simple daily chores flex and tone our body and keep it fit. If we stop doing these, gradually we will lose the ability and become the slave of the machine or the servant that does these work for us. That is you grow dependent and that is not good.

10 steps to Realization

There are many paths to self-realization. Some people find a path easier than the rest based on their Gunas. An aspirant has to experiment a little and find out what works best for him at his point of evolution. Bhakti Yoga works well for people who can surrender themselves completely to God. The catch is that no body teaches you how to surrender. Jnana Yoga works well for those who have a contemplative nature but nobody can teach you how to contemplate. Raja Yoga is a disciplined and methodic approach. Pranayama is one of the ways by which one can attain realization. By doing Nadi Shodha Pranayama alone one can reach the highest possible states. This is a path in Raja Yoga which works only for people with self-discipline and lots of will power. One should be able to wake up every day at the same time, sleep at the same time, eat at the same time and do your practices everyday at the same time in order to succeed in this. There are 10 simple steps which are listed below. If you are confused reading different scriptures and just need some specific instructions to practice and build your experiences this article is a great find. This article is self-sufficient and is all that you need to guide you till you see the light at the end of the tunnel. But be warned, this is a long journey and will take you years and hard practice to perfect. This article forms a road map to your final destination but you have to walk the path and gain all the experiences and this requires lots of will power. So pray Almighty to help you.

Preliminaries:
Nasagra Mudra: This is the standard mudra used to alternate the flow of breath through the nostrils. Hold your right hand in front of your face with the pointing finger and middle finger resting on the eyebrow center. Close the right nostril with the thumb and left nostril with the ring finger and little finger. Resting the 2 fingers on Ajna induces brahmacharya. A variation for others is to fold the 2 unused fingers. Keep your shoulders parallel and head straight. When you practice this for longer durations, you may place your left hand under your right elbow to support it when you feel the fatigue. You can use the left hand and perform the mudra for a few seconds while your right hand rests and recovers. But slowly with practice you will be able to increase the duration for which you can hold the mudra.

Nadi shodha Pranayama
This is probably the most important pranayama and here is how it is performed. Use Nasagra mudra. Inhale through right nostril and exhale through left. Then inhale through left nostril and exhale through right. This is one round. Repeat 12 rounds. Inhale and exhale for equal duration. Visualize the path taken by the breath forming a triangle with its apex at the eyebrow center. Let the flow of breath be a steady stream like the oil flowing into the wick of the lamp. Make sure that there is no sound when you breathe. You can practice this anytime when your stomach is empty. The best time is early morning between 4:00 am and 6:00 am after you have completed some asanas.
Benefits: Helps the psychic body. This balances the ida and pingala nadis and cleans the mind and sets it ready for meditation.

Once you have started to perform this on a regular basis, you can take up this as a Sadhana and then the results are all dependent on the ratios. Here are the 10 ratios

1:1
1:2
1:1:1
1:2:2
1:3:2
1:4:2
1:1:1:1
1:2:2:2
1:3:2:2
1:4:2:2

Stage I: Just inhaling and exhaling
This stage seems to be very easy and beginners tend to be overambitious. However, proper execution of the sequence with a steady breath is more important than reaching big numbers. This step forms the foundation stone based on which your Sadhana will be built. This stage is sufficient for people who practice this pranayama for good health and fitness.

Step I (1:1): Breathe in and out for 4 seconds. This should be effortless and steady. Do not let your concentration drift or your mind to wander. Keeping track of the count is important as that trains your to reach the state of Samadhi with full consciousness. If you do not heed to this point, you may enter a sleep kind of state called laya which lacks the awareness attained in higher states of consciousness. Once you are able to complete 12 rounds without any difficulty slowly raise the duration to 6, 8 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 second. If you are older than 60 or have health problems stop at this. Others can increase their durations to 28, 32, 36, 40, 48, 52, 56, 64, 72, 80 seconds gradually. Do not hurry and increase your durations just after hitting a complete round. Practice for a few days. For higher durations repeating 4 weeks in each level is ideal. The higher steps seem to be more difficult but will facilitate you to move faster to higher levels in the advanced ratios.

Step II (1:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds and breathe out for 8 seconds. Take all the precautions mentioned in Step 1 and gradually increase the inhalation duration to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds. The exhalation duration will be double of this and is more difficult than inhalation. So proceed only when your breath is steady for all 12 rounds. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 seconds gradually. The ratio of 12:24 is regarded special and has a soothing effect on the heart and the mind. Try to hit this ratio if you are practicing this pranayama for general health.

Stage II: With Antar Kumbhaka
Here we introduce inner breath retention called Antar Kumbhaka. Once you have fully inhaled, close both the nostrils with your fingers and then exhale completely. Hitting the exhalation duration to maintain the correct ratio is important. The retention should not be opened with a gasp at any point and it should not be too difficult. If you do not heed to this advice you may run into severe health problems. Kumbhaka is a rocket to lift up your consciousness very fast but it should be in the right direction. You may have to consult an experienced yoga instructor and get suggestions to change your diet and lifestyles if you run into problems. Do not hurry and do not proceed before you have solved your problems or you will be just hurting yourself.

Step III (1:1:1): Breathe in, retain and breathe out for 4 seconds. This should be effortless and steady. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 seconds gradually.

Step IV (1:2:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds but retain the breath inside for 8 seconds and breathe out for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28 and 32 seconds gradually. Heed to your inner guidance which may suggest some changes to aid your practice. You can perform Jalandhara Bandha and Moola Bandha during the Kumbhaka

Step V (1:3:2): This is only for advanced practitioners. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 12 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 seconds gradually. You will start having different experience at this point. You may find your head light or dizzy at first but slowly the flow of prana will become evident. Different siddis may manifest at this point but do not be tempted to use them and get deviated from the path of reaching your final goal. Before releasing the Antar Kumbhaka, you can breathe in a bit and start exhaling. This releases the lock and will make the exhalation smooth.

Step VI (1:4:2): This is only for advanced practitioners and is the last step in this Stage. Breathe in and out for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 16 seconds. Breathe out in 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 seconds gradually. You can lie down in Shavasana at the end of the practice or if you feel tired and decide to abandon your session in the middle. Three ratios are important according to the scriptures. Breathing in for 12, 16 and 20 seconds in this step are called Adhama, Madyama and Uttama Kumbhaka Pranayamas and should be perfected. Once the durations of the sessions increases beyond one hour, it will become difficult to practice this regularly and in one sitting. But this discipline has to be maintained for success. Do not get disheartened and abandon the Sadhana.

Stage III: With Bahya Kumbhaka
Here we introduce outer breath retention called Bahya Kumbhaka along with Antar Kumbhaka. Once you have fully exhaled, close both the nostrils with your fingers. Hitting the exhalation duration to maintain the correct ratio is most difficult and most important. The retention should not be opened with a gasp at any point and it should not be too difficult. Start this Stage only after you have practiced Nadi Shodha for a reasonably long time and your breathing is steady. The effects of your pranayama will now be felt and your breathing pattern in normal life will be different. By the time your reach this step, your inhalation duration will be less than your exhalation.

Step VII (1:1:1:1): Breathe in, retain, breathe out and retain for 4 seconds. This should be effortless and steady. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 seconds gradually. You can perform Jalandhara Bandha and Moola Bandha during the Antar Kumbhaka and add Udhyana Bandha during Bahya Kumbhaka.
The duration for the complete session will start increasing a lot at this point and one has to be extremely patient in completing this. It is a good idea to track the number of times that you have completed a ratio completely for 12 rounds in a note book and track your progress. Remember that you have to practice a ratio successfully for 4 weeks before moving over to the next level in the advanced ratios. Chances are that the remaining steps are revealed to you intuitively by the time your reach this step and you may never need to read the remaining of the article.

Step VIII (1:2:2:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 8 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Retain the breath outside for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28 and 32 seconds gradually. With Bhaya kumbhakas, you will start having different set of experiences and mind gets drawn into a state of blankness. But remember to keep up your counting and only after completing 12 rounds mark your session a success. Before releasing the Bahya Kumbhaka, you can breathe out a bit and start inhaling. This releases the lock and will facilitate smooth inhalation.


Step IX (1:3:2:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 12 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Retain the breath outside for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Practicing Bahya Kumbhaka will enable you to continue your ratios in higher elevations. If you do not practice this sufficiently and move to the Himalayas, you will soon find out that you have to step backwards and take up much lower ratios than in the plains. Higher levels can be reached only with the help of God and sincere and dedicated practice. Different kinds of experiences manifest as you go through each of these levels.

Step X (1:4:2:2): This is only for advanced practitioners and is the last step in this Stage. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 16 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Retain the breath outside for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Once you reach 20 seconds slowly raise your repetitions to 108 times. You will know all that you need to know before you reach the end of this step.

Good Luck!!
-AtmaAnanda

RAMA KAVACHA

In the beginning there was nothing. Then the chanting of 'Rama naama taraka' was heard. The army of Rama was chanting this in chorus. Who was hearing this? I. Who is this I? It is such and such person lying in such and such location. The ego veiled its magic [Maya] on the mind and with this avidya, the world as I saw it in the waking state was created. The time was 4.00 AM and I was wide awake even before opening the eyes. The mind tried to play the trick of laziness, but I was so fresh that I could not fall asleep even if I wanted to . I thanked God. I thanked my Guru and proceeded with the Nityakarmas.
During the course of the day , I forgot God and was hence drawn into the world. The people were pestering me, talking tome, radiating their selfishness and my peace was disturbed. My mind was in deep distress, and I did not like what was happening. What am I supposed to do? I prayed to Rama to help me and started chanting in the background. I had to keep my silence and chant for two minutes. The chanting took over and was in the foreground. The world was in the background. Though I was in the world, I was untouched. Nothing would disturb this peace or wipe the smile off my face. Such is the power of Rama when he grants his protection.
I was in a bus and people were touching me from all sides. Each contact sent down a pang of evil vibration and I was in great pain. I hated to travel, but God has sent me on his errand. So I asked him to save me and started to chant his name 'upamsu'. He sent his invisible shield and nobody could penetrate it. The loud speakers in the bus started playing some sensuous songs but they could not seep into my ears.
Being educated I was proud of my ignorance. Then I saw the uneducated who humbly accepted their ignorance. When they were in his service, I saw their Bhakti flowing out of their eyes. Though they did not understand it, they had completely submitted themselves. I felt ashamed that my ego was so strong. It was the Rakshasa in me that prevented me from meeting my Deva. Feeling helpless, I prayed to the Lord to increase my Bhakti. Tears flowed down my eyes and the ego melted as the chanting started.
I was aware that I was dreaming. The Apsaras sent by Indra were enticing me. The Raktabeejasuras of my mind were jumping out of my chitta in crores. My sole defense, my buddhi, my Astra was not accessible outside the waking state. But the lord was watching in all the four states and came down in his golden chariot to save the unarmed trapped in this inaccessible plane. I have no voice to sing his glory. The least, I could chant his name.
Every evening I chanted his name instead of watching the idiot box [t.v.]. This is how I came to know that he knows me. He sees me and is with me even when I do not see him and when I am not with him. So every night before falling asleep, I prayed to him not to abandon me when I was not looking. With this prayer, I closed my eyes and in the end, there was nothing.

[June 2007 experience while serving Swami Virajeshwara Hamsa]

Meru parvata

Once, Narada visited his native village at the base of Meru parvat. The people of the village were very pious and chanting the name Narayana again and again all through out the day. But the people there experienced terrible hardships. There were frequent famines. Crops yielded less. People lived in terrible poverty. They worked all day and could afford only two meals a day. They just managed to find enough clothes to cover their body.
Seeing this Narada was tremendously moved and wanted to do something to alleviate their suffering. Being able to travel to all the worlds, he went to Vykunta where the Lord Narayana was immersed in yoganidra. He immediately complained, “My Lord, you are very unkind. Your devotees are in distress and you are sleeping here unperturbed”. Narayana opened his eyes and asked Narada the source of his distress. Narada continued, “I just visited my native village and the people there are extremely devoted to you but you have neglected them and given them more than their fair share of suffering. There is so much poverty. Can you not do something to improve their conditions?” Narayana said, “Look Narada, I have given your people all that they can handle. They are completely responsible for the conditions that they live in. But you will not understand what I say. So let me illustrate this with a miracle. Go to your village and tell them starting tomorrow midnight, it will rain diamonds on the mount Meru. Nobody is to leave the village till sunrise. Then each person can collect as many stones as he can carry till noon. At noon, all the diamonds that have not reached homes will turn into coal. If your people break my conditions, they will suffer terribly”.
Narada was extremely happy and thanked the Lord and ran back to the village. He assembled all the elders of the village and announced what the Lord told him. All the villagers promised to abide by the rules that the Lord put forth. The village had a fence for protection against wild animals. The gates of the village were closed and people went to bed dreaming about the riches that they would soon acquire. At midnight the rain of diamonds began on the mountain.
There was one beggar in the village who stayed with his wife and a child in a small hut. He told his wife, “I beg so that my ego stays small. God has been feeding us and taking care of us and will continue to do so. If we collect the diamonds and grow rich, we can not beg any more. Our ego will grow and we shall forget God. So tomorrow we shall all sit at home and chant the Lord’s name”. His wife obliged.
There were 5 robbers in the village. When they heard about the miracle, they thought, “If every body gets to pick diamonds, every body will get rich. We have to become richer than others to command our status in the village”. So they collected 100 gunny bags and sneaked out of the village in the night. They climbed the Meru mountain and spread out the bags so that the diamonds drop directly into them. At midnight when it began to rain, the diamonds started hitting them like stones. They ran for cover but there were no trees. The pelting cut their skin and they were bruised and bleeding all over the body. The ground was soon covered with diamonds and soon they all slipped and fell down attempting to run down the hill. They soon lost consciousness.
At day break, the village gate was opened and all the villagers stormed out. They climbed the mountain and saw diamonds all over and greed took over them. They forgot the Lord’s condition and took more than what they could carry. In their hurry, they jostled over each other and a few of them fell down and got injured. Some bags tore due to the weight. Some people made groups and passed the bags over. Some of them were still collecting the diamonds, some were still walking back, some lay down exhausted and when the noon struck, most of them had not yet reached their homes. All their bags were filled with coal. Only 6 families in the entire village managed to reach home with some diamonds. They all enjoyed good health before this day, but now most of them were injured and had to visit the village doctor. The beggar looked at their pitiable situation and helped to nurse their wounds.
Now the 5 robbers woke up in the late after noon and found that they had nothing but coal in their bags. They were furious. They slowly limped back to the village and got themselves bandaged. They soon learnt what happened with the villagers. They marked the 6 houses which had some diamonds. In the middle of the night, they silently entered the houses, killed all the people in the houses and decamped with the diamonds. They ran away from the village with their booty. While fleeing they quarreled over their share of diamonds and killed each other.
When Narada visited the village the next day, he found the dead bodies laid out of the houses, many people were bandaged and all were grieving. The beggar was the only person who was as happy as before. The rest of the village was worse off then before. Nobody but the beggar was chanting the Lord’s name. He then understood what Lord Narayana had said and ran to ask his forgiveness.

- A story by Yogacharya B. Devdas Rao (narrated by AtmaAnanda)

A walk through the woods

Once upon a time, long ago, a king grew 50 years old. So he crowned his son and left his kingdom in search of a Guru. After traveling for a long time, he reached a village where the villagers informed him about a great yogi who lived on the top of a hill nearby. He approached the Yogi and prayed him to teach him something. The Yogi was meditating and did not open his eyes. The seeker waited on him for a whole day and only then the Yogi broke his silence with, “Come here tomorrow before sunrise and I will give you a task”. Early next morning, the seeker took a bath, had some breakfast and arrived to meet the yogi who was seated on a rock, watching the Sun come up. Together they enjoyed the beautiful sunrise and then the Yogi pointed his finger and said, “Look at that hill. It is around 10 kms away as the crow flies. Go to the top of the hill and return back before sunset”.
The seeker set off on his mission enjoying the walk through beautiful forests and meadows. He saw a few baby rabbits and stood there watching there play. After a while their mother came and they all started drinking her milk. He stood mesmerized in their pranks and only after a lot of time remembered his mission.
He continued walking and ran into a herd of deer. The young calves were playing happily with their mothers without any fear of human beings. The seeker stood captured by the scene for a long time feeling one with nature. By the time he recovered and walked further, it was about noon.
It was getting hot and he heard the sound of water in the distant. He followed it and found a beautiful waterfall. He took a bath, drank the pristine water and satiated his thirst. He dressed up and found a tree with flowers that had a pleasant fragrance. The heat of the day, the fragrance and the full stomach all acted on him and he silently fell asleep.
When he woke up, the Sun was just a few minutes away from the horizon. The destination was still far away and there was no way he could reach it and return. So he decided to abandon the mission and pursue it the next day. So he ran back as fast as he could back as it was dangerous to spend the night in the forest without any preparation. The Sun had just set when he reached the Yogi who sat on the same rock smiling. The seeker felt ashamed of himself and apologized profusely and promised to accomplish the same the following day. The Yogi asked calmly, “How was your day? What all things did you do today?” The seeker explained all the events in detail with lots of excitement. When he was done, the Yogi asked, “What did you learn from the events today?”

Now tell me what you learn to hear the rest of the story.

- A story by Yogacharya B. Devdas Rao (compiled by AtmaAnanda)

I no longer want to be the King

Once upon a time, the Emperor of Magadha, central India decided to retire. He had four brave and able sons fit to rule. So he called his chief minister and said “The tradition is to crown the first son to be the King, but my second son seems to be more intelligent than him. And again the third one seems to be more intelligent than the first two. The last one seems to be of a very pleasant nature and has a strong sense of righteousness. So I am unable to decide who should succeed me”. The minister replied, “Oh mighty Emperor, send your sons away for a year and when they comeback you should be able to decide”.
The Emperor summoned all the princes to the court on the day of Ugadi and announced, “It is time that I crown one of you to be the Emperor and retire to the forest to meditate, but I am unable to decide which one of you is the worthiest of all. The position of the Emperor of India comes with lots of responsibilities that can not be taken lightly. After consulting my ministers, I have decided to send you away from the kingdom to do some deeds that you deem necessary to prove your worthiness for this important role. Keep your identity hidden, leave alone and return back after a year to tell us about your accomplishments”. He gave each one of them a white horse to ride on. The eldest son, Aruna chose to go south. The second son, Varuna chose to head east. The third son, Karuna chose to head west. The youngest one Prajapati went north.
After a year, the first three princes returned on their white horses, glorious and triumphant. The whole country welcomed them and there were feasts and festivities every where, but there was no news about Prajapati. The ministers advised the king to wait for a week before crowning the successor. On the seventh day when to court was to meet, Prajapati walked into the capital wearing a bare loin cloth.
All the four princes took their seats and the full session of the King’s court commenced. The King said, “I am happy to see all of you return. We are all eager to hear what you have been up to and what you have achieved. Please narrate your stories”.
The eldest, Aruna stood up and said, “I went south where there are a lot of accomplished yogis called Siddhapurushas. I stayed in their company and learnt lots of skills that will be help me subdue enemies. He raised his left hand and it started to rain. He raised his right hand and a volley of arrows emerged. He opened his mouth and a big flame emerged. All the viewers were awestruck and amazed at his magical skills (siddhis). The King however remained unmoved and said, “A good emperor should love his subjects and be able to protect them. You necessarily have skills to protect them from enemies but how am I to know that you will love them like your children?” He did not have an answer.
Next Varuna took stage and said, “I went east where there are thick forests. There were tribal who had troubles from bandits. I protected them and slowly united all the tribes and became their leader. Day by day our strength grew and now I have established a kingdom all by myself. I have proved that I love my people and can administer a nation. I am eager to merge my kingdom with Magadha”. Even the emperor could not refute to this accomplishment. The ministers said let us hear the rest.
Karuna took stage next. He said, “I went west where the King of Gujarath had organized some sport competitions. I won all of them and became the favorite of the crowd. The princess fell in love with me and I married her and inherited the kingdom without a battle. I have ruled the state ever since and people are happy and prosperous. So I too have proved that I can be an able ruler without even spilling any blood.” Everybody was pleased and unable to decide who would be the best fit.
Finally Prajapati came forward and prostrated to the king and said, “I do not want to become an emperor anymore. I have not done anything worthy to be a ruler. In fact I have even given away the horse that my father gave me and have come back barefooted. I have been a week late and I expected the coronation to take place by the time I reached back all the way home by foot. So please make one of my elder brothers the ruler of Magadha”. Now everybody was curious as to what he had done and questioned him about where he went. He replied, “I went to the Himalayas and started meditating in the company of holy sages. On the banks of Manas Sarovor, I had Guru darshana. I proceeded with the Sadhana that my Guru gave me sincerely and one fine day I realized that I am Brahman. You have named this body Prajapati and I understand that it can not be so. I am not limited by this body and it is I alone that exist everywhere. I have no more desires and I do not need any kingdom. I remain happy as I am”. So saying he returned to his seat and entered a deep state of meditation.
The Emperor being spiritually inclined was highly pleased and proposed, “Prajapati has attained the highest that can be attained. How about making him the King?” On hearing these words, the other princes protested and expressed their emotions. “If he can not protect himself, how can he protect his subjects” saying this, Aruna raised his hand and poured down showers of water on Prajapati. To his surprise, the water did not touch Prajapati who was protected by an invisible sheath. He then sent a couple of balls of fire from his mouth which just bounced of Prajapati’s protective aura. Varuna said “Black magic will not work on him” and pounced on Prajapati with his sword. He swung the sword with all his might but was unable to cut him. The sword passed through his body without meeting any resistance as if it passed through thin air. Seeing these both the brothers felt ashamed of their impulsive action and their heads dropped lower. Karuna was the first to recover. He walked towards Prajapati, laid down his sword in front of him and said, “Yes Prajapati is the best fit to be the ruler. I shall do everything in my might to help him rule the kingdom”. The elder brothers conceded and reciprocated his feeling.

- A story by Yogacharya B. Devdas Rao (compiled by AtmaAnanda)

Where do I stand? A Performance-o-meter

Where do I stand? A Performance-o-meter
If you are not sure if you are progressing spiritually and are ready to accept some objective suggestions and do some introspection, then you should read this.

All of us walking the path are inquisitive on learning how far we have reached. Just like a kid that has sown a seed digs it up pretty often to see if it has germinated, we are impatient to find out the progress that we have made in our Sadhana. We pester our Guru constantly and ask him of our progress and all that he keeps saying is “Keep going and good things will happen soon”. These are encouraging words by which he means that no significant progress worth mentioning has taken place. When the plant grows out of the seed, everybody including the child will be able to see it clearly and the little steps in the process are quite insignificant. All that we have to do is keep watering the germinating seeds till the plant is clearly visible and that is the Sadhana given to us by our guru. Here are some questions that we can try to answer honestly and evaluate where we stand on the spiritual ladder and how much progress we have made and what needs to be done next. We can find out the answers ourselves and then ask our Guru for a confirmation.
If our physical body is still suffering from pains and diseases, then we still have to purify our body by Hatha Yoga (Asana, Pranayama, Shatkarma, Mudra and Bandha) and consuming healthy food. The more we have abused our body by eating unhealthy food, by bad habits and by insufficient exercise before waking up into the spiritual world, the more work we have to do to cleanse up the system. This is a slow and continuous process and we have to keep grinding the repair stone. If we have already caused some permanent damage to our physical system then we have to accept that and carry on our Sadhana with that disability for the remainder of our lives. Once we have reached a healthy state, we can start our rigorous Sadhana┼.
If our mind is still complaining that our spouse, children, parents or other relatives are troubling us then we have more purification to undergo by means of Karma Yoga.
If we are sad because of a disruptive event, such as a death in the family, a divorce or a financial loss in business, then we essentially do not understand our true nature. We have to read a few scriptures and ruminate on the ultimate question “Who am I?” We have to study our Self with constant observation and this is called Swadhyaya which forms the first step of Jnana Yoga. This provides us with a rough map to our destination while walking the spiritual path.
“Why have my problems increased after I started meditating?” Generally when we are in various stages of Samadhi, our evolution will accelerate and more and more of our accumulated karma phala ripened as prarabdha will start to fructify and nature provides us opportunities to get rid of them fast. Things that were supposed to happen in many years will happen in a few days. If a lot of happy events happen, we should make sure not to slip from the path of Sadhana. We usually tend to forget these and just focus on the unhappy events that cause us physical and mental pains. These manifestations have to be dealt with successfully by exercising control over mind and senses. If we fail to do this, we are not yet ready to proceed further and will be caught under the illusion of suffering. In fact it is mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika that an aspirant must master asana, pranayama and other practices before he can make any headway with Raja yoga. Most practices of Raja yoga ask people to restrain their thoughts. For most people, who have disturbed minds, this would do more harm than good. It is only when the fluctuations of the mind are small that one can restrain the thoughts. And even after that Patanjali yoga recommends the basic rules of yama and niyama before any meditation. These rules which are difficult for an average person to follow become easy for those who have exhausted most of their samskaras and karmas and have already purified their minds. If we start meditating without purifying the mind, all the hidden vikaras of our minds will suddenly and abruptly come out and upset us. Sometimes these can be so violent that we may loose control of ourselves or fall into depression.
“How can I purify my mind?” To purify the mind we can choose Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga or Karma yoga based on what works for your personality. If you find it easy to surrender yourself to God or your Guru, Bhakti yoga is the easiest path for you. If you belong to this category, then you will probably not even be reading this and hence I will say no more on this. When we are able to constantly remember Him all the time, we have made some progress in our Bhakti. Jnana yoga works well for people who are intuitive by nature, have a keen intellect and have a lot of questions to ask. Though logical explanations of the infinite are limited in nature, they are required to satisfy the intellect and pacify the mind and will eventually lead to reflection and enquiry into the real nature of self. Karma Yoga works for every body and is also required in parallel with other paths. It not only exhausts our accumulated karmic debts but also protects us from incurring new debts. We have to experience the effects of our actions and there is no escape from this. Action ceases to happen once our ego stops claiming ownership to the acts and we resign our selves to be mere instruments in the hand of God.
“When do I know that I have learnt Karma Yoga?” The inherent nature of the mind is to protest, hate, and avoid any unpleasant work. Next, we complete it without quality or get induced in self pity. When we are able to execute any work given by the Guru with the utmost quality of perfection and a happy, unperturbed state of mind, then we can claim to have learnt the art of Karma Yoga. All that we have to do after this is to take this out into our mundane lives and execute everything as His instrument and nothing can disturb us further. No matter what we do after this point, it will only progress us in our spiritual quest and this is the most coveted state to be in. It is easy to start learning Karma Yoga in an ashram where there are numerous opportunities to do selfless service. So we should make the best use of these during our stay in the ashram.
No matter what path we choose, we have to listen to the words of the wise. No man is perfect when he is not established in the state of Samadhi. The lesser the defects in us, the easier it is for us to reach Samadhi. We are ready to listen only when our mind stops protesting and criticizing the words that others are pouring out for our benefit. We should be able to listen to all advices peacefully and analyze what is being said and not who is saying it and filter out only the pertinent and discard the rest. This is the fastest way to correct our defects. We should ask for advice from the wise only if we intend to implement their suggestions and if we do not have this commitment, we shall soon loose this source for self improvement as the wise will remain silent.
“Why am I not able to concentrate?” A common man’s mind will be dissipated most of the times. We should be able to focus our mind on one point and hold it there to progress in meditation. This is done by repeated practice and Japa, Kundalini or Mantra Yoga will help us achieve this.
“Have I progressed as a Sadhak?” Once we are able to control our mundane desires of eating, merry making and self gratification to a certain extent or have some pleasant experiences during meditation, we may be falsely led to believe that we have become a great Sadhak. We should not let this bloat our ego and claim undue importance. If we are putting our Sadhana ahead of a fellow seeker, like valuing our time more, or seeking more than our share of Guruji’s attention, then we have yet to progress as a Sadhak. For a true Sadhak, his Sadhana is no more important than a fellow being’s and he is no more important than any other plant or animal. Everything is a selfless service.
“Have I progressed in my meditation?” When we are in the vicinity of a person established in Samadhi, the aura of the person cleanses our mind and the haphazard waves of our mind settle down into regular patterns. This calming down effect will be perceived by us as happiness when we sit down with our eyes closed. We should not mistake this for our progress in meditation. This is just a gift to us by the person in Samadhi offered as a selfless social service. He absorbs our negativity and radiates positivity to all people and animals around him impartially. It is our individual capability that limits on what we absorb and there is no point in pestering him to give more or envying another who has absorbed more. The way to show our gratefulness is by not disturbing his Samadhi. After this purification process if we go back to our evil ways and keeping coming back polluted for a recharge without changing our life style then we are just addictive parasites. We are no better than a drunkard who takes the hard earned money of his wife and keeps wasting it on liquor. The only way to repay this debt is by earnestly sticking to our Sadhana. When we are able to feel equally fresh sitting in our homes with eyes closed, we can consider that we have made progress in our meditation.
The goal of our spiritual journey is to meet God. In our worldly lives, if we have an appointment with a government officer, we get ready for it. We bathe, wear clean clothes, collect all documents, enquire about the procedures and make sure that we arrive in time. If this is the amount of preparation that we do to meet a person whom we know to be corrupt and imperfect in so many ways, what should be the amount of preparation that we should do to meet God, who is the boss of all bosses. Ironically, we expect Him to come down to meet us in the form that we demand, under the restrictions that we impose and then serve us like a servant. Clearly this will not happen until we change our mental attitude. We have to walk up to Him under His terms and this requires a lot of preparation. This preparation to meet God is called Sadhana.
- AtmaAnanda

_______________________________________________________________
┼ Health problems that fall out during Sadhana are a result of Prarabdha karma and are different from the normal ailments. These usually stop if we discontinue or slow down our Sadhana. We should be in a position to treat minor ailments ourselves by changing our habits or resorting to ayurveda. If the pain becomes unbearable then our Guru will always be able to provide some solutions that should be followed.