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
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┼ 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.
