“Let me remain as a Grihastha and practice Yoga like Janaka”. How can I know, Swamiji, whether this particular Vritti comes from the Atma or the mind or the Buddhi? I am perplexed.
An ordinary worldly-minded man can hardly hear the inner voice of Atma. He cannot get pure thoughts of Vichara also. Any Sattvic thought emanates from the Sattvic Buddhi. In the case of worldlings, all thoughts emanate from the mind only. He who does Nishkama Karma Yoga and has purity of mind begins to entertain thoughts of
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If you want to become a Master of Arts, it takes a large number of years. You will have to pass through the Matriculation, Intermediate and B.A. courses and then take up the M.A. course. Even so, you will have to plod on and persevere for many years to remove the Mala and the Vikshepa. How patiently does the fisherman wait with concentrated gaze to catch a single fish! When such is the case for a trifling thing, what to speak of attaining Brahma-Jnana? It is Kshurasya Dhara, walking along the blade o
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Hari Singh was a Hatha Yogi. He was buried underneath the ground in a box for three months in Ranjit Singh’s court. He came back with life when the box was opened. Hatha Yogis block the Talu Chakra, the posterior nasal openings, with their elongated tongue that is obtained through Bahir Kechari Mudra Kriya of Chalan (moving the tongue frequently), Doshan (dragging the tongue with butter) and Chedan (cutting the frenulum lingua that is underneath the tongue). They drink slowly the nectar that dribbles
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This is indescribable. This is one’s feeling. Sometimes when you sleep, you scratch the body and drive off flies. If anybody asks you, “Do you remember the scratching, the driving off of flies, when you were asleep?”, you will say, “No”. Similarly, even though a Jnani sees, he does not see. He is always conscious of his Svarupa. If he likes, he can have a double consciousness and turn his vision that side and this side also. His activities are like those of children. Owing to the mental retentum - th
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Your spiritual Samskaras are not yet strong. You are not yet moulded properly. You need Satsang for one year more. You should repeat 200 Malas of any Mantra daily (200 x 108 = 21,600 times). You should take Sattvic food only, such as rice, Dhal, bread, fruits and milk. Give up meat at once. Observe Mouna for two hours daily. Live alone for two hours in a room. Introspect. Meditate. Watch your thoughts carefully.
They say that one should fast at least three or four times in a month. Moreover, they point out that fasting helps self-control. How is it that you do not allow frequent fasting?
Fasting does help in self-control. But, too much fasting weakens the body and the mind and retards spiritual Sadhana. I am also a strong votary of fasting. Fasting is a great Prayaschitta. It expiates any kind of sin quickly. It has got a tremendous purifying influence on the heart. Read Manu Smriti. As the vast majority are
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Some Jivanmuktas whose hearts are filled with mercy and Vyavahar Apeksha for Lokasangraha like the Buddhistic Arhats may, out of their own free will, take a birth¾like Sri Sankara, Sri Dattatreya or Jnana Dev. They need not do any Sadhana as they are born Siddhas. At once they appear as spiritual luminaries, do some spiritual preaching, write out some precious philosophical books, set aright some catastrophe, pass off quickly and merge in Brahman (Videha Kaivalvam). They are all Amsa-Avataras with sp
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Sit at home and breed children, I presume! But, is it a fact that only men need the Yoga practice? Can women not become great Yoginis in the same way as men become great Yogis? Or, does it depend on the sex also? Why has sex stood between women and spiritual greatness?
Queen Chudalai was a great Yogini. She had many higher Siddhis. She even converted her husband Sikhidhvaja and helped him in his salvation. Read the story of Chudalai in Yoga Vasishtha. Ladies lack in Vairagya and in the power of endura
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But our Shastras teach us that we should not accept eatable things from a great sinner. Mohammedans eat beef. Why should we accept any eatable thing from their hands? If you think that a man is full of vicious deeds, do not take food from his hands.
If you think that Lord Siva or Hari dwells even in an evil-minded man, if you entertain this strong idea, you can eat from anybody’s hands. Your Drishti or angle of vision is very limited now. You are a beginner in the spiritual line. Your heart is not ex
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The deer falls a prey to the sense of sound, the elephant to that of touch, the moth to that of sight, the fish to that of taste, and the bee to that of smell. But man falls a prey to all these live senses. How difficult it is for man to free himself from the clutches of these five senses and obtain liberation! When wells and ponds are full during the rainy season, the water is muddy and not fit for drinking. But when the water gets decreased it is clean and sweet. So also, when the mind is fille
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As this is a relative world, there must be rogues and honest men. A rogue is not an eternal rogue. A rogue is the saint of the future. Roguery is a negative virtue. It is not a separate entity. Honesty will have no existence in the absence of roguery. The raison d’etre of roguery is to glorify honesty. Roguery and honesty are the obverse and the reverse of the same coin. They are mental creations only. Even a rogue has some virtues. There is neither absolute roguery nor absolute honesty. God Himself
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If I give you a good slap on your face, who knows that slap? That knower (Vetta), that knowing subject, is God. When a strong desire is satisfied or gratified, that blissful state wherein the mind finds rest is God. That which sparkles or glitters in your eyes is God. That which prompts you to think is God, the Lord of the mind. The source (Yoni) or support (Adhishthan) for your mind, Prana, senses and body is God. The tree exists. It shines. It gives delight. These three aspects, existence, shining,
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Contact with worldly-minded people at once affects the mind. Vikshepa comes in. The mind imitates. Bad, luxurious habits are developed. Bad environments and bad associations play a tremendous part and produce a bad influence on the mind of Sadhaks. Old Samskaras are revived. I will ask you to run at once to Uttarkashi, back again. Don’t delay even a single minute. As the mind is formed out of the subtlest part of the food, i.e., gets attached to that man from whom it receives its food. Don’t be under
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Divide your property between your three sons. Keep something for yourself to keep the life going. Distribute a portion in charity. Build a Kutir in Rishikesh and live there. Don’t write letters to your sons. Don’t enter into the plains. Then start meditation. Your mind will rest in peace now. Do this at once. You must hurry up.
Man becomes free only when his individual will becomes merged in the Divine Will. Licentiousness and autocracy must not be mistaken for spiritual freedom. By becoming a tool (Nimitta) in the hands of God, the Bhakta destroys the egoism or the little false ‘I’, but gains all the Divine Aisvarya or the Siddhis of the Lord. He becomes perfectly free. He has become one with God now.
Develop Viveka or the power of discrimination. Brahman is real. The world is unreal. There is no Vasana or desire in Brahman. The desire is in the mind. Make Vichara. All desires will dwindle into nothing. Mark the Doshas in the objects. The objects are Asat, Jada, Duhkha, impure. Develop burning Mumukshutva. This strong desire for Self-realization will destroy all other worldly desires. Control the Indriyas also. Develop Vairagya. Give up objects. This is Tyaga. All desires will melt away.
This is a question which still remains unanswered by sages, Rishis, Acharyas and Philosophers. Do not put this question now. You cannot understand it now in your present stage of evolution. It is inexplicable, inscrutable, Anirvachanee Maya. Brahman or God only knows. You will understand it only when you get rid of Maya, when you attain the knowledge of Brahman. This question is put in another way also. Why has God created this universe? Nobody knows the why and how of this universe. Don’t rack your
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If you want to enter Samadhi quickly, cut off all connections with friends, relatives, etc. Do not write letters to anybody. Observe Akhanda Mouna or the vow of continued silence for one month. Live alone. Walk alone. Take very little but nutritious food; live on milk alone if you can afford. Plunge in deep meditation. Dive deep. Have constant practice. You will be immersed in Samadhi. Be cautious. Use your common sense. Do not make violent struggle with the mind. Relax. Allow the divine thoughts to f
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You will have to earn money for purchasing sugar. Then you will have to go to the bazaar to purchase sugar. Here also, you will have to get rid of lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride, jealousy and egoism and then repeat ‘Ram, Ram’ with Bhav (feeling) and single-minded devotion. Then you will have Darshan of Lord Rama. But, Rama is within. Sugar is outside. You will have to give your whole heart to Rama.
Besides saying “I am a king”, you will have to prepare yourself. You will have to gather a large number of men. You will have to learn many things. You will have to fight. Even so, you will have to prepare and purify the mind. You will have to acquire the four means of salvation¾Viveka (discrimination between the real and the unreal), Vairagya (dispassion), Shad Sampat (sixfold virtues) and Mumukshutva (eagerness for liberation). Then you will have to do Sravana (hearing of the Srutis), Manana (refle
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