Swami teaches... My intention is to instruct people. Dhyana-1

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Sai Ram

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches.... (4 February 2005)

 

"My Intention is to Instruct People." Dhyana-1

 

Humans have to be doing some karma or other from the moment of waking to the

moment of sleeping; that is to say, from birth to death. There two types of

karma.

Sensory or binding karmas, or vishaya karmas. Karmas that liberate, or

sreyo karmas.

Still, the karmas that bind, the vishaya karmas, have increased beyond

control: and as a result, sorrow and confusion have increased. The sreyo karmas

on the other hand yield progressive joy and auspiciousness with each single act.

They give bliss to the soul, or Atmananda; and are not concerned with mere

external joy! Though acts may be external, the attraction is all towards the

internal. This is the right path, the true path.

 

If every one treads this holy path, the Lord Himself will bestow on each all

that is needed, all that is deserved and all that will give peace of mind. Offer

everything to the Lord without any desire for the result; that indeed yields

full joy; that is indeed the easiest. While it is very difficult to speak

untruth and act against Dharma it is very easy to utter the truth and walk in

the path of Dharma. To speak out the thing just as it is, is a very pleasant

task; one need not spend a moment of thought upon it. To speak of what is not,

one has to create the non-existent! That plunges one into fear and fantasy, in

an atmosphere of restlessness and worry.

Instead of the vishaya karma which offers all such trouble and all these

complications, follow the Sreyo marga, the Atmananda marga which is true,

eternal and holy.

 

The best means for this is Dhyana. My present intention is to instruct people.

 

Every one in the world has the nature of behaving and acting in two

different ways; one outside and another inside. This is known to all, though

generally people do not show this out publicly. The conflicting desires

infecting the mind of human being have to be quenched and controlled. The mind

has to be focussed in one direction. One must walk determinedly, using all

effort towards and for the purpose of the aim and achievement has set before

oneself. If this is done, no force can pull him back.

When the wayward mind fleeing in all directions is plunged in the

contemplation of the Name of the Lord, the effect will be like the

concentration of the rays of the sun through a piece of magnifying glass; the

scattered rays develop the power of a flame to burn and consume; so too when

the waves of Buddhi and the feelings of Manas get one-pointedness through the

converging lens of the Atma, they manifest as the Divine Splendour which can

scorch evil and illumine Joy.

 

Every one is able to gain success in his profession or occupation only

through concentration and one-pointedness in effort. Even the pettiest of tasks

needs for its fulfilment the quality of concentration. The toughest problem

yields before unswerving endeavour. Human being is endowed with unlimited

powers. But the road is missed, since one is unaware of this truth. To gain

the awareness of this power, one must join the company of the holy; must strive

in Sadhana; and must practise Japam and Dhyanam. The last is the process by

which it is trained to acquire concentration. As a result of meditation on

the Paramatma, the mind will withdraw from sense-objects and the sensory world.

Just at that time, Buddhi must assert its authority and command the Manas not

to entertain any feeling except the thought of the Fundamental Basis. Prakriti

and Prana are indestructible. And so, everything which is the product of the

mingling of these two has a new value inherent in it. Human's life also assumes

a new splendour when he/she realises and visualises the Satchidananda through

Manas and Buddhi, purified and transformed by means of Dhyanam. Therefore,

begin Dyanam, each one of you from today, even from this moment!

 

Dhyanam should be performed enthusiastically, with full faith and care, and

strictly according to the disciplines laid down. If this is done, it will

bestow not only all happiness and all victory but even the vision of the Lord.

This is bound to the science of Vedantha and also to the science of Nature or

Prakriti. These two are different only in one respect. The students of Prakriti

are immersed in the objects of Life; the students of Vedantha are immersed in

the basic truth of Life. And human being is bound to both these! Prakriti is

related to Vishaya: Vedantha is related to Swarupa. If one desires to transform

his life, internal as well as external, into one of Splendour, Dhyanam is the

best Sadhana that he can adopt. The place should be a little elevated from

the ground; that is an inch or two high. Place a mat of Durbha grass on it,

spread a deer-skin on the mat and have a thin white cloth laid on the skin.

Upon this seat one should sit, adopting the Padmasana pose. The right foot must

be above the left and the left foot above the right. The fingers of the hand

must be in close touch with one another and the hands should be placed in

front. The eyes must be either half-open or fully closed. Then by means of

mental massage, the neck, the shoulders, the hands, the chest, the teeth, the

stomach, the fingers, the back, the thighs, the knees, the calves and the feet

should be relaxed. After this, one has to meditate on one's own favourite Name

and Form, with Om added. When this is being done, there should be no mental

wanderings; one must be stable and quiet. No thought of past events, no trace

of anger or hatred and no memory of sorrow should be allowed to interfere. Even

if they intrude, they should not be considered at all; to counteract them, one

must entertain thoughts which will feed one's enthusiasm for Dhyanam. Of

course, this may appear difficult, at first. The best time for Dhyanam is the

quiet hours before dawn, between 3 and 5 a.m. One can awake, say, at 4 a.m.

First of all, sleep has to be subdued. This is very necessary. Even then, if

sleep continues to bother, its effect can be overcome by means of a bath in

cold water.

 

If in this manner the Dhyanam path is rigorously followed, it is possible

for one to win the Grace of the Lord very quickly.

Sadhakas all over the world will naturally be engaged in Japam and Dhyanam.

But first one has to be clear about the purpose of Japam and Dhyanam which are

for acquiring one-pointed attention on the Lord, for casting off sensory

attachments and for attaining the joy derived from the basis of all sensory

objects. The mind should not be wandering in all directions, indiscriminately,

like the fly what dwells in the sweet-meat shop and runs after the rubbish

carts.

Look at the other type, the bee! It will have contact only with sweetness;

it will approach only those flowers that possess nectar. Similarly, one has to

give up all inclinations towards the sensory attraction towards the rubbish cart

as far as possible, one has to direct the mind to all holy things associated

with the Lord. For this, time is needed, of course. How long that time will be

is dependent on the activities of thought, word and deed as well as on the

motives that impel those actions.

Japam and Dhyanam should never be judged on mere external standards; they

are to be judged by their inner effects. Their essence is their relationship to

the Atma. The immortal experience of the Atma should never be mixed up with low

activities of the temporal world.

 

The one single fruit of Japam-Dhyanam is this: the conversion of the

out-faced into the in-faced; the turning inwards of one's eye, the inward eye

seeing the Reality of Atmic Bliss. For this transformation, one has to be

always active and hopeful, regardless of the time taken and the difficulties

encountered. One should await the descent of the Lord's Grace. This patient

waiting is itself part of the tapas of Dhyana.

 

There are three ways by which apirants try to enter the path of Dhyana: the

Sathwika marga, the Rajasika marga and the Thamasika marga.

1. The Sathwika Path

One considers Japam-Dhyanam as a duty and suffers any amount of trouble for

its sake; one is fully convinced that all this is just an illusion; and so, one

does only good under all conditions and at all times; one desires only the good

of all; one spends time uninterruptedly in the remembrance and meditation of the

Lord. He will not crave even for the fruit of the Japam and Dhyanam; he will

leave it all to the Lord.

2.The Rajasika Path

One will be craving at every step for the fruit of one's act. If that fruit

is not available, then gradually, laxity and disgust overpower the Sadhaka and

the Japam and Dhyanam slowly dry up.

3. The Thamasika Path

This is even worse. The Lord will come into the memory only in times of

danger or acute suffering or when one is the victim of loss or pain. For those

who adopt this attitude in Dhyanam, the mind and intellect can never be pure.

 

Most people now follow only the Rajasika and Tamasika paths in Japam and

Dhyanam. The very intention in doing Japam and Dhyanam is to purify the Manas

and the Buddhi, the mind and the intellect. In order to achieve this, the best

path is the first, the Sathwika Dhyanam.

One in whom this understanding shines fully is called a Rishi.

(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Baba. "Dhyana Vahini," pp. 1 - 7).

 

Namaste - Reet