Dhyana Vahini by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Pages 5-10

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The Method of Dhyanam

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. In order to keep the hours unchanged, one

may set the alarm clock for 4 a.m. and rise. Even then, if sleep continues to

bother, its effect can be overcome by means of a bath in cold water. Not that

it is essential to bathe, it is needed only when sleep gives much trouble.

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. Without this

knowledge, people begin Japam and Dhyanam believing them to be related to the

objective world, capable of satisfying worldly desires, and hoping to

demonstrate their value by means of sensory gains! This is a grave error. Japam

and Dhyanam 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. The fly dwells in the sweet-meat shop and runs

after the rubbish carts; the fly which has such a mind has to be taught to

understand the sweetness of the first place and the impurity of the second

place, so that it may not desert the sweet-meat shop and pursue the rubbish

cart. When such teaching is imparted to the mind, it is called Dhyanam!

 

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

will approach only those flowers that possess nectar; it will not be attracted

to other places; it will not proceed there at all. Similarly, one has to give

up all inclinations towards the sensory attraction, towards the rubbish cart of

the untrue and the impermanent; and as far as possible, one has to direct the

mind to all holy things which yield sweetness and the joy 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.

The main things to be considered are not at what expense one has prayed to the

Lord; nor the number of years one has been engaged in it; nor the rules and

regulations one has followed; nor even the number of times one has prayed over;

but with what mind one has prayed; with what degree of patience one has been

awaiting the result; and with what single-mindedness one has prayed for Godly

Bliss, regardless of worldly happiness and delay, with no lassitude, and with

constant attention to oneself, one's meditation, and one's task. If one

examines deeply how much he has succeeded in getting rid of all idea of self,

he can himself gauge the progress he has made. Instead, if one is engaged in

counting the rules, and adding up the time spent and the expense incurred, such

Dhyanam can belong only to the objective world; it can never come into the

subjective and spiritual fields.

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. Such activities deserve to be avoided. If

room is given for these and if one sways between impatience and sloth, and if

one always worries oneself feeling, "Why has it not come yet? Why is it still

away?" then it all becomes simply Japam and Dhyanam done with intent to gain,

with an eye on the fruit thereof.

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. Sticking unfalteringly to the vow is the tapas.

 

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

Sathwika marga, the Rajasika marga and the Thamasika marga.

The Sathwika Path

This means that 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; being always loving towards 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.

The Rajasika Path

Here, 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.

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. At such times,

such people pray and vow that they will arrange this Puja, offer this

particular food, or build this kind of temple to the Lord. They will be

calculating the quantity of food they placed before the Lord, the tribute they

offered at His feet, the number of prostrations they did and the number of

times they circumambulated the shrine, and ask for proportionate awards! 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. When the Manas and the Buddhi become

pure, they will shine with the splendour of the understanding of the Atma. He

in whom this understanding shines fully is called a Rishi.

Brahmavid Brahmaiva bhavathi: the knower of Atma becomes the Atma itself. The

goal of life, that which makes life worth while, is the understanding of the

Atma or, in other words, the basis of Jiva.

 

Really speaking, man's inner feelings will be evident from his physical body.

The stance and the appearance of the body help us to discover these feelings.

It is found that there is a close mutual relationship between the attitudes of

the body and the attitudes of the mind. Take one example: With the loins

girded, the sleeves of the shirt rolled and the palms rounded into fists, it is

not possible to exhibit love or devotion. With bended knees, the eye half-closed

and the hands raised up over the head with the palms joined, is it possible to

show one's anger or hatred or cruelty? That is why the ancient Rishis used to

tell the Sadhakas that it is necessary during prayer or Japam and Dhyanam to

adopt the appropriate bodily pose. They saw that it is possible by this means

to control the waywardness of the mind. Of course, for the expert Sadhaka,

Dhyanam is easy in any pose; but for the novice, such physical means are

essential. This bodily and mental training must be undergone only

to be later discarded as but a means to attain the True and the Eternal Atma.

Until this is realised, Sadhana has to be consistently practised.

Until the goal of Dhyanam is achieved, the well established discipline of Asanas

has to be followed. The curriculum has to be adhered to till then. After the

attainment of the goal, that is after the Manas and the Buddhi have been

conquered and brought under control, one can be immersed in Dhyanam wherever

one finds oneself: on the bed, in the chair, on a rock or in a cart.

Once you learn to ride a motor-cycle, you can ride on any road and under all

conditions. But when you are just learning to ride, for your own safety and for

the safety of those around you, you have to select an open maidan; you have to

follow certain principles of balance; this is essential. So too, those who

engage themselves in Dhyana-Sadhana have to follow a certain course of

training. No change can be made in this. So, the Rajasika and the Thamasika

forms can never be considered as Dhyanam. If the Sadhana becomes fully

Sathwika, it is best.

To describe anything in words is difficult; it might even cause boredom. But to

demonstrate it by deeds is easier and more pleasant! To make men understand by

doing Dhyana is better than by talking about it! My writing on it and your

reading it will not make it easy. Through Dhyana, people reach the Divine

experience of realising the Atma within themselves. Through Dhyana, Sadhakas

are able to cast off the sheaths of ignorance, layer after layer. They withdraw

their sense-perceptions from contact with objective experiences. The process

which aims at this holy consummation alone deserves to be called Dhyana. For

this, man must be equipped with good habits, disciplines and high ideals. He

must be full of renunciation towards worldly things and their attractions.

Whatever the situation, one should conduct oneself with enthusiasm and joy.

Whatever is done must be dedicated; not for eking out one's livelihood, but for

earning Atmananda. One should train oneself to adopt a good Asana or

sitting pose, to avoid tension of the body and to ease the mind from weight and

pressure of the body. This is what deserves to be called Sathwika Dhyana

Sadhana. Discipline is very necessary for this.

 

The troubles and tribulations that come in the wake of an attempt to destroy the

undesirable activities of the mind will disappear through the strict course and

rules described already. What remains is only putting them into actual practice

by the Sadhaka. Even the most powerful drug cannot effect a cure when it is

brought to the bed-side of the patient. The sufferer has to take it in, little

by little, as per schedule with all the attendant care and try to assimilate it

in the system. The healing principle of the drug must pervade the entire body;

the body must be suffused with the drug. Similarly, the Siddhanthas and the

Vedantha have no power to destroy individual faults and weakness. If full

results are wanted, then man must give up all false and low feelings and act

according to the true teachings of the Vedantha and the Siddhanthas. If he

does, he will attain the fruit. The secret of success in Dhyana lies in the

purity of the inner life of the Sadhaka. The success is

proportionate to the importance the Sadhaka gives to Right Conduct or Sanmarga.

Every one has the right to achieve this high degree of success. I do not say

this in just a quiet tone; I declare this loud enough for all the quarters to

hear. Knowing this, Meditate and Advance! Do Dhyana and progress! Realise the

Atma!

For man, living is either pleasant or unpleasant, depending upon his basic

attitude towards life. See how the same object becomes pleasant once and

unpleasant on another occasion! The thing welcomed with great fondness at one

time becomes hateful at another time, and there is not the desire even to see

it. For this state, the condition of the mind at those times is the cause. It

is, therefore, necessary to train the mind and be always pleasant. The waters

of a river leap from mountains, fall into valleys and rush through gorges;

besides, tributaries join at various stages and the water becomes turbid and

unclean. So too, in the flood of human life, speed and power increase and

decrease. These ups and downs might happen any moment during life. No one can

escape these; they may come at the beginning of life or at the end, or perhaps

in the middle. So, what man has to firmly convince himself is that life is

necessarily full of ups and downs; and that far from being afraid and worried

over these, he should welcome them as adding to his experience. He should not

only feel like this, but he should be happy and glad whatever happens to him.

Then, all troubles, whatever their nature, will pass away lightly and quickly.

For this, the temper of the mind is essential.

Every minute, from inside and outside, promptings and temptations arise and

accumulate in man. He cannot attend to all these at the same time. So he fixes

his attention on the most important among them only. This is called

concentration, avadhana. Concentration is needed to grasp any subject well.

Purposefully directing the attention on a subject and fixing it there is

ekaagratha or one-pointedness. This is also a condition of the mind.

Concentration and one-pointedness help to focus effort on any selected task.

 

Concentration is essential for all. It is the foundation of all successful

endeavour. It is needed not only for Dhyana, but even for worldly affairs and

ordinary living. Whatever be the task one is engaged in, if one does it with

concentration, one will develop both self-confidence and self-respect; for they

are the result of the attitude of one's own mind. The mind may lean on either

the bad or the good. Concentrated attention must be employed to keep the mind

attached only to good promptings. Success or failure in the good task depends

upon one-pointedness.

One-pointedness will increase power and skill; it cannot be won without

conquering the worldly cravings that distract the mind. This one-pointedness,

this conquest of the mind, is acquired by the exercise of Dhyana.

There are two types of men: one set accusing themselves as sinners and another

flattering themselves as great. Both types of men are being worried by their

own mental aberrations! What they both need is mental satisfaction and this can

be got by Dhyana; for through Dhyana, understanding will increase and wisdom

will grow.

>From this, a person should develop interest in Dhyana and a taste for Dhyana.

That is to say, a yearning which admits of no other step and which will not

tolerate any obstacle. Of course, one may yearn to hear music and derive joy

therefrom; or see the bodies of near relatives who have died and derive sorrow

therefrom! Yearning may thus have pleasant or even unpleasant consequences!

Yearning must have the strength to inspire endeavour; in fact, yearning is but

dormant endeavour; endeavour is yearning in action. When yearning is weak,

endeavour declines; when one is strong the other too is active. Dhyana gives

concentration and success in all tasks.

It is through Dhyana alone that great personages and Rishis have controlled

their mental activities and directed them towards the sathwik path and

establised themselves at all times in the contemplation of the Lord and finally

succeeded in achieving union with the Godhead. First, the yearning; then the

selection of the goal; then the concentration and through the discipline, the

conquest of the mind...

Man must give up the craving for material control and the attachment to

sense-objects. He must discard the false fears, the absurd desires, the

sorrows, the worries and the artificial pleasures that now fill his mind. That

is to say, he must discriminate and train himself to realise that everything is

as illusory as the ghost in the well! Every one needs this self-education. The

pathetic condition of every man is due to its absence. Dhyana is the remedy for

this state of mind.

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Sathya Sai Baba Dhyana VahiniTranslated from the Original TeluguPublished by Sri

Sathya Sai Books and Publications TrustIndex:

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