Guest guest Posted June 5, 2002 Report Share Posted June 5, 2002 OM spiritual travellers This message was e-mailed to me and I thought it could be informative on this board. dear ompremji, thanx once agian for a very 'illuminating ' post on sashana as a means to yoga- i enjoyed all the quotations from your guru's guru swami sivananda! this was the last post i read before i went to bed last night and needless to say i was chanting 'om namaha shivaye' in my yoga nidra and had a blissful experience!!!! as you know, ompremji, sage patanjali talks about four types of pad in his 55 sutras.... 1) samadhi pada- Samadhi means absorption, unitive awareness, or ecstasy. 2)sadhana pada Sadhana is the Sanskrit word denoting practice or means.and here sage patanjali describes how yoga (union) can be achoeved through kriya (action)and ashtanga (eight-limbed) yoga. 3) vibhuti pada Vibhuti means power or manifestation. 4) kaivalya pada Kaivalya means isolation, aloneness, or unitary. This word is one of the philosophical terms for moksha or liberation, the the state of kailvalya- eternal bilss ! that is why lord shiva is called kaivalya natha for he gives you moksha or liberation. In sadhana pada, there isa sutra that states... Tapah-svadhyayesvara-pranidhanani kriya-yogah Tapas ((spiritual passion, energy, or heat), swadhyaya (self study), and isvara pranidhana (the function of surrender to or the embrace of the all encompassing comprehensive integrity which interconnects us all -- who we really are) are the three prerequisite (kriya) actions that lead us to realizing the fruits of yoga. so as you have beautifully explained in this sivananda quote... "To behold the one Self in all beings is Jnana, wisdom; to love the Self is Bhakti, devotion; to serve the Self is Karma, action. When the Jnana Yogin attains wisdom, he is endowed with devotion and selfless activity... When the devotee [bhakti Yogin] attains perfection in devotion, he is possessed of wisdom and activity... The Karma Yogin attains wisdom and devotion when his actions are wholly selfless. The three paths are, in fact, one in which the three different temperments emphasise one or the other of its inseparable constituents. Yoga supplies the method by which the Self can be seen, loved and served." so , this is what shri krishna paramatma explains to Arjuna when he says... from contact with pain and sorrow. It is said: 'when his mind, intellect and self (ahamkara) are under control, freed from restless desire, so that they rest in the spirit within, a man becomes a Yukta-one in communion with God. When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the spirit within himself finds fulfillment. Then he knows the joy eternal which is beyond the pale of the senses which his reason can not grasp. This is the real meaning of Yoga - a deliverance from contact with pain and sorrow. " so, my question to you is this, ompremji! while sadhana is the means to yoga and the goal of yoga is nirvikalpa samadhi, (why not savikalpa samadhi or bhava samadhi) it is only rarely ordinary mortals reach a state of 'nirvikalpa' samadhi- this is not an every day occurance in the life of a spiritual aspirant - so does it mean he/she or has failed in their sadhana? please advise. once again thank you for your great response. Adi Shakti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2002 Report Share Posted June 5, 2002 OM Adi Shakti You asked, somewhat facetiously I think, " while sadhana is the means to yoga and the goal of yoga is nirvikalpa samadhi, it is only rarely ordinary mortals reach a state of 'nirvikalpa' samadhi- this is not an every day occurance in the life of a spiritual aspirant - so does it mean he/she or has failed in their sadhana? please advise. " You, of course, already know the answer to this. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is certainly not an everyday occurrence. It is the last day's experience. Once one has attained to Nirvikalpa Samadhi, there is no need to retain a human body and the body drops away. How does one ever know that they have failed in their Sadhana? The entire idea of Sadhana is perform the practice(s) without expections but with devotion and humility. If this is being done, the performer of Sadhana would not be asking that question but would be content to continue the Sadhana offering the act and any fruits thereof to God/Goddess. >From another, more linear, point of view, there is no guarantee that Samadhi will be obtained in this lifetime or any other specific life, so it would silly to ask that question at any time. In fact, asking that question would tend to guarantee that Samadhi will not be forthcoming in the particular lifetime in which it is asked because the question is evidence that the aspirant has too much work to do on himself/herself. Hope this helps OM Namah Sivaya Omprem , "omprem" <omprem> wrote: > OM spiritual travellers > > This message was e-mailed to me and I thought it could be > informative on this board. > > dear ompremji, thanx once agian for a very 'illuminating ' post on > sashana as a means to yoga- i enjoyed all the quotations from > your > guru's guru swami sivananda! this was the last post i read > before i > went to bed last night and needless to say i was chanting 'om > namaha > shivaye' in my yoga nidra and had a blissful experience!!!! > > as you know, ompremji, sage patanjali talks about four types of > pad in his 55 sutras.... > > 1) samadhi pada- > > Samadhi means absorption, unitive awareness, or ecstasy. > > 2)sadhana pada > > Sadhana is the Sanskrit word denoting practice or means.and > here sage patanjali describes how yoga (union) can be > achoeved through kriya (action)and ashtanga (eight-limbed) > yoga. > > 3) vibhuti pada > > Vibhuti means power or manifestation. > > > 4) kaivalya pada > > Kaivalya means isolation, aloneness, or unitary. This word is > one of the philosophical terms for moksha or liberation, the the > state of kailvalya- eternal bilss ! > > that is why lord shiva is called kaivalya natha for he gives you > moksha or liberation. > > In sadhana pada, there isa sutra that states... > > Tapah-svadhyayesvara-pranidhanani kriya-yogah > > Tapas ((spiritual passion, energy, or heat), swadhyaya (self > study), and isvara pranidhana (the function of surrender to or the > embrace of the all encompassing comprehensive integrity which > interconnects us all -- who we really are) are the three > prerequisite (kriya) actions that lead us to realizing the fruits of > yoga. > > so as you have beautifully explained in this sivananda quote... > > "To behold the one Self in all beings is Jnana, wisdom; to love > the Self is Bhakti, devotion; to serve the Self is Karma, action. > When the Jnana Yogin attains wisdom, he is endowed with > devotion and selfless activity... When the devotee [bhakti Yogin] > attains perfection in devotion, he is possessed of wisdom and > activity... The Karma Yogin attains wisdom and devotion when > his actions are wholly selfless. The three paths are, in fact, one > in which the three different temperments emphasise one or the > other of its inseparable constituents. Yoga supplies the method > by which the Self can be seen, loved and served." > > so , this is what shri krishna paramatma explains to Arjuna > when he says... > > from contact with pain and sorrow. It is said: 'when his mind, > intellect and self (ahamkara) are under control, freed from > restless desire, so that they rest in the spirit within, a man > becomes a Yukta-one in communion with God. When the > restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the > practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the spirit within himself > finds fulfillment. Then he knows the joy eternal which is beyond > the pale of the senses which his reason can not grasp. This is > the real meaning of Yoga - a deliverance from contact with pain > and sorrow. " > > so, my question to you is this, ompremji! while sadhana is the > means to yoga and the goal of yoga is nirvikalpa samadhi, (why > not savikalpa samadhi or bhava samadhi) it is only rarely > ordinary mortals reach a state of 'nirvikalpa' samadhi- this is not > an every day occurance in the life of a spiritual aspirant - so does > it mean he/she or has failed in their sadhana? please advise. > > once again thank you for your great response. > > Adi Shakti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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