dhyAna: Advice for a "novice ": part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Shivu : I am delighted to read about your

posting on the method for DhyAnA that has proven

effective for you .It is moving and is very similar

the prayers (conversations ) of Nobel Laureate

Rabindranath Tagore with the supreme being in Bengali ,

which later got translated into English with

the title ," GitAnjali " .

 

Many of Our NaadhOpAsakAs like Saint ThyagaraajA ,

ShyAmA Sasthrigal , Purandara DaasA have

had a similar personal realtionship( conversations)

with their Ishta Dhaivathams , which blossomed as

the most moving Krithis and they lost themselves

in DhyAnam and their objects of veneration

responded to them .

 

For those blessed with Sangitha Jn~Anam ,

there is nothing like NaadhOpAsAnA

with the accompaniment of TampUrA

to sing in the sannidhi of the Lord

to improve one's dhyAna janitha sukham .

I will quote some selected passages from

Dr.Tagore and our sangItha pithAmahAs

in the next posting .

 

Another Nobel Laureate , W.B.Yeats , who wrote forward

for GitAnjali observed in this context :

" A tradition, where poetry and religion are

the SAME THING , has passed thru the centuries ,

gathering from learned and unlearned

metaphor and emotions , and carried back again to

the multitude the thought of the scholar & the noble ".

 

EXCERPT FROM YOUR POST :

>As I sit alone in my room or in my office,

>or as I take a walk in the evening (on our

>beautiful campus), I pray to the Lord (nArAyaNa)

>?in a conversational mode, speaking to Him in Kannada,

>and asking Him to rid me of selfishness,

>pettiness, and other ills, and seeking

>refuge in Him (anyathA sharaNam nAsti...).

 

An Excerpt from GithAnjali

***************************

 

@@@ "entering my heart unbidden even as one

of the common crowd unknown to me, my king .

Thou didst press the signet of eternity upon

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

many a fleeting moment . "

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Tagore"s words brought back the pleasures of some

personal experiences at BhagavAn's sannidhis .I will

recount them and share them , not so much in a spirit

of showing off, but from the point of sankEthams that

the Lord gives , when you think of Him longingly over

time and get your mind steeped in thoughts about Him

and His anantha kalyANa guNAs without expecting any

palan . He gives also sankEthams in one's dreams

after some stage of dhruva smrithi based on

successful dhyAnam.

 

I had the good fortune of a similar experience once at

GuruvAyUr .Prior to that experience , I had completed

a 72 plus page article on Lord GuruvAyurapapn

at USA and was longing to have His darsanam

at His KshEthram on the next trip to India .

During that trip, I spent a day in Madras

and next morning , I took the plane to Cochin to

permit me to particpate in His suprabhaatha sevai

at GuruvAyUr .

 

GuruvAyurappan's anugraham

***************************

The SuprabhAtham for the Lord and the Kalapa sEvai

takes place quite early in the morning (2.45 AM ? ) .

After the sevai was over ,I was doing prathakishaNam .

Suddenly , some one ,a dark young man came in the opposite

direction ( Counter clockwise ) stopped me and pressed

in my hand the sandal prasAdham from the crown of

the Lord , which he described as that of the Kalapa sevai

of the morning .As I was beginning to understand

the purport of that message , this person disappeared

into the crowd past the BhakthAs doing thePrathakshiNam.

This extraordinary anubhavam was overwhelming and

reminds me even today of Tagore"s words:

 

" Thou didst press the signet of eternity upon

many a fletign moment " .

 

I felt , how the Lord's sankEthams come the way of

the most undeserving ones , just as me . I went

back to the sannidhi and offered my thankful salutation

to Sriman NaarAyaNan and got mesmerized by the BhakthA's

ghOsham " GuruvAyUrappA , NaarAyaNA " in the early hours

of the morning . Many of you might have experienced

similar sankEthams (e-g): flower falling from the garland

of the Lord as you are praying for some thing or the other .

 

Three other times , unexpected incidents happened

that reminds of the ways in which our Parama KaaruNika

Bhagavaan gives us sankEthams and reminds us of His

BhAndhavyam (Relationship )to us . This happened

to me at Srirangam , Thiruppathi and ThiruvallikkeNi .

 

Thiruppathi Anubhavam

**********************

In one of my visits , I moved with the line of

BhakthAs in the sannidhi of Sri VenkatEsan .

I was self-conscious and was filled with the thought

that I should not take more than the moment alloted

to every one , One of the jarikandi man said to me

'yenna avasaram ? Irundhu seviccikkOnkO" ( What is your

hurry? Please have the darsanam without rush ).

I was taken aback in a spirit of Joy and still did not want

to or could not tarry in front of the Moolavar . I received the

Theertham and Sataari and stepped out .

 

As I came out of the Garbha graham I was at an area right

in front of the Big Hundi , which had been curtained off .My

curiosity got the better of me and I pulled slightly the curtain

on one side to see waht was being curtained off ? What

a surprise There was the Uthsavar with His Ubhaya NaachiyAr

resting on a peetam . There was no one in front of Him .

The Bhattars must have left temporarily

to fetch some thing for the next scheduled uthsavam (Thirumanjanam).

There were no AbharaNams On the uthsavars . Just White

Vasthrams . The beauty of the Lord and His dEvis

without Kavacham and AabharaNams was divine.

After few miniutes of this Darsana SoubhAgyam ,

I "sneaked out" apologizing for my self-consciousness

to the Lord and thanking HIm for His blessings .I can not

forget the beauty of that EkAntha Sevai to me . I said to myself ,

" What did I do to deserve this Bhaagyam ? ". Few years later ,

my cousin gave me a picture of the Lord with just Vasthram

along with His dEvis ( No Kavacham , Garlands , AabharaNams)

as the sevai before the foraml thirumanjanam . This was

just as I was blessed to see on that day .

These were the ofifcial photos of the DevasthAnam.

I treasure it even today and hope one day ,

I can have it included in the CD ROM that SriDileepan is

preparing on the 108 divya Desams .

 

ThiruvallikkENi Anubhavam

**************************

Many years ago , When I was studying at VivEkAnandhA

college , I resided at my Grandfather's House in

HanumanhtarAyan Koil St , Triplicane , which is on

the North side of the temple tank . I used to go to go

almost daily to Parthasaarathy temple for the darsanam

of the ArchA mUrthys there .

 

The darsanam of Vedavalli ThAyaar used to bring me

extraordinary peace of mind .One day , after darsanam of

Sri ParthasArathy in the garbha Graham , I stepped out with

Tulasi Prasaadam in hand . There was a curtained off area

in the ardha mantapam . A teen ager's curiosity was aroused

and I peeked by gently pushing the curtain aside .What do I

see there ? The Lord who blessed us with Bhagavadh GithA

was resting there with His two dEvis resplendent in all

AbharaNams and Garlands . I could not beleive my eyes and

stood before Them for a few moments until I heard some

approaching footsteps . The Bhattar was coming back .

I hurriedly rushed out before being seen by the bhattar .

Later I learned that it was the day of Pancha Parva PurappAdu .

The temple servants to carry the Uthsavar and His consorts

on their shoulders for Veethi UlA were being assembled ,

and the Lord was resting for their arrival , when I had

my yEkAntha Seva Bhaagyam .

 

Sri Ranganaathan's grace:

*************************

It was a hot day in the middle of August in Srirangam .

I had offered my shAshtAnga NamaskArams to the 44th Jeeyar ,

H.H. Sri Vedantha Desika yathindra . He was angry with me

over some thing . I was quite upset . After I left him ,

my father said that it was good thing that I was the

object of anger of the Acharyan and that I received some vasavus

( tongue lashings) , because that act removed all of my paapams

and as the gracious AchAryan has really blessed me out of

his dayA svarUpam . With that state of mind , I went to

visit Sri Ranganaathar's sannidhi and it was too late

(past Ucchik Kaalam ) . I asked the temple people , where

the Uthsava mUrthy is . They said that I can have the darsanam

of the Moolavar in the evening . They also told me that

the Uthsavar was three miles away in a ThOppu ( gove of trees )

due to an annual mandakapaDi ( temple uthsavam performed

by a BhakthA as part of their family commitments )

and that I can have the darsanam of the uthsavar

there until 5 PM , after which time , he will begin His

journey to His aasthAnam thru the raaja Veedhis of Sri Rangam .

 

I rushed there . On a cool grove on the banks of Cauveri ,

Kasthuri Rangan with Ubhaya NaacchiyAr was resting .

There was no thirai(curtain ) or any obstruction .

He was smilingly welcoming , whoever wanted to

come there and have His darsanam. There was not

a soul besides the sleepy Bhattars and myself .

 

The Bhattars were observing their siesta at His feet .

As I approached Him , I felt like a magnet pulling me

towards Him powerfully . I fell immediately

at His feet in great joy with tears welling in my eyes.

 

It appeared to me as though He was asking me ,

where have you been and whether I had a good session

earlier with the Jeeyar ,who was in the middle of

constructing a Raaja Gopuram for Him . I fell again

at His feet and was totally overcome by the beauty

and saulabhyam of the Lord . I took piriyA Vidai after

half an hour .Today ,when I think of this

once-in-a life time soubhAgyam , I am reminded of

Swami Desikan's Sri Bhagavdh DhyAna sOpAna slokam

describing the beauty of His meaning-laden smile,

red lips resembling the bimbhA fruits, the lips that

move to ask about one's yoga kshEmam and the forehead

adorned with KasthUri Tilakam and the welcoming eyes

even at a far distance :

 

SaabhiprAya: smitha vikasitham chAru bimbhAdharOshtam

dukkApAya: pranayini JanE dhoora dattaabhi mukhyam

Kaantham vakthram kanaka tilakaalankrutham Rangabharthu:

svAnthE gADam mama vilagathi svAgathOdhAra nEthram

 

In this context , Recitation of Sri Bhagavdh DHYAANA

sOpAnam , even this one slOkam , with the full enjoyment

of the meaning of the most moving DhyAnam about

the Thiru mukha mandalam of the Lord by Swami Desikan or

the recitation of AmalanAdhipirAn would be most helpful in

concentrating on dhyAnam and controlling the mind for

the duration of the recitation/experience . I adopt

a practise, which works well for me . I will write about

it later.

 

In my next posting in this series , I will quote additional

passages from Tagore in the context of Dr.Shivasankhar's

recounting of the methodology of personal conversation

with Sriman NaarAyaNA in Kannada Bhaashai .

 

Subhamasthu ,

V.Sadagopan