The master speaks!

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Sri Mahatripurasundari Chandramauleeshwarebhyo namaH!

 

Sri Sri Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahasannidhaam, the late

Jagadguru of Sri Sringeri Sarada Mahapitham, is undoubtedly the

greatest of the yogis to have incarnated in the recent times. Here is

a selection of some of the Upadesha that he gave to a close disciple.

He even instructed the disciples not to reveal these to anyone, until

the Acharya held his physical form. The disciple recorded these

accounts of the great guru earnestly. I have missed many important

parts, especially the ones in which he describes about his first

vision of Mahatripurasundari and also some invaluable description of

Sri Nrisimha Sadhana. Anyway, here is what I feel would inspire

Sadhakas, also taking care to respect the Acharya's wish not to

reveal these completely in the public. Here are some selections, in

the form of a narration by the great Guru himself!

Sri Gurobhyo namaH!

 

I spoke of my experiences regarding the vision of the various

forms of Lord Narayana to my guru (i.e. Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati

Mahaswamigal). He listened carefully, but spoke not a word. Later

that day, he sent me a sheet of paper that contained a few shlokas

from the Vishnu Purana. Later, as per my request, Acharya read those

verses, which were selected from the portion that deals with

Keshidhwaja's Upadesha to Khaandikya. It may be translated roughly as

follows: `O king, the yogi should meditate on the Lord, completely

fixing his mind on the form of Sri Narayana. He should see Narayana

as being resplendent with crown, ornaments and Keyoora, holding

Shaarga, conch, mace, discus, sword, rosary, Abhaya Mudra and Varada

Mudra in his eight hands. This form of the Lord should stay in him

all the time, whether standing, walking or involved in some work. If

this form of the Lord never disappears from his mind even for a

second, it means that complete Siddhi has been achieved'.

` The devotee should then meditate on the Lord without any

weapons such as the discus, conch etc., but as simply holding a

rosary of the alphabet. When concentration becomes perfected, the

Lord should be meditated on as without any ornaments or attractive

visuals'.

After I heard these from the Acharya, I no more restricted my

mind to meditate only on Bala or Nrisimha, as I did all these days. I

started meditating on other forms of Lord as well. I meditated on

Ishwara as seated with Parvati, as Ardhanarishwara, as Dakshinamurthy

and as Nataraja. After fixing my gaze steadily at the eye-brow center

on the form of the Lord, I began to repeat Srividya everyday. I

started with repeating Pranava, because I found Srividya too long to

allow me to fix my concentration on the image of the deity. However,

as days passed, this was no more a problem. Srividya became my all-

time companion. I began my Japa with Pranava, and after a while,

switched over to Srividya or Dakshinamurthy. After a few minutes or

hours of beginning the Japa, the repetition of the mantra stopped

automatically, and my lay fixed entirely on the form of the deity.

On special occasions like the Shankara jayanti or

Chaturmasya, it would not be possible for me to spend a lot of time

in meditation in the Kalabhairava temple. I would compensate this by

doing extra Japa during the noon and in the night. During one

Chaturmasya, I perfected Dharana on the chosen form of the supreme. I

have heard people complain of their inability to fix their mind

steadily on a deity during meditation. I never experienced this

difficulty, from the very first day. I tried experimenting on this

during a Chaturmasya. I purposely deteriorated my concentration on

Sridevi step by step and observed the mind. The thought waves now

sounded louder and violent. Even the subtle noises outside seemed

loud and distracting. I gradually came up with a few techniques to

overcome this distraction and lack of concentration that bothered

most of my disciples. Repeating powerful mantras like Srividya,

holding the breath temporarily and emphasizing on meditation on a

form of the Lord, were some of the techniques.

A year had passed by then. One day, as I tried meditating on

Sri Nrisimha, effortlessly, I could perceive Sri Bala Tripurasundari.

That afternoon, I was intensely inspired by some divine force to

meditate on Ambal. I found indescribable bliss in doing so. After a

few months of Sadhana, the moment I closed my eyes, Ambal immediately

stood before my eyes. Then, I began to see Sri Krishna as a child of

around a year, playing his flute and also of Lord Narayana, with

eight hands. It seemed as though the Lord already had prepared a

timetable as to what form I meditated daily on!

That evening as I sat for my evening meditation in the

premises of Kalabhairava temple, without any effort, Sri Bala stood

before my eyes. Like everyday, I tried to concentrate on her entire

being, but my mind remained fixed on her lotus feet. The joy of that

moment is beyond words. Her feet were vibrating with love and life. I

felt as though this was not a mere vision. This was completely real.

She, my mother, was there right in front of me. This was my first

experience of Savikalpa Samadhi. I forgot everything else, other than

the fact that I was in engrossed in her feet.

Later that day, Acharya explained about this Samadhi, quoting

a verse from Patanjali's yoga sutra. As the name itself suggests,

this Samadhi still has the Vikalpa or the sense that `I am

meditating'. The complete distinction between the meditator, the

object of meditation and the act of meditating, is not complete. Some

distinction between the deity and the devotee is still present.

However, in the higher realms of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the feeling

of `I am meditating', is completely destroyed.

That day, after I entered the realms of Savikalpa Samadhi due

to Bala's grace, I regained bodily consciousness after about one and

a half hours. I slowly got up and went to the temple. To my surprise,

instead of the life-like statue of Sri Sarada, there was the living

form of Bala welcoming me. I approached her and touched her feet. She

vanished from my sight after a few seconds.

Later, I also experienced the manifestations of Sri Nrisimha,

baby Krishna, and Narayana with eight arms. Gradually I reached a

stage, where in, I could attain Savikalpa Samadhi, using my chosen

deity, at any desired instant. I generally meditated in the sitting

posture, using a yogic Asana. One morning, I tried to attain the

state of Samadhi, as I lay in sleeping posture. I assumed the posture

of Shavasana, lying straight on my back. I imagined my heart lotus to

be upright and in full bloom. I visualized Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha as

being seated on my heart lotus. I gazed at him and in no time, I

attained Samadhi. This confirmed that the posture was no big

hindrance in achieving Samadhi, once concentration was perfected. I

also tried the same with Shirshasana (head – down posture), and

achieved success. After I returned from Samadhi, I still found myself

in the same posture, without any injury or discomfort. I never

bothered myself again with these experiments regarding postures and

positions.

I reported most of my experiences to my Acharya. He expressed

his satisfaction at them. However, since he was in Samadhi most of

the time, I restrained myself from approaching him every now and

then. It is well accepted by the wise that by meditating on the Lord

as having attributes, one gradually becomes fir to perceive the

attributeless, formless Parabrahman. The Kaivalya Upanishad asks one

to meditate on Sri Sadashiva as having a blue throat, three eyes,

along with mother Uma, by which one attains the knowledge of the

absolute and the undifferentiated. The Vedanta Kalpataru also

says, `In the mind that is completely brought into control by

meditating on the Saguna Brahman, the attributeless Parabrahman

shines automatically'.

 

Contd…………………..