Practical methods for the spiritual ascent.

[Guest guest]

Namaste

Vishwanathji questions:

.... ... how to proceed in the path of spirituality ? I wanted to

know practical methods to start my sweet jorney towards Moksha.

Is it possible to achieve being in material life, but giving it

a secondary consideration ? I was reading "Quintessence of

Vedanta", in that its been mentioned that renunciation is the

only way for achieving.

------------------

Vishwanathji, the methods differ from individual to individual

because of the differences in the level of spiritual evolution

that the individual has brought from previous lives of his and

from the effort he has made in this birth. Therefore what I

suggest below must be taken as one of the possible routes.

 

Lord Krishna throws in several practical tips for the ascent to

spirituality from scratch. Of these I would draw your attention

to three.

 

No.1: Ch.16 – 21:

trividham narakasyedaM dvAraM nAshanam-AtmanaH /

kAmaH krodhas-tathA lobhas-tasmadetat-trayaM tyajet//

Meaning: Triple is the gate of hell, destructive of the self.

Lust, Anger and Greed. Therefore these three must be abandoned.

 

Keep this abandonment as the goal. The goal of course is moksha,

as you say. But that is too distant. Our immediate goal, for

this life, should be the abandonment of these three. You may

call it Phase One.

 

No.2: Ch.3 – 41:

tasmAt-tvam-indriyAN-yAdau niyamya bharatarshabha /

pApmAnaM prajahi-hyenaM jnAna-vijnAna-nAshanaM //

Meaning: Therefore O Arjuna, controlling the senses first, do

thou kill this sinful thing, the destroyer of knowledge and

realisation.

 

A start must be made somewhere. The desire-aggravating activity

of the senses must be curbed first. This is not expected to be

achieved overnight. Because what we are talking here is control

of the mind. With what and by whom is the mind controlled? The

desire to give up desire arises in the mind and so the

controlling factor is also in the mind. It is the intelligence

part of the mind. The very thought of controlling the mind

indicates an awakening of intelligence. Thus this start is the

first step in the ascent to spirituality. You may call it Step

One of Phase One.

 

3. Ch.9 – 27:

yat-karoShi yad-ashnAsi yaj-juhoShi dadAsi yat /

yat-tapasyasi kaunteya tat-kuruShva mad-arpaNaM //

Meaning:Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in

sacrifice (ritual or pUjA), whatever you give, whatever you

practise as an austerity-rite, O Arjuna, do it as an offering of

dedication unto Me.

 

This may be taken as the practical charter for a spiritual life.

This is actually a parallel Step along with Step One of Phase

One above. The two has to go simultaneously. For your own

convenience, you may make them steps one and two (of Phase One)

in any order.

 

What does this dedication mean? How will it affect one’s life?

What guarantee is there that it will make changes for the

spiritual better? All this needs further study of the gita.

That is actually Phase Two of the ascent. But you may want also

to consult the following webpage of mine on this matter of

Dedication.

 

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/24.html

 

Your question about renunciation is answered by Krishna Himself

in the third chapter.

Ch.3 – 6:

karmendriyANi samyamya ya Aste manasA smaran /

indriyArthAn-vimUDhAtmA mithyAcAras-sa ucyate //

Meaning: He who, restraining the organs of action, sits thinking

of the sense-objects in mind, he, of deluded understanding, is a

hypocrite.

 

So what the gita emphasizes is Renunciation in our attitudes,

not necessarily accompanied by physical renunciation. So you can

be in material life, if you develop the right attitudes. Of

course, this developing of right attitudes is part of Phase Two

of the spiritual ascent!

 

praNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Namaste

> This enlightened group can make it work and educate others in the

> process..it would be terrific if all the members starts sharing

> their sadhakams as they share the vedantam.. as a small step

> towards the major leap ..

 

I agree with Srinivasn-ji that the group members should discuss more

on practical sadhana rather than dry semantics and grammar. Sankara

has pointed out the futility of dry logic in Bhajagovinadam and

Sivananda Lahiri etc

 

Recently there was this interesting question from a new member :

> Vishwanathji questions:

> ... ... how to proceed in the path of spirituality ? I wanted to

> know practical methods to start my sweet jorney towards Moksha.

> Is it possible to achieve being in material life, but giving it

> a secondary consideration ? I was reading "Quintessence of

> Vedanta", in that its been mentioned that renunciation is the

> only way for achieving.

> ------------------

one of the responses (from Prof VK) was this:

> Lord Krishna throws in several practical tips for the ascent to

> spirituality from scratch. Of these I would draw your attention

> to three.

>

> No.1: Ch.16 – 21:

> trividham narakasyedaM dvAraM nAshanam-AtmanaH /

> kAmaH krodhas-tathA lobhas-tasmadetat-trayaM tyajet//

> Meaning: Triple is the gate of hell, destructive of the self.

> Lust, Anger and Greed. Therefore these three must be abandoned.

>

> Keep this abandonment as the goal. The goal of course is moksha,

> as you say. But that is too distant. Our immediate goal, for

> this life, should be the abandonment of these three. You may

> call it Phase One.

>

I thought of discussing Sadhana by responding to this reply. There is

no doubt that Kama, Krodha and Loba are detrimental to Spiritual

Progress. ProfVK rightly says these three should be abondoned. But

how does one go about abondoning these? Do you directly tackle each

of these and try to give up each one? Maybe. But there are more fun

ways of tackling the problem.

 

Instead of directly trying to abondon bad habits, practice

appropriate Sadhana that calms your mind and elevates your mind so

these basic instincts naturally go away. Bhakti is one such Sadhana.

Sri Ramakrishna refers to this method and says that when a Sadhaka's

mind develops more and more Prema Bhakti (Joyous devotion), the

joyous mind naturally gives up Kama etc.

 

Yoga Sadhana such as Meditation or Manasika Puja is another method. A

mind that is trained via meditation gradually develops concentration

and acheives one pointedness or Ekagratha. Calmness, peace and joy

naturally accrue to a one-pointed mind resulting in reduction of kama

and krodha.

 

Sri Eknath Eswaran explains this beatifully

(http://www.nilgiri.org/Html/Learn_to_Meditate/learn.html) :

One-pointed attention is helpful in whatever job you are doing. But

perhaps the greatest benefit of a trained mind is the emotional

stability it brings. In order to get angry, your concentration must

be broken – your mind has to change lanes. In order to get

afraid,

your mind has to change lanes. In order to get upset, your mind has

to change lanes. That is what we all yearn for – a mind that

cannot

be upset by anything.

 

The Buddhist scriptures also mention similar things. Here is a quote

from Dhammapada:

The Blessing of a Well-Trained Mind

===================================

 

As an archer aims his arrow, the wise aim their restless thoughts,

hard to aim, hard to restrain.

 

As a fish hooked and left on the sand thrashes about in agony, the

mind being trained in meditation trembles all over, desperate to

escape the hand of Mara.

 

Hard it is to train the mind, which goes where it likes and does what

it wants. But a trained mind brings health and happiness. The wise

can direct their thoughts, subtle and elusive, wherever they choose:

a trained mind brings health and happiness.

 

Those who can direct thoughts, which are unsubstantial and wander so

aimlessly, are freed from the bonds of Mara.

 

They are not wise whose thoughts are not steady and minds not serene,

who do not know dharma, the law of life. They are wise whose thoughts

are steady and minds serene, unaffected by good and bad. They are

awake and free from fear.

 

Remember, this body is like a fragile clay pot. Make your mind a

fortress and conquer Mara with the weapon of wisdom. Guard your

conquest always.

 

 

Remember that this body will soon lie in the earth without life,

without value, useless as a burned log.

 

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an

untrained mind does greater harm. More than your mother, more than

your father, more than all your family, a well-trained mind does

greater good.

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

Dear Shri Sunder Rajan and Shri Sundreth: Thank you for your latest postings.

Finally, I am beginning to get some practical advice from you and also from

Prof.VK about I can begin my journey towards THE GOAL.

Thanks

Shanti

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Shanti" <shanti@f...> wrote:

>

> Dear Shri Sunder Rajan and Shri Sundreth: Thank you for your

latest postings.

>

Namaste Shanti,

 

You are most welcome. In fact the very reason a Satsang exists is

for disssemination of useful information and practical ideas.

 

I will try to post more on Sadhana later but here is a short one,

specifically on the subject of wandering of the mind during

meditation. Almost everyone who meditates encounters this problem.

There are several techniques to over comes this problem.

One technique (mentioned by Sringeri Acharyal (Shri Abhinava

Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal)) emphasises the significance of

impressing upon the mind the importantance of meditation:

Quote

If one regards meditation as very important, wandering is much less.

Indeed, when an avaricious man counts 100 Rupee notes, his mind does

not waver!.

End Quote

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

Namaste all.

 

Interesting, Sunder Rajan-Ji.

 

It is our involvement and interest that matter, which are linked to

our vision of advaita that results from an intellectual conviction on

scriptural statements, gained through unceasing contemplation

(vichAra). No discussion on sAdhana will be complete without

giving these topics the attention due to them.

 

What is the vision statement for an advaitin? I don't think we have

one even for our List (I don't consider the one seen on the home page

as very precise.) although there are references and references to

past discussions and archives, which only confound. The cat has

simply not been belled at all because it is, perhaps, a very

difficult task to reach agreement on details although we all swear by

Sankara.

 

Meditation is recommended in all faiths. Meditators have different

visions of God and their spiritual goals. For instance, pure advaita

says that there is nothing but God, where the meditator and the

meditated are one and the same, whereas others believe that there is

only one God who created everything, where there is a God outside

the meditator. Even in advaita, the essentials of the vision are

quite different as in Sankara's advaita and visishta advaita. And

then, there are several points of dispute between the

traditionalists, the semi-traditionalists and neo-advaitins. If you

take the larger umbrella of Vedanta, there are still more differences

in views.

 

A inmate at Aurobindo Ashram meditates as also an advaitin at one of

the Sankara Maths. Is there any qualitative difference in their

sAdhanas? There is, because the former is trained to look for

divine experience while the latter anchors to solid logic. We try to

brush aside such differences by saying that all paths lead to the

same goal. Such arguments have no substance. We must have a vision

first – a purely advaitic one, preferably imparted by a Master,

before we meditate and that meditation must necessarily include

further vichAra (contemplation) on the vision through which the Truth

grows on us and ultimately consumes our separate identity. The

techniques, which are only secondary, will help in the process. (I am

talking about pure advaitins here.).

 

Then the mind is very much there with all its thoughts. It is not

dead or stilled. It is parked. The body is also there with all its

feelings and wants. But, it is also parked. The "Owner" does not

feel that he is their owner any more. They cannot, therefore, be

demanding on Him any more. He is ever free, Consciousness Absolute,

like Bhagwan Ramana. Bhagwan's body was very much there after

realization – that was why he passed away on a particular day at a

particular time. His mind was also there. That was why he thought

for us and emerged with his hands full of gems.

 

I will clarify this point with an example. A father is very

possessive of his daughter. He takes to advaita, does vichara and

realizes that his possessiveness has no basis because the daughter

has relevance only to his role as a father, that that role is one of

many he plays every day and that he, the real player, is no father

at all. Continuous vichara on these lines will doubtlessly remove his

possessiveness for his daughter and elevate him to a higher level

from which he will be able to see all girls as his own daughters.

Look! He achieves this without killing or stilling his daughter!

 

Thus, the exact goal of meditation matters since we are not

meditating simply for mental calm and well-being. Before we talk

about sAdhana, therefore, the question of vision should be tackled.

It is not necessary that all of us here (over 580) on this list

should agree on the same details for our vision although we claim

that we are advaitins. If all of us can reach the goal (whatever it

is) by just mastering meditation techniques, then there is no need

for us to discuss advaita at all. We can just join any path, sit,

meditate and then realize (what?). It is one thing to say aham

brahmasmi, tatwamasi etc. and quite another to do full vichAra into

the full import of these mahAvAkyas.

 

Thus, a strong intellectual conviction is an important pre-requisite

for interest to take place. That does not come about unless we do

vichAra on scriptural truths and the teacher's words. Meditation

should include such vichAra. Otherwise, we would be meditating

without knowing what we are meditating for. For example, we are

advised to watch our thoughts? Then, we ought to know why we are

watching our thoughts. The purpose is for the truth that we are not

the mind to really sink in. The same applies to the body. We must

know the relevance of these details to our vision. The relevance

will not dawn unless we contemplate.

 

Pranams.

 

Madathil Nair

______________________________

 

advaitin, "Sundar Rajan" <avsundarrajan> wrote:

> One technique (mentioned by Sringeri Acharyal (Shri Abhinava

> Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal)) emphasises the significance of

> impressing upon the mind the importantance of meditation:

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste

Madathil Nairji, You are right. I would underscore your

following words.

"Thus, a strong intellectual conviction is an important

pre-requisite for interest to take place. That does not come

about unless we do vichAra on scriptural truths and the

teacher's words. Meditation should include such vichAra.

Otherwise, we would be meditating without knowing what we are

meditating for."

Thanks for giving the right emphasis. So, that brings us to why

we are all in the advaitin list and the value of participating

in it.

 

praNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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