One's Daily Life itself is Meditation ... Practice in Advaita!

[Guest guest]

Our beloved Counsellor Greg-ji is doing his best to motivate and

inspire all Aspirants here to come forward and share their personal

experiences in The Advaitic Path!!! What are the circumstances that

led them to explore the Advaitic Path? Once they have embraced this

path, do the sadhaks think this is the only way to THe TRUTH? How

does this path differ from other paths? Mainly, he wants us all to

share our personal 'Sadhana' ... but strangely the members here

including me are more interested in sharing Scriptural quotations and

anectdotes etc rather than come forward and say " well, folks , this

is what i do in the course of an 8 hour day to get closer to the One

and only Reality called BtaHman" . Nair-ji was the only one who kind

of narrated how he got interested in pursueing this path. And our

Counsellor, true to his nature , likes to Listen rather than 'talk or

out-talk' - that is what counsellors do best - they listen and let

their patients 'unwind' ! well, guys, the month is still young - 2

more days left and here is your chance! Do not be shy ! we are not

asking you to discuss your bedroom secrets nor are we asking you to

divulge your financial assets ... please share your experiences on

Sadhana !!!!!!

 

Having said that ... here is what i do in an 8 hour day ...

 

My typical day begins at 4 am - the Brahma-muhurtha time... I

complete all my morning ablutions and then after washing my face ,

feet and brushing my teeth etc go to my meditation corner and sit on

a special mat ( that was given to me by a sadhu in Sivananda's Ashram

in Rishikesh) and practice silent meditation focussing on the Mantra

given by my Tantrik Guru ! This takes about half an hour ... i feel

good all over , relaxed and ready to face the Day....

 

Time for morning Coffee which i prepare the Indian way - what we

call 'filter' cofee - this is an 'addiction' i am not able to kick!!!

so what! i don't drink or smoke or do anything else ( being celibate

for almost 25 odd years or so) ... - now you know where all that

excess 'energy' comes from - not wasted in pursueing mundane

plasures of life!!! !!! My newspaper reading session is a necessary

accompaniment to my coffee drinking session! i like to read all about

what is happening in the world and day after day feel disgusted to

read 1000 deaths in Haiti, suicide bombings in the Gaza strip,

violence in the streets of Iraq , terrorism threats to USA during

november elections etc... Rape, Murder, Crime, Violence .... i hate

them all .... what a beautiful world Our GOD/ESS created and what

has become of it ? AND THEN I TURN TO THE SPORTS PAGE MY FAVORITE

TEAM RED SKINS loses !!

 

Today is Tuesday - after My morning Bath , i offer my special prayers

to Kali MA ( my tantrik GURU'S ISHTA-NISHTA - my guru is from the

Ramakrishna Lineage) and hear some Ramprasad songs sung in the

melodious voice of Sree Maa ( Devi Mandir, Laguna Beach) This puts me

in an ecstatic and divine mood!

 

Then time for some 'internet' Sadhana on my favorite lists- Advaitin

and Sadhana_ shakti! HOW DOES THIS HELP ? folks, sharing is caring !

There ARE SO MANY KNOWLEDGBLE FOLKS in this wonderful forum ... Those

who know do not Speak and those who Speak do not want to 'know' any

further! smiles ... !Jalpa , Vithanda and Vada ...... Most of us like

to engaze in 'Vithanda-vada ' because it is more 'sexy' to do so !!!

hence the popularity of last month's topic where there were

arguments , counter arguments ! This month's topic is

about 'Practice' - and this is all about 'vada' ... adhering to

Truth !!!

 

This brings me to another point .... "OPENESS

ACCEPTANCE" , "TOLERANCE " ... three cardinal virtues .... Dear

hearts, nothing is etched in Stone .... Spirituality is about

evolving - it is a continuous process .... ... There is no end of the

road and there is no destination! To go from where to where ?it is

like the deer looking for the 'musk' in the forest when the musk is

already in its navel!

 

Anytime one becomes 'fanatical' in one's approach, that is your

Religion , NOT ADVAITA !! TO BE INTENSE AND PASSIONATE IN ONE'S

APPROACH IS DESIRABLE BUT FANATICISM A 'NO NO ' IN SANTANA DHARMA !

 

Religion is not something one 'dies' for rather it is something that

makes life worth living, minute by minute ... A moment of pure

consciousness is worth a lifetime of useless meditations !! Gandhiji

started the day with prayers and ended the day with prayers.Even when

he was spinning the Charka, he was 'spinning' the

charka or leading a peace 'march' or writing for his

journal 'young india', HE WAS PRACTICING MEDITATION - a karma yogi -

who dedicated the fruits of his action to Lord RAMA, his ishta !

 

Non-attachment -this applies to one's idealogy also ... That is why i

avoid labelling ... that is self-limiting - don't say i am shakta,

advaitin , vaishnavite etc... Say, i am a seeker of Truth! that is

the first step in practice -to be open and to be receptive! LET THE

COOL BREEZE OF tRUTH BLOW from all directions to the window of your

soul! drop all the veils!

 

Do not quote the scriptures to 'indoctrinate' others but only with a

view to help others walking on the path - let them find out if

the 'jagat 'is mithya or not by a process of enquiry , introspection

and analysis !

 

Anger - Another stumbling block in sadhana .Anger normally makes us

retalliate and take revenge... .. look deeply and see what is the

real source of your anger - in nine times out of ten 'it is not what

is being said' -it is how you react to what is being said...

 

satsangha is about Love, Compassion, understanding , sharing and

caring ... Not about Gurudom as nair-ji pointed out nor is it about

parading one's knowledge 'pandithyam' - it is about guiding ,

inspiring, motivating ... It is not to 'control' others or their way

of thinking ... Let each person think for themselves ... We are so

lucky, we have so much to choose from unlike other major

religions !!!

 

Now ,time to prepare the 'meal' for the day and do puja to my

deities. While Cooking FOOD i like to play devotional tapes -

something i learned from my HARE KRISHNA days - Food tastes lot

tastierwhen prepared this way- for the secret ingredient is 'love' -

an offering to Krishna!

 

Daily pujas that i perform are not elaborate or time consuming - but

One thing which i do is always offer Four Flowers to my ishta

nishta ... and say " O god/ess - i offer these four flowers

representing Dharma, Kama, Artha and Moksha' ... Let MY iSHTA DECIDE

WHAT I SHOULD BE BLESSED WITH!!!

 

Between 11 to 6 , although working in the office my mind is still

fixed on the Lotus feet of my ishta-nishta ... and i feel so blissful

and no task appears difficult - my boss says " hey, how come you are

so up beat are you on uppers? " i chuckle to myself " what could be

more intoxicating than Krishna nama or prema -the divine nectar."

 

After 6 is another slot in the day dedicated to Sadhana- evening

meditation is about Japa - reciting the 108 names of the God/ess of

the day followed by a 1/2 hour meditational walk - good for my

pancreas , good for for my soul!!

 

then watching T.V. , reading books, playing Chess with my son or

simply enjoying the simple pleasures of life or better still web-

surfing --!

 

on Tuesdays, i do mentor a vietnamase student and help her with her

homework - she comes to my houuse ... She is bright but a little weak

in English .on Satudays, i volunteer at Mother Teresa's orphanage in

FreienDhip heights, DC - sincer i cdo not have easy access to my own

grand-kids as they are away in Florida, i do this more to please my

grandmotherly instincts - the babies also love this being held by

someone other than nuns - the twinkle in the babies eyes and their

spontaneous smiles confirm this ... when you look at those babies,

you know the soul is not Christian or Hindu - it is the 'eternal'

soul of Sat chit Ananda !

 

Sundays- Going to Ramakrishna mission and taking part in Satsangh !I

luv the American swamiji there - he is just so wonderful - well

versed in Sanskrit and so 'thorough' in what he knows!

 

am i all work and no play? NO SIR! i luv going to dance concerts,

music recitals etc... Dance is feast for the eyes and music is feast

for the soul and Reading maketh you a complete human being!!!

 

This is one day in the life of a sadhaka - nothing Fancy !!!

 

Go for it, guys!