Achyuta Gurukul] Meditation and its Utility in Daily Life With Practical Hints

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[sJC: Achyuta Gurukul] Meditation and its Utility in Daily Life With Practical Hints

Meditation and its Utility inDaily Life With Practical HintsBySri Swami

PremanandaA DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY

PUBLICATIONhttp://www.thedivinelifesociety.org/download/premamedit.htm First

Edition: 1994Second Edition: 1996Third Edition: 1999(2,000 copies)World Wide

Web (WWW) Edition : 2000WWW site: http://www.SivanandaDlshq.org/This WWW

reprint is for free distribution© The Divine Life Trust SocietySwami

Premananda's `Meditation Classes' have becomevery popular and there is a great

demand. This bookletwill help aspirants and seekers.Published ByTHE DIVINE LIFE

SOCIETYP.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh,

Himalayas,

India.--ContentsMeditation

And Its Utility In Daily Life Meditation Practice I. "Silence Is The Great

Revelation"—Lao-Tse II. Body Sensations III. Deepening Exercise—Body Sensations

IV. Thought Control V. Breathing Sensations VI. God In My Breath VII.

Breath—Communication With God VIII. Stillness IX. Body Prayer X. The Touch of

God XI. Concentration XII. Finding God In All Things Individual's Uplift And

World Welfare

--OM

Meditation And Its Utility In Daily Life Meditation is not for a few but is

necessary for all human beings. The inner self of a person touches the Higher

Self (the Param-Tattwa) during deep sleep daily. This unknown touch recharges

the battery of man. So, when he gets up from his sleep, he feels that he is

refreshed, full of strength and relaxed. This is a natural process for all

persons alike. If one could not sleep properly, he feels disturbed and is in a

sort of weariness. It is the experience of every man, whether he is rich or a

beggar, a literate or an illiterate, an executive or a labourer, a farmer or a

business man, a housewife or a huckster. So, every man needs peace, strength,

ability to discharge his duties and for tranquillity of mind. So, a wonderful

discovery of man is to keep his inner self in touch with the SOURCE in a

wakeful state for longer periods continuously through specific type of

systematic practices. This is called the art of meditation. And such a person

is said to be a YOGI without any discretion/distinction of caste, creed, colour

and country. Dhyanam nirvishayam manah—That state of the mind, wherein thereare

no Vishayas or sensory thoughts, is meditation. Whether oriental or occidental,

Hinduism or Mohammedanism, Buddhism or Jainism, Christianity or Judaism,

Shinto-ism or any other`ism', the spiritual purpose and meaning is to lead

anindividual soul to the ecstatic communion with the Universal Divinity or ONE

TRUTH, the SOURCE. A continuous flow of perception of thought is Dhyana—Tatra

pratyayaikatanata dhyanam. It is the flow ofcontinuous thought of one object or

God or Atman or Supreme Source—Tailadharavat. According to Raja Yoga, meditation

is the seventh rung or step in the ladder of Yoga. One cannot attain this state

unless he knows the art of "Concentration". What is concentration? —

Desabandhas-chittasya dharana. Concentration is fixing the mind on an external

object or an internal point continuously, without interruption or break for

twelve seconds. So, an aspirant has to develop himself in concentration, which

itself is changed into meditation, if his state of keeping the mind focused at

one object/point/subject continuously and spontaneously for 12x12=144 seconds.

It is termed as `Dhyana'in Sanskrit scriptures, which comes from the root

`Dhi'. InEnglish we generally call it `intellect' which is the basicroot with

different derivations in different practices. However,`Buddhi'(reasoning

faculty) is said to be directly based onthis root term; yet this term is used

liberally by all systems of Yoga, which is central theme of all mystic

techniques leading one to higher levels of spiritual consciousness with

profound depths of spiritual expansion and takes one to God-realisation or

Self-realisation. Meditation may be objective, or on qualities or purely

subjective or one's own breath. In objective meditation the Sadhaka

meditatesupon an idol or picture of his Ishta devata—may be Lord Shiva, Vishnu,

Rama, Krishna, Christ, Buddha or any other god or goddess. For him, the idol is

something alive, vibrating with supreme reality, omnipresent, omniscient,

omnipotent. He may meditate upon the beautitude, the qualities, the activities

of his Ishta-devata. Or he may meditate upon the all-pervading pulsating

Supreme Energy which is within him and without, permeating everywhere. This is

subjective meditation. Similarly on his breath while inhaling and exhaling with

MINIMAL SILENCE. All meditations are good; what counts is the intensity and

unbroken continuity of meditation. An aspirant has to rest his soul on the

bosom of the Lord, to bathe in the bliss of Divine ecstasy, to drown his ego in

the ocean of eternity, to draw sustenance and strength from the SOURCE to attain

whatever he is capable of achieving. A Sadhaka should meditate regularly, chew

and digest what he has learnt, to transform what he has learnt into wisdom, to

apply that wisdom to solve the problems that cross his path daily. Says F.W.

Robertson: "It is not thenumber of books you read, nor the variety of sermons

you hear, nor the amount of religious conversation in which you mix, but it is

the frequency and earnestness with which you meditate on these things till the

truth in them becomes your own and part of your being, that ensures your

growth." A sincere spiritual seeker meditates to realise the Ultimate Reality

to unravel the mystery of life and death, to understand in the bottom of his

heart, what is Truth. Once he knows Truth, he knows the Ultimate Reality, he

becomes That, and there is nothing more to know. A person who has realised

Brahman, becomes Brahman, and lives in Brahman. Knowing is being. That is the

highest state. India has been fortunate to have produced many saints and seers

who had realised the Truth and for more or less time lived in a state of Divine

Ecstasy. Even during the past hundred years people have witnessed such saints

like Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Ramatirtha, Sri

Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Ramdas, Swami Sivananda and several others of

world fame. Ramakrishna would while talking relapse into Samadhi and often

prayed to his Divine Mother not to draw him frequently into Her Bosom so that

he can converse with his disciple, particularly his darling Naren later known

to the world as Swami Vivekananda so that he could prepare a band of workers to

spread his message, the holy message of India. Swami Ramatirtha was often seen

in a state of ecstasy during last seven years of life in India and United

States. Swami Sivananda was another who would often sing and dance or be just

be quiet in divine ecstasy. There have been more in India and quite a few

messengers of God in other parts of the world. Meditation and concentration are

often treated as synonymous. However, I have drawn earlier a distinct line

between concentration and meditation. In further explanation when one brings to

bear all his thought waves on a single point or spot like a laser beam where the

scattered rays of light are concentrated, it is concentration. Every body needs

concentration to understand, assimilate and apply any information, any

knowledge. When the concentration is prolonged for 144 seconds, it is called

meditation and when extended to 144 multiplied by 144 i.e. 20736 seconds =

345.6 minutes, it is said to reach the state of Samadhi. According to Ashtanga

Yoga comprising two main parts of Hatha Yoga—Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama

coversthe first one, whereas Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi, is the

second part. There is no equivalent word in English language for Samadhi.

Concentration is the sixth, Meditation the seventh and Samadhi the eighth and

last stage of Yoga when the Sadhaka is united with the Supreme Being. It shows

that concentration leads to Meditation, similarly prolonged constant meditation

leads to Samadhi. In other Yogas Manana, Nididhyasana, Upasana,

Chintana,Dhyana—these terms are used in different Yogas with subtle differences

in their techniques. Manana is a sort of reflection. It is just to chew the cud

slowly and nicely. It is done through into intense practice of Manana. Chintana

is also a sort of reflection and meditation to assimilate the thoughts in

consciousness for proper and significant impression with profound

understanding. Intense meditation on the Self or Brahman or ANY SPIRITUAL

ILLUMINED PERSONALITY is termed as `Nididhyasana'. As Saint Francis ofAssisi

did. `Upasana' stands for devout meditation which isbeing used in both i.e.,

Jnana Yoga Sadhana and Bhakti Yoga.Upasana means `sitting near by'. In Jnana

Yoga Sadhana the seeker has to sit near the Self or Brahman; whereas in Bhakti

Yoga a devotee has to sit by the side of God. A keen and true regular

practitioner (Sadhaka) will attain quick and sure results, when he proceeds

properly stage by stage under the guidance of his GURU or master. The first

four parts are meant to purify the mind and keep the body strong and fit to

receive and retain the power of the DIVINE. Many moderns, however, equate Yoga

with the practice of few asanas and pranayamas. This is not sufficient for

spiritual uplift. Yet, it is better to practise asanas and pranayamas for

health's sake than not to do anything at all.But Yoga is really first to

withdraw one's mind from the objectsof senses (pratyahara), practice

concentration, prolong the period of concentration under proper guidance to

reach the stage of meditation and finally become one, unite (Yoga to join to

unite) with the Supreme Reality, the TRUTH. Thus meditation is not meant merely

for the recluse, the ascetic, the renouncer. It is of utmost important in man's

day-to-day life. Itis of immense help to a student, a youth, an old man. A man

who can meditate will become a better manager, a better businessman, a better

executive and, above all, a better man. Conversely, if a person cannot

meditate, he will lack composition, courage and confidence to achieve his goal.

Nowadays, several medical doctors and psychologists advise to their patients

suffering from nervousness, unusual irritation, disordered mind, fear and

inferiority complex and lack of self-confidence to meditate in a specific

manner along with the medical treatment. So, the meditation is very necessary

these days when man leads a life of tension and complexity. Every morning and

evening, preferably at dawn and dusk, sit down in a comfortable posture with

your backbone straight, relax each and every limb of your body, and then your

mind, and sit unmoved, in the same pose, as long as you can. It is always

better to invoke your Guru (master) and Ishta Devata first, when you sit for

meditation for their blessings and guidance and gratefully thank them again

when you finish the meditation. Gradually, increase the time of your

meditation. It is easier to relax your limbs of the body but not so easy to

relax your mind. This process of relaxation, stillness and body awareness will

automatically reduce the speed of your breathing, which, in turn, will help in

meditation. So many thoughts will cross your mind now and then. They may even

disturb you. Do not be afraid. Try to remain calm and watch them with

equanimity. Let them come, let them go. Do not fight to free your mind from

thought waves. Try to be indifferent to them. But do not observe these thoughts

with equanimous mind. Gradually, automatically the flitting of thoughts across

the canvas of your mind will diminish. Aftersometime—sooner than later—you will

be absorbed in yourIshta-Devata if your meditation is objective, or in your

Being, if your meditation is subjective. Once, you get the taste of it, believe

me, you will like to taste it more and more and more. May God Almighty and

All-merciful and the Most Revered Gurudev, help you, THEY WILL.

--Meditation

Practice I. "Silence Is The Great Revelation"—Lao-Tse 1. Scripture as the

revelation of God. 2. Discover the revelation that silence brings. 3. Silence

offers, one must attain silence. It is NOT EASY. Comfortable Posture. Close

eyes for 10 minutes. Observe total silence of Heart and Mind. Describe

`Silence' in terms of yourattempts. Experience may infinitely be varied. You

have to still the constant wandering of your mind. To quiet and emotional

turmoil. On approaching frontiers of silence there may be PANIC and WITHDRAWAL.

You may have frightening experience. NO REASON TO BE DISCOURAGED. Wandering

thoughts are a great revelation. Take time to EXPERIENCE this wandering mind

and TYPE of wandering it indulges. SOMETHING ENCOURAGING—awareness of mental

wandering, inner turmoil and inability to be still shows that you have small

degree of silence within you. AGAIN close your eyes, become aware of wandering

mind for two minutes. Now sense the silence that makes it possible to be aware

of wanderings of your mind. MINIMAL SILENCE—as it grows, it reveals more and

more rather it reveals yourself to you. You will have ATTAINMENTS—like WISDOM,

SERENITY, BLISS, GOD, PRECAUTION: you shall have no talk and no discussion.

Inhale and exhale deep and slow breathing throughout. Again close your eyes for

five minutes. SEEK SILENCE. Now see your success—whether more or less. Don't

seek ANYTHINGSENSATIONAL. In fact, do not seek at all. Limit yourself to

observing. Take in everything that comes to your awareness whether big, small,

trite or ordinary. CONTENT of awareness is less important than the quality of

awareness. As quality improves, so silence deepens, you will experience. You

will discover, to your delight, that revelation is not knowledge. It is power:

a mysterious power that brings transformation. II. Body Sensations One must

become aware of certain body sensations of which one is explicitly not aware.

To go around by yourself to become conscious of your toes, your feet, your

legs, your knees, your thighs, your buttocks, your waist, your stomach, your

chest, your shoulders, your fingers (starting from the tips), your forearms,

your elbow, your arms, your full back, then again your shoulders, your neck,

your chin, your lips, your nose, your cheeks, your ears, your eyes, your

forehead, your head, upper side of your head and backside of your head. Do not

dwell for more than two or three seconds on each part of your body. REPEAT it

again and again for five minutes. This act of yours brings a sense of

relaxedness. BIGGEST ENEMIES: Nervous tension, living too much in head i.e., to

remain conscious of the thinking and imagination and to remain conscious far too

little of the activities of the senses. It is a must to remain in the PRESENT

and not in past and future. One must master this technique of sense awareness.

One must learn to get out of the area of thinking and imagination and move into

the area from Head to Heart i.e., feeling, sensing, loving and intuiting where

contemplation takes birth, prayer becomes transforming power and a source of

delight and peace. A few of you may feel an increase in Tension. Note what part

of your body is tense and see exactly what the tension feels like. Become aware

of the fact you are tensing and note exactly how you are doing this. Note means

not to reflect but to feel and sense. You pick up no sensation. Why? Your

sensibility has been dead from so much living in head. Our skin is covered with

trillions (3 Powers of a million) of bio-chemical reactions—that we call

sensations and you arefinding it hard to pick up even a few of them? You have

hardened yourself not to feel may be due to some emotional hurt or conflict

that you have long since forgotten. And your perception, your awareness, power

of concentration and attention are still gross and underdeveloped. It is as a

means for attaining relaxation and stillness. GET IN TOUCH WITH SENSATIONS

AGAIN AND AGAIN without naming limbs and organs as you sense. If you notice an

urge to move or to shift your posture or position—do not give into it.

Docontinue this exercise for a few minutes. You will gradually feel a certain

stillness in your body. Go on with your AWARENESS exercise and leave taking

care of stillness. If you are distracted, get back to awareness of body

sensations, moving from one to another, until your body becomes still once

again, your mind quietens, you are able to sense again stillness that brings

peace and a foretaste of contemplation and of God. HOWEVER, DO NOT explicitly

rest in the stillness. Because resting in it can be relaxing and even

delightful. BUT in it there is DANGER of mild trance or mental blankness which

is not good for contemplation. It is like a sort of self-hypnosis that has

nothing to do either with the sharpening of awareness or with contemplation.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT DELIBERATELY seek stillness or silence within you and not

EXPLICITLY REST in it when it occurs. BUT SEEK SHARPENING OF AWARENESS. In

moments, stillness becomes so powerful that all exercise and all your efforts

become impossible. Then it is no longer you who go in quest of stillness. But

stillness takes possession of you. THEN you may safely, and profitably, let go

of all effort and surrender to this overpowering stillness within you. III.

Deepening Exercise—Body Sensations The body sensations exercise is so simple,

in fact, as to prove disillusioning. To advance in it, you have to preserve in

simplicity. Resist temptation to seek novelty, but try to seek DEPTH. You have

to practise second exercise over a long period of time. You may ask for

benefits. Don't ask. Do what you are asked to and you willdiscover yourself.

TRUTH is found less in words and explanations than in action and experience. So

get to work, with faith and perseverance. Close your eyes. Repeat previous

exercise of body sensations for five to ten minutes. NOW CHOOSE JUST ONE SMALL

AREA OF YOUR FACE, PICK UP EVERY SENSATION. At the beginning you may not feel.

Continue previous exercise, then enter in this area. Be aware of the type of

sensations that emerge; itching, pricking, burning, pulling, vibrating,

throbbing, numbness....... If your mind wanders, bring it patiently back to

exercise. IV. Thought Control By doing previous awareness exercises, your mind

may be distracted. To deal with such situation, you shall keep your eyes half

closed—resting on an object or one spot three feet ahead of you. You are not to

focus on the object/spot. By doing this, you may have trouble with your

wandering mind. No cause for alarm. You practise control over your wandering

mind with patience and perseverance. Gradually you will succeed. To deal with

distraction of mind you may follow any of the two ways: a) You have to follow

your thoughts as a puppy in the streets follows any pair of legs it finds in

motion. It does not care for the direction where they are moving. After some

seconds, you shall make yourself aware that you are thinking. You may say to

yourself interiorly that I am thinking ......... thinking ...... thinking. By

this you will be aware that thinking process is going on. b) The other way to

overcome distraction is to observe your thoughts as a man stationed at his

window watching passers by on the street. After doing this for a while, you

shall keep yourself aware that you are thinking .... thinking .... thinking

..... You may do any of the above two exercises for not more than five minutes.

Thinking tends to stop by making yourself aware of it. A distraction charged

with strong emotion: love, fear, resentment, sorrow—will not easilyyield to

this exercise. Other exercises discussed hereinafter shall help you in that. V.

Breathing Sensations (Become aware of sensations in various parts of your body)

Become aware of the air as it comes in and goes out through your nostrils. Do

not concentrate on the air as it enters in lungs, but limit awareness to

nostrils breath. Do not control your breathing. Don't attempt to deepen it. It

is not breathing exercise, but breathing awareness. Whenever you are

distracted, return with vigour to your task to enable you to make you aware of

each breath. Continue this exercise for ten to fifteen minutes. This exercise

may be difficult for some of you in comparison to previous exercises; but it is

most rewarding in sharpening awareness, bringing calmness and relaxation.

HOWEVER, in attempting breathing awareness DO NOT tense your muscles.

Determination must not be confounded with nervous tension. You may be

distracted at the beginning but you must keep returning again and again to the

awareness of your breathing the mere effort involved in doing this—will bring

beneficial effects thatyou will gradually notice. After developing some

proficiency in this exercise move on to somewhat difficult and more effective

variant: a) Become aware of the sensation of the air passing through your

nostrils. Feel its touch—in which part of the nostrils you feelthe touch of the

air while inhaling .... and in what part of the nostrils you feel the touch of

the air while exhaling ....... b) Become aware of the warmth or coldness of the

air .... its coldness when it comes in, and its warmth when it goes out. c) Also

be aware of quantity of air that passes through one nostril is greater than the

amount that passes through other ..... d) Be sensitive and alert to the

slightest, lightest touch while inhaling and exhaling .... STAY with this

awareness for ten to fifteen minutes. In case you put in more time, you will

get better results. But DO NOT stay on breathing awareness alone for many hours

over a period of more than two or three days. Although this exercise brings you

great peace and a sense of depth and fullness that delights you but prolonged

concentration on breathing is likely to produce hallucinations or to draw out

material from the unconscious that you may not be able to control. AWARENESS

AND CONTEMPLATION AND PRAYER Prayer means a communication with God that is

carried on mainly through the use of words and images and thoughts.

Contemplation means a communication with God that makes a minimal use of words,

images and concepts altogether. The exercise of awareness of body sensations or

breathing can be termed as communication with God. Many mystics tell us that,

in addition to the mind and heart with which we ordinarily communicate with

God, we are endowed with a mystical mind and mystical heart, a faculty which

makes it possible for us to know God directly, to grasp and INTUIT Him in His

very being—apartfrom all thoughts, concepts and images. Ordinarily all our

contact with God is indirect—through imagesand concepts. To be able to grasp

Him beyond these thoughts and images is the privilege of this faculty—a

mystical heart. In mostof us this Heart lies dormant and undeveloped. If it is

awakened, it would be straining towards God and, given a chance, would impel

the whole of our being towards Him. Hence, it needs to be developed, it needs

to have the dross that surrounds it removed so that it can be attracted towards

the ETERNAL MAGNET. To be near or discover Eternal Magnet, one is to find means

of silencing the mind. And to silence the mind is an extremely difficult task.

How hard it is to keep the mind away from thinking, which is producing thoughts

in a never-ending stream. But it is also said that one thorn is removed by

another. So you can be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other

thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or

sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on. For to consciously

attempt to keep the mind in a thoughtless state, in a void, is to attempt the

impossible. The mind must have something to occupy it. The seemingly

disconcerting conclusion is that concentration on your breathing or body

sensations is very good contemplation. The awareness exercises lead to a

deepening of the prayer experiences. Now is the time to expose yourself to the

Divine Sun in SILENCE. VI. God In My Breath With closed eyes practise the

awareness of body sensations for a while. Then come to the awareness of your

breathing as done before and stay with this awareness for a few minutes ....

Reflect now that this air that you are breathing is charged with the Power and

the PRESENCE of God. Think of the air as of an Immense OCEAN that surrounds you

..... an ocean heavily coloured with God's presenceand God's being .... While you

draw the air into your lungs youare drawing God in .... Be aware that you are

drawing in the Power and Presence of God each time you breathe in... Stay in

this awareness as long as you can... Notice what you feel when you become

conscious that you are drawing God in with each breath you take ...... ANOTHER

REFLECTION 1. While you breathe in, be conscious of God's Spirit coming intoyou

Fill your lungs with the divine energy he brings with Him .... 2. While you

breathe out, imagine you are breathing out all your impurities .... your fears

..... your negative feelings .... Your shortcomings and weaknesses. 3. Imagine

you see your whole body becoming radiant and alive through this process of

breathing in God's life-giving Spirit andbreathing out all your impurities

....... Stay with this awareness as long as you can without distractions. VII.

Breath—Communication With God Devotional Prayer may here be called as `PRAYER';

whereas `Intuitional Prayer' may coincide roughly withCONTEMPLATION. Both type

of prayers lead to union with God. Such of them is more suited to some Sadhakas

than to others. According to time and need suitability of these Prayers may

change. Any Prayer that limits itself to the thinking mind alone is not prayer

really but! at best, a preparation for prayer. Even among Sadhakas there is no

genuine personal communication that isn't at least in some small degree heart

communication, that does not contain some small degree of emotion in it. If a

communication, a sharing of thoughts, is entirely and totally devoid of all

emotion you can be sure the intimate, personal dimension is lacking. Here are

some variations of the previous exercise more devotional than intuitional. As

the thought content in prayer is minimal—itwill easily move from the devotional

to the intuitional, from the heart to the heart. Become aware of your breathing

for a while. Now REFLECT presence of God in the atmosphere all around you....

Reflect His presence in the air you are breathing—BE CONSCIOUS OF HIS

PRESENCE.... Noticewhat you feel, when you become conscious of His presence in

the air you are breathing in and out.... Now express yourself to God

non-verbally. Frequently, express a sentiment through a look on a gesture ....

Then again by breathing. Express first of all, a great yearning for Him without

using words, even mentally, say to Him, "MY LORD, I long for You ...."Just by

the way breathe. You may express this by breathing in deeply, by deepening your

inhalation. Now express another attitude or sentiment: ONE OF TRUST

ANDSURRENDER—NO words—just through breath, "My LORD, Isurrender myself entirely

to you ...." You may do this byemphasising your exhalation, by breathing out

each time as if you were sighing deeply. Each time you breathe out feel

yourself letting the whole of yourself go in God's hand. Then, after sometime,

take up other attitudes before your LORD and express these through your

breathing such as: LOVE.... CLOSENESS.... and INTIMACY ADORATION..........

GRATITUDE.......... PRAISE.... if you are tired of doing this, return to the

beginning of this exercise and just rest peacefully in the awareness of God all

around you and in the air you are breathing in and out.... Then, if you tend to

get distracted, fall back on second part of the exercise and express yourself

to God non-verbally once more. VIII. Stillness Modern man is unfortunately

plagued by a nervous tension that makes it almost impossible for him to be

quiet. If he actually wants to learn to pray he must first learn to be still,

to quieten himself. In fact, this very quietness and stillness frequently

becomes prayer when God manifests Himself in the form of STILLNESS. Repeat the

exercise of becoming aware of sensations in your body—whole body. This time

start with the top of your head and end it with the tips of your toes, omitting

no part of the body. Beware of every sensation in each part.... You may find

some parts of your body completely devoid of sensation.... Dwell on these for a

fewseconds — if no sensation emerges, move on...... As you become more

proficient in this exercise you will, hopefully, sharpen your awareness to the

extent that there will be no part of your body in which you do not feel several

sensations.... For the time being you must be content to dwell briefly on the

blanks and move on to the parts where you feel more sensations—Move slowlyfrom

head to foot.... then once again, from head to foot..... and so on for some

fifteen minutes. As your awareness sharpens you will pick up sensations that

you hadn't noticed before.... you may also pickup sensations that are extremely

subtle, too subtle to be perceived by any but a man of deep as a whole. Feel the

whole of your body as one mass of concentration and deep peace. Now become aware

of yours body as a whole. Feel the whole of your body as one mass of various

types of sensations.... Stay with this for a while, then return to the

awareness by parts, moving from head to foot.... then, once again, rest in the

awareness of your body as a whole...... Notice now the deep stillness that has

come over you. Notice the complete stillness of your body.... Do Not, however,

rest in the stillness to the extent of losing awareness of your body.... If you

are getting distracted, give yourself the occupation of moving once again from

head to foot, becoming aware of sensations in each part of your body. Then,

once again, notice the stillness in your body. If you are practising this in a

group, then at occasions, notice the stillness in the whole room. It is very

important that you do NOT move any part of your body while doing this Sadhana.

This will be difficult at first, but each time feel the urge to move, or

scratch, or fidget, become aware of this as sharply as you can.... Don't give

in to it.... It will graduallygo away and you will become still once

more........ It is extremely painful for most people to stay still. Even

physically painful and you become physically tense, spend all the time you need

becoming aware of the tension.... where you feel it, what it feels like.... and

stay with it till the tension disappears. You may feel physical pain, rather

severe pain. No matter how comfortable the position or posture you have

adopted, your body is likely to protest against the stillness by developing

aches and pains in various parts. When this happens, a serious Sadhaka MUST

RESIST the temptation to move limbs or read just posture so as to ease the

pain. Just become keenly aware of the pain. Your awareness may wholly be

absorbed by the acute pain. You may start sweating, may be profusely. Your mind

may think that you are going to faint with pain; at such moment firmly decide

Not to fight it, Not to run away from it, Not to desire to alleviate it, but to

become aware of it, to identify with it. Then you may see that the pain

sensation is broken into its component parts and you may be surprised to

discover that it is composed of many sensations viz., intense burning sensation

a pulling and tugging, a sharp, shooting sensation which may merge every now and

then.... and a point which may keep moving from one place to another.... This

point you may identify as pain.... As you will keep up this exercise, you shall

find that you are bearing the pain quite well—i.e., pain without suffering.

Every Sadhaka has to experience some types of pains, as indicated above, until

his body becomes accustomed to remaining perfectly still. Deal with the pain

through awareness. When your body finally does become still, you will have a

rich reward in the QUIET BLISS that this stillness will bring you. The

temptation to scratch is another frequent temptation with beginners. This is

because, as their awareness of their body sensations sharpens, they become

aware of itching and pricking sensations that were there all along but were

hidden to awareness because of the psycho-physical hardening that most of us

submit our bodies to and because of the grossness of their awareness. A Sadhaka

must resist such temptations during awareness Sadhana. IX. Body Prayer (A

devotional variant of the body sensation) First quieten yourself through the

awareness of sensations in various parts of your body.... Sharpen your

awareness by picking up even the subtlest sensations, Not just the gross and

evident ones.... Keep your hands on knees. Now very gently move your hands and

fingers so that your hands come to rest on your lap, palms facing upwards,

fingers joined together.... The movement must be very, very slow.... like the

opening of the petals of a flower.... And while the movement is going on BE

AWARE OF each part of it. Once your hands are resting on your lap, palms facing

upwards, become aware of the sensations in palms.... Then become aware of the

gesture itself, this is a gesture of prayer to God.... What meaning does this

gesture have for you? What are you saying to God through it? Say without words,

merely identifying with the gesture... It may give you some taste of the kind of

prayer you can make with your body.... When you pray with your body you give

power and body to your prayer. People fail to attend to their body in prayer;

they fail to take their bodies along with them into the holy temple of God.

When they themselves visit temples or places of worship, they stand or sit in

the presence of God, but they are carelessly slouched in their seat or standing

in a very slovenly fashion.... They are still not gripped by the living presence

of the Lord. Therefore, a devotee of the Lord should try to understand the

meaning and purpose of `BodyPrayer'. The `gestures' suggested are merely

samples. A`devotee' may invent his own gestures to express his `Love',

`Praise', `Adoration',`Surrender', `Gratitude'.... Close your eyes. Quieten

yourself through one of your awareness exercises. FEEL you are in the presence

of God in a very devout way, hands devoutly joined in front of you, slowly

raise your face upwards towards God.... Let your eyes continue to be closed....

What are you saying to God through your upturned face? Stay with that sentiment

or communication for a few moments.... Then become as fully aware as possible

of the position of your face.... of the sensations on your face.... After a few

moments ask yourself once again what you are expressing to God through your

upturned face and stay with that for a while.... X. The Touch of God This is a

devotional variant to the exercises on body sensations that you will find

helpful if you have reservations about calling the body sensation exercises

true prayer or contemplation. Repeat one of the body sensation exercises. Take

some time to experience as many and as subtle sensations as you can in various

parts of your body...... Now make the REFLECTION: Every sensation I feel, no

matter how light and subtle is the result of a bio-chemical reaction that could

not exist except for God's Almighty Power.... FEEL God's power atwork in the

production of every single sensation.... Feel HIM touching you in each of those

sensations that HE is producing.... Feel the touch of God in different parts of

your body: rough, smooth, pleasurable, painful.... The experience of God need

not be something sensational or out of the ordinary, unless your devotion and

Divine Love is developed. There is, no doubt, an experience of God that is

different from the ordinary run of experiences that we are accustomed to: there

is the deep silence that I spoke of earlier, the glowing darkness, the emptiness

that brings fulfilment. There are sudden, unaccountable flashes of Eternity or

of the infinite that comes to us when we least expect them, in the midst of our

work. One needs to do so little, really, to experience God. All one needs to do

is quieten oneself, become still—and become awareof the feel of your hand.

Beware of the sensations in your hand.... There you have God, living and

working in you, touching you, intensely near you.... Feel HIM.... Experience

HIM. Most of the devotees look upon an experience like this as far too

pedestrian. Surely there is more to the experience of God than just the simple

feel of the sensations of one's right hand. This needs a long explanation to

know the reality—Yet, you are assured that these simple and humble exercises

shall help you a lot to march towards that reality. We forget all too easily

that one of the big lessons of incarnations is that God is found in the

ordinary also. Do you wish to see God? Look at the fact next to you. You want

to hear him? Listen to the cry of a baby, the loud laughter of a simple party,

the wind rustling in the trees. Or just quieten yourself, become aware of the

sensations in your body, sense HIS ALMIGHTY POWER at work in you and feel how

near He is to you. XI. Concentration (This is an exercise in pure awareness)

Choose one sense object for a basic object of attention. It is suggested that

you choose either the sensations in one part of your body of your breathing or

the sounds around you. Focus your attention on this object, but do so in such a

way that if your attention shifts to something else you are immediately aware of

the shift. Let us suppose you have chosen for your basic object of attention

your breathing. Well, then, concentrate on your breathing.... It is quite

likely that after a while your attention will move to something else—a thought,

a sound, a feeling.... Now provided you are awareof this shift of attention to

something else, this shift is not to be counted as a distraction. It is

important, however, that you be aware of the shift while the shift is taking

place or immediately after it has taken place. Count it a distraction only if

you become aware of the shift long after it has taken place. Suppose you choose

breathing as your basic object of attention. Then your exercise will possibly go

something like this:— "I am breathing.... I am breathing.... Now I am

thinking.... thinking.... thinking.... Now I am listening to a sound....

listening.... listening.... Now I am irritated.... irritated. Now I feel

bored.... bored.... bored...." In this exercise, the wandering of the mind is

not considered a distraction provided you are aware that your attention is

shifting to some other object.... Once you have become aware of this shift,

stay with the new object (thinking, listening, feeling....) for a while, then

return to the basic object of your attention (breathing).... your skill in

self-awareness may become so great that you will not only become aware of the

shift of your attention on to some object, but even of the desire to shift, the

impulse in you to shift on to something else. As when you want to move your hand

you will first become conscious of the desire arising within you to move the

hand, your consent to this desire, your carrying out of this desire, the very

first stirring of your hand.... All of which activities are performed in an

infinitesimal fraction of a second and so we find it impossible to distinguish

one from the other until the silence and stillness within us has become almost

total and our awareness has acquired razor edge sharpness. Self-awareness is a

powerful means for increasing in love of God and of neighbour. The

self-awareness heightens the love. The love, when it is genuine, fosters deeper

self-awareness. Do not go in search of abstruse means for developing your

self-awareness. Begin with humble things like the awareness of the feel of your

body or awareness of the things around you and then more on to exercises like

the ones which are suggested here and it won't belong before you notice the

fruits of peacefulness and love that heightened self-awareness brings with it.

XII. Finding God In All Things (This is a recapitulation of most of the

previous exercises) Do any of the awareness exercises that have preceded. Take

your body sensation, for instance, as the focus of your attention.... Observe

not only the sensations that yield themselves readily to your awareness, the

grosser sensations but also the subtler ones.... If possible, do not give the

sensations any names (burning, numbness, pricking, itching, cold.... ). Just

feel the sensations without putting a label on to them.... Do the same with

sounds.... Capture as many of them as possible.... Do not try to identify the

source of the sounds. Listen to the sounds without putting a label on to them.

As you proceed with this exercise you will notice a great peacefulness coming

upon you, a deep silence.... Now become aware, briefly, of this peacefulness

and silence...... Feel how good it is to be here now. To have nothing to do. To

just be. Be. For those who are more devotionally inclined. Do the previous

exercise until you sense the peacefulness that comes with it.... Become aware,

for a brief while, of that peacefulness and silence.... Now express yourself to

God non-verbally. Imagine that you are dumb and you can only communicate with

your eyes and your breathing. Say to the Lord, non-verbally, "Lord, it is good

to be here withyou." Or, do not communicate with the Lord at all. Just rest

inHis presence. Also, for the devotionally inclined, a rudimentary exercise in

finding God in all things. Return to the world of the senses.... Become as

keenly aware as possible of the air you breathe.... of the sounds around

you.... of the sensations you feel in your body.... Sense God in the air, the

sounds, the sensations. Rest in this whole world of the senses. Rest in God....

Surrender to this whole world of the senses (sounds, tactile sensations,

colours....) ...... ...... Surrender to God ......

--Individual's

Uplift And World Welfare The Divine Life ideal offers a panacea for all the

social and political ills of the modern world. The three fundamentals of Divine

Life—Serve, Love, Give—are the pillars upon which anindividual can stand and

uplift himself and the brotherhood of man can be built. Thus the life in this

world can become more fearless and happy as well as purposeful. If one tries to

observe people, one may see there three types of persons—extroverts, introverts

and ambiverts. Extroverts arepersons whose mind always goes outwards. They

become slaves of their senses. They are after money, pleasure and passion,

position and power, honour and acclaim. They are bound with the conditions and

circumstances and the circumference of life. Naturally, their pursuit is of the

outer and they forget the purpose and destination of human life. Introverts are

those persons who are reflective and contemplative and long to study their

inner realm, the inner universe hidden within. Goethe called it as "Man's inner

universe". They renouncepleasure and position, keeping themselves aloof—away

from acclaimand honour. The charm of the world is such that one may find only a

few who are introverts. Ambivert is a person who does not cut himself from the

outer, but lives in the `inner' and makes the outera vehicle of the inner. He

dedicates his life in selfless service of humanity and places his life as an

offering at the altar of the Great Creator of the universe the Lord. Such a

person realises the sanctity of service, seeking nothing for himself, keeping

ablaze the Divinity within. They are the embodiments of humility and compassion

and love pure and simple at heart. But without becoming introvert it is not

possible for anyone to become ambivert. And such a person is called sadhaka in

its real perspective. In fact, man is an inborn sadhaka, but fails to recognise

the same due to misconceptions, misunderstandings, arrogance and vanity.

Holistic View "There is a common tendency to isolate spiritual principles from

politics, especially in these days of great intellectual power. Dreamers and

visionaries are often brushed aside as people with their heads in the clouds",

out of touch with stark realities. In somany ways man has become wedded to the

doctrine of self-salvation, self-achievement and self-dependence that in the

resultant excitement of great material achievements he is in danger of

forgetting the eternal truths upon which this entire universe exists and its

future heritage depends. The bad habit of complaining against others, the

conditions and slackness in sincere attempts, and a lack of love for himself

and humanity—and man becomes a prey of vanity which subsists on false values.

Man generally thinks falsely that he is unblemished and superior to others and

that others are blemished and inferior. The inevitable consequence is that he

gets a perverted vision and loses the capacity for seeing and accepting Truth.

If a man develops an attitude of selfishness, he is liable to poison every good

sight and tie. But, if his attitude becomes one of helpfulness and

understanding, he shall beautify every tie—foes will turn into friends,

problems will have their solutions and man will have his salvation.

Unfortunately, man thinks his gain in the loss of others, his progress in

another's downfall and his happiness inanother's unhappiness. It is a

tremendous mistake and a dangerous trend born out of indiscrimination and

selfishness. The inspired visions of saints, mystics and leaders in the

religious education, social, economic and artistic scene of every country have

truly reflected the true aspirations of the people. From these visions was born

the practical reality of everything which is recognised to be good in their way

of life. And of course, everything that is discordant or bad is the outward

result of individual and collective negative or evil thinking or beliefs. One

of the greatest saints of the present day Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj has

placed before the world the `Divine Life' gospelfor the uplift of the

individual and attainment of divinity in the end which can be summed up in six

succinct words, "Serve, Love.Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise." The physical

frame of a man owes much to the world because it is made of the same five

elements of which this world is composed. One has, therefore, to serve one and

all without any distinction whatsoever and without any expectation of return or

reward so that he may clear out his debt towards the world. One must properly

understand that the acquired wealth and power are not his own but are the

`trust'of the poor and weak. In the right use of things lies the key which

consists in the service of others. Service and sacrifice, hence, are the acme

of duty and dutifulness. When a duty is performed as a duty for duty's sake, it

becomes the source of salvation and not thebondage of attachment. But he should

not have the idea of doership. Hence the service and performance of duty with a

feeling of responsibility and pure heart without expectations, which is prompted

by an inner sense of fellowship and unity, reduces attachment and destroys the

sense of doership and thus liberates the man. Love is light, life, eternity.

There is nothing else to achieve in this world but love. In love consists the

perfection of human life. All impurities are rooted in the craving for the

pleasure of the senses, but love is not there. Love is the nature of the

beloved and the life of the lover. One must know that faith and Love go

together, because in the sense of unity resides Love and in the ending of

desire is the dawn of Love. Man has sincerely to understand that the outer form

of action warranted by a given situation generally makes little difference to

the Love and sympathy in one's innerattitude. The man has to learn a great

lesson that he has to love even a sinner, while hating the sin. A man, who is

an inborn sadhaka, must learn the lesson of forgiveness even without asking for

the same from the person who has done something wrong. Thus only the impurities

of man's mind can be washed off. Of course, itrequires great moral strength to

seek forgiveness for one's ownpast wrong actions. Only one who is truly

repentant and who has realised that any satisfaction of the senses derived from

evil propensities is bound to reap a harvest of evil and sorrow. Man should not

be confounded with a seeming contradiction between forgiveness and justice.

Man's sense of justice is distorted, on account of the limitations of his ego,

his reactions are perverted. Strictly speaking, in one sense, man can do

justice only to himself because he can understand his own mind and not of

others. As a man and as a sadhaka one should, therefore, refrain from judging

others; and also one should be forgiving others in so far one feels wronged by

others. When the mind is devoid of hate, a long step is taken by man towards

recovery. Love is the tremendous curative force for an individual and for the

society. So the great Master emphasised greatly this love factor and preached

in practice—Love all, hate none. God is in all, do not hurt Him. The urge to

give happiness to others helps man to destroy his own craving for pleasure. The

desire for pleasure is the cause of frustration; giving and sharing what you

have and serving others with compassion consumes the craving for pleasure. He

warned an aspirant that generosity motivated by attachment, and renunciation

caused by anger are fruitless. The truth is that the supreme giver is ours, but

all the things He gives are His. Therefore, man should learn the lesson of

giving and giving with happiness all the good that he possesses and not think

that by giving he will lose. In fact he will gain something which is Divine and

Eternal. If the three mottos above—Serve, Love and Give—are properly understood

and practised by man in his day-to-day life, he will find that his heart has

become purified and he is living in a higher stage and better society. In fact,

in the renunciation of one's rightsand protection of rights of the others lies

the secret of attainment. His mind becomes purified and then alone he is in a

position to meditate and realise. This is the gospel of Divine life which is

the need of the hour, and if we follow this, we shall be serving this world in

a better way on its upward march. Then alone can there be `Ramarajya'. Let us

march on this path with confidence and faith, with sincerity and strength, with

devotion and dedication. May God and Gurudev bless you!

--Radiate

to all thoughts of love and goodness. Never look into the faults and defects of

others. Always appreciate the good in others. Overlook their weakness. Pray for

the one who wishes to harm you. Bear insult and injury. Be good and do good.

—Swami Sivananda[Om Kleem Krishnaaya Jagannathaaya namah]Send a blank mailTo

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