Initiation and Om Yoga

[Guest guest]

Friends,

At atmajyoti.org, readers frequently send in questions on the practical

aspects of its meditation articles. Below is part of a question and

answer which may be of interest.

 

Question: Many references indicate that a mantra is useless unless

empowered by a master. Is this universally true?

 

Answer: Here is the section entitled "Initiation?" from the

third chapter of the complete Om Yoga book:

 

"It is commonly believed that an aspiring yogi must be empowered for

yoga practice through some kind of initiation or transference of power.

There are many exaggerated statements made about how it is impossible to

make any progress, much less attain enlightenment, without initiation.

But they have no relevance to the practice of Om Yoga, which requires no

initiation because it is based squarely on the eternal nature and unity

of the jivatman and the Paramatman–what to speak of the nature of Om

Itself. The japa and meditation of Om are themselves expressions of the

eternal nature of God and man. The eternal spirits need no external

input to return to their Source.

 

"It is when the individual perpetually experiences the eternal point

where Om is common to both itself and God that it can know its oneness

with God, and separation from God is impossible for it. Yet it is still

itself, still distinct, though its consciousness is totally absorbed in

God and it sees only the One, and can say, `God alone exists. There

is no other but God.'

 

"All we need is God Himself in the form of Om."

 

As far as needing a "master" is concerned, here is the preceding

section from the third chapter, entitled: "God is guru in the form

of Om":

 

"Immediately after telling us that God is the Guru, Patanjali says:

`His spoken form is Om.' In a hymn of the poet-saint Kabir, an

Indian mystic of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there are two

important statements: `That Word is the Guru; I have heard it, and

become the disciple.…That Word reveals all.'

 

"Beautiful as the thought of God being the guru may be, is it true?

If so, how is God the guru?

 

"From the depths of God's Being, Om is eternally present, is

eternally flowing or rising, and the same is true of each individual

spirit. The heart-core of God and the core of the individual spirit are

the same in non-dual unity. Om is flowing from the single point where

the spirit and the Spirit are absolutely one. God is eternally

stimulating or `teaching' the spirit to emanate Om as the agent

of its evolution and perfection. In this way God is the guru of each one

of us. One finite spirit may reveal to another finite spirit the way to

realize its oneness with God, and thereby momentarily become a spiritual

teacher for that spirit; but God alone will be the Sat (true and

eternal) Guru.

 

"Om is the ultimate guru, the infallible teacher and guide from

within. Yet, according to Vyasa there is another teacher: our yoga

practice itself. He says: `It is yoga that is the teacher. How so?

It has been said:

 

"Yoga is to be known by yoga; Yoga goes forward from yoga alone. He

who is not careless [neglectful] in his yoga For a long time, rejoices

in the yoga."'

 

"Shankara, commenting on these words of Vyasa, discusses the

reaction that the awakening person has upon learning about the

possibility of liberation from his present state of bondage:

`Meditation on his own being, which is the cause that should lead to

liberation, begins of itself, caused by karma of a previous life or else

by steadfastness in renunciation in this present one. And it goes on of

itself, without instruction from a teacher.'

 

"The experience gained from yoga practice itself teaches us the

reality and value of yoga. But even more, it opens our intuition and

enables us to comprehend the inner workings of the subtle levels of our

being and its mastery. Yoga truly becomes our teacher, revealing to us

that which is far beyond the wisdom of books and verbal instructions.

Moreover, it is practice of yoga that enables us to understand the basis

and rationale of its methods and their application. The why and

wherefore of yoga become known to us by direct insight."

 

Please read the books Om Yoga and The Word That Is God more then once.

 

The bottom line, however, is your own experience through practice. This

is the only way the validity of any methodology can be known. Just see

how both here and in India people are laboring away at all kinds of

exotic "yogas" that have no real basis in the pure Sanatana

Dharma tradition. They get nowhere, but because they have accepted a

great deal of exaggerated praise about the practice and the guru, they

waste decades in "faith" instead of using good sense about their

own perceptions–or lack thereof. People often lament their lack of

progress, but mistakenly blame themselves instead of facing the truth

that their practice is worthless–and so is their guru.

 

[For more from the works quoted above, read Om Yoga–Its Theory and

Practice at http://www.atmajyoti.org/me_om_yoga_book_01.asp

<http://www.atmajyoti.org/me_om_yoga_book_01.asp> and The Word That Is

God at http://www.atmajyoti.org/me_word_that_is_god_0.asp

<http://www.atmajyoti.org/me_word_that_is_god_0.asp> by Swami

Nirmalananda Giri.]