chanting vs maya

[cbrahma]

Since I have been trying to maintain a sadhana of chanting + regulative principes, it seems my mind is giving me more problems than before. I thought it should become calmer and more focused, but no it sometimes jumps around like a crazy monkey. I hope Lord Caintanya can help me tame it.

[Guest guest]

When we decide to go home, there is a great conspiracy that is activated to prevent this. This is a great war.

 

Often, as I heard it described (but Im not a foliophile not scholar), the illusive energies bear down on those who are attempting their clutches. This explains why the advanced fall so hard, because the war against them is so much more intense.

 

I have tried to refrain from criticism of my peers that have fallen down mainly because of this fact. If one is dawdleing at the bottom, the opposing forces keeping us here are not that concerned, so the pressure is not so great. I got a song somewhere, Ill try to post, hare krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

[mahak]

The Nescience Boat (From the Ragged Edge, 1973)

 

 

 

by mahaksadasa

 

We are asking, "Why are we here, for what reason have we come?

Why is this age of iron so bad? What wrongs have we done

And Maya, she keeps laughing, as she clutches our weary throats,

Guiding us through these hell bound waters on our own nescience boats.

 

 

 

 

Always falling down right here, then falling again over there,

All our attempts to save ourselves spoiled by her illusory snare.

We may find satisfaction, the truth, the light, we aren't alone.

Maya Laughs, tricks us and cheats us, keeps us from going home.

 

 

 

 

Learning through a gradual process about these tricks going on,

There is where Maya waits for us, singing attractive songs.

She surely laughs at us when we take another fall,

Maya always tightens the grip, throws us up against the wall.

 

 

 

 

O Supreme Personality, You are the One Who glances,

Creator of all the things I need so I can serve these senses.

But I served these senses yesterday, as rats, as dogs, as goats,

In this human form, may I fall to You, please sink this nescience boat.

 

Maya only follows Your order, in Your service always plays this game.

At Your Feet in total submission, in recognition of Your massive Fame.

Anyone begging for Your shelter is never bound by Maya's iron chain

Maya never sings of distraction in the presence of Your Holy Name.

 

Until I decide to serve You and Your Names to set me free,

I have to submit myself to Maya who keeps me down eternally.

And She will surely laugh and tighten the grip around my throat.

Guiding me through the last great river to Hell on the nescience boat.

 

[cbrahma]

It's an important thing to realize, that a war is going on, so I can take precautions.

Do anybody have any suggestions as to what to do?

[sanatan]

 

Since I have been trying to maintain a sadhana of chanting + regulative principes, it seems my mind is giving me more problems than before. I thought it should become calmer and more focused, but no it sometimes jumps around like a crazy monkey. I hope Lord Caintanya can help me tame it.

 

I had a good yearlong sadhana period going until June '06, then fell off the wagon with the excuse that my mind was too unsteady...true, mind was/is unsteady, but I had some "philosophical issues" to come to terms with also...like for you, my Christian background is important.

 

Issues now put to rest. New Year's resolution...pick it up again. One thing for certain, and I'm talking to myself here....Lord Caitanya won't pay attention to one who isn't putting out any effort.

[Guest guest]

Find someone you admire and get along with well who has better sadhana than you and start hanging out with that group of individuals for satsang, or with that individual as a spiritual friend. Go to as many different temples and holy places as you can. Listen to and see only devotional music and DVDs.

Have only devotional art and sculpture in your home. Have an altar area and daily offer leaf, fruit, flower, essential oils, incense as you can afford. Do seva for a temple or some great devotional cause. Read devotional literatures before going to bed at night, try for at least ten minutes. Play devotional music before going to bed at night, at least for one hour.

 

By ourselves in practically impossible, so think of a total immersion program. Like to learn a foreign language some people go to an immersion school where people only discourse in that language. Sanskrit is the language of the spiritual realm and the devas and divine guardians who can assist us.

 

Learn what are your personal limits for each activity and then do each limb of bhakti to the max that you can handle. For example "sravanam" or hearing: so when you reach your personal wall of how much you patiently listen to lecture or bhajans then at least have nice Indian instrumental music, so that you have a total immersion. When you get fried with how much you can do at your own home then go to a satsang. When you get fried with other people then go for Deity darshan somewhere where you do not have to be social. When you tire of all those things then do some activity that generates sukritya and so on.

 

Also how is your diet? Diet affects also these processes. Best diet is just simple fruits that fall off of a tree and plain yogurt. If that is too austere then simple whole grains, steamed veggies, nuts, beans, fruits, and yogurt. Don't forget if you can afford it supplementation to your veg diet to get enough of the trace vitamins and minerals your body needs for brain function. Many people are lacking in magnesium and all of the B vitamins esp B6 and B12, as well as the omegas 3 6 and 9 as well as EFAs [Essential Fatty Acids] which govern what you described. Some good foods to include daily if you can afford it or obtain it are: seaweed, brewers yeast, blackstrap molasses, bran, buckwheat, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, flax seed meal, hemp seed protein powder. Try to eat foods in their whole natural state and avoid white sugar, white flour, white rice, fried foods, and whole fat dairy foods.

[cbrahma]

It's prettly slim pickings in the temple that is closest to me. It's an ISKCON temple. There was only one devotee there. A young bhakta who has recently been more distant. Sigh! I don't want to think about association because it will depress me and I will stop chanting.

 

 

Find someone you admire and get along with well who has better sadhana than you and start hanging out with that group of individuals for satsang, or with that individual as a spiritual friend. Go to as many different temples and holy places as you can. Listen to and see only devotional music and DVDs.

Have only devotional art and sculpture in your home. Have an altar area and daily offer leaf, fruit, flower, essential oils, incense as you can afford. Do seva for a temple or some great devotional cause. Read devotional literatures before going to bed at night, try for at least ten minutes. Play devotional music before going to bed at night, at least for one hour.

 

By ourselves in practically impossible, so think of a total immersion program. Like to learn a foreign language some people go to an immersion school where people only discourse in that language. Sanskrit is the language of the spiritual realm and the devas and divine guardians who can assist us.

 

Learn what are your personal limits for each activity and then do each limb of bhakti to the max that you can handle. For example "sravanam" or hearing: so when you reach your personal wall of how much you patiently listen to lecture or bhajans then at least have nice Indian instrumental music, so that you have a total immersion. When you get fried with how much you can do at your own home then go to a satsang. When you get fried with other people then go for Deity darshan somewhere where you do not have to be social. When you tire of all those things then do some activity that generates sukritya and so on.

 

Also how is your diet? Diet affects also these processes. Best diet is just simple fruits that fall off of a tree and plain yogurt. If that is too austere then simple whole grains, steamed veggies, nuts, beans, fruits, and yogurt. Don't forget if you can afford it supplementation to your veg diet to get enough of the trace vitamins and minerals your body needs for brain function. Many people are lacking in magnesium and all of the B vitamins esp B6 and B12, as well as the omegas 3 6 and 9 as well as EFAs [Essential Fatty Acids] which govern what you described. Some good foods to include daily if you can afford it or obtain it are: seaweed, brewers yeast, blackstrap molasses, bran, buckwheat, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, flax seed meal, hemp seed protein powder. Try to eat foods in their whole natural state and avoid white sugar, white flour, white rice, fried foods, and whole fat dairy foods.

[Guest guest]

Association might also include cyber-sangha, and the words of the saints left to us in the form of music, books, poetry, lectures, scriptures. Association could even include inspiring traditional Indian artists, musicians, dance troupes, as well as the teachers of these arts, plus magazines and websites.

 

Also Krsna is very tricky guy. He seems to enjoy to make people yearn for Him. So too there may be a stage we pass through where we yearn for devotee association, for years even.

 

So between now and when that glorious day comes, do the inner work on yourself. Develop the good habits of mind and heart now. Gradually make yourself very clean and pure inside and out.

 

Sort of like people who want to get married or find Mr or Mrs Right. Usually the perfect person comes along when you stop looking for someone else and learn to enjoy your own company. Once the inner work is done of making ourselves whole then we won't be quite so needful and immature when we meet someone who clicks with us. We will be a whole, fully functioning well-adjusted and integrated person with accomplishments in our own right. We won't be like we are so immature that we have to glom on to the first person we meet as a substitute mommy or daddy. If we do alot of work on ourselves first then it will be much more of a mature relationship.

 

In some ways it's nice to yearn for devotee association. Then when you get it you will appreciate it more. And how do you get good devotee association? You need to have the sukritya for it. It's all there in your astrological chart: propensity for bhakti, do you get the association of saints, how will the saints interact with you, and do you have ability to do deep bhajan. The astrological chart even tells you when it will happen: the vimshottari dasha periods.

 

So in the meantime, if you do years of inner work then if you finally get the chance to meet somewhat together persons then you can get much more out of it. Your ettiquette will be better. You will know not to use guru as a father figure to get approval from or other devotees as a social clique.

 

Also sometimes devotees who are immature and hang out together reinforce all of each others' bad habits. Sometimes if it's just you then don't have bad association. Like I am sure not anyone on this forum but sometimes there are people who externally look and act like really fixed-up devotees. But then after the exterior veneer wears off then you find out that they have way worse habits than you have yourself. Then it is actually bad association for you that will pull you down.

 

So you never know, maybe you are lucky. The first Japanese Buddhist monk who went to Tibet, he was really fried with how hypocritical all of the monks were in his own country. Nobody had as strict sadhana as him. If he went to a monastery then in the back of the temple there would be diapers were the celibate priests lived. Why? Because they all had mistresses, the ones who were not gay. So in a huff he left for Tibet where he was sure he would find much more serious people.

 

And when he got to Tibet what did he find? The people who helped him the most were a nun and a priest who had fallen down and were living together. And people had as many bad habits in Tibet as they did in Japan. So turns out he was one of the few people in the world who could actually do all the sadhanas and follow all of the regulative principles. So the next thing he needed to learn on is not be so puffed up and proud of that.

 

He had to learn how to accept each person's limitations and love other human beings even with all of their imperfections. Then the more he did that the more he got into having the deep inner qualities of compassion.

 

So maybe you will never find a perfect situation externally anywhere like this fellow. But keep on being as strict with yourself as you can and then you will be ready for the day when you can get some good association. Being diligent in the application of anything is what creates good luck and good fortune: preparation + opportunity = luck.