siddha marg april 2012

THIS E-MAGAZINE, A PUBLICATION OF SHANTI MANDIR, IS AN OFFERING TO ALL.

LOOK TO GOD RESIDING IN THESKY OF THE HEART.

BHAGAVAN NITYANANDA*

Yoga has always declared that thenonphysical space of the heart iswhere Consciousness dwells. Science is now coming to see this, too.

So much is going on in our hearts andminds. So much stuff has been storedwithin us over lifetimes. For thisreason, the heart has to be cleansed,purified.

How do we purify the heart? Throughall the practices we do: chanting,meditating, study, contemplation.

MAHAMANDALESHWAR SWAMI NITYA

NANDA

* The Sky of the Heart, Rudra Press, 1996, p. 212.

Dont Let Your MindTrick You

Question:

Sometimes Im not sure if Im getting what I should be out of your talks and thechants and the other practices. Is there a way to maximize what Im getting?

gurudev:

Its when you get caught in I should be doing this to get the maximum out of itthat problems sometimes arise. It is better to allow yourself to sit and participatewithout saying, I should feel this or not feel this or I should think this or not think this.

Baba used to tell a very simple story about a seeker who went to a Guru and said,Give me initiation.

The Guru agreed and said, Okay, here is a mantra. Now meditate. And he added,But never think of a monkey when you meditate.

The seeker thought, Why? I never think of monkeys. Why would I think of amonkey when I meditate?

Shanti Mandir Issue 10 Apri l 2012

The purpose of Siddha Marg is to communicate the teachings of MahamandaleshwarSwami Nityananda as he shares with us the knowledge and practices of the sanatandharma (universal law). One of the ways Gurudev shares knowledge is by answeringseekers questions. This issue features questions and answers selected from satsan

.gs held

over the past two decades.

Just by doing it and by participating fully,you will get better at it.The value of what youare getting will start

to grow.

www.shantimandir.com Siddha Marg, April 2012, Page 2

So he went back home and he sat. And the first thingthat came to mind was a monkey. He changeddirections. He changed places. He changed postures. Butall he could do was think of a monkey.

He ran back to the Guru and said, I never thought of amonkey before. But now that youve given me initiation, I cant think of the mantra. I can only think of amonkey!

Just by doing it and by participating fully, you will getbetter at it. The value of what you are getting will start to grow. But if you tell yourself, I want to make sure that in this twenty-four hours we spend together I get the maximum benefit out of everything, then your ownmind will trick you. When you leave for home, youll be asking yourself, Did I get the maximum benefit or didnt I? Youll start evaluating. Whereas if you justcome, participate, and then return home, youll be happy.

You see my point? Just enjoy. However much of yourselfis able to participate, allow it to participate. It might bethe whole thing, it might be ninety percent, it might befifty percent. Whatever amount is fine.

We need to prepare and purify the physicalbody, and also the

other bodies within it,to avoid the pitfalls oftoo much meditation.


Question:

Could you speak about the hazards of meditating toomany hours a day?

gurudev:

Ive always warned against over meditating. One thinks,I should just meditate. But Baba didnt prescribe that.He said too much meditation consumes the fluids of the body. The scriptures prescribe many other things study, repetition of the mantra, japa to complementmeditation.

If you look at Babas own schedule during his sadhana,youll find he had an early morning meditation. Then he had a break. Then he had a mid-morning meditation.Then he had a break. Then he had a late afternoon medi -tation. Then he had a break. Then he had an eveningmeditation, around sunset. Then he had a break. Andagain he had one more meditation before going to sleep. So it wasnt constant, non-stop meditation. Hismeditation was spread out during the day, along withstudy, japa, walking, and some interactions with people.

The main thing the sages say is that the mind and thebody arent strong enough for so much meditation. Wegenerate a lot of energy within ourselves as we meditate.

The analogy often used is that of tigers milk and agolden vessel. Tigers milk is said to be such that oneneeds a gold vessel to carry it. Whenever I mention this,I tell people, If youre not sure, you can always get sometigers milk and see.

The idea is that the body is a vessel. Weve done so muchwith it that it takes a long time to cleanse and purify it sowhen we meditate, it can digest and hold the energy ofmeditation. We need to prepare and purify the physicalbody, and also the other bodies within it, to avoid thepitfalls of too much meditation.

Question:

I remember reading that during his sadhana, Babameditated twelve to fourteen hours a day for nine years.How does that compare?

gurudev:

You have to realize that he had done twenty-five years ofseeking and searching before he got to those nine years.

Baba also talked about eating accordingly to make surethe body is prepared. Cashews, ghee, pistachios, andraisins are some of the foods that give us strength formeditation. We use these in our kitchen.

Around Baba, when somebody had a strong reaction inmeditation, a kriya, they would stuff a banana into thatpersons mouth. If one person couldnt easily handle it,two people would hold down the person having the kriya.Sometimes it was just a little person, but even two bigpeople had trouble holding that little person down.Thats how much energy the person would have.

A Golden Vessel

I think those of us who enjoy or have learned toenjoy silence can create silence, at least in our ownspaces. We learn to turn off things that make noise.Because everything makes noise, including ourselves.The whole practice of meditation is about learning toenjoy silence.

We play music. And at some point we want even themusic to stop. Last night after the chant, there was astillness. We have to learn to enjoy that stillness. If wereused to noise, then were dying to make noise. We haveto hold ourselves back and say, Be still. Be quiet.

Focus is a great exercise. Over the years, we have to teachourselves how to focus. Babas experience was aboutfocus. He put forth great effort to get to that place.


The whole practice ofmeditation is aboutlearning to enjoy

silence.

I dont think we fully understand sakti. I mean, we talkabout it. We say what we think it is. But when sakti israw, as we saw sometimes around Baba, we realize thepower it contains.

I think, as the sages advise, that its better not to riskdoing too much meditation. Because all that energy canshort-circuit within the body. Weve seen that over theyears. A person loses it because his system canthandle it.

You ask why? A simple example is taking somethingmade to work in the United States on 110 volts ofelectricity. If you put 440 volts through it, thats fourtimes what it can handle. Its going to blow.

Question:

In our world full of noise and confusion, how do I focus?

gurudev:

Our world is noisy for sure. Yesterday as we werewalking here, after wed spent a few minutes in thecottage, I said, Its so quiet.

Question:

Baba talked a lot about the Blue Pearl. Could youexplain more about it?

gurudev:

The Blue Pearl was what Baba experienced in his ownmeditation as the final goal. He used to say hisexperience of the Self within each one of us was a BluePearl.

The sages talk about the subtle bodies, or energybodies, within us as light. Tukaram Maharaj said heexperienced red, white, black, yellow, and differentcolors. Depending on a persons inner state, you willsee different colors emanate from him or her. Modernpeople call it an aura.

Baba used to say that whenever he saw somebodyapproaching him, he first saw light. He didnt see theindividual, all he saw was light. For him, that was thelight of the Self, which he called the Blue Pearl.

He said that when he was going through his process ofmeditation, he sometimes saw the Blue Pearl comingand going. As he became established in his experienceof meditation, that blue light became steady.

The purer you becomewithin, the brighteryour face is. Thatbrightness is not

because of anythingother than the lightshining within you.


I dont think you can read about the Blue Pearl in toomany places other than Babas books. Thats why I saythat it was his experience. Of course, after he wrote aboutit, many people talked about it.

Question:

So is the Blue Pearl something we can achieve?

gurudev:

You can get to a place where you see the light ofConsciousness. How you see it may be the same assomeone else, or it may be different.

Within this physical body are the subtle body, causalbody, and supra-causal body. They are all bodies of light,or energy bodies. When you dont meditate, you becomedenser. You put more covering over the light bodies.When you begin to meditate, you cleanse and purify thevarious bodies. Then the light shines through.

Therefore, its often said our face is a reflection of howwe are inside. The purer you become within, the brighteryour face is. That brightness is not because of anythingother than the light shining within you. And for that youhave to do living yoga.

The Light ShinesThrough

The MantraRedeems

Question:

I have been practicing Om.Namah. Siva

ya, and today youmentioned Ham

.sa. I started to do it, but I was battling

with it. Could you please put some light on that?

gurudev:

Youre not the only one. So thank you for that. Everybodyhas this issue when theyve done Om

.Namah. Siva

ya, orsome mantra, for a period of time. They wonder, Howdo I do Ham

.sa when my mind automatically goes to Om

.

Namah. Sivaya?

As you sit for meditation every day, you begin to becomeaware of the full breathing process. We breathe, but itsvery rare that we find ourselves taking a full, deep breath,down to the abdomen, and a full exhalation up from theabdomen.

First allow yourself to become aware of the inhalationand exhalation. When you find you are able to inhale andexhale from the abdomen, then along with that breath,do Ham

.and Sa.

The philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism explains that this isthe sound the breath makes as it goes in and goes out.Up to a certain point, you repeat Ham

.and Sa. Then you

find that you become quiet. Sometimes you will hearyourself doing the mantra. But you arent actually doingit. It is happening.

Then the question arises, What do I do with Om.

Namah.Sivaya?

As you go about your daily activities, without beingaware of your breathing, without trying to go intomeditation, repeat Om

.Namah. Siva

ya.

You have to remind yourself in some way or another thatall of this is a reflection of Consciousness. How can youdo that? You cant say, Reflection, reflection, reflection,reflection, reflection, reflection. So you say Om

.Namah.

Sivaya. And that reminds you its a reflection. It remindsyou to smile. It reminds you to laugh. It reminds you tosimply sit back and enjoy.

You use the mantra Ham.

sa as a means of concentration,of focus. And you use Om

.Namah. Siva

ya as a reminder.

Question:

If a person repeats a mantra, either consciously orunconsciously, with the wrong pronunciation, can thatperson kill somebody else or himself because of thepower of the mantra?

gurudev:

You wont kill yourself with the power of mantra. Mantrais that which redeems through contemplation. Whenyou do it with a positive understanding, it helps you anduplifts you.

There are people who use mantras to do bad things. Yetif at the same time you repeat a mantra that protects you,you wont be hurt by that other person. Ive always foundthat the person who chooses the positive route wins.


Use the mantra Ham.sa

as a means ofconcentration, of focus.Use Om

.Namah. Siva

yaas a reminder.

Question:

Can you speak about ways of staying connected to thisliving yoga at times when the mind needs to be focusedon practical, worldly things?

gurudev:

The philosophy of Shaivism talks about a practice calledabhasavada. It means seeing everything as a reflection.

Lets begin with the simple theory of reflection. There isa mirror. Objects are reflected in the mirror. Now, bothare real the reflection and the objects. Anything thathappens to the objects affects those objects. Yet nothinghappens to the mirror. The mirror is independent, right?

What you are asking me is How should I perceive thisbig reflection?

You have to apply the same concept as you go into theworld. All you see there is nothing but a reflection ofuniversal Consciousness. Not every object is aware of thefact that it is a reflection. Moreover, there is no mirrorthere between you and the reflection to remind you thatall this is a reflection. You have to know.

If you go out into the world with the understanding thatall of this is a reflection of that one Consciousness, yourwhole attitude in dealing with everybody changes.

It is okay to mentally say, Everything is a reflection. Butthere is a reality you have to deal with. You cant drivebehind a car and say, Its a reflection, so I wont bumpinto it. Thats not true. Youre going to bump into it. But

at the same time, remember its simply a reflection.

I brought Babas book with me. And I just looked at thetitle: Reflections of the Self.

He wants us to understand how long a reflection is goodfor. As long as you stand in front of a mirror, there is areflection. The moment you move away from the mirror,there is no reflection. As long as the body is here, thereis a reflection. The moment the body passes, there is nomore reflection. Its gone.

Often I ask myself, How do sages who live in theexperience of Self at all times deal with this world?

They are aware that everything is Consciousness, yetthey have to deal with us. I think they dont allow them -selves to move away from the experience of oneness, ofbigness, of awareness, or whatever you want to call it.They remain expanded. We contract. Our contractioncomes about because of fear, because of limitedness.

So the question you want to ask is How do I get rid ofthis limitedness? Because, as Baba said, a human beinghas the potential, the power, to be anything. We can begood, we can be bad. We can do good, we can do bad. Welimit ourselves by immediately telling ourselves, No, itsnot possible. I cant do that.

I think when you are dealing with the world, rather thanthink something cant be done, you have to look at it theother way. You have to think of what is possible, whatcan be done. The only question is how.

Its all about managing peoples perceptions. Think ofwhat the media does. It manages your perception. All ofa sudden, a million people all over the world have read

There is no mirrorbetween you and thereflection to remind you that all this is areflection. You have

to know.


All This Is aReflection

In your own workplace,see if you can create an

environment ofawareness, ofConsciousness.

the same news. And a million people have the samethought: Oh my God!

I think about what Baba did in his time. He got so manypeople to chant. He got so many people to meditate.Historically, there have been places, such as Pandharpurand A

landi, where great crowds of people gather to chant.

Okay, its hot, its dusty, its dirty. Its all of that. But if youcan rise above that, there is the collective experience.

In your own workplace, see if you can create anenvironment of awareness, of Consciousness. Manybusiness places, companies, and factories in India gathertheir workers to chant. They do a rat . Recently, a manbrought a group of his co-workers here so they couldexperience something other than what they normallyexperience. One lady liked it, and she brought her husband and parents.

Because what we do here is so different, I think we getscared. We wonder, What should I tell people?

When I go to a grocery store, sometimes theres a childwho has the courage to say, Mommy, whats a mandoing in a skirt?

She goes, Shh!

The child continues to watch me, and as we meet indifferent aisles, continues to wonder, What is that mandoing in a skirt?

All I can do is smile because I know the mother is afraidI might convert the child into who I am. Of course, Ihave a dress that makes me obvious. But you can bringawareness into your workplace in other ways. You haveto realize that, just as I was ignorant some years ago, my

colleagues, friends, and family might be like that now.

Its not about coming in and saying, Okay, everything isGod! Everything is Consciousness. That will immediatelyput them off.

You have to think of ways to share this teaching. Letthem know youre trying to live a better life. Youre tryingto act consciously. Youre trying to watch your thoughts.Many people dont even know they can be aware of theirthoughts. Some think, I have thoughts. What can I doabout it? However, we can have better thoughts.

So the question arises: How do I improve the quality ofmy thoughts?

Baba said, Read good books. Listen to good music. Keep good company. And then? Well, start with that. Of course, theyll ask, What should I read? So be readywith what you want to give them to read.

All of these are props. They begin the conversation. Of course, for you they serve as reminders that this is areflection. Because it is possible in the moment to forget.

All of us have to find ways to remember the teachings.Baba used to do this. Brahmananda Maharajji used to dothis. He always carried a pocket version of the BhagavadG ta or another scripture. That way, when youre sittingidly, instead of having wasteful thoughts, you can openthe book.

I remember when we were with Maharajji in 1995, inCalcutta. Early in the morning, we all gathered on thelawn for breakfast. He was seated on his chair, readinghis small Bhagavad G ta. I thought, Hes been a monkfor fifty or sixty years. Hes got the whole thing backwards


I am Arjuna. And Kr.s.n.ais speaking to me.These teachings are

for me.

and forwards. He knows all the verses. He knows every -thing. So I said, Lets ask him why he is reading this at8 oclock in the morning. Normally one would want toread the newspaper, to know the latest gossip. So weasked him.

He said, I am Arjuna. And this is Kr.s.n.a speaking to me.

Over the sixty years, somewhere along the line, herealized Arjuna is not somebody else. The teachingsarent just for preaching or sharing, they are what wehave to learn. We have to take away the distinction thatthis is a conversation between Arjuna and Kr.s.n.a on thebattlefield. No, this is my battlefield. I am Arjuna. AndKr.s.n.a is speaking to me. These teachings are for me.

When we read Babas books, we think, Wow, Baba saidsuch great things. Then we read Reflections of the Self andsee that he says, Wash your face and hands. What everfood you receive, whether tasty or dry, eat it only afterpurifying yourmind. Dont be tantalized by deliciousfood. If you are given dry food, dont be angry.1

You might say, Well, of course, Ill wash my face andhands. But what you really have to remember is If youare given dry food, dont be angry.

Sometimes when youre on an airplane, the flightattendant serves you something you cant eat. In thatmoment, you have to realize this is all the person can do.Simply because you would be able to do more, dontthink he or she is able to do more. That reflection canonly do that much. This is the capacity of that reflection.We want to force our reflection upon that reflection. Itsnot possible.

To me, this is what living yoga is about. Its about livingthe teachings, the principles, constantly. Put yourself in the other persons shoes and think, What would I have done?

Once in a while, a flight attendant who finds out werevegetarians will be creative and say, Ill be back. Some -one elsewill just say, Did you order it beforehand? andwont get us anything. Usually we dont want anythinganyway because we have come prepared. But its fun tosee how this person will behave.

Whenever somebody is not nice, or is mean, its a goodlesson. We can remind ourselves, This is how I dontwant to be when I am in a situation like this. Of course,that means we also have to say to ourselves, How do Iwant to be?

In all our dealings in the world, we simply have to ask,How would I like to be dealt with? And then deal withothers accordingly.

Question:

If you are confused, how do you know youre making theright decision?

gurudev:

I have a question. When I ask myself the question, ananswer comes. The answer comes softly, gently. I listento that answer. I am aware that my question has beenanswered.

But suppose instead of following that very first response,I go and get a few opinions. A dozen people give me a


1. Swami Muktananda, Reflections of the Self, verse 369, SYDA Foundation, 1980, p. 97.

We as seekers have tolearn to trust that firstresponse. It comes froma place of truth, ofConsciousness.

dozen opinions. Then I am confused! I may have adozen opinions, but Ive forgotten that first response.

We as seekers have to learn to trust that first response. Itcomes from a place of truth, of Consciousness.

That doesnt mean everything will work out perfectly aswe go along. But we will arrive at our destination. Thereason those obstacles come is because Consciousnesswants to see how determined we are to get to our goal.Will a distraction take us away from our goal or will wekeep going no matter what happens?

If I am coming from Mexico City to here, I can get lost.There could be a traffic jam. The road could be closed.Last time we came, we had four flat tires. Every time wehad to look for a place to repair the tire. Now, I can say,God didnt really want me to go there. Or I can say,God wanted to see how much I really wanted to getthere.

I can say to myself, These are just little thingshappening on the way. Theyre going to happen tosomeone, so today its me. And I can keep going.

This is what focus teaches us. We dont get distracted byall these things.

Nor do we have to dig too deep and say, What is Godtrying to teach me here?

I ran into a pothole, so I had a flat tire. Or I didnt do myhomework to find out the road was being repaired. Webecome wise.

The question is What is my goal? That is what I haveto become clear about. When I am clear about mydestination, I have to stay focused and get there. That isthe clarity each one of us must maintain.



abhasavada the practice of seeing everything as a

reflection of Consciousness

a ratwaving of lights to worship a deity

Arjunaa warrior, hero of the Bhagavad G ta

Bhagavad G taHindu scripture

dharmarighteous law

Ham. samantra; literally, I am That

japarepetition of a mantra

Kashmir Shaivismphilosophy based on the idea that all is Consciousness

kriya-mental or physical purification, generated by the

awakened kun.d.alin

Kr.s.n.aHindu deity, Guru of Arjuna in the Bhagavad

kun.d.alinspiritual energy dormant within all humans, can be

awakened by the Guru

mantrasacred words or syllables, literally that which protects the mind

Om. Namah. Sivaya

mantra; literally, I bow to the divine within

sadhanaspiritual practices

saktithe creative energy of the universe

sanatanuniversal, eternal

satsan.gin the company of a knower of the Truth (saint)

Tukaram Maharaj[1608-1650] poet saint

G l o s s a r y

-

G ta

siddha marg april 2012

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