Satsangam

To, All Members, Marriage cannot be an end in itself. If it is, there will be problems and the marriage will end. Marriage is a means, not an end, whereby husband and wife each seek freedom from insecurity. Freedom from insecurity is their common end and they help each other. Together, as companions, they make the journey. This most significant aspect of marriage is acknowledged in the seven steps of Hindu marriage ceremony. Only when the seven steps have been taken has the marriage taken place. Each of the seven steps represents one aspect of the couple’s journey for which the destination is moksham. Swami Dayananada

To, All Members, Here's how self-punishment works: Not only will I observe silence, I will forgo one meal, or I won't take sugar, or I will take a mala, a japa mala, a rosary, and do an extra hundred mala: OM NAMO NARAYANAYA, OM NAMO NARAYANAYA… Each time you punish yourself it gives you strength. That’s the beauty. Your will power will increase. It may be there a little bit only, but still you have the will power to punish yourself. It may not be perfect, but you did it, and that’s how you increase your will power. Thought is powerful, but thought has no power if there is a lack of will. Things such as punishment increase your will power. When I came here yesterday someone said, “Swamiji, do you want some ice cream?” I said, “No, no I got enough scream today! I don’t need any more added to that!” - Swami Vishnudevananda

To, All Members, Well has it been said that man is the only animal that naturally looks upwards; every other animal naturally looks down. That looking upward and going upward and seeking perfection are what is called salvation; and the sooner a man begins to go higher, the sooner he raises himself towards this idea of truth as salvation. It does not consist in the amount of money in your pocket, or the dress you wear, or the house you live in, but in the wealth of spiritual thought in your brain. That is what makes for human progress, that is the source of all material and intellectual progress, the motive power behind, the enthusiasm that pushes mankind forward. Religion does not live on bread, does not dwell in a house. Again and again you hear this objection advanced: "What good can religion do? Can it take away the poverty of the poor?" Supposing it cannot, would that prove the untruth of religion? Suppose a baby stands up among you when you are trying to

To, All Members, Sri Ramakrishna had now regained full consciousness of the world, and he continued: "There are many kinds of renunciation. One of them may be called 'Markata Vairagya', 'Monkey Renunciation'. It is a false renunciation stimulated by the afflictions of the world. That renunciation doesn't last long. Then there is real renunciation. A man with everything in the world, lacking nothing, feels all to be unreal. It is not possible to acquire renunciation all at once. The time factor must be taken into account. But it is also true that a man should hear about it. When the right time comes, he will say to himself, 'Oh yes, I heard about this. You must also remember another thing. By constantly hearing about renunciation one's desire for worldly objects gradually wears away. One should take rice-water in small doses to get rid of the intoxication of liquor. Then one gradually becomes normal. An aspirant entitled to the Knowled

To, All Members, The practice of Yoga requires a commitment and dedication that involves a deep inner need and drive for the person taking it up. This implies that it is not something that can be successfully achieved as a secondary pursuit or some kind of hobby. Sri Aurobindo describes the nature of yoga: “All Yoga is in its nature a new birth; it is a birth out of the ordinary, the mentalised material life of man into a higher spiritual consciousness and a greater and diviner being.” This means that the normal drives for material success, prosperity, comfort, and fulfillment of the ordinary aims of life cannot be the primary impetus in the life of the seeker. “No Yoga can be successfully undertaken and followed unless there is a strong awakening to the necessity of that larger spiritual existence.” The individuals who feel the call to follow this spiritual path may experience it in a number of different ways. Some come to it as a more or less natural growth and reco

To, All Members, An average person develops a selfish and possessive relationship with objects and beings and suffers the sorrows thereof. The enlightened one maintains peace in his life by remaining totally free from ego and egocentric desires of the world. This state could be compared to an actor on a stage. An actor retains his true identity while he acts on the stage. He cannot afford to forget his personality while he plays his different roles. With the constant awareness of himself, he has absolutely no desire for anything on the stage nor does he develop an ego with respect to the happenings there. He plays his roles to the best of his ability without any ego or desires. Such is the life of a perfected being. He treats the whole world as one big stage and plays his part with neither ego nor yearning for anything that the world can offer. Swami Udit Chaithanya

To, All Members, Hurst: *What is the best way to attain Godhood? *Maharshi: *Self-enquiry leads to Self-Realization. *Hurst: *Is a Guru necessary for spiritual progress? *Maharshi: *Yes. *Hurst: *Is it possible for the Guru to help the disciple forward on the path? *Maharshi: *Yes. *Hurst: *What are the conditions for discipleship? *Maharshi: *Intense desire for Self-realization, earnestness and purity of mind. *Hurst: *Does a Guru want to take control of the disciple’s worldly affairs also? *Maharshi: *Yes, everything. *Hurst: *Can he give the disciple the spiritual spark that he needs? *Maharshi: *He can give him all that he needs, this can be seen from experience. *Hurst: *Is it necessary to be in physical contact with the Guru, and if so for how long? *Maharshi: *It depends on the maturity of the disciple. Gunpowder catches fire in an instant, while it takes time to ignite coal. source: "Surpassing Love and Grace" Chapter

To, All Members, Worldly people think highly of their wealth. They feel that there is nothing like it. Sambhu said, 'It is my desire to leave all my property at the Lotus Feet of God.' But does God care for money? He wants from His devotees knowledge, devotion, discrimination, and renunciation. After the theft of the jewelry from the temple of Radhakanta, Mathur Babu said: 'O God, You could not protect Your own jewelry! What a shame!' Once he wanted to give me an estate and consulted Hriday about it. I overheard the whole thing from the Kali temple and said to him: 'Please don't harbour any such thought. It will injure me greatly. -From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ramakrishna Mission

To, All Members, Sri Aurobindo accepts and supports the validity and potential benefit to the seeker in the relationship with the Avatar, incarnation, Teacher, Guide or Guru. The limitations and difficulties of the egoistic consciousness imply that the seeker should use whatever leverage is possible to effect the transition to the Divine consciousness, avoid or overcome the difficulties along the way, and help keep the focus on the path without distraction. “The Sadhaka of the integral Yoga will make use of all these aids according to his nature…” He also reminds the seeker, however, not to fall into the trap of the egoistic consciousness while making use of these aids along the way: “…but is is necessary that he should shun their limitations and cast from himself that exclusive tendency of egoistic mind which cries, ‘My god, my Incarnation, my Prophet, my Guru,’ and opposes it to all other realisation in a sectarian or a fanatical spirit. All sectarianism, all fanaticis

To, All Members, SIVARATRI DAY TALK : Today is a very auspicious day. A day of worship of Lord Shiva not only during the day but in the night also. It is called Shivaratri because Shiva in Sanskrit means auspiciousness and Shivaratri means an auspicious day, in which we are supposed to worship the Lord and remove the night (of darkness). Darkness is nothing but samskara. According to Vedanta, we are supposed to be in the night – Ajnana Nidra. We are supposed to be sleeping in Ajnanam of sleep and by worshipping Shiva we are supposed to get knowledge and really wake up. It is the night in which Ajnanam is destroyed. So, today on Shivaratri day we worship Lord Shiva. In Puranic literature there are many stories – one of which is when both Brahma and Vishnu wanted to find the limits of Shiva. And both of them could not find out. They were both tired and frustrated and Shiva appeared to them as Lingamurthy – a form coming from Lingam on Shivaratri day. Shiva is repr

To, All Members, "Nature specializes in a kind of Paradox: Nature destroys and her destructions are all always constructive destructions. The bud is destroyed when the flower blooms, and the flower fades when the fruit emerges, and the fruit decays when seeds are scattered and seeds decay when plants sprout. This process of constructive destruction is Shiva, the annihilator. This Shiva-Ratri is the destruction of the ego (PFT attitude) in the discovery of the Self (Shiva). May all devotees come to experience at least the shy rays of the early dawn at the end of one's inner ratri, in emerging beams of Shiva spirit in us. Be quiet. Be silent within. Blind.Deaf, Mum - be. Invoke. Be expectant. Let Shiva happen - TRY." -Swami Chinmayananda

To, All Members, During Palazhi madhanam while everyone was eagerly awaiting Amruth or the nectar of eternity, a deadly poison called kala koodam or Halahalam was produced, which could potentially destroy everything. Siva consumes it in a gulp and saves the world. Parvathi and the Devas stayed awake, fasting and praying while he contained the deadly poison in his neck to become Neelakanta. We need to understand the story in the context of our life. All Hindu festivals were celebrated with the idea of refining oneself and his attitude to the society. Today life is rife with violence, terrorism and killings in the name of God ,creed and colour. This attitude of hatredness symbolises the kala- koodam of our times. Siva should not be mistaken for a person, idol or deity. He represents the Peaceful, Meditative, Strong Mind that can resist the poisons of this material world. Siva means auspiciousness and is the representation of Harmony in Oneself and with his Outside worl

To, All Members, What is the significance of the saying that the nature of the real Guru is that of the Supreme Lord (Sarvesvara) ? In the case of the individual soul which desires to attain the state of true knowledge or the state of Godhood (Isvara) and with that object always practises devotion, when the individual's devotion has reached a mature stage, the Lord who is the witness of that individual soul and identical with it, comes forth in human form with the help of sat-chit-ananda, His three natural features, and form and name which he also graciously assumes, and in the guise of blessing the disciple, absorbs him in Himself. According to this doctrine the Guru can truly be called the Lord. How then did some great persons attain knowledge without a Guru? To a few mature persons the Lord shines as the light of knowledge and imparts awareness of the truth. source: Spiritual Instruction Sri Ramana Maharishi

To, All Members, As long as a man associates himself with upadhis, so long he sees the manifold, such as Keshab, Prasanna, Amrita, and so on; but on attaining Perfect Knowledge he sees only one Consciousness everywhere. The same Perfect Knowledge, again, makes him realize that the one Consciousness has become the universe and its living beings and the twenty-four cosmic principles. But the manifestations of Divine Power are different in different beings. It is He, undoubtedly, who has become everything; but in some cases there is a greater manifestation than in others. Vidyasagar once asked me, 'Can it be true that God has endowed some with greater power and some with less?' I replied: 'If that were not so, how is it that one man may be stronger than fifty? If that were not the case, again, how is it that we have all come here to see you?' The soul through which God sports is endowed with His special power. The landlord may reside in any part of his est

To, All Members, The sense-bound mind and intellect of humanity always finds it difficult to relate to the abstract, the unseen. It is therefore difficult to direct focus, attention and devotion to the Absolute, particularly in the early stages of the process, when we remain deeply enmeshed in the material world and the objects of the senses. All learning starts from what is near and palpable and moves over time to those things which are further away and thus less tangible to our senses. We see then the necessity for the type of intermediaries that arise to help us focus attention and to guide us toward the spiritual realisations. We see these intermediaries throughout the world’s various religious traditions as Prophets, Seers, Incarnations of God, World-Teachers and Gurus, or guides. Moses, Christ, Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Confucious, Lao Tzu, Krishna are just a few of those who illustrate this for us. Unnamed are the innumerable teachers who, having tread the path

To, All Members, There one has to prostrate; that is, surrender the ego completely and feel the absolute Presence. There the mind should unite with and experience the Presence of the Divine Lord in us. After getting up, look at the Deity, mentally say that “I am your Dasa and whatever opportunities I am given, I will do my duty full of inspiration and involvement; with a smiling face and without any complaints. Whatever comes – good or bad, favourable or not, I will accept it as your Prasadam without complaining, criticizing and judging others. I will silently accept your will.” After the Darshan one must leave the temple with a smiling face and full of inspiration and deep silence within. This is the guidance provided by our Masters. But unfortunately, majority of our devotees forget that the power of Deity in the temple is the power of Consciousness within us too. Out of sheer ignorance they pray for fulfilling their mundane desires. They misuse the entire system

To, All Members, After entering the first gate, the devotees are directed to take Pradakshinam in the clockwise direction. While doing this, we have to practise breathing; along with deep breathing recite any Mantra by which the mind can divert its attention from the world to the Lord. When the mind is able to merge in the thoughts of Divinity, one is qualified to enter the inner circle of the temple. The building around the sanctum is called Chuttambalam (Nalambalam, Thidappally etc). Around the Chuttambalam an array of small lamps can be seen. These lamps represent the divine conscious thoughts. According to our Vedas, the light represents the Consciousness within. Modern Science teaches us that where there is light there must be heat. We can see the light and also experience the heat. Similarly we can feel the heat in our body. Where there is heat there must be light. So in the light of Consciousness the heat exists. As we feel heat, we should also continuously under

To, All  Members, According to the Hindu philosophy a temple complex consists of FIVE parts. First is the Compound wall – this represents our gross physical body. When we go to the temple, men remove their shirts and women wear white dress usually. Removal of shirts implies “refuse to think about bodily and worldly matters”. Wearing white signifies the importance of maintaining positive thoughts always. The Kodimaram ( Flag Mast ) represents our spinal chord. When a person uses his or her spinal chord for doing meditation and higher contemplation (on the top, it is the place of intelligence) then alone he/she can find real celebration of successful life. (hoisting the flag on the Kodimaram is an indication of celebration and sharing the joy and happiness). Ssami Udit Chaithanya To be continued  ....

To, All Members, All our physiological systems and mental faculties – are they working because of our breathing and food consumption alone? If we are ready to think, we will find that the power of Consciousness is uniting everything; and that, everything works only with Its support! Our Great Masters discovered that our mind has the potentiality to unite with and dissolve in – not only the body and worldly things, but the Supreme Consciousness also! When we go to the temple, we believe that the Deity will fulfill our desires and help to solve any crisis we might be facing. When we pray, we believe that the Deity can hear our prayers, can understand our problems and has that strength to help us out. All these beliefs teach us that the Deity is a Conscious Power because the power of Consciousness alone can diagnose, understand and offer solutions. This Consciousness in the Deity has come through “Avahanam” done by a Poojari; so the “Chaithanyam” in the Deity is actuall

To, All Members, The Importance and Significance of Temple Worship in Our Spiritual Development: According to our Vedic literature and especially as Lord Krishna emphasizes in the Bhagavad-Gita (13th Chapter), the structure of the temple represents the human body. The divine power in the Deity is the same divinity in each one of us. Though evolution has started from Consciousness, human mind which is the first manifestation of Consciousness, has the potentiality to identify with the body and continuously become conscious of everything except Consciousness itself. Mind can think everything because of the power of Consciousness. You identify yourself as a man or woman of a certain age with certain relationships, responsibilities, knowledge, skills and other attributes. All are limiting themselves at the level of body and mind. But think, the mind and the body work because of whom? Swami Udit Chaithanya To be continued  ....

To, All Members, Devotees would often come to Sri Ramakrishna wishing to learn and discuss about scriptures. Sri Ramakrishna would encourage them. But when these devotees complained about not progressing much in their spiritual lives, Sri Ramakrishna would clearly explain to them the reasons for their lack of progress. He would clearly draw a line of distinction between theoretical scriptural knowledge and actual realisation based on intense sadhana or effort. To illustrate this idea, he would draw the attention of the devotees to the method of learning of how to play on drums. There is a typical drumming instrument called tabla, in India's culture of music. The teacher, when he instructs the students, makes them chant or repeat the different word symbols for different beats. These are called bol and they correspond to the respective beats or tala. If a student repeats the bols while playing on the drum the different talas, he learns faster. Hence, the knowledge of t

To, All  Members, As human beings, we act starting from a state of consciousness which treats the individual as the center of the universe. The thoughts, ideas, impulsions and actions we undertake we treat as originating with us, and we call them “our own”. Thus, in the first stage of the integral Yoga, when “personal effort” is called for, we are essentially starting from this standpoint and continuing to appropriate the efforts to ourselves. Sri Aurobindo clarifies that this “personal effort” is a product of the illusion thus created by the status of the ego-consciousness. “Always indeed it is the higher Power that acts. Our sense of personal effort and aspiration comes from the attempt of the egoistic mind to identify itself in a wrong and imperfect way with the workings of the divine Force. It persists in applying to experience on a supernormal plane the ordinary terms of mentality which it applies to its normal experiences in the world.” At a certain stage as the

To, All Members, Look! While God is bearing the responsibility of the whole world, it is a mockery for the false jiva to think that it shoulders these responsibilities, like the sculpture which appears to carry the temple-tower. Whose fault is it if a passenger in a train, which is hauling a heavy load, suffers by keeping his luggage on his head instead of placing it on the rack? Sri Ramana Maharishi

To, All Members, One looks on God exactly according to one's own inner feeling. Take, for instance, a devotee with an excess of  "tamas." He thinks that the Divine Mother ( Mother Kali ) eats goat. So he slaughters one for Her. Again, the devotee endowed with "rajas" cooks rice and various other dishes for the Mother. But the "sattvic" devotee doesn't make any outer show of his worship. People don't even know he is worshipping. If he has no flowers, he worships God with mere Ganges water and the leaves of the bel-tree. His food offering to the Deity consists of sweetened puffed rice or a few candies. Occasionally he cooks a little rice pudding for the Deity. There is also another class of devotees, those who are "beyond the three gunas." They have the nature of a child. Their worship consists in chanting God's name-just His name. -From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

To, All  Members, What is to be done in a given situation is svadharma. It is the appropriate course of action in a given situation. This can conflict with what I like or do not like to do. As long as what is to be done is in keeping with my raga or what is not to be done corresponds to my dvesha, there is no problem. But more often than not, dharma and adharma are pitted against raga and dvesha. When raga-dveshas are in keeping with what is to be done, they assume the status of dharma. And we should know that what is against dharma is against Bhagavan because he is the moral order. Without any education every human being has knowledge of dharma and adharma. At least we are clear about what others should and should not do to us. That we all commonly sense and that we all commonly sense something, that is order. Moreover, the moral order and free will are connected. We do have a faculty of choice. If we did not, there would be no necessity for a mor

To, All Members, You are the architect of your own fate. You are the master of your own destiny. You can do and undo things. You sow an action and reap a tendency. You sow a tendency and reap a habit. You sow a habit and reap your character. You sow your character and reap your destiny. Therefore, Destiny is your own creation. You can undo it if you like - destiny is a bundle of habits." -Swami Sivananda Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch