Satsangam

Part-2. "Ye yathaa mam prapadyante taamstathaiva bhajaamyaham" - In whatsoever way men approach Me, even so do I go to them. (Bhagavad-Gita Chp. 4-11) This is the motive or maxim par excellence for people of all religions to adopt in their approach to the so-called different religions of this world. Religions are apparently different, but they are essentially one. There is a non-difference in religions in that they all exist with one objective to fulfill, with one great process or one great spiritual purpose. And that great purpose is religare - once again to bind yourself back unto the supreme Cosmic Source of your being. You were bound unto the Supreme in the beginning. But there now seems to have been a loosening of that bond, not bondage but a bond, which is a desirable thing, a necessary thing, an indispensable thing. That bond has been loosened, so a connection has been broken, as it were. There is never any loosening of the bond or breaking o...

Part-1. Just as the different or various paths of Yoga are but varied approaches to the Divine through one or another facet or aspect of your human nature, even so, the various religious systems that exist and prevail in this world today are ever so many ways of approaching the one Supreme Cosmic Reality, who is transcendental and cannot be encompassed within the confines of the limited experience of our finite senses or our finite inner cognising instrument of mind, intellect, etc. He is known as "Para", in the Sanskrit language meaning that which transcends, that which goes beyond, that which is beyond. There are many effective, equally valid religions. They are, therefore, to be equally reverenced, equally recognized and equally loved and cherished - not merely tolerated. They speak of religious tolerance. The word tolerance smacks of a sense of condescending to allow something to be, condescending to recognize the authenticity or validity or bonafid...

Last Part-7. In the third system, all phases of life's activities are dedicated to God. On an unselfish basis, man's duties are thus integrated. This is known as Karma Yoga or the Yoga of selfless service. The prime and crucial act in this system is the shedding of the ego. When the personal ego is completely abnegated, all creatures upon earth are clearly apprehended as visible manifestations of God, as moving temples in which the Divine is enshrined. The service of others then becomes natural and easy, and every act is performed not as a secular act, but as an act of worship. Engaged in the transmutation of dynamism into divine realisation, one may do his worship everywhere. The teacher in the school, the doctor in the hospital, the farmer in the field, the businessman in the stock-exchange, everyone engaged in professional activity, can transmute his dynamism into pure devotion by adopting a humble and worshipful inner attitude. In the fourth syst...

Part-6. O man! Selfish works will not lead you to the Goal of Yoga. Only unselfish works will help you. Sadhana means something much sterner. You have to ascend the top through the hard way. But once you reach the top, you will drink the nectar of Immortality and Eternal Bliss. There are various systems of Yoga which I shall now briefly describe. The first is the intellectual system in which man employs his human faculties in a supreme exercise: the realisation of the Truth. This is known as Jnana Yoga or the Yoga of Intellect. One listens to the expositions of the nature of God, acquires an understanding of the Reality, then by reflecting upon it again and again, ultimately, one penetrates into it through the power of reason in the depths of meditation. The second system is known as Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion or Love. This is a very sweet path, one which is peculiarly suited and easily adapted to the emotional temperament. One grows into close relationship with the Su...

Part-5. A slender creeper entwined that tree and reached up to a great part of the height. It appeared to be strong, though it perilously dangled in the air. A greedy man, desirous of possessing honey, without much effort, began to ascend the tree with the sole help of the creeper. He was too lazy to cut steps on the trunk of the tree and thought that the creeper was strong enough to take him to the top. When he was a few feet above the ground, a violent wind broke the creeper and the man fell down and fractured his limbs. Similar is the case with those who try to ascend the tree of Yoga (Divinity), in order to drink the honey of Moksha, with the help of the creeper of Kamya Karmas (actions with selfish motives and desires) through short-cut paths. The path of Yoga lies along the trunk of the tree of Divinity. You have to improvise steps on it, with some effort, which is Sadhana (spiritual practices). You have to ascend step by step, starting with Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama,...

Part-4. Neither is Yoga a religious cult. Certain Eastern concepts do lie behind it. This is true. But these concepts do not have anything to do with the evolution of the science Proper. Yoga is comprised of highly evolved and practical techniques which may be applied by persons of any race, nation, caste, creed, church or sect. As philosophical definitions were being formed and as religious concepts of the Hindus were being formulated, the science of Yoga was evolved. Certain metaphysical concepts are peculiarly Hindu and Eastern, but Yoga which is separable from its philosophical and metaphysical background, is a science of universal and practical value. Yoga is essentially a spiritual matter concerning spiritual methods. It is an intensely practical approach towards the realisation of the supreme Reality, the very Centre of all life—God. And it is the heritage of all humanity. Worshipful Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj used to tell a beautiful parable regarding the import...

Part-3. Neither is Yoga 'Fakirism', the impression that is obtained by many tourists and travellers, especially by news-people who, with a strong preference for the sensational and the fantastic, have managed to create the fantastic idea that Yoga is some form of self-torture—lying on a bed of nails, burying oneself underground, chewing or swallowing pieces of glass, drinking acid, swallowing nails or piercing oneself with pins and needles. This has nothing to do with Yoga, and real Yogins have nothing to do with all this. Neither is Yoga any weird ceremonial or peculiar rite. It is not hedonism. It is not paganism. It is not palmistry. It is not prophesying. It is not astrology. It is not thought-reading, nor is it the dispensing of charms to ward off evil spirits or 'possessions'. None of these is Yoga. If people call themselves Yogins and then explain their Yoga by exhibiting any of these unusual feats, then they are misusing the term Yoga. Yoga is not auto-hypnot...

Part-2. First and foremost, Yoga is not mere acrobatics. Some people suppose that Yoga is primarily concerned with the manipulation of the body into various queer positions, standing on the head, for instance, or twisting about the spine, or assuming any of the numerous odd poses which are demonstrated in the text-books on Yoga. These techniques are correctly employed in one distinct type of Yoga practice, but they do not form an integral part of the most essential type. Physical posture serve at best as an auxiliary, or a minor form of Yoga. Secondly, Yoga is not the performance of magical feats. I mention this especially because among the many misconceptions that abound about Yoga, this one is due to certain pretensions which have been made by fake Yogins—pseudo-Yogins. Anything that is good is all too easily corrupted by perverted people. At all times in the history of the world this has happened. Behind the deliberate mystification of things pertaining to Yoga there lies a sel...

Part-1. In Sanskrit, the primary definition of the term Yoga is the state of union with the Divine or the experience of oneness with the great Reality. Yoga, therefore, represents the experience of Truth, the consciousness of Reality, the union with the Divine. There are also secondary meanings of the term Yoga. Yoga is also a set of scientifically evolved and intelligently formulated practical techniques enabling man to shed himself of all the impurities imposed upon him by the nature of his body, mind and senses, and aiding him to concentrate his thoughts entirely upon the Supreme. Thus Yoga means anything that man may do to purify his lower nature, to restrain his senses, to direct his mind towards God, to come into a deep interior level of worship of the Divine and finally to realise his eternal oneness with the Divine Consciousness. The application of yoga is universal. It may be applied within the religious framework. Yet it clearly transcends religion. It is supra-reli...

Part-6. We are trapped in a strange and delightful problem. We need to meditate but we cannot will ourselves into meditation. Meditation is vitally important not only to some of you who might be spiritual seekers, but also to people who want to become more alert in mind and in intellect, and even to people who pursue material goals. If meditation is a state in which there is no mental confusion, there is inner harmony and peace, then it is of vital importance to everybody. Whatever be your aspirations, whatever you are looking for—whether spiritual, intellectual, mental or material—one who knows what it is to meditate, or what it is to surrender oneself to meditation, realizes that the key to any achievement is there. But fortunately or unfortunately, it is not possible to force it. It is extremely fortunate that meditation cannot be made to happen, for the simple reason that if it could, it is liable to be marketed as we already see is being done, and what is even worse, ...

Part-5. The yogi’s approach through meditation deals with the fundamental problem of human response. Once you have trained yourself in this technique (you can call it meditation or concentration) then it is possible for this to happen throughout the day, when there is need for you to respond. And though superficially it looks as if you are self-centred and selfish, you are not, because you have found the key to dissolving the problems and conflicts. That I think is the greatest contribution one can make to human happiness in society as a whole. Half the problem connected with meditation springs from thinking about it. The thoughts that one may have about meditation are not meditation. It is possible to think about it, it is possible to talk about it and it is even possible to ‘do’ it, but none of these is meditation. Like sleep, it is something that has to happen, and one does not know when it is happening, but realises something has happened in retrospect. What is it that puts an e...

Part-4. You have not been struggling, you have not been praying to God to please take this problem away. (That is useless—another one will come.) But in the meantime you have discovered that it is possible for you, without changing the external environment, to be happy within yourself. You taste it. The most important thing in meditation is not to try to solve the outside problem, but to taste the present mood of peace and joy and happiness that is flowing inside. Then when you come out you are able to face this problem. I am not saying the problems we are surrounded by can ever be removed, but the inner attitude can be radically and instantly changed. It doesn’t even take half an hour. Meditation makes this possible by not dealing with the problem head on, but by turning the attention to something completely different (which happens to be beyond the source of all problems). This is not a policy of escapism. Let us take a very simple example of inter-personal conflict. You and h...

Part-3. In real life we see quite plainly that if an external situation was responsible for one’s unhappiness, that situation is not going to be changed by being unhappy. Therefore the yogi said "Free yourself from this external compulsion and realise that unhappiness is a mental mood." The mind substance is still there, it has temporarily assumed the form of unhappiness, the character of unhappiness. You can be sure that even if you are in the worst of all moods now, the sun is not going to be veiled because of you, it will still shine brilliantly. And if you shake off your bad mood and get into the sun, it is to your advantage. You have been unhappy before, you may be unhappy later—‘so what’! All the problems are there waiting outside—let them! For the next half hour sit down and say your mantra, and as you go on in this way, suddenly you discover that the unhappiness is not there any more. Suddenly you realise that you (or something in you) is totally...

Part-2. The problem is that our minds are in a terrible state of disorder, our attention is not steady at all. Physically we are tense, mentally we are distracted. We go to a teacher and he says—"Sit down and repeat a mantra." While you pay attention to the mantra, which is totally unrelated and unconnected with the problem you are really trying to solve, the problem gets dissolved. You don’t have to solve the problem, the problem can be dissolved. That is much simpler, otherwise when you have a problem and someone tells you to solve it, the solution becomes another problem! The confused brain creating another solution, is in worse confusion. The mind, after all, is one thing, not a supermarket. You are happy sometimes and you are unhappy sometimes. When you are unhappy, what happens to that happy person? And when you are happy, what happens to the unhappy person? Are you one or two? It is not difficult for you to see that you are one thing. The mind is one substance whi...

 Part-1. The basic problem in the world today seems to be that there is no interest in meditation as such. It is partly the fault of people who preach and do propaganda for meditation. When you want to spread the practice of meditation and encourage people to take it up, you persuade them that there is some benefit in it. In order to do that the preachers suggest, ‘Practise meditation. You will be completely free of all tension.’ The moment that aspect enters the field of meditation, the whole practice is ruined. From there on you are not sitting completely relaxed, meditating, but you are tense, looking at the state of relaxation which the preacher suggested was your goal. Trying to reach out to it you become more tense. The moment you introduce a goal to meditation, it is gone. Happiness in life comes not by manipulating what you want to achieve but by paying attention to something seemingly totally unconnected with it. In order to make the mouth laug...

Part-5. Once you commence Sadhana, the next important thing you should bear in mind is that you should not give it up. Perseverance is of the utmost importance. All process in this universe are gradual. They have got stages. If you want to go through all the stages of Sadhana and attain the goal, you must have patience and perseverance. Therefore, you should have to always persevere, exert and plod on till the goal is reached. There is another important point that in spiritual Sadhana you should not merely be contented with the positive forces. There are active forces that oppose the Sadhak, that actually assail him and pull him down. Herein comes the necessity of the fourth important weapon—that is fortitude. While persevering man has to have a little courage, not to be easily shaken by the obstacles that assail him. He will have to brave the storm and proceed in spite of the difficulties and adverse conditions, trying to cow him down, to push him off from...

Part-4. Thus, if only man has faith in spiritual course of action, he will act up to it. If a man has to take up Sadhana, if he really wants to obtain this bliss which is not mixed with pain, he will certainly have to repose in faith. The entire social structure and order upon which mankind smoothly runs is based upon faith in mankind which is but a passing phenomenon, why should you not put faith upon the very Creator of these things? Thus you see that the first quality you have to acquire is faith. Now comes the question that having first of all full faith in the words of the seers and realised the necessity of Sadhana, what is the procedure, what is to be done? You may have faith, but if you do not put them into practice—if you do not begin to translate them into action, they will ever remain plans in the blueprint stage. So, after the faith in Sadhana comes practice. You must set about doing. No question of believing. A belief must become on act. Having ...

Part-3. All the ancient saints and seers—the men of God who have had intuition—have been declaring to all the mankind the great bliss, the vast power and knowledge that can be experienced if only man would turn from sensual, the sinful life and strive for the higher divine life. Yet we see today that man is as much immersed—if not more—in worldliness as he was centuries ago and the state of mankind is as apathetic and lethargic towards these questions of a ‘life’ in the Spirit as it was in the beginning of creation. Why is it that in spite of the clarion call of very many great seers, of the confident assurance of the scriptures, of the repeated experience of man himself in failing miserably to attain happiness amidst external physical world, you are again and again being deceived? Why is it that man has not yet learnt to take to Sadhana? Because he does not have a deep and abiding faith in the admonitions of saints, in the scriptures, in the words of those who have tro...

Part-2. Life is the greatest of all teachers and this earth is its school. Truly, the world is the best school. All its lessons are taught through the book of nature.  Nature everywhere abounds with such lofty lessons which alone are quite sufficient to bestow the highest wisdom to man. Each day is a valuable page in this book and each thing and natural phenomena embodies a lesson to one who observes and reflects. And if you carefully analyse and reflect upon every phenomenon of nature, you will find that they all speak of the glory of God, the grandeur of the inner spiritual life; a life of unalloyed peace, bliss and perennial happiness,— yes, it urges you to launch upon the actual Sadhana to make you happy and to free you from grief, affliction and sorrow. Swami Sivananda To be continued....

Part-1. Life is the greatest of all teachers and this earth is its school. Truly, the world is the best school. All its lessons are taught through the book of nature. Nature everywhere abounds with such lofty lessons which alone are quite sufficient to bestow the highest wisdom to man. Each day is a valuable page in this book and each thing and natural phenomena embodies a lesson to one who observes and reflects. And if you carefully analyse and reflect upon every phenomenon of nature, you will find that they all speak of the glory of God, the grandeur of the inner spiritual life; a life of unalloyed peace, bliss and perennial happiness,—yes, it urges you to launch upon the actual Sadhana to make you happy and to free you from grief, affliction and sorrow. Swami Sivananda To be continued....