Pointedness in Sadhana

From: "Virendra Deva"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: Pointedness in Sadhana
Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:14:29 +0530

BABA

Intro to PS: In this song the devotee is innocently sharing his inner heart
feeling about that most loving Entity, Parama Purusa. Yet, unbeknownst to
him, the very Personality whom the devotee is communicating with is none
other than Parama Purusa Himself. So that is the unique aspect of this song.
"A'ma'r gopan kathá jene niyeche…" (PS 1272)

Purport:

My Parama Purusa is my most close and most dear; He is surrounding me in
all the ways; I remain under His eternal shelter. He understands all the
vibrations of my mind, all the feelings of my heart-- all my secret tales.
He knows me inside and out; He is aware about everything.

He understands the pain and longing of my heart; He knows what is good
for me and what is bad for me; what is for my welfare; and, what I should
and should not do. All these things He understands well. Parama Purusa is
my everything-- He is my Guardian.

Indeed my entire existence is within the palm of His hand. He knows
everything about me. Whatever I try hide to from Him cannot remain hidden
for long; everything gets exposed. Because He is well aware about my
situation. Whatever I think, He understands. Nothing can be hidden from
Him. Everything is within His reach. He brings everything into the light of
His awareness.

He resides in the depths of my heart. And by His remaining there, my
whole being gets saturated by His divine presence. So He is my most dear
One. In my inner-heart and inner-mind He whispers sweet, loving things into
my ears.

Parama Purusa is living in my heart and He knows everything. Indeed He
is more aware about my whole existence than I am myself. And He constantly
guides me and keeps me under His loving care and shelter. In that way I am
moving...

== POINTEDNESS IN SADHANA ==

Namaskar,
In human life, sadhana is the main thing. And by Baba's divine grace each
and every Ananda Margii is on the path of dharma sadhana. And in that way
we can fulfill our mission of "A'tmamoks'a'rtham' jagaddhita'ya ca"--
liberation of self and service to society.

RELATION BETWEEN SADHANA AND SERVICE

At the same time, side by side, Baba clearly warns us that those who do not
have a deep spiritual flow are unable to do social service.

Baba says, "One should realize that to render selfless service, an
absolutely pure mind is required with the expansiveness of the vast ocean
and the serenity of the blue sky. Otherwise, while promoting the welfare of
the world, one may develop a selfish desire in one's mind in a weak moment,
as a result of which one may bring harm to oneself as well as to the
universe." (Namah Shivaya Shantaya, p.145)

Naturally then those organisations or individuals who are engaged in social
service yet their movement is devoid of spirituality then ultimately their
approach will prove itself defective, tainted by selfishness and hypocrisy.

Thus it is a universal fact that to do social service a spiritual mind is
needed. Otherwise the question comes that, 'why service?', 'What relation
do I have with those whom I am serving'.

In such a situation if a spiritual base is not there, then people do
"service" to others for their own satisfaction. And when they do not get
name, fame, praise, or self-satisfaction, then they become frustrated. And
they leave their so-called social service work, after getting fatigued and
tired.

So whether in the field of (a) pure spirituality or (b) social service, in
both the arenas sadhana is a requisite factor. It has a most important role.

Thus in all phases of human life, pointedness in sadhana is necessary.

SIDDHA MANTRA IN AM

In Ananda Marga we have siddha mantra. Our mantra is charged with a
spiritual incantation. If the mantra is sincerely repeated with proper
ideation then mantra'gha't happens. I.e. the Mantra strikes against the
sleeping kundalini. For more information about this please reference the
discourse, "Mantra Caetanya".

In that way when any margii does sadhana then in the natural course, special
types of feelings come like horripilation etc, if sadhana is done properly.
And those feelings differ from one sadhaka to another. It depends upon the
style of samskara and ultimately Baba's grace.

As Baba says in this following teaching of Guide to Human Conduct.

Baba says, "When the mental flow of a spiritual aspirant moves along the
introversal phase of Macrocosmic meditation, one's animative force having
the potentiality of divinity itself, rises above all tendencies-all
samskaras-- and proceeds towards Eternal bliss. In this state the mind is
vibrated with the Cosmic feeling. The unexpressed divine qualities of
thehigher glands find expression and the resonance of the mind vibrates the
nervous system. This gives rise to pious expressions in the physical body.
In the case of those people whose occult feelings are not physically
expressed due to causes associated with nerves, the mental vibrations cause
certain radical changes, in the various glands within the body. These
occult feelings are basically of eight types--they are Stambha
(astounding), Kampa (trembling), Sveda (sweating), Svaraveda (hoarseness of
voice), Ashru (tears), Romainca (horripilation), Vaevarna (change of
colour) and Pralaya (fainting fit). There are other associated feelings of
these major feelings. For examples--Nrtya (dancing), Giit (singing),
Vilunthana (rolling), Kroshana (weeping), Humkara (roaring), Lalasrava
(salivating), Jrmbhana (yawning), Lokapeksa tyaga (indifference), Attahasya
(bursting into laughter), Ghurna (whirling), Hikka (hiccoughing),
Tanumotana (relaxation of the physical body) and Diirghashvasa (making long
breath)." (Guide to Human Cconduct, p. 38-9)

When such type of sentient bhava or vibrations etc appears, that only
happens with the sincere chanting of one's mantra along with Guru's grace.

MAINTAINING POINTEDNESS

Many sadhakas also experience that in this process heat generates
especially in the spine area. From the muladhara cakra up to sahasara
cakra- all along.

And in particular if the back is kept in a comparatively cooler condition
then the consequent heat which is generated will be released into the
atmosphere. In which case the body will not become hot or overheated.

If, however, the spine remains heated for some time then 2 negative things
result:
(1) Pointedness of mantra japa is lost;
(2) Drowsiness or lethargy comes.

In that case surely the mantra gets forgotten, and the mind goes elsewhere.

Then in furthermore stage sleepiness becomes overpowering and the body starts
swaying this way and that way, and ultimately the time gets lost or wasted.

After experiencing that half-sleep state, those who have poor understanding
may think they were in samadhi. But any proper sadhaka can understand that
after such drowsiness there is no question of freshness when that type of
sleeping sadhana is over.

And if really samadhi is there, then after sadhana full charm will be
present where one can feel the spiritual vibration and its freshness. It
permeates the entire existence for the whole day and longer. But if
drowsiness or sleep overpowers the body then the effect is just the opposite.

So when sadhana is finished one can easily evaluate whether 'I was sleeping' OR 'I was
doing sadhana'. If one's entire existence is not fresh and blissful in a
very strong way then the answer is clear: 'I was sleeping'. This should be
the conclusion; in which case one should feel repentance for wasting one's
own valuable time. And one should take firm determination that their next
session of sadhana is properly done.

LIFE IS SHORT

Because we have come on this earth for a very limited period-- each and
every moment we are moving one step closer towards our cremation.

Indeed in so many discourses Baba has described it like this: That as each
and every breath passes the goddess of death is tightening her grip on you.
So we should utilise this human life to the utmost and take special efforts
to progress on the path of dharma sadhana, all the while serving Him and
His creation.

Grhiitvaeva kesheśu mrtyurńá Dharmácaret

Baba says, "During spiritual practice one should think that the god of death
has already started pulling one’s hair – that one’s death is imminent. And
accordingly one should work sincerely and vigorously; one will have to do a
great many noble deeds within a short period." (Subhasita Samgraha-11,
A Devotee's Object of Ideation)

BABA'S BLESSING

Baba says, "The establishment of a classless society is only possible by
those people who accept the Supreme Entity as the goal of their lives--
whose entire mental energy is ceaselessly applied to one supreme Goal."
(Prout Nutshell-6, p.13)

At His lotus feet,
Virendra

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Eternal Source of Energy

Taraka Brahma BABA says, "Because each and everybody in this universe
gets energy from Parama Purusa, He is the Supreme Source of energy."
"This earth and all the other planets and satellites of this solar
system get their energy from the sun. The sun is the source of their
energy. But He is the source of the sun's energy. And that's why He is
jvalantam."

"And that's why I have said that there won't be any thermal death of
this universe. Because He is jvalantam, He is present, and He will be
present forever. So there won't be any shortage of energy in this cosmic
system." (AV-3, p. 26-27)
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