Live in the Present

Live in Present

 

One, who thinks that happiness is in the outside world; who is under the foolish impression that he can be happy by eating delicious food, by viewing beautiful sights or by enjoying sensory pleasures; wanders endlessly in different worlds – heavens or netherworlds – but he only gets exhausted being entangled in false worldly pleasures and fantasies. He finds himself incapable of treading the path to God-realization. ‘This path is not for me’, he says. Nothing can be farther from truth. You are born as a human being. It is your birth right to attain divine peace. You are born to tread the path to God. You are given intellect and faith only to attain Self-bliss. Why can you not tread this path? It is not impossible. In fact this is the only task you can do successfully. In all other tasks, you cannot achieve all time success. It is well nigh impossible always to be successful in all walks of life but you can surely attain all time success in Self-God.

If you render devotional service to the Lord and seek worldly things in return, you are sadly mistaken. If you get reposed in Self, your intellect becomes sharp and these small problems will get solved automatically. If you start living in the present, these small troubles will automatically disappear.

‘My wife should obey me… my husband should obey me… my son should be obedient… my body should be free from diseases… I should get sense-enjoyments… I should attain this much wealth or such and such position… then I will be happy…’ Such thoughts rob you of your present wealth of happiness and impoverish you. Each and every man, in his present state, can attain deliverance instantly if he simply attains Knowledge of his Inherently Blissful Self and reposes therein. Renouncing the desire for external pleasures, if one reposes in the Self-Bliss, his delusion will get destroyed and he will gain the memory (Knowledge) of the real Self.   ‘नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धवा’”  Whatever clothes are available at home, wear them; eat simple food cooked at home; when feeling sleepy, sleep wherever you find the place to. Don’t dream for palaces or make it a necessity to arrange for exquisite bedding. If you must, then make it a necessity to shun thoughts of the past and the future and repose in the Eternal Present, where worries have no place.

The gap between two consecutive thoughts of the past or the future is the state of Supreme Self, the Pure Consciousness. One who is always Conscious of this state is God; one trying to be so is a sadhaka and one completely ignorant of it is a worldly man mired in fleeting pleasures of the world. The pleasures may be of our world or of celestial worlds, all of them are worldly pleasures.

When you sit for meditation or devotional practices and worldly thoughts, desires and plans creep in, mentally burn them like offering oblations to the sacrificial fire. This will help you repose in the Eternal Present. Of course, you will not be able to stay there for the wandering habit of the mind is deep-rooted. If you chant “›’, the manifest Word of Supreme Brahman, in protracted intonation, you will get rid of thoughts of the past and the future and come into the present. If you observe your thoughts minutely and reflect on what is happening, the gap between two consecutive thoughts – the previous thought coming to an end and the new thought rising – will increase. This increasing of the gap is reposing in God. If the gap increases to three minutes – just three minutes – you will attain the supreme state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, you will attain Self-realization. The more you repose in that State, the more will you attain spiritual power.

How To Conserve Energy For Brahma-Sakshatkara?

We generally understand Brahmacharya to be celibacy, a very poor translation of the word, and a misdirected meaning also. By celibacy we mean abstinence from marriage, and we associate or identify celibacy with Brahmacharya or continence in the light of the requirement of Yoga, especially as mentioned by Patanjali. But, nothing of the kind is Brahmacharya. It is not non-marriage, and it is not celibacy in its popular meaning. A person who has not married need not necessarily be a Brahmacharin. And a person who has married need not cease to be that. Because, what we have to be careful in noting in this context is the intention behind this instruction, and not merely the following of it in social parlance. The intention is the conservation of energy, and the directing of the whole of one’s personality towards the great objective of universal consciousness. And the energy of the system is required for any kind of concentration, not merely for God-realization or Brahma-Sakshatkara. We require energy even to solve a mathematical problem. Even to build a bridge across a large river, even to study the minute particles of nature in a physical research laboratory, one requires a tremendous concentration of mind. Even to walk on a wire in a circus requires concentration. So, wherever there is a necessity to hold one’s breath and concentrate one’s attention, as in walking on a very narrow passage, tremendous energy is required, concentration is necessary. A two-feet wide bridge without any protection on either side and spanning a stream flowing in a deep gorge below—we know how we will walk on that bridge, holding our breath and thinking only of that narrow passage and nothing else. Certainly we will not be thinking any other distracting thought in our mind. Like that, the fixing of the mind on the great ideal of Yoga requires a complete surrender of oneself, in every part of one’s being, in the form of concentration. This cannot be done, says Yoga, if we have got other interests.

 

So, a lack of Brahmacharya means nothing but the presence of interests other than the interest in Yoga. The distracting object may be anything. If we have got a strong interest in something which distracts our attention, the energy goes. Any kind of leakage of energy in any direction, caused by any object or any event or context, is a break in Brahmacharya. A burst of anger is a break in Brahmacharya, though one does not normally think so. No one condemns a man because he is angry. We may even think him to be a wonderful person in spite of his burst of anger, but the truth is that he has failed utterly in his Brahmacharya. He is broken down totally. Because most people are tradition-bound, they go by the beaten track of social tradition and custom, and think that religion is nothing but what society sanctions. But, it is not like that. Religion is not merely the requirement demanded by a Hindu society or a Christian organization. It has nothing to do with these things. What the universe expects us to manifest from our side, in respect of it, is the great religion of mankind, the religion of God or the religion of the universe. Nobody is going to save us, merely because we are religious in the eyes of the people. In that case, we may well go to dogs with all our religion. What will help us, what will guide us, what will take us by the hand and lead us along is the great law which we obey, in the manner in which we are required to obey it, under the circumstances of our relationship with all things in the universe. So, in every way, we have to conserve our energy without any kind of distraction.

 

Brahmacharya:The Foundation Of Spiritual life

Brahamcharya:The Foundation Of Spiritual Life

Brahmacharya is a sine qua non of spiritual life. It is a great desideratum. It is of vital importance. Without perfect Brahmacharya, you cannot have substantial spiritual progress.Abstinence or continence is the corner-stone on which the pedestal of Moksha stands. If the corner-stone is not very strong, the superstructure will fall down when there is heavy rain. Even so, if you are not established in Brahmacharya, if your mind is agitated by evil thoughts, you will fall down. You cannot reach the summit of the ladder of Yoga or the highest Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

There is no hope for you to have Self-realization or Knowledge of the Self if you are not well established in Brahmacharya. Brahmacharya is the master-key to open the realms of eternal bliss. Brahmacharya is the very foundation of Yoga. Just as a house that is built on a rotten foundation will surely fall down, so also, you will fall down from your meditation if you have laid no proper foundation, namely, the attainment of perfect Brahmacharya. You may meditate for, a period of twelve years, and yet, you will have no success in Samadhi if you have not destroyed the subtle lust or the craving-seed that lingers in the innermost recesses of your heart.

Brahmacharya is the basis for the attainment of Kaya Siddhi. Complete celibacy must be observed. This is of paramount importance. By the practice of Yoga the semen becomes transmuted into Ojas Sakti. The Yogi will have a perfect body. There will be charm and grace in his movements. He can live as long as he likes. This is also known as Iccha Mrityu or death at will.

The practice of Brahmacharya is the most important qualification for the spiritual aspirant, no matter what his chosen path may be—Karma Yoga, Upasana, Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga or Vedanta. The discipline of complete abstinence is demanded from all aspirants. A true Brahmachari only can cultivate Bhakti. A true Brahmachari only can practice Yoga. A true Brahmachari only can acquire Jnana. Without Brahmacharya, no spiritual progress is possible.

Lust deals a deadly blow to the spiritual calibre of man. It is not possible for you to enter the spiritual path that leads to union with God unless and until you control lust and become established in Brahmacharya. As long as lust smells sweet in your nostrils, you cannot entertain sublime, divine thoughts in your mind. That man in whom the sex idea is deep-rooted can never dream of understanding Vedanta and realising Brahman even within Sata Koti Janma, even within one hundred crores of births. Truth cannot dwell where passion lives.

Sexual indulgence is a great obstacle in the spiritual path. It bars spiritual practices definitely. The sexual urge must be controlled by entertaining sublime thoughts and regular meditation. There must be complete sublimation of the sexual energy. Then only the aspirant is absolutely safe. The total annihilation of the sexual desire is the ultimate spiritual ideal.

Sex attraction, sexual thoughts and sexual urge are the three great obstacles in the path of God-realization. Even if the sexual urge vanishes, the sex attraction remains for a long time and troubles the aspirants. Sex attraction is very, very powerful. Sex attraction binds one to this world. Each cell in the body of a male or a female is surcharged with the sex element. The mind and the senses are filled with sex juice. Man cannot remain without looking at a woman, without talking to her. He derives pleasure in the company of a woman. Woman also cannot remain without looking at a man, without talking to him. She derives pleasure in the company of a man. That is the reason why he or she finds it extremely difficult to annihilate the sex attraction. Sex attraction cannot be destroyed without the grace of the Lord. No human effort can eradicate in toto this mighty force of sex attraction.

The organ of sight does great mischief. Destroy the lustful look, the adultery of the eye. Try to see God in all faces. Again and again generate the currents of dispassion, discrimination and enquiry. Eventually you will be established in Brahman or the Eternal. Again and again generate sublime divine thoughts and increase your Japa and meditation. The sexual thought will be annihilated.

Of what avail is knowledge of the arts and sciences, of what avail is reputation or titles, of what avail is repetition of the Lord’s Name or meditation or enquiry of “Who am I?”, if you become a slave of lust? Control this strong urge first by the rigorous penance of sense-control. Before you take to advanced meditation, first become at least a strict physical celibate. Then endeavour to have perfection in mental chastity.

Awaken, then, your hidden faculties, potential energies of all description, through Brahmacharya and attain God-consciousness quickly and get over the miseries of this mundane life with its concomitant evils of birth, death and sorrow.

Blessed is the Brahmachari who has taken the vow of celibacy till the end of life. Twice blessed is that Brahmachari who is sincerely struggling to destroy lust and attain perfect purity. Thrice blessed is that Brahmachari who has completely rooted out lust and has attained Self-realization. Glory be to such exalted Brahmacharins! They are veritable gods on earth. May their blessings be upon you all.