Purity of antah karan or inner senses

The Rishis of India have defined many kinds of meditation suiting different personalities. Deep concentrated contemplation is also a form of meditation that is suggested for the intellectual kind of seekers who give importance to logic and understanding. Such seekers read holy scriptures and listen to the talks of Saints till the time something touches them deeply and then, they sit in the contemplation of the deep meaning behind those words.

Shabdaà  -->  Arthaà  --> Tatvaà

Shravanaà  --> Mananaà  --> Nityadhyasanaà

By delving deep into the artha (meaning and purport) of the shabda(words) , such seekers dive into the realm of Tatva. Fortunate are those who tread this form of spiritual journey. For such seekers, here is a deep thought of spiritual wisdom.

Tree of Life

A lot of Saints describe the beautiful analogy of human life with a tree. When we look around, we find that there are people who are strong and stay steady in all the circumstances of life. Those are the people who also contribute to the welfare of others and the society as a whole. While there are others who are flimsy and emotional. They can be shattered by minor adversities. They always seek help of others.

Let’s see the similarities between a tree and the human life. The strength and sturdiness of a tree is dependent on the depth of its roots. Deeper are the roots, healthier is the tree. Roots symbolizes the spiritual depth of a being. One who remains in solitude for a few moments on regular basis while contemplating on the Self. One who meditates on the inner realms while enjoying the bliss and peacefulness of the consciousness, surely has deep and strong roots. The superficial people, who remains distant from the spiritual Truth, who are always restless while seeking the momentary pleasures of the world, have very shallow roots.

Vedas-a treasure of secrets of life

Vedas are considered to be the bible of Hindus. The Sanskrit word véda "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root vid- "to know". It is a large body of knowledge text composed in Sanskrit. Vedas contains the sublime secrets of life. Vedas are also called śruti ("what is heard") literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ("what is remembered"). Vedas were not written by anyone, but were heard by the Vedic Rishis while in deep meditation. This text has been carefully preserved since ancient times. Vedas are called Marai in parts of South India. Marai literally means "hidden secret".    

Scholars believe that they were written down some 2,500 years ago, though the tradition often dates them to the beginning of Kali-yuga (3000 BCE). Initial Veda was a one huge body of text with more than a hundred thousand shlokas. Later, it was divided into four vedas by Rishi Veda Vyasa and hence is his name, one who divided the vedas. These four are now known as Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda.

Living Yogis in the modern age

The Rishis and Yogis of ancient India used to meditate not only for hours, but for days; not only for days, but for weeks; not only for weeks, but for months and years at a time. But, an inquisitive mind asks – what about food, their daily chores – don’t they have to get up for that?

Those are not just stories. Ancient wisdom was capable of imparting some of the wonderful powers to humans – which modern man calls super natural. Even in the present age there are many instances where Yogis meditate for months without water or food, without even getting up.

In 2005, a young boy of age 14 in Nepal, told his mom that he is going for meditation and will return after attaining self-realization. He told his mom not to worry about him or his health. He went outside the town and sat under a tree. He continued his meditation for more than 6 months without moving from his meditative posture. His name is Ram Bahadur Bomjon and he is 26 years old now. He can sit in meditation like ancient day Yogi – for months at a stretch.

Role of science and spirituality in our pursuit of happiness

What do you think can contribute significantly in the pursuit of happiness- Science or Spirituality? I know that most of you would answer in favour of science. With its spectacular progress in last couple of centuries, science has definitely made human life much easier, healthier and comfortable with its innumerable inventions. Not only that, science has also provided human race with countless means of entertainment. It is no surprise that most of the younger generation is fervent enthusiast of Science.

Another factor that helped you in deciding in favour of science might be the ignorance of true meaning of spirituality and its misinterpretation as part of religion. There are wide spread myths that science is logical, while spirituality is only based on beliefs and superstitions; science can be applied usefully in human life, whereas spirituality is mere set of esoteric impractical philosophies.

History of Yoga

In order to grasp the essence of Yoga, understanding about the history and evolution of Yoga would definitely help. Yoga is one of the oldest art, or you can say science, or philosophy of the world that originated in Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago. Practice of Yoga is very beneficial not only for maintaining the physical health, but also for rejuvenating your mental, moral and spiritual health. The philosophy of Yoga is as ancient as the civilization. According to one of the classical texts of Yoga known as HathaYoga Pradipika, Lord Shiva is the first teacher of Yoga when he preached the Ashtang-Yoga to Mata Parvati. As per Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna is referred as the first teacher of Yoga.

A significant milestone in the history from where Yoga revived itself is considered to be the era of Maharshi Patanjali who systematized Yoga, its meaning and its related knowledge through his Patanjali Yoga Sutras around 400 A.D. So, for discussion on the historical development of Yoga, it may be divided into three phases:

Pre Patanjali Period [Before 400 A.D.]

According to Hindu culture beliefs, Yoga is an eternal philosophy – it has always been there. However, the historical evidences of Yoga were seen up to 4500 B.C. The main sources related to Yoga during those times are Vedas, Upanishads, Smrti, Teaching of Buddha, Jainism, Panini, Epics and Puranas.

The supreme secret of true happiness

First of all, let me shed some light on the meaning of true happiness. I am not referring to the momentary and shallow form of day to day happiness. True happiness is the sublime state of mind that is totally peaceful, fulfilled, ever-lasting and blissful. Once you achieve authentic happiness, you are elevated to a higher state of mind where no anxiety, no worry, no sadness, no unhappiness can touch you. You are not impacted by the vagaries of external world because when you find the true ambrosia within your heart, you are not dependent on the external happiness any more.

Well…. you might think that I am sort of becoming philosophical. Such happiness is only talked about in our religious scriptures, after death, in heavens. You may ask if it is possible to realize such a blissful state of mind while living on earth.

Optimistic attitude of a true seeker

Life is full of avenues and opportunities as long as you keep your hopes alive. A seeker is always optimistic and never gives up. A seeker with an open mind keep on listening to different saints, continue to read one scripture after another, keep on exploring different forms of sadhna with a fire in his belly to realize the true Self and finally attains the goal – the goal of achieving liberty while living, not after death. 

This principle is not only true in the spiritual world, but also in the material world. Let me tell you an inspiring story.

This is the story of a boy from Kentucky. At age 5, his father died. At age 16, he quit school. At age 17, he had already lost four jobs. At age 18, he got married. He joined the army and washed out there. At age 20, his wife left him and took their baby. He became a cook in a small cafe and convinced his wife to return home. 

Two types of seekers

In this dualistic work of happiness and sorrow, positive and negative, peace and restlessness, there is only way to transcend, there is only one way to achieve harmony and blissfulness- that is to seek; seek the higher goal, seek the Truth, seek the true Self, seek God.

There are only two kind of people in this world – those who are the seekers and those who are not.

Let’s talk first about those who are not. They are just contended in the worldly achievements and worldly pleasures. They believe this world to be true. They have no curiosity, no inquisitiveness to know the Truth. Even though they are always restless while running for outer pleasures- they don’t have any desire for peace or lost lasting happiness. While participating in the race of worldly achievements, they don’t have time to pause and think for a moment.  Either they are busy making money or thinking of ways to spend it- let’s plan an excursion trip, let’s go for a movie, let’s do a party, let’s go out to eat, let’s invite friends and what not? They don’t want to keep their mind unoccupied even for a moment because they don’t know how to deal with an unoccupied mind.  

This world is an Echo-Point

A disciple was traveling with his master to spread the message of love, compassion, harmony and inner peace. On the way, while crossing over a beautiful hill came across an echo point while crossing the hill. The excited disciple started shouting loud and to his amazement, the echo vibrated in the surroundings.

“This world is also an Echo-point, son.” Whatever you give to this world, the same comes back to you”, commented the master.

With the eyes filled with curiosity, the disciple sat down and started paying attention to the master’s words of wisdom.

“When you give love and laughter to this world, this world embraces you with love and laughter. And if you give pain and sorrow to this world, same feelings will echo back to you. Let me tell you a story of Winston Churchill and Alexander Fleming.

Neither sorrow, nor happiness is real

A philosophy professor came up with an interesting question for his students at the time of final exams. The class was already seated and ready to go when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on top of his desk and wrote on the board:

"Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist." A panic wave transcended  across the hall. Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over ten pages in an hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair. One member of the class however, was calm and quiet. He closed his eyes for a moment and delved inside to calm his mind in the source of intelligence. He wrote a line and within minutes, handed over his paper to the professor and walked out while smiling.

Spiritual eating habits

In Vedic culture, a lot of importance is given to the act of eating. It is believed that as we eat, so is our thought process. The food that we eat becomes part of us- not only the minerals and vitamins become part of our physical body, but the subtle part of the food becomes part of our thought process. So, a lot of emphasis is given on taking pure and saatvic food. When we offer food while chanting prayers and while paying our gratitude to Mother Nature and the omnipresent God, the food gets purified and become Prasad.

One of the reasons that the modern man is facing restlessness and depression is that just for the sake of taste and time-saving, modern man gets into the habit of consuming all kinds of tamsi food while watching TV. Such common practices leads to all sort of chaos in the society as well. As per our Vedic culture, food is considered as medicine for the illness of hunger and as the sustenance of life.

When we chant holy prayers, our mind becomes pious and peaceful in the remembrance of Paramatma that has made the food available to us in nature. Eating such saatvic food with peaceful mind helps the true seeker in not only attaining physical and mental strength, but also in attaining the goal of spiritual blissfulness.

Here are a few Mantras that a true seeker chants before eating the meal.

   Harir Daatha Harir Bhoktha, Harir Annam Prajaapatih I

   Harir Vipra Shareerast, Bhoonkte Bhojayathe Harih II

   

  O Lord Hari, You are the food, You are the enjoyer of the food, You are the giver of food.    Therefore, I offer all that I consume at your Lotus Feet.