“Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-5/6 - By Swami Mukundananda”
Swami Mukundananda is a world renowned spiritual
teacher from India, and is the senior disciple of
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj and founder of JK
Yog. He has received his degrees in engineering from
world renowned institutes in India, IIT and IIM. He has
inspired people all over the world on the path of
spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, service to
society and God realization. For details:
www.jkyog.org
Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-5 [Sadhana Karu Pyare]
Sadhana Karu Pyare is a unique philosophical compilation set in 54 lines and arranged in the
form of couplets (dohas). In these lines, Shree Maharajji has summarized the entire
philosophy of the knowledge of God and Guru (Philosophy of Divine Love). Swamiji
explained the complete set of 54 lines at the Puri Sadhana Shivir in 2008, which we will
reproduce in this series.
This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
brahma māyā jīv kā karu, jñān guru soṁ pyāre
sevya soṁ sambañdh apano, jān guru soṁ pyāre
hari meṁ guru meṁ bhed jani, lavaleśh mānahu pyāre
In this verse, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj reveals that from the Guru, we must learn
about our relationship with God.
God is our eternal relative, even though we may not be able to see Him at present. There is
an interesting event that took place in the state of Kerala during the rise of Marxism and
Communism. Many people spoke against God, and atheism was quite a common practice. A
communist leader was speaking to an audience of a few hundred listeners. He said "There is
no entity called God. It is just superstition and blind faith. If there is any God, I challenge Him
to prove His existence. Here I am, denying His existence. Let Him appear with a flash of
thunder and lightning and kill me. If He does not appear, then it proves that there is no
entity called God." He waited for two minutes and nothing happened. He proclaimed, "If
there is a God, He is a coward. He did not accept my challenge and did not attack me. Or, if
He is not a coward, then there is no God at all."
One person stood up from the crowd and said "God is your father. In this material world, if
you ask someone to prove his identity as a father by killing his son, you will not find anyone
willing to do such an act. Why should a father kill his son just to prove his identity? In the
same way, God is all merciful and all graceful. He is our eternal Father and Mother. He does
not need to go around killing people to prove His own identity."
Our relationship with God is eternal. We do not have this kind of everlasting and endless
relationship in this material world. Our material father, mother and son will die one day.
They are not our real father, mother or relatives. Our true relationship is only with God. Why
is that? This word sambandh, or relation, is made from the Sanskrit root bandh, with the
prefix sam, and the suffix un. It means eternal and complete bond. Do you have such a bond
with your father? No, he passed away twenty five years ago. And recently my mother also
passed away. One of my daughters has also died. That means they were not your
sambandhis.
That is why all the scriptures strongly state:
vedaiśhcha sarvairamevavedyo
vedāñtakṛit vedavidevidevachāham
Shree Krishna says "Arjun! What do you have to understand from all the Vedas and Vedic
scriptures? Only this much that your relationship is only with Me, and you must love Me
exclusively." Lord Brahma says:
bhagavān brahma kārtsnyen triranvīkṣhya manīśhayā tadadhyavatsatkuṭastho ratirātman
yato bhavet
He says, "I have churned the Vedas and the other scriptures three times and have come to
the conclusion that they declare only one thing - Your eternal relationship is with Shree
Krishna alone, and you have to love Him." Shree Maharajji says that God keeps on watching
us and eagerly waits in anticipation, "When will this soul come to me and love me? I shall
liberate him from all bondages that very instant, and bestow upon him the nectar of Divine
love." Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said:
tomār aham yadi kahe ek bār
Dear Soul! Just say it once with all your heart, "O Shree Krishna! Only you are mine." Not,
"You are also mine and this material world is also mine." Do not divide your affection
between your material father at home and your eternal father, God.
We could ask God, "You are never seen, and my father at home loves me dearly." God says,
"Accept that you are mine." We can question again, "On what basis should we accept this
statement?" God says, "Accept it on the basis of knowledge. Understand fully and decide
firmly that you are not this material body but the eternal soul. You will then realize that the
soul's eternal relationship is only with God."
You will attain this knowledge of your relationship with God from the Guru. Understand this
from the Guru in various ways, so that you become convinced. Then on the basis of this
knowledge, you must repeated contemplate about your relationship with God. How and
what are you to contemplate? This will be explained in the subsequent lines of 'Sadhana
Karu Pyare' series.
Kripaluji Maharaj explains in the last line on the Guru within this bhajan: "There is no
difference between God and Guru." He has repeated this in other bhajans as well:
mere guruvar mere giridhar pyāre
dou ekahiṁ ho na sapanehuṁ nyāre
Not even in your dreams should you think that God and Guru are different. Why? Because
God is not in front of us and we have not seen Him. But, our Guru is in front of us and we
can see him. Now, if we look on our Guru as a normal human being, we will conclude that he
is in the same category as we are.
Our flawed thinking will naturally comment, "He sits, stands, talks and eats just like us. How
can he be different from us? We commit mistakes and so the Guru might also commit
mistakes. Then why should we obey him? Hence, we will not follow our Guru's instructions."
This kind of thinking is harmful for our spiritual growth and could even lead to our spiritual
downfall.
There is an amazing example from Lord Buddha's time. Gautam Buddha had a cousin named
Anand. He spent 40 years in the company of Lord Buddha. When it was time for the Buddha
to leave his material form, Anand said "I have got so much association with you, yet I have
not progressed spiritually. In comparison, your other disciples have made great strides."
Gautam Buddha replied "Anand! This is your mistake. You erred when you came to me the
first time, many years ago. Anand asked him "What was my mistake?"
The Buddha then reminded Anand of their dialogue forty years ago.
Anand: I am not your disciple yet but I shall be one tomorrow. I am now speaking as your
elder cousin brother and I have a few conditions. First, I shall make you my Guru, but if
whenever I invite any person to meet you, you should not avoid him under any pretext.
The Buddha smiled: "Yes, agreed".
Anand: Second, you must take me with you everywhere you go. You should not depute me
on work that requires staying away from you.
The Buddha: Yes, you shall be with me at all times.
Anand: Lastly, you must answer every question of mine and should not deny me an answer
on any pretext.
The Buddha: I am ready to grant all that you wish.
Gautam Buddha recalled this dialogue that took place 40 years ago. The Buddha said,
"Anand, you did not develop the feeling of Divinity towards your Guru inside your heart and
mind. You treated me like your younger brother and did not look upon your Guru as God.
Hence, you did not receive any spiritual benefit."
How do we develop a feeling of 'Godliness' towards our Guru? We must always feel and
think of our Guru as God Himself.
gururbrahmā gururvishṇu gururdevo maheśhvaraḥ
gurursākṣhāt parabrahm tasmai śhrī gurave namaḥ
"The Guru is Lord Brahma (The God of Creation). The Guru is Lord Vishnu (The God of
Sustenance). The Guru is Lord Shiva (The God of Destruction). My salutation to such a Guru,
who is the Supreme God".
The key aspect is to think that God and Guru are one. God is present amongst us in the form
of our Guru and Graces us with His presence amongst us as our Guru. If we continuously
remind ourselves of this fact, it will slowly give rise to feelings of 'Godliness' towards our
Guru and help us surrender our mind and intellect to him.
What is the difficulty in considering our Guru as God? We Indians are born with innate
devotion in our hearts. In certain faiths, it is believed that God watches us from seventh
heaven. Look at us Indians. We perceive Divine presence in every animate and inanimate
object. Our culture tells us:
atithi devo bhavaḥ, matṛi devo bhavaḥ, pitṛi devo bhavaḥ
We consider our guests as God, our mother as God, our father as God. We are able to think
of a rock as God and we begin to worship it! We even worship a tree as though it were God
Himself. If we are able to accept inanimate objects as God, what is the problem in accepting
our Guru as God?
So, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "Do not think of God and Guru as two separate
entities. They are one and the same. There is no difference between them."
________________________________________________
Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-6 [Sadhana Karu Pyare]
Sadhana Karu Pyare is a unique philosophical compilation set in 54 lines and arranged in the
form of couplets (dohas). In these lines, Shree Maharajji has summarized the entire
philosophy of the knowledge of God and Guru (Philosophy of Divine Love). Swamiji
explained the complete set of 54 lines at the Puri Sadhana Shivir in 2008, which we will
reproduce in this series.
This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
sādhanā meṁ hai pramukh man, indriyāṁ nahiṁ pyāre
mokṣh aru bandhan kā kāraṇ, ek man hī pyāre
pratham karu hari dhyān man te, jaisī ruchi ho pyāre
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj now begins to explain how we should do sadhana or
devotion. He says that in practicing devotion, the involvement of the mind is the foremost
thing and not the material senses. Why does he say that? This is because, in this material
world, external behavior and manners take precedence. By external behavior we mean
etiquette. For example, we say "Sorry" and "Thank You". These days, people use these words
without any feeling. A "Sorry" denotes that a mistake has been done. But there is no real
regret, and we merely say it as a matter of etiquette. While walking, people greet each
other, "Jai Siya Ram!", which means Namaste. Similarly, people say, "How are you?" In
reality, they do not genuinely care how you are doing. Now, if you start telling all about
yourself and your worries, they will get irritated. They would wonder, "Why did I ever ask
him in the first place?"
So, in this material world, etiquette is followed, and it is just an external act. When two
people cross each other while walking, they say, "Good Morning!", even though they do not
know each other. There is no feeling from the inside; rather it has become a mere formality.
God says that acts such as ostentation, craftiness, artificiality, deception and superficial
words are of no importance in the spiritual realm. God says, "I will only consider the feelings
in your mind." You do not have to say the word "Ram" even once but you have to feel from
the inside. God will note the feelings in your mind, and accordingly reward you with divine
results.
There was a boy in India. He was reciting the Hindi alphabet to God, 'Ka', 'Kha', 'Ga', 'Gha'. A
saint came by and asked him, "What are you doing?" He said, "I am praying to God." The
saint said, "Is this how you say your prayers?" The boy said, "I do not have the intelligence to
recite a prayer, and hence, I am just reciting the alphabets to God and asking Him to make a
prayer of His choice. I simply want to make Him happy." The saint replied, "All glories to such
innocence. God is attracted to such innocent behavior, where there is no deception or
pretence." So, Kripaluji Maharaj says that in this spiritual realm, the mind plays a vital role.
We have to train our mind to think in the right direction.
This mind alone is the cause of liberation and bondage. Our mind's attachment to the
material world has kept us bound to the cycle of birth and death. When we train the mind to
detach itself from the material world and concentrate on God, we are actually attempting to
cleanse our mind.
In this context, let us take a look at the views expressed by philosophers from around the
world. John Milton said, "The mind is a thing of its own. It can make heaven out of hell, and
hell out of heaven." This mind is so unique that it can give you the experience of heaven
while being seated in hell, and make you feel like hell while living in heaven. It is through the
mind that we experience happiness and sorrow. The mind gives us the feeling of pleasure
and pain.
Sigmund Freud, popularly known as the father of Psychology, stated that the nature of the
mind is to be tense and unhappy. This is a fact that can never be changed. It is a waste of
time even to try it. Another well known philosopher from the West, Arthur Schopenhauer,
said, "The mind keeps oscillating like a pendulum between happiness and pain. It will always
keep wavering between these two states and nobody can change this principle."
Many of you may have heard the name of Bertrand Russell, the famous English writer of the
last century. He said that the mind is constantly troubled. You can only do one thing, engage
this mind in some work. By engaging the mind in some work, it will be less distraught. An
idle mind is a devil's workshop. This principle is partially correct, but it is no cure.
So, we see that without the help of spiritual knowledge, Western philosophers lose the
battle against the mind. Shankarachaya said:
jagadijataṁ ken mano hī yen
"Who will be victorious in this world? The one who can control his mind." This is a wonderful
example of the lofty thinking that our Indian philosophers wrote many thousands of years
ago. There is no parallel for such thinking in the Western culture. In India, we have utilized
spirituality to control our mind. There was a saint called Swami Ramtirth. He visited the
United States and preached a lot about hatha yoga since he was a hatha yogi, or the one
who practices severe physical austerities. His weakness was that he would get tempted by
apples. To beat this temptation, he took an apple, placed it in front of him on a table and
watched it. After three days the apple started to rot. Yet, he kept that apple on the table. The
apple decomposed further. He now said, "O mind! are you tempted by this apple? Eat this."
So, these 'spiritual' hatha yogis do hath, the practice of obstinacy or stubbornness on their
mind and try to win the battle against it.
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "This will also not work. Your power of practicing hath i.e. your
'will power' is limited and maya, or the eternally existing, lifeless, cosmic power of God is
unlimited. Therefore, your will power is bound to fail in front of the power of maya." If you
want to win and control your mind, there is only one solution - surrender yourself to a
spiritual power. By surrendering to a spiritual power, God will bestow His Grace and you can
control your mind.
Shree Krishna says in the Bhagavad Geeta:
daivī hyaiṣhā guṇamayī mam māyā duratyayā
"Arjun! This maya power of God is very difficult to defeat. But...
māmev ye prapadyante māyāmetāṁ taranti te
If you come to my shelter alone and surrender completely to me, I will free you from the
clutches of maya." How do we conquer our mind? By remembering and meditating upon
God. There are innumerable organizations that teach meditation. Some meditate upon an
imaginary circle, some mediate upon the pranas. It is intriguing to see someone meditating
upon prana instead of God.
Our Guru teaches us to mediate upon God, which means we have to meditate upon the form
of God. Along with this, we can also chant His Divine Name and Pastimes, sing kirtans that
will be helpful in the remembrance of God. If we involve our material senses in the spiritual
area, it will be easier to attach our mind in God. But this is not compulsory. If you do not feel
like doing kirtans, you can simply meditate upon the form of God. But it should not turn out
that you neither contemplate on God nor sing His kirtans. So, to be safe, the best thing is to
chant His names, sing His virtues, listen to His Divine words, and remember Him with the
mind. This type of bhakti called tridha bhakti has been accepted and taught by many saints,
and Kripaluji Maharaj has also recommended this:
śhrī kṛiṣhṇaṁ smaraṇaṁ manasā vachasā saras kīrtanaṁ |
śhrotreṇa śhravaṇaṁ nityaṁ tridhābhaktirgarīyasī ||
He says, "Remember and contemplate Shree Krishna with your mind, sing the glories of
Shree Krishna by chanting kirtans and hear to beautiful kirtans." This tridha bhakti is the best
and most powerful. It is because of the power of tridha bhakti that in this sadhana camp we
are engaging in devotion day and night. If we were practicing some other kind of devotion,
we would not experience that Bliss, and we would lose interest in 2 or 3 hours. For example,
when we sit to perform a yagya, fire sacrifice, we can hardly sit for a couple hours without
getting distracted. We start to think, "When will this get over? I cannot understand the
mantras that the pundit is chanting, nor am I able to enjoy the Bliss of God."
It is the grace of our Guru that he has gifted us this simplest and very sweet form of bhakti
that helps us attach our mind to God. Hence, tridha bhakti is the easiest and best for people
of this age since the three primary senses (mouth, ears and mind) are engaged in
remembrance of God.