Questions and Answers
(Based on RSM Literature (Principally from 'Sadhana Ke Anubhav' written by Shri Guru Maharaj))
Question No. 1: -- How was the Universe created?
Question No. 2: -- Please explain the concept of various "Kosh".
Answer: -- Just as rays emanate from the Sun, in the same way, at first a flow of current or energy emanated from the Supreme Consciousness (God/Atma). This flow created a circle surrounding the Atma. This region came to be known as "Anandmay Kosh" or "Region of Bliss". As soon as this circle came into existence, the Atma which was till now hidden or invisible became visible. It began to shine radiantly like the Sun. There was light in the lamp, but it was hidden and very weak. But as soon as the globe of glass surrounded the lamp, the light began to shine and it illuminated the area all around itself. Now it was evident that it was light, divine radiant light.
Second Circle
The supreme Consciousness or Atma now saw Himself. One can see one's image in something else. The mirror shows us our image. No one has been able to see himself without the help of the mirror. Upon descending in the first circle of Maya, He acquired knowledge about His own Self. As soon as the ego i.e. "I am" appeared, a second circle was created over the first. The flow of current or energy that created this second circle came to be known as "Mahat Tatva" and the circle was called "Vigyanmay Kosh" or the "Region of Intellect" because this was the layer of intellect (buddhi).
Third Circle
As soon as intellect appeared, He began to think. He thought of further expansion. The vision of future creation began to take shape. Upon this the flow again moved forward and created another circle. This circle came to be known as "Manomay Kosh" or "Region of Mind". The force operating in Vigyanmay Kosh is called "Brahmandiya Buddhi" or "Cosmic Intellect". According to Puranas, the 'Cosmic Intellect' is called 'Shiva' and 'Cosmic Mind' is called 'Brahmaa'. The work of creation of physical universe is done by this 'Cosmic Mind' or ' Brahmaa'.
Both Mind and Intellect are inanimate and posses no power of their own. But when the Atma Himself enters and permeates them and begins to use them, these get activated. They work with the help of the power of the Atma, just as in the body, the eyes see, the nose smells, and mind thinks etc., with the power provided by the Atma. When the Atma leaves the body, the eyes, nose or the mind are unable to do anything. In the same way, the cosmic mind and cosmic intellect work with the help of power provided by the Atma. The Atma operating in the region of intellect is known as “Vigyanmay Atma”. Simlarly the Atma operating in the region of mind is known as “Manomay Atma”.
The cosmic mind decided to create the physical world and drew a map for such creation. This came to be known as “Mansik Shristi” (creation at the mind level). After finally deciding the details regarding physical creation the same energy or current moved forward to give life to such mental creatures. It scattered the element of life or element of Pran all around itself and placed all the mental creatures in this life element. In this way gradually a circle of this life element was created which came to be known as “Pranmay Kosh” or region of life element. The Atma moved from the region of mind and permeated the region of life element. This is referred to as Pranmay Atma. The various images of physical creation that had been drawn up by the cosmic mind while in the region of mind i.e. human beings, animals, birds etc., now began to float in the ocean of life element. Gradually they became somewhat gross. Upon getting life element these shapes acquired a state that was somewhere between the physical and non physical states. The bodies acquired by all such shapes were called their “Pranmay” or Etherial body.
Just as rays of sunlight enter and illuminate various objects similarly, one drop each of the rays of the Atma entred into each body. These small units appeared as Beings. They had all the powers that the Atma had but in much smaller, diminished, and weak form. Rays of sunlight are not different from the sun. Whatever properties are present in the sun are also present in the rays of sunlight. The properties of fire are present in sparks of fire, emanating from the fire. Properties of water are present in drops of water. But till such time the drop does not merge in the ocean, the spark does not merge in its source i.e. the fire, and sunrays do not merge themselves in the sun, they remain weak and powerless.
Beings have also separated from their source. That is why they do not have real knowledge and powers. That is why they have lost their bliss and become unhappy. Beings moved ahead in an effort to get rid of their unhappiness. They should have gone upwards i.e. back to their source; to where they had come from. But Maya pushed them downards. They fell down and got ensconsed in a layer of earth and created the circle or region of food or “Annamay Kosh” around the “Pranmay Kosh”.
In this way one Brahmand consisting of five regions was created. The principal element (out of the five elements used to create the Brahmand namely, earth, water, fire, air, and space) in each of these regions is as follows: earth element in Annamay Kosh; water element in Pranmay Kosh; fire element in Manomay Kosh; air element in Vigyanmay Kosh; and space element in Anandamay Kosh. The other four elements remain subdued in each of these regions. This is the law of creation.
The Being with pranmay body, fell into this region of earth. Gradually the outer coating of earth that is the physical body was created which looked exactly like the pranmay body. Till now it was sublime, but now it became gross. This grossness was not limited to the body. It affected the internal powers of mind, intellect and sense organs which also became gross and ugly.
Question No 3: Does the Being fully merge into the Supreme Consciousness in the end i.e. upon attaining liberation or freedom from the cycles of births and deaths (Moksha)? Does it lose its identity completely?
Answer: The Being is a part of the Supreme Consciousness or God. But once separated it never completely merges into God, even after attaining Moksha. It maintains its separate identity in the "Maha Karan" state even while remaining merged in the supreme consciousness. One can take the example of father and son. The son is created by the sublime parts of father but never merges back into the father. Despite being a part of the father, it continues to maintain its own separate identity.
Question No 4: What are the different sadhans for performing the journey back to the Atma through the five Kosh?
Answer: The Annaymay Kosh can be crossed by performing karm. These include fasting, doing penance, going on pilgrimage, idol worship etc,. Those following the Yogic path cross this region by practicing shat karm, neti, dhoti, basti, etc. For crossing the pranmay kosh, the sadhans of hathayog i.e. asan, mudra, pranayam, etc are useful. The sadhan for manomay kosh is upasana. For vigyanmay kosh the sadhana is buddhi yog. And finally samarpan yog is the sadhana for anandmay kosh.
Question No. 5: How are these regions covered by the sadhana of Ramashram Satsang, Mathura (RSM)?
Answer: The sadhana given to us by Shri Guru Maharaj is a unique mix of karm, upasana, and gyan. It is a complete process which takes us through Pranmay Kosh, Manomay Kosh, Vigyanmay Kosh and finally through Anandmay Kosh. We have to do nothing. Just practice meditation as taught in RSM. It is Guru Shakti that does everything – cleanses our mind and intellect and pulls us up, up, and up out of the various layers of Maya. We have to simply watch all that is happening inside and outside us as spectators.
The annamay kosh is crossed by a person when he diverts his flow of thought from this world, gets ready to make efforts to get out of this miserable cycle of births and deaths and starts making sincere efforts in that direction according to what the religious texts have prescribed. When doing the meditation taught by Shri Guru Maharaj, we reach a stage where our breathing stops. This stage is called keval kumbhak in yogic language This level is also attained by practitioners of yoga by doing pranayam. On achieving keval kumbhak the pranmay body is destroyed and we cross over to the manomay kosh. All these happen not by our effort but by the Grace of Shri Guru Maharaj.
Our sadhana actually starts from Manomay Kosh. From Anandmay Kosh no sadhana is required to be done. A burning love, a burning desire erupts in the hearts of the sadhaks to see Him, to meet Him, to embrace Him. Guru Maharaj takes us through various stages of Anandmay Kosh and finally to Darshan. Everything happens by his Grace.
Question No 6: What should be the behaviour of a disciple towards the Guru?
Answer: Earlier disciples had to pass through rigorous tests before Gurus accepted them. But nowadays disciples of that caliber and devotion are rare. So Gurus have relaxed the standards. These days only three things are seen
§ Disciple should have faith and devotion in his heart
§ He should try his best to follow the orders of the Guru
§ He should strive to keep bad thoughts at bay in the physical presence of the Guru.
Disciple should not argue with the Guru. Neither should he ask questions repeatedly. Whatever Guru asks the disciple to do, should be believed and followed. If certain things are not clear, he should wait. A time will come when he will reach such levels where he will get answers on his own. He will understand things on his own. He will begin to ‘see’ the answers/clarifications. He only needs to follow the Guru’s orders patiently.
Question No 7: What are the signs of true gurus?
Answer: The true guru dislikes name, fame, adulation and worship. He keeps away from show and publicity. He loves simplicity. He seeks nothing from the disciples. He has come to this world to give not to take. One tends to forget worldly matters and feels calm peaceful and blissful in the presence of such powerful souls One naturally feels attracted to them. They do not wear special clothes or put on things that differentiate them from ordinary men. They are peaceful, kind, loving, never angry or upset, forgiving, and never using harsh words.
Question No. 8: What is ‘Chintan’ and what is its importance for Sadhaks?
Answer: Dhyan can be done at fixed times of the day -- morning, evening and just before going to sleep. But chintan can be done at all times -- whether awake or asleep, whether at work or in leisure. At the time of dhyan one concentrates upon a given object. This creates a certain amount of stress in the mind. So one should not do dhyan for periods more than advised. This is a great mistake and one needs to be very careful. One needs to concentrate only for such period which does not make one mentally tired. But there are no such problems in doing chintan. This is known as Bhringi Sadhan in circles of sants who consider it a great method of spiritual advancement. By doing chintan we can draw very large amounts of current from our Guru at all times continuously and become as powerful as our Guru. One becomes what one thinks. In other words we are shaped by our thoughts. Through the method of chintan we can get rid of our ignorance in a very short period and achieve ‘Guru Pad’. Those sadhaks who are finding it difficult to do dhyan would find the following extremely easy and useful - they should stop doing dhyan. They should also stop anything else they may be doing. They only need to think/imagine that ‘I am sitting in front of my Guru and watching him’. Eyes should be closed and there should be no other disturbance. They will observe that in a few minutes their flow of thought is moving inwards and their mind is achieving good levels of concentration. One should keep practising this till one achieves full concentration, till the mind stops creating disturbances in one’s efforts to do dhyan. One gets ‘divine powers’ by doing this and one is able to subdue/overpower the fluctuating/flickering mind. There is a principle enunciated in ‘Yog Darshan’ – ‘ वीतराग विषयम वा चित्तम‘ – Thinking about such men who have gone above ‘me’ and ‘mine’; above worldly attractions, helps one achieve concentration in dhyan and fulfillment in the Yogic process.
Chintan can be done at all times even with open eyes. One needs to keep feeling and believing continuously that ‘My Guru is before me. He is with me. He is present here.’ The image of one’s Guru should keep floating before one’s inner eyes. One should first try doing chintan when one is free and has no work. Slowly one should expand it to when doing physical work without involvement of mind. Then one should further expand it to when doing routine mental work. Ultimately one will find that one is effortlessly doing chintan even when doing mental work.
When we start doing chintan, our thought-current gets connected to the Guru; that of Guru to his Guru, and ultimately the chain ends at the first Guru i.e. God. At that time we get connected to God and amrit is showered upon us from God’s reservoir directly. We are drowned in bliss. We get detached from this world and find ourselves pulled strongly to God. Every pore of our body is filled with divine pleasure.
Question No 9: What is Mun?
Guru is, in fact, a centre of current which always receives current via other centres from the power house. When we connect ourselves to the Guru, the bulb of our heart begins to glow with light. This light illuminates all the parts of our body. We see ourselves in that divine light. We see the various elements that make up this universe. We see the various invisible realms that exist in God’s creation. Thus we gather complete knowledge of creation. This knowledge is called Ritambhara buddhi. One who gets it becomes eligible for Moksha. This is the result of chintan. Chintan is the most important process of Upasana.
Answer: Mun is an invisible centre of certain invisible powers. It can neither be seen by the eyes nor with the help of any instrument. Those who posses divine eyes can see the mun and its various forms. Ordinarily it is visible as blackish in color. The mun of people who are into some spiritual practices like dhyan etc appear to be a mix of blackishnesses and brightness. The mun of saints and holy persons appear as very bright and white, full of light.
The mun is located one inch below the left nipple near the biological heart.
The real centre of mun is in the head but for functional reasons the power residing in mun comes down and operates from the place indicated above.
The powers available at the mun are thought power and will power.
Question No 10: What is Satsang? What are the different types of Satsang?
Answer: Satsang is composed of two words Sat + sang. Sat means that which is never changing, ever present. Only God is never changing and ever present. His creation is ever changing and is not always present. At the time of Pralay it is destroyed and disappears. Sang means to keep someone’s company / to be in some one’s company. So Satsang means to be in the company of God. Where one forgets oneself, where one forgets the outside world, where one loses oneself in the thoughts of God, that is called Satsang.
There are two types of satsang- ‘internal satsang’ and ‘external satsang’. When a spiritually highly evolved person or saint is giving a discourse, or preaching through words, such satsang is called ‘External Satsang’. When Guru enters his own Atma into the body of the disciple or attracts the Atma of the disciple into his own Atma, and merges both of them, such satsang is called ‘Internal Satsang’. Things that are attained by Jap, Tap, Pranayam and other Sadhana are easily attained by ‘Internal Satsang’. The various internal power centres become active, the thought current starts flowing Godwards on its own without any effort. One can hear sounds of the various invisible divine worlds; the impurities of Mun and buddhi are removed; Mal and Avaran that cover the heart and cause darkness and ignorance are destroyed etc. The disciple achieves all the above goals without having done anything.
Some people getting together and talking about God is not satsang. Sitting in the company of a person who has merged his consciousness/ego/identity in the supreme consciousness is satsang. Such a person is known as Samarth (fully capable) Guru. A disciple who has learnt to merge his own thought-current with that of such Samarth Guru, who has learnt how to draw current / power from the Samarth Guru and fill oneself with the same, achieves everything including darshan and moksha by such ‘Internal Satsang’. He need do no other sadhana. In RSM this system is followed. Of course people are made to do sadhana but the real process of spiritual advancement and fulfillment used is the ‘Internal Satsang’ explained above. The Guru uses his own powers to take the disciple to various levels / planes and ultimately makes him cross the boundary of Maya unto the land of complete freedom, eternal peace and eternal bliss. This is a process that saves time and requires little labour or effort on the part of the disciple.
Q. 11 Can one realize God even while leading a family life or one has to renounce worldly/family life?
Answer: These days people in India
Shri Kabir Sahab has said that one has to develop love for God whether one lives in a family or has renounced the world.
From old religious Indian texts it is observed that apart from a few all sages were family men. Sage Usasht, Shaunak, Angira, Vyas were all family men. Sage Yagyawalya, guru of King Janak (father of Sita-wife of Lord Ram) had two wives. If family had been an obstacle in the path of God-realization, how could they have achieved that and left behind for our benefit huge store house of knowledge. Most of the saints of recent history in India
It appears that the custom/tradition of renouncing the world began during Lord Buddha’s time. Later on it was approved by Shr Swami Shankaracharya and Shri Gorakhnathji. Since then Indians have come to believe that one must renounce the world to realize God. Dharma has to be adapted/moulded according to age /place/situation. During those days there would have been requirement of people to work for religious missions. And for this people who had renounced their families would have been found most suitable. That is why the Great men of those times favored renunciation. But today belief in renunciation as the primary and essential pre-requisite for God-realization has become a great impediment in the path to God realization for common men. We must get rid of such wrong beliefs.
Q. 12 What is Grihasthi (family life/household life) and virakti (renunciation)?
Answer: Grihasthi means to hold/accept/possess, and virakti means to leave/give up. Till one thinks and believes along the lines of ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’; till one has in one’s heart attachment to worldly things, one is a Grihastha. It makes no difference whether one lives in the family or in caves in jungles. Both of them are Grihastha. Virakti means detachment to the world and attachment to God. A Virakt lives and operates in this world depending fully on God. Forgetting God and getting attached to worldly things is Grihasthi. Accordingly to Shastras – (religious texts of Hindu) the Grihastha system of life is best suited for God-realization. Such householders who are ‘internally detached’ from the world and attached to God, who are able to subdue their ego and realize that everything is being done by God, those who depend on God for each and every activity, those who maintain equanimity in loss or gain, who are happy in whatever happens knowing fully well that all is being doe by God - they are no different from virakts.
Q. 13 What is Hathyog, Tantryog, Shabdyog and drishtiyog?
Answer: The word Yog covers all the various processes/methods by which one seeks to meet God / merge in God. But in common usage the word Yog denotes those Yogic processes/methods which involve activation of the various Chakras located in the body and uplifting the dormant kundalini. There are 18 Chakras and 72000 yogic nadis. 6 Chakras are in sthool level, 6 are at sukshma level in and 6 are in karan level. There are a number of divisions among these yogas - Hathayog, Tantra yog, Shabda yog etc. Through various yogic processes the hathyogi uplifts the kundalini from mooladhar chakra and takes it upto sahasrar chakra via the susumna nadi. There they merge the kundalini with the Paramshiv located in Sahasrar. The Hathyogi is concerned only with 6 sthool chakras. His final destination is the Sahasrar Chakra. The Shabdyogi ignores the 6 sthool chakras. He aims at activation of 6 sukshm chakras. Starting from Agya Chakra (situated between the two eye brows at the root of the nose) and 6 karan chakras and tries to reach the Atmadesh (also called Dayal desh/Nijdham etc.) The Yogis consider that God is very far from them, and they try to cover this distance by activating the chakras and lifting the kundalini.
While crossing the various chakras the Yogis see different types of light and hear different types of sounds. They attain control over the various power located in the chakras. They are able to behold various Devtas/Devis residing in the various chakras.
The yogic method suffers from some negative aspects. Firstly it requires lot of labour. Secondly it is time consuming. The yogi has to devote a lot of time in doing his processes. Thirdly a lot of risk to physical well being is involved. Many yogis have been seen to have lost mental balance. Many have been afflicted with diseases like T.B. Fourthly despite devoting lots of time and energy yogis spend their lives doing basic/primary processes and are unable to even start the real Godward journey. Fifthly, there is a danger that the yogi may get lost in the attractions of the lights/sounds/power acquired at various chakras. His onward journey may get halted. Further he may slip down to the place from where he started his journey. Sixthly, he tends to acquire a lot of ego and considers himself a special, powerful person so different from ordinary powerless people. This ego pushes him down and he falls down to great depths.
Q. 14 What is Upasana?
Answer: In Upasana the sadhak considers God as residing in his heart. He is not concerned with any other chakra. He closes his eyes/ears to any special or divine sound/sight. He is disinterested in divine powers or in various Devtas and Devis. He only searches his beloved in the dark cave of his heart. The focus of his mind is removed from everything else. His single point agenda is to find his beloved. He calls out his beloved loudly; prays to Him; praises Him and begs for darshan. Finding that his prayers are not being answered, he weeps and wails, and writhes in agony. Finding some hope of darshan, he is elated and filled with feelings of love and fulfillment.
In the beginning the sadhak practices the sadhana taught by his Guru. This is dharana. When he fails to get darshan by his efforts, he surrenders to the Guru. He finds himself powerless in the matter and now becomes fully dependent on Guru. The Guru watches him for some time, tests him to see how intense is his desire/love/devotion, and if need be creates such situations which raises the intensity of his desire/love/devotion to the required levels. He then cleanses and bathes him, fills his heart with love and takes him to God. The doors fall wide open, the lover and the beloved embrace each other. The Guru says - He is my son. He has been longing for your darshan for a long time. Today he has come with me. “Oh! son of my beloved!!!” – God says and embraces him, cuddles him, loves him, caresses him and says in words soaked in intense love – ‘O son of my beloved! Now you are also my beloved son. You are more beloved than him. From today you are free. You can come to me whenever you feel like. No one will stop you. Ask anything you desire. Everything is available for you. You can take them and enjoy. You can take bhakti or mukti as you wish. You are blessed. No harm shall ever come to you. You shall, always be in my protection.”
This is Upasana, wherein one’s own efforts are of no use. No labour is required. One has to only get rid of one’s ego and become fully dependent on Guru. Guru cleanse the disciple, removes his mal and avaran makes him pure and then takes him to God for darshan. Some time is required for cleansing. But a lot of time is required in subdueing the ego. Till ego is present, one cannot surrender completely. Those who are able to destroy their egos and surrender quickly get darshan quickly. Those who are mired in ego have to wait for a long time i.e. till they are cleansed of their ego.
This is the process of Upasana which is TOTALLY BASED ON GURU KRIPA.
Q.15 What are the different types of Sadhanas. Why are there so many sadhanas?
Answer: The thoughts, approaches, karm, likings, abilities and sanskars vary from person to person. That is why different types of sadhanas have developed. One method or sadhana cannot prove useful for all.
There are hundreds of sadhanas. But all can be grouped into the following three basic categories.
- Karm Yog
- Upasana Yog
- Gyan Yog
All those sadhanas in which Mun works with the help of physical body and the 5 karm-indriyas are known as Karma Yog. Sadhak considers himself as Karta in this sadhana. Hathyog, Tantrayog, Shabdyog, Japyog, Pranyog, Mudra, asan etc., fall in the category of Karm Yog.
Upasana Yog is done only by the Mun. No external activity is involved, neither does the sadhak consider himself as Karta. It is comprised of the following parts - Dharana, Pratyahar, Dhyan, Nirodh and Samadhi.
Gyanyog is done after one has achieved concentration of Mun. It is comprised of the following parts - Swadhyaya, Satsang and Vivek.
All the various types of sadhanas end at Gyanyog. From here onwards one goes through Prem Yog or Samarpan Yog which are not Sadhanas but Siddhi.
Q. 16 Which is the best Sadhana?
Answer: Among the three categories i.e. Karm yog, Upasana yog and Buddhi yog, Upasana yog is the best. It takes least time and labour, is easiest, and gives results very quickly. Karmyog takes a lot of time and labour and is full of risks. One may not reach anywhere even after making efforts for an entire lifetime. Gyan yog is also extremely difficult. Till such time one is able to achieve full success in Sham Dum, Titiksha and Uparam one cannot move ahead in Gyanyog. It is one thing to talk of big things and another to actually bring them into practice.
For people of today upasana is the best sadhana.
There are 3 process involved in upasana – Dharana, Pratyahar, and Dhyan. Concentrating one’s mun on a given thought/object is called Dharana; Mun wanders away. Bringing it back to the given thought/object is called Pratyahar. When Dharana continues for sometime and the Mun is able to concentrate on an object for some time, this state is called Dhyan. In Dhyan state sadhak immerses himself into the object of dharana. He forgets himself as well as the object. This is the state of Nirodh.
In upasana one has to turn the flow of thought or Mun inwards. One needs to leave aside all worldly thoughts and worries and concentrate at the heart imagining that a divine bright effulgent light is present and radiant in the heart because that is the place where the beloved resides. According to Maharishi Patanjali this ‘Vishaka or Jyotishmati is the main sadhan of upasana. But Guru can change it according to his own experiences. By practice, the dharana becomes strong and one gets into dhyan state. Upasana begins when sadhak reaches deep states of dhyan. Several levels/stages/experiences are gone through in such states, which will form the answer of another question.
Q. 17 What is the difference between Bhakti and Upasana?
Answer: In Bhakti the devotee concentrates on the physical image/form of his beloved. The flow of thought remains in the world outside unlike in upasana where it is turned inwards.
Question No 18: It is said that In upasana two things are very important (a) Bhiksha (Begging/asking for something) and (b) Pratiksha (waiting till we get what we have asked for) Please explain.
Answer: In upasana two things are very important (a) Bhiksha (Begging/asking for something) and (b) Pratiksha (waiting till we get what we have asked for). One has to beg and keep waiting at the gates of the Lord till one gets what he asked for. This is the stage where the process of upasana comes to completion. What should we beg for? We should not beg for worldly things or for happiness and comfort in the realms where we will be sent after death, or even for Moksha. We should beg for darshan, only for darshan. We should say – “O Lord, I want to have a glimpse of your beautiful face and nothing else. Please lift the veils and show me your face and grant peace to my restless heart that is writhing in agony. I have come so far with this desire. I am waiting at your doors. Please have pity on me.”
You know that you have to face lot of difficulties in meeting the big people of this world. You have to wait for a long time. When this is the state of affairs for meeting a mortal person of this lowly physical world, how do you expect to meet the Lord of all creation easily? Several years are lost, several births go by, great efforts are made. It is then that our name is included in the list of visitors and reaches before Him.
Now our name is included in the list of Bhakts. The rest is upto the Lord. He may call us soon. He may not call us for thousands of years. Everything depends on the Lord’s wishes and pleasure. Nothing works here. Jap, Tap, etc., are of no use. Of course, those who are regular visitors to the Lord’s court, can be of some help. They can recommend and if accepted we can be called soon. But everything is in the Lord’s hands. No one is above him. There is no one else to whom we can say anything. He is all-in-all. So we have no other option but to wait till he is pleased to grant us his darshan.
In this path attempts are made to turn us away. We are enticed with attractive worldly things. Lots of problems are created. We are harassed in several ways. Those who remain firm, those who are least bothered about their egos are finally granted Darshan.
Question No 19: Does the Kundalini rise up from the mooladhar Chakra in case of those who follow the path of Bhakti and upasana?
Answer: Yes, The kundalini is activated and it rises up and commences its upward journey in case of those who follow the path of Bhakti and upasana. Sadhak pulls the kundalini through dhyan and sanyam. It is activiated by the Sadhak’s sankalp shakti. Where the power of sadhak fails, Guru uses his own powers and pulls the kundalini till the point he considers proper. The sadhak of bhakti/upasana path also acquires the powers vested in the various chakras like the sadhak of yogic path. But the difference between followers of yogic path and followers of Bhakti/Upasana path is that while these powers come quickly to yogis, they come quite late to followers of Bhakti/Upasana path. They come at a time when the sadhak has lost interest in utilizing these powers.
Question No 21: What are the various samadhis experienced by a sadhak in Vigyanmay Kosh?
Question No 20: What is Samadhi? What are the various types of Samadhi? What are the various samadhis that one experiences when following the path of Upasana?
Answer: When the Chitta attains the state of ‘zero-thought’ or complete thoughtlessness, Samadhi is said to have been achieved. That deep state of dhyan when the sadhak loses consciousness of self and the outside world is called Samadhi.
There are different sadhans for crossing different Kosh. Hathayog is the sadhan for crossing the Pranmay Kosh. The samadhi of Hathayog is different and is popularly known as Jar-Samadhi. Upasana is done to cross Manomay Kosh. The samadhi states attained in Upasana are different. Similarly, the samadhi state of Vigyanmay and Anandmay kosh are different.
The three gunas of Prakriti- Sat, Raj and Tam are present in every Kosh. Therefore the samadhis of each kosh are of three types depending upon the nature of combination of the gunas. In manomay kosh also there are three types of Samadhis. These are described below:
Jagrat Samadhi
Dharana and Dhyan are the sadhan of upasana. When the sadhak moves forward he achieves a state where he loses consciousness of self and the world outside. But he remains conscious of the object upon which he is concentrating. He sees this object. Though the image / form of this object is not a real one but an imaginary one, created by the imagination of the sadhak, still his feelings / expectations are satisfied to some extent. The sadhak experiences a state of wonderful pleasure or bliss. He is extremely happy and lost in that bliss. All the different thought–strains of the Mun merge/gather at the object of dhyan. He feels a pleasant attraction - a force pulling his body-Mun-pran. Sometimes he comes across visions of divine light or divine sounds. He feels pleased with his achievements. He thinks -- I have almost completed the entire journey. I have almost reached the destination. God is now only a few steps away. I have already started getting darshan. He is already very near to me. Very soon we shall embrace each other. -- Such thoughts of hope keep him happy and content all the time. Having tasted divine pleasure/bliss he somewhat loses interest in worldly matters. Sometimes he has visions of beings of divine realms – Dev, Rishi, Sant, Auliya in the Samadhi state. These make him even more hopeful. To sum up, this Samadhi is very pleasant and blissful. It brings hope and gives courage. It is known as Jagrat Samadhi. In this Satogun is the ruling/presiding guna. The Rajogun and Tamogun are subdued. During Sadhana one can visibly see the effect of Satogun in the Sadhak’s mun and indriyas. Sadhak is always happy and content.
While learning the art of music when one is able to attain mastery over the first lesson or in language when one is able to learn the first letter, the rest come automatically. Similarly in yogic path if one is able to attain this first samadhi, the other subsequent and higher states are attained one by one automatically. Not much effort needs to be made. It is difficult to place one’s feet in a moving train. But once one is able to enter, one automatically moves forward in the train.
Descriptions of the samadhi of Upasana are not available in the texts of Hathayog or in Yogdarshan of Maharishi Patanjali. In the former one can find description of the samadhi states of pranamay kosh. In Yogdarshan Maharishi Patanjali has described the Samadhi states of Vigyanmay Kosh. He did not consider the samadhis of upasana as samadhi. He considered them as means to reaching the real samadhi states in Vigyanmay Kosh.
Partial descriptions of samadhi of Upasana are available in Mandukya Upanishad. According to this Upanishad the person who has attained the Jagrat Samadhi state becomes Tejomayi (radiant with light). He achieves such powers that if he wants he can utilize them to fulfill all his worldly desires. After death such sadhaks attain Dev Yoni. This is the benefit of reaching Jagrat Samadhi state.
Second Swapan Samadhi
In the second samadhi the sadhak not only loses consciousness of the body and the outside world, he also loses sight of the object of his dhyan. In the first stage the object was imaginary and not a real one. During such imagination, a wave of the object’s form/shape is left in the Mun. Subsequently the wave also disappears/falls silent. In this state Mun is left with no work. The Mun does not like to sit quietly. Its nature is to remain active all the time – incessantly. So in order to remain active it goes inside the antahkaran and starts turning over the pages of innumerable sansakars which have accumulated there over innumerable births. During this period the sanskars come up one by one as if he were in a world of dreams. They form a continuous unending chain like the reels of a film in the cinema hall. And Mun starts playing with them and makes itself busy once again.
The scenes that come across the inner eyes of the sadhak are a mixed lot. Some are good and pleasant while others are bad and painful. As such the sadhak is sometimes happy and sometimes unhappy. He no longer gets the peace, and bliss that he had tasted in the previous samadhi. Mun becomes restless. The sadhak loses his peace.
During this stage, the sadhak entertains the notion that he has fallen to a lower state. He feels that he is no longer fit to tread this path. He tries hard to get back that earlier state of peace and bliss but fails. This is because that was the experience of a lower state. He has now climbed up from the satogun ruled state to Rajogun ruled state. Rajogun brings activity which leads to loss of peace. He does not appreciate all this.
Many sadhaks complain to their Gurus when they reach this state. Some leave sadhana and go back to worldly ways. If one does not know the secrets of this state or does not have the guidance of a Guru, moving ahead beyond this state becomes very difficult. Gurus push their disciples ahead so that they can quickly move on to the next stage. This is a very good state. It is higher than the first because without destroying the accumulated sanskars, the cycle of births and deaths can never be broken. Mal, Vikshep and avaran are caused/created by sanskars. It is because of these that we have fallen far apart from our desired objective. It is therefore necessary that we go through this second state of cleasing by destruction of accumulated sanskars.
The Mandukya Upanishad says that a sadhak who has achieved the swapna samadhi state exhibits calmness and knowledge in his behaviour. None of his disciples remain ignorant or disbelievers.
Third – Susupti Samadhi
In this third state the ruling guna is Tam. That is why the sadhak goes into a deep-slumber state. As soon as one enters this third stage, neither is the object visible nor are any sanskars destroyed. He has no knowledge/or consciousness of the outside world either. It is a state of ignorance, where Mun stops imagining, and buddhi (intellect) is quietened. This is also called Lay Samadhi or Shunya Samadhi.
In the first samadhi Mun gives up many objects and concentrates on one object. In second samadhi Mun leaves/aside this one object, sees the sanskars of antahkaran and becomes unhappy and restless. Now in the third it becomes still, calm and quiet. This state is referred to as Nirodh state. The Mun is now empty. From now onwards upasana or darshan begins. Yog vidya starts. The sadhak who has attained this samadhi state completes his journey across the manomay kosh.
In the next kosh i.e. Vigyanmay kosh he experiences Sampragyat and Asampragyat Samadhi. Sadhak now enters Atmdesh. He crosses over into the Surya mandal from the Chandramandal. He is no longer a sadhak but a siddha. After death he does not come back to this earthly plane but goes to reside in the realm of Siddhas. While living there he moves ahead through the karan (Vigyanmay kosh) and Mahakaran (Anandmaymay kosh) levels and attains Nirvana.
Answer: The samadhis experienced in Vigyanmay Kosh are the following. The samadhi at sl no 1 occurs first, that at sl no 2 occurs after the samadhi at sl no 1 and so on and so forth
1. Savikalp Samadhi (Also known as Savitark Samadhi)
2. Nirvikalp Samadhi (Also known as Nirvitark Samadhi)
3. Savichar Samadhi
4. Nirvichar Samadhi
5. Asampragyat Samadhi
6. Shunya Samadhi
7. Mahashunya Samadhi
The first four samadhis are collectively known as Sampragyat Samadhi. In these samadhis the sadhak is conscious and aware of all that is happening. But in Asampragyat Samadhi he is partly aware/conscious and partly unaware/conscious of what is happening in the samadhi. In Shunya and Mahashunya the consciousness is lost completely.
These are explained below as follows:
Savikalp Samadhi.-- The sukshm mun and sukshm buddhi get together to decide the form and properties of all things of this universe that are made up of the three sthool elements namely - earth, water and fire. These things include the sun, moon stars, earth things on this earth, all four types of organisms, etc. Their internal as well as external constitution, their properties everything appears before the inner eyes of the sadhak.
Nirvikalp Samadhi -- A stage comes when the sadhak's mun gets tired of witnessing all the various scenes that come up before his inner eyes. His mun is eager to get out of this work and leave the company of buddhi. One day the mun actually steps back with its sankalp shakti. Buddhi alone is not capable of doing any thing. Hence it too steps back and falls silent. Now there is nothing to see. There is neither any consciousness of any scene nor any unconsciousness.
Savichar Samadhi -- When the mun goes away, the buddhi attracts the chitta. The pure and satviki chitta rises and unites with buddhi. Buddhi starts its work all over again with the help of vichar shakti of chitta.Earlier the shakti used by buddhi was kalpana, now it is vichar shakti. Kalpana is unable to remove doubts completely that is why there is room for arguments and counter arguments. Kalpana shakti is unable to provide decisive knowledge. It hovers around the object of study. It cannot go deep inside the object and come out with complete knowledge. That is why the sadhak does not achieve complete knowledge. But vichar pierces into the object and finds out exactly what is contained inside. It is able to give true and complete knowledge. In savikalp samadhi the sadhak had gathered knowledge of the sthool things and the knowledge thus acquired was not free from doubts. Now in savichar samadhi the sadhak sees the sukshm elements and all things made up of the sukshm elements. He acquires true and complete knowledge of these elements and things.There is no room for doubts. Such knowledge is called nischayatmak gyan. Out of eight elements of Prakriti, three were covered in savikalp samadhi. Now in savichar, knowledge of the rest of the five elements (air, space, mun, buddhi and ahankar) is acquired.
Nirvichar Samadhi -- In this samadhi there is no vichar, no scenes to witness. Additionally, there is no consciousness of the self.
Asampragyat Samadhi -- When sadhak crosses the savikalp, nirvikalp, savichar and nirvichar samadhi states, the powers of kalpana, vichar and vivek are left behind. The knowledge acquired through these powers in lower states of samadhi are now left only in the form of memories. The sadhak is in a state of unconsciousness. He is neither conscious of his own self, nor of the outside world. Only some fading memories of what he saw in lower states of samadhi are left. He is unable to know/ recognise these images. He is left astonished. This state of samadhi is known as asampragyat samadhi in the shastras.
Shunya and Mahashunya Samadhi -- The asampragyat state comes to a sadhak in the middle of the vigyanmay kosh. On moving ahead further, the state of samadhi achieved is known as shunya samadhi, which further deepens and is called mahashunya samadhi. The vigyanmay kosh ends with the mahashunya samadhi. The Anandmay Kosh begins. The shunya and mahashunya samadhis are tamasi samadhis but the tam here is pure tam.Because buddhi is now emptied or shunya so the samadhi is called shunya samadhi. When this state deepens further the samadhi is called mahashunya samadhi.The three powers of buddhi become inactive here. The sadhak forgets everything upon reaching here. He remembers neither what he has read and heard, neither what he has experienced till now. He is even unaware of his ego. The buddhi becomes still and gives up its function of acquiring knowledge. It is a state of complete darkness and complete lack of consciousness. Sufis call it fana (death) state. Shastras refer to it as lay-yog.
Question No 22: Please explain the state of the sadhak when he reaches the Anandamay Kosh.
Answer: When the sadhak comes back to consciousness out of the Mahashunya samadhi of Vigyanmay Kosh, he finds himself in the Anandamaya Kosh.This is a new life for him.At the pinnacle of vigyanmay kosh he had lost all his powers of mun and buddhi; in other words those powers had died. Now he has reborn. Sufis call this state as Baka meaning life. He attains full humanhood now. All the powers that Prakriti Mata had kept inside human beings do not develop in ordinary human beings. They develop fully now in such sadhaks who have reached this state in sadhana. Ordinarily human beings are not aware of their own powers and live in ignorance, unhappiness and restlessnes. They think that they are wise and full of knowledge but in fact are very ignorant. Upon reaching this place everything changes. He sees that the atmoshphere there is peaceful and unchanging. The three gunas are flowing in one band, the tam and raj having entered into the satoguna.There is no room for ignorance and doubts, there is light all around, and things appear just as they are in reality.This true and complete knowledge brings him indescribable bliss. Sorrow, unhappiness, confusion, doubt, tension etc., leave him for ever.He does not consider anyone as 'mine' or 'not mine'; 'ours' and 'theirs'.
Question No. 23: What is darshan? Where and when does the sadhak get darshan? Please explain darshan as experienced by sadhaks.
Answer: Darshan means to see, to behold. A person worships God with a particular form/shape of God in his mind. His aim is to have darshan of that form/shape of God which he has been worshipping. The sakar upasak sees God as Ram, Krishna, etc. The nirakar upasak who is shabdmargi hears the anahat naad. The prakashmargi sees divine light. Those who believe that God has absolutely no form, not even light or sound feel the presence of the Ominpotent God during darshan though they are unable to see anything. Shri Goswami Tulsidas ji has stated in Ramayana that "Jaake rahi bhavna jaisi, prabhu murat dekhi tin taisi" (One gets visions of God as per one's faith.)
There are three types of sadhaks.
(i) Sakar upasak -- one who worships God in a human form. He believes that God looks like me. He worships Lord Ram, Lord Krishna etc.
(ii) Nirakar upasak -- shabdmargi -- Some upasaks believe thta God is formles. They believe that the sound OM is the true form of God and they try to listen to this sound.
(iii) Nirakar upasak -- prakashmargis -- some upasaks believe that God is formless. They believe that light is the true form of God and try to see this form of God.
As already indicated above God appears in that very shape/form before His worshipper, in which the worshipper believes.
Darshan is had in three Kosh namely -- Manomay, Vigyanmay and Anandmay Kosh. The darshan of manomay and vigyanmay varies accroding to the beliefs of the worshippers. But in anandmay all the three types of worshippers have the same experience. It does not vary acording to the belief system of the beholder.
In manomay kosh the worshipper gets darshan in dream or dhyan state. In vigyanmay and anandmay darshan is got while awake and with eyes wide open.
In monaomay kosh initially the darshan is momentary. It comes and goes. Subsequently it stays for some time but never becomes permanent. The frequency of darshan also increases gradually. In vigyanmay and anandmay kosh initially the darshan is of more longer duration than that of manomay kosh. It appears, stays for some time and then disappears. This happens repeatedly. Ultiately the visions become permanent. As soon as one focuses one's attention towards the Beloved, he is able to see Him.
Darshan of Manomay Kosh
(a) For sakar upasak -- He sees the live image or form of God that he worships.
(b) For Nirakar upasak -- shabdmargi -- He hears the anahat nad. Many sounds are heard or the sound appears in many forms. It is heard at first in the heart and later in the head.
(c) For nirakar upasak -- prakashmargi -- He sees a divine light that is golden in colour.
Darshan of Vigyanmay Kosh
(a) For sakar upasak -- He sees (with open eyes) God in the form he worships. In the beginning the vision appears for short durations. Later on the duration increases to 24 hours. He sees the same vision everywhere -- in himself as well as in the entire universe.
(b) For Nirakar upasak -- shabdmargi -- He hears the pranav sound OM. Then it progresses further and ultimately only the Onkar sound is heard. It is heard from all the parts of the body; from each and evey pore of the body. And finally it is heard from all matter. It is heard all the time. The sadhak has only to focus his attention to it and he hears it.
(c) For nirakar upasak -- prakashmargi -- He sees white divine light. Later it acquires light pinkish colour which is very attractive, very lovely. The sadhak is lost in the bliss of this vision. Initially, this vision is seen at a particular point. Slowly it spreads to the whole body of the upasak. And finally he sees this vision in everything in this universe. He gets this vision all the time. The sadhak has to only focus his attention towards his Lord and lo !! His Lord is before him !!!
Darshan of Anandmay Kosh
In anandmay kosh the sadhak sees that there is neither two (dwait) nor one (adwait) but at the same time both are also present. It is a paradoxical state defying laws of our world. All the three types of sadhak become one in their experiences. They see the same thing, which is neither sakar, nor nirakar. Here the Beloved is seen as a divine, radiant, white light having a light blue tinge. It appears that this form is the reservoir of all knowledge and bliss. The sadhak longs to embrace IT. He earnestly wishes to lose himself in IT. An extraordinary attraction and strange bliss appears to radiate from IT and remain scattered all over the place. It exerts a tremendous force of attraction on the sadhak, who is lost in that divine attraction and divine bliss.
The sadhaks also hears an extremely sweet sound. It resembles the resonating sound emitted from closed lips. It creates a strange restlessness in the hearts of the sadhak. He feels a dying desire to rush to the place from where this sound is coming. He wants to embrace and become one with the producer of this sound.
Question No 22: Please explain the state of the sadhak when he reaches the Anandamay Kosh.
Answer: When the sadhak comes back to consciousness out of the Mahashunya samadhi of Vigyanmay Kosh, he finds himself in the Anandamaya Kosh.This is a new life for him.At the pinnacle of vigyanmay kosh he had lost all his powers of mun and buddhi; in other words those powers had died. Now he has reborn. Sufis call this state as Baka meaning life. He attains full humanhood now. All the powers that Prakriti Mata had kept inside human beings do not develop in ordinary human beings. They develop fully now in such sadhaks who have reached this state in sadhana. Ordinarily human beings are not aware of their own powers and live in ignorance, unhappiness and restlessnes. They think that they are wise and full of knowledge but in fact are very ignorant. Upon reaching this place everything changes. He sees that the atmoshphere there is peaceful and unchanging. The three gunas are flowing in one band, the tam and raj having entered into the satoguna.There is no room for ignorance and doubts, there is light all around, and things appear just as they are in reality.This true and complete knowledge brings him indescribable bliss. Sorrow, unhappiness, confusion, doubt, tension etc., leave him for ever.He does not consider anyone as 'mine' or 'not mine'; 'ours' and 'theirs'.
Question No. 23: What is darshan? Where and when does the sadhak get darshan? Please explain darshan as experienced by sadhaks.
Answer: Darshan means to see, to behold. A person worships God with a particular form/shape of God in his mind. His aim is to have darshan of that form/shape of God which he has been worshipping. The sakar upasak sees God as Ram, Krishna, etc. The nirakar upasak who is shabdmargi hears the anahat naad. The prakashmargi sees divine light. Those who believe that God has absolutely no form, not even light or sound feel the presence of the Ominpotent God during darshan though they are unable to see anything. Shri Goswami Tulsidas ji has stated in Ramayana that "Jaake rahi bhavna jaisi, prabhu murat dekhi tin taisi" (One gets visions of God as per one's faith.)
There are three types of sadhaks.
(i) Sakar upasak -- one who worships God in a human form. He believes that God looks like me. He worships Lord Ram, Lord Krishna etc.
(ii) Nirakar upasak -- shabdmargi -- Some upasaks believe thta God is formles. They believe that the sound OM is the true form of God and they try to listen to this sound.
(iii) Nirakar upasak -- prakashmargis -- some upasaks believe that God is formless. They believe that light is the true form of God and try to see this form of God.
As already indicated above God appears in that very shape/form before His worshipper, in which the worshipper believes.
Darshan is had in three Kosh namely -- Manomay, Vigyanmay and Anandmay Kosh. The darshan of manomay and vigyanmay varies accroding to the beliefs of the worshippers. But in anandmay all the three types of worshippers have the same experience. It does not vary acording to the belief system of the beholder.
In manomay kosh the worshipper gets darshan in dream or dhyan state. In vigyanmay and anandmay darshan is got while awake and with eyes wide open.
In monaomay kosh initially the darshan is momentary. It comes and goes. Subsequently it stays for some time but never becomes permanent. The frequency of darshan also increases gradually. In vigyanmay and anandmay kosh initially the darshan is of more longer duration than that of manomay kosh. It appears, stays for some time and then disappears. This happens repeatedly. Ultiately the visions become permanent. As soon as one focuses one's attention towards the Beloved, he is able to see Him.
Darshan of Manomay Kosh
(a) For sakar upasak -- He sees the live image or form of God that he worships.
(b) For Nirakar upasak -- shabdmargi -- He hears the anahat nad. Many sounds are heard or the sound appears in many forms. It is heard at first in the heart and later in the head.
(c) For nirakar upasak -- prakashmargi -- He sees a divine light that is golden in colour.
Darshan of Vigyanmay Kosh
(a) For sakar upasak -- He sees (with open eyes) God in the form he worships. In the beginning the vision appears for short durations. Later on the duration increases to 24 hours. He sees the same vision everywhere -- in himself as well as in the entire universe.
(b) For Nirakar upasak -- shabdmargi -- He hears the pranav sound OM. Then it progresses further and ultimately only the Onkar sound is heard. It is heard from all the parts of the body; from each and evey pore of the body. And finally it is heard from all matter. It is heard all the time. The sadhak has only to focus his attention to it and he hears it.
(c) For nirakar upasak -- prakashmargi -- He sees white divine light. Later it acquires light pinkish colour which is very attractive, very lovely. The sadhak is lost in the bliss of this vision. Initially, this vision is seen at a particular point. Slowly it spreads to the whole body of the upasak. And finally he sees this vision in everything in this universe. He gets this vision all the time. The sadhak has to only focus his attention towards his Lord and lo !! His Lord is before him !!!
Darshan of Anandmay Kosh
In anandmay kosh the sadhak sees that there is neither two (dwait) nor one (adwait) but at the same time both are also present. It is a paradoxical state defying laws of our world. All the three types of sadhak become one in their experiences. They see the same thing, which is neither sakar, nor nirakar. Here the Beloved is seen as a divine, radiant, white light having a light blue tinge. It appears that this form is the reservoir of all knowledge and bliss. The sadhak longs to embrace IT. He earnestly wishes to lose himself in IT. An extraordinary attraction and strange bliss appears to radiate from IT and remain scattered all over the place. It exerts a tremendous force of attraction on the sadhak, who is lost in that divine attraction and divine bliss.
The sadhaks also hears an extremely sweet sound. It resembles the resonating sound emitted from closed lips. It creates a strange restlessness in the hearts of the sadhak. He feels a dying desire to rush to the place from where this sound is coming. He wants to embrace and become one with the producer of this sound.
The fourth and the last Darshan -- Beyond Anandmay Kosh -- beyond the boundaries of Maya and in the country of Atma
This darshan is had only after one exits from this physical body. No one has ever come back to tell what this fourth and last darshan is like. Till the anandmay kosh the vision of God is coloured by the gunas of Prakriti. One is unable to see that form of God which is uncoloured by the gunas. The fourth darshan is of this uncolored vision of God. Kabir Sahab has referred to this darshan in his couplet
" Ja marne se jag darey, mohi baro anand,
kab marihon kab paihon puran parmanand"
(The death that the world fears is a pleasure that I am longing for because it is only after death that I shall experience the complete bliss)
Question No 24: What is pseudo-darshan? What are the differences between real darshan and pseudo-darshan?
Answer: One must know the difference between pseudo-darshan and real darshan because there is a danger that the sadhak may consider pseudo-darshan as real darshan and continue with that wrong notion. This will create distortions in his progress in the spiritual path.
It so happens that the imagination of the sadhak that he practises during dhyan when continued for a long time results in that imagination taking shape and appearing before the inner eyes of the sadhak. It is not the vision of God, but the creation of his own imagination. This is pseudo-darshan.
There are three differences between the two types of darshan and one can easily find out the truth with the help of these three differences. The first is that in pseudo-darshan the vision changes every moment while in real darshan the vision remains the same for hours and even for days. Secondly, while having real darshan the sadhak has feelings of complete fearlessness, complete trust, hope, faith, etc., just as a child has in the presence of his parents. The sadhak believes firmly that he would get anything that he wanted. Such feelings do not accompany pseudo-darshan. Thirdly, after having real darshan the nature, behaviour, attitudes, etc of the sadhak undergo positive changes. Negative traits start leaving him and positive ones begin to accumulate in him. He becomes peaceful and free from desires. Things are not so after one has had pseudo-darshan.
Question No 25: It is said that without achieiving the riza and tavakkul states, one cannot get darshan. Please explain the concepts of riza and tavakkul. Why are these two so important?
Answer : The two highest components of Upsana are riza and tavakkul (in the language of sufis). Without achieving these states no one can become a bhakt, no one can become purna. Those who have achieved them can get darshan the moment they desire. God takes over all his responsibilities i.e. yog-kshem. Riza means to maintain equanimity amidst success and failure, happiness and unhappiness, fortune and misfortune; to remain content and happy in whatever condition God keeps us; not to complain under any condition; and not to raise any desire in our hearts at any moment. Tavakkul means to depend completely and ONLY on God (not asking for anything from ANYONE ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE); to remain happy in whatever condition He keeps us and to keep thanking him for his kindness and graciousness under all conditions. In other words riza can be termed as the state of being stoic and tavakkul can be termed as complete surrender unto God.
So long as the sadhak is carrying on his head the bundle of desires, so long as he has expectations from God as well as sources other than God, so long as he maintains an ego of his own he cannot achieve the destination, i.e. darshan which involves merging in God. He must become completely aligned with God. His concentration on God should be 100%. 99.99% is not enough. It has to be 100%. He cannot complain; he cannot say that he does not accept something; he must believe that everything is being done by God; that whatever God is doing is correct no matter how painful, how distasteful things may be. Two things merge with each other only if they are similar in nature, properties, constitution etc. Stones do not merge in water. Only a liquid merges with water. But if the liquid has an ego of its own, it would still not merge with water. Take the example of oil. It does not merge with water. While milk and water merge with each other so well that it is impossible to separate the two once they have merged. Having darshan involves merger with God. In manomay kosh the merger takes place at the sukshm level. In vigyanmay merger takes place at the karan level and in anandmay merger takes place at the maha karan level. Riza and tavakkul are two instruments that completely annihilate the ego of the sadhak. Thus free from ego, free from an identity of his own the sadhak becomes eligible to have darshan - merge into God and become one with Him.
Question No. 26: How can one easily achieve the states of riza and tavakkul ?
Answer: One can easily achieve the states of riza and tavakkul by serving the Guru. Guru has come to liberate us from the shackles of Maya and take us away from the land of slavery, sorrow and pain to the land of freedom, peace and bliss. It is his nature to bless us, to serve us. But he is quickly attracted to those who serve him without any ulterior motive. Those who serve him without entertaining any notions of getting something back in return. His Atma showers blessings upon such disciples. He begins to intensely love such disciples. This causes the disciple to also love him. Both remember and love each other. Within a very short time this process reaches a very great height and the Guru out of dying love for his disciple attracts the Atma of his disciple unto his own or enters his own Atma unto the Atma of the disciple. Now there remains no difference between the two. The disciple reaches that realm where Guru resides. The various natural propensities of kaam, krodh, lobh moh, mad, matsar which arise due to lack of balance in the their proportions, now automatically achieve a state of balance. This leads to the disciple achieving the state of riza and tavakkul. He is neither happy nor sad at any development. He has no desire. He is happy with whatever happens. He has no complains. He is now fully dependent on Guru. He looks nowhere else.
This state of riza and tavakkul, coupled with the extremely close relation with the Guru, facilitates darshan. In fact the disciple achieves the state of fanafilsheikh i.e. he merges into the Guru. The Guru remains immersed in God. So the disciple automatically merges into God. This is known in sufi language as fanafillillah i.e. merging into God.
He achieves everything. Nothing further is left to be achieved. All this is achieved by serving the Guru. One must remember that Guru is not as happy with his own service as he is when his children and his mission are served. So the best way to serve and please the Guru is to serve the disciples of the Guru and his mission. The service should be pure and unalloyed with any expectations. Such a service leads the disciple to the state of fanafilsheikh and fanafillillah.
Question No 24: What is pseudo-darshan? What are the differences between real darshan and pseudo-darshan?
Answer: One must know the difference between pseudo-darshan and real darshan because there is a danger that the sadhak may consider pseudo-darshan as real darshan and continue with that wrong notion. This will create distortions in his progress in the spiritual path.
It so happens that the imagination of the sadhak that he practises during dhyan when continued for a long time results in that imagination taking shape and appearing before the inner eyes of the sadhak. It is not the vision of God, but the creation of his own imagination. This is pseudo-darshan.
There are three differences between the two types of darshan and one can easily find out the truth with the help of these three differences. The first is that in pseudo-darshan the vision changes every moment while in real darshan the vision remains the same for hours and even for days. Secondly, while having real darshan the sadhak has feelings of complete fearlessness, complete trust, hope, faith, etc., just as a child has in the presence of his parents. The sadhak believes firmly that he would get anything that he wanted. Such feelings do not accompany pseudo-darshan. Thirdly, after having real darshan the nature, behaviour, attitudes, etc of the sadhak undergo positive changes. Negative traits start leaving him and positive ones begin to accumulate in him. He becomes peaceful and free from desires. Things are not so after one has had pseudo-darshan.
Question No 25: It is said that without achieiving the riza and tavakkul states, one cannot get darshan. Please explain the concepts of riza and tavakkul. Why are these two so important?
Answer : The two highest components of Upsana are riza and tavakkul (in the language of sufis). Without achieving these states no one can become a bhakt, no one can become purna. Those who have achieved them can get darshan the moment they desire. God takes over all his responsibilities i.e. yog-kshem. Riza means to maintain equanimity amidst success and failure, happiness and unhappiness, fortune and misfortune; to remain content and happy in whatever condition God keeps us; not to complain under any condition; and not to raise any desire in our hearts at any moment. Tavakkul means to depend completely and ONLY on God (not asking for anything from ANYONE ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE); to remain happy in whatever condition He keeps us and to keep thanking him for his kindness and graciousness under all conditions. In other words riza can be termed as the state of being stoic and tavakkul can be termed as complete surrender unto God.
So long as the sadhak is carrying on his head the bundle of desires, so long as he has expectations from God as well as sources other than God, so long as he maintains an ego of his own he cannot achieve the destination, i.e. darshan which involves merging in God. He must become completely aligned with God. His concentration on God should be 100%. 99.99% is not enough. It has to be 100%. He cannot complain; he cannot say that he does not accept something; he must believe that everything is being done by God; that whatever God is doing is correct no matter how painful, how distasteful things may be. Two things merge with each other only if they are similar in nature, properties, constitution etc. Stones do not merge in water. Only a liquid merges with water. But if the liquid has an ego of its own, it would still not merge with water. Take the example of oil. It does not merge with water. While milk and water merge with each other so well that it is impossible to separate the two once they have merged. Having darshan involves merger with God. In manomay kosh the merger takes place at the sukshm level. In vigyanmay merger takes place at the karan level and in anandmay merger takes place at the maha karan level. Riza and tavakkul are two instruments that completely annihilate the ego of the sadhak. Thus free from ego, free from an identity of his own the sadhak becomes eligible to have darshan - merge into God and become one with Him.
Question No. 26: How can one easily achieve the states of riza and tavakkul ?
Answer: One can easily achieve the states of riza and tavakkul by serving the Guru. Guru has come to liberate us from the shackles of Maya and take us away from the land of slavery, sorrow and pain to the land of freedom, peace and bliss. It is his nature to bless us, to serve us. But he is quickly attracted to those who serve him without any ulterior motive. Those who serve him without entertaining any notions of getting something back in return. His Atma showers blessings upon such disciples. He begins to intensely love such disciples. This causes the disciple to also love him. Both remember and love each other. Within a very short time this process reaches a very great height and the Guru out of dying love for his disciple attracts the Atma of his disciple unto his own or enters his own Atma unto the Atma of the disciple. Now there remains no difference between the two. The disciple reaches that realm where Guru resides. The various natural propensities of kaam, krodh, lobh moh, mad, matsar which arise due to lack of balance in the their proportions, now automatically achieve a state of balance. This leads to the disciple achieving the state of riza and tavakkul. He is neither happy nor sad at any development. He has no desire. He is happy with whatever happens. He has no complains. He is now fully dependent on Guru. He looks nowhere else.
This state of riza and tavakkul, coupled with the extremely close relation with the Guru, facilitates darshan. In fact the disciple achieves the state of fanafilsheikh i.e. he merges into the Guru. The Guru remains immersed in God. So the disciple automatically merges into God. This is known in sufi language as fanafillillah i.e. merging into God.
He achieves everything. Nothing further is left to be achieved. All this is achieved by serving the Guru. One must remember that Guru is not as happy with his own service as he is when his children and his mission are served. So the best way to serve and please the Guru is to serve the disciples of the Guru and his mission. The service should be pure and unalloyed with any expectations. Such a service leads the disciple to the state of fanafilsheikh and fanafillillah.
Question No. 27 : What are the four times when grihasthas can do chintan?
Answer: Grihasthas often complain that it is not possible for them to do chintan all the time as that would lead to disturbances in their their job/ work/ profession. Dada Guru Maharaj Sahab has prescribed that Grihasthas can do chintan during the following four times of the day.
1. When taking food
2. The time between going to bed and actually falling asleep
3. During morning/evening walk
4. At times when one has no work or when one is taking rest after work.
1. When taking food
The Upanishads say that foodgrain is Brahma. Lord Krishna has stated in BhagvadGita that among things eaten I am foodgrain. When the plate of food comes before you, believe that the food items are filled with divine light and God/Guru is before you. Offer the food to God/Guru and start eating quietly considering the food as Prasad. If you are sitting among other people and they are talking think that God/Guru is in each of them and He is speaking through so many mouths. Believe that God/Guru is present in so many forms and is entertaining me. In the end thank God/Guru, do pranam and get up.
When such food reaches the stomach, it creates divine blood full of light which illuminates the blood vessels and the nadis. It removes the effect of Raj and Tam from the heart, and provides pure satoguni peace. Without any effort the chakras are activated, the kundalini rises and intellect is transformed. Food taken in thoughts of God/Guru subdues the negative propensities of the indriyas and helps in concentrating the mun on one thought. Mun is composed of the subtle elements of the food that we eat. That is why if one can ensure purity at the food level, things become very easy in the spiritual path. The key to success in the spiritual path lies in ensuring purity of food. It should be bought of money earned through hard work and honest means, the person cooking the food and the person serving it should be of pure thoughts, and at the time of eating the food should be taken exclusively drowned in thoughts of God/Guru. This helps a lot in getting darshan. Those who find difficulty in concentrating their mun on the image of God can concentrate on the familiar image of their Guru. The benefit in both the cases is the same.
2. The time between going to bed and actually falling asleep
When you have gone to bed and are waiting to fall asleep, close your eyes, get into the relaxed mode, and imagine that God/Guru is sitting on your bed and you are sleeping with your head at the lotus feet of God/Guru just as a child goes to sleep peacefully and comfortably in the laps of his mother. Imagine that your head and whole body is getting filled with His divine light. The entire room is filled with that divine light and all those sleeping in the room are surrounded by this divine light. You should fall asleep while drowned in such thoughts. No other thought should enter your mun during this period.
You will immediately see the benefits of such chintan. After taking food in the above manner, you will find yourselves filled with a strange and wonderful feeling of happiness, peace and bliss for the next 24 hours. At the time of dhyan you will achieve concentration without any effort. Positive thoughts will keep arising in your mun.
The benefit in the matter of sleep is that you will not drift to the dream state. You will get deep sleep (susupti). Until you awake your mun will remain engaged in the sadhana. In this way you will not only give rest to your body but also keep doing your sadhana the whole night. On continuous practice of such sadhana, one is able to achieve the very high yogic state where one sleeps while awake and remains awake while asleep. In Bhakti marg sadhaks are exhorted not to allow their chintan to break whether in awakened or sleep state. Such a state of unbroken and continuous chintan can be achieved by practicing this process before going to sleep.
3. During morning/evening walk
During the morning/evening walks one should go alone towards quiet and solitary areas. If you meet someone, walk along with him, but you should not talk. You should imagine that God/Guru is walking with me and if you wish you can also talk to Him. Tell Him whatever you want to tell and believe firmly in your heart that He has listened.
4. At times when one has no work or when one is taking rest after work.
There are times when you are tired of working and you sit down or lie down to take some rest. At such times while the body is taking rest, the mun is not. It is building castles in the air, making plans for the future or ruminating over the past. So after a while you do not feel fresh despite having rested for some time. At such times believe firmly that God/ Guru is present before you. Do not search Him, but SEE Him. And if you want talk to Him, tell Him whatever you want to tell.In this way you can utilize your leisure or resting hours in doing sadhana.
These are the sadhans of grihasthas which do not create any disturbance in the conduct of their household affairs but take them to great heights in the spiritual path. If you can do chintan in the ways explained above, you will see that as soon as you remember Him, you will feel His presence. When you will tell Him something fervently and with emotion, you will feel that He is listening to each and every word of yours. When you bow down on earth to do pranam you will feel as if you have touched His feet. While walking on the road you will feel that He is walking alongside you. As soon as the plate of food appears before you you will see that it is He who is present in the plate in the form of divine light.
Question No 28: What is the importance of Guru Darshan? How frequently should one have Guru darshan?
Answer: The spiritual path or the journey back to our source, from where we have come i.e. the Atma is covered with the help of the magnetic attraction force exerted by the Guru on his disciple. The Guru is perched at the top of the mountain and the disciple is standing at the depths of the valley below. It is like binding the disciple in the ropes of Guru's magnetic force and pulling him up, up and up till he also reaches the top. There is no let up in the efforts of the Guru. The problems arise with the disciple who is not vigiliant enough to ensure that the ropes of Guru's attraction keep binding him tightly enough; that the ropes of Guru's attraction force do not get loosened. It is the duty of the disciple to go to the Guru as frequently as possible and store as much of Guru's attraction force in himself as possible. It is like tightly tying himself up in the ropes of Guru's attraction force. And it is this force that pulls him gradually up, up, and up from the depths of Maya to the heights of the Atmadesh.
According to Kabir Sahab the disciple must go AT LEAST once a year to have darshan of his Guru. That is the minimum. The maximum is to have darshan thrice a day. But Shri Guru Maharaj has stated that the present day disciples have neither the capacity to store the Guru's attraction force for a year, nor is the atmosphere of today pure enough to allow the stored force to stay intact for such a long period. It is observed that the disciple is able to keep the Guru's magnetic force in himself intact only for a month. After that the force starts weakening and by the end of the third month it almost reaches the minimum point. If the disciple does not go to the Guru and again store the force in himself before this state worsens further, his upward journey would not only be halted but there is every possibility that due to the negative forces abundantly present in the atmosphere, he would slip down and ultimately reach the depths from where he had started the journey. That is why Shri Guru Maharaj has prescribed that we must go and have darshan of the Guru AT LEAST once in three months invariably. He himself followed this rule till he had crossed the manomay kosh. After having crossed the manomay kosh he did not follow this rule as scrupulously because the disciple who has crossed the manomay kosh need not physically go to the Guru to store his magnetic force. He can do the same thing from a distance. His mental powers have become sukshm and he can draw the Guru's magnetic powers from any distance, howsoever far it may be.
It is also necessary to fall in deep love with the Guru. The aim is to ultimately merge in the Guru. Meeting the Guru again and again, serving him, talking to him all help in strengthening the bonds of love with the Guru. This love must reach great heights -- to such great heights that the two merge and become one at the spirit level i.e. achieve the state of fanafilsheikh which is immediately followed by fanafillillah. Hence it is necessary to go for darshan as frequently as possible but not later than three months.
Question No 29: What are the various types of Mukti or Moksha?
Answer: Mukti or Moksha means liberation from the unending cycle of births and deaths. There are four types of Mukti:
1. Salokya Mukti
2. Samipya Mukti
3. Sarupya Mukti
4. Sayujya Mukti
The first three are achieved by sadhaks in anandamay kosh, one after the other, as one progresses on the spiritual path. The fourth is achieved only after the sadhak exits from the physical body and the boundaries of Maya. The boundaries of Maya extend upto anandmay kosh. This Mukti is achieved only after one has crossed this boundary.
Salokya means to be in the same realm as He is in. Within the boundaries of Maya, anandamay kosh is the realm where the Supreme Being can be seen in His purest form uncoloured/uncovered by the various layers/gunas of Maya. The face of the Supreme Being is covered by a very thin veil of satogun in this kosh. Beyond the boundaries of this kosh that veil also disappears and one is able to see Him exactly as He is. Samipya means to reach very close to Him. Sarupya means that the sadhak has gone so close to Him that he has acquired the qualities and looks of the supreme being. Sayujya means to unite, to become one with Him.
Prior to attaining the Muktis in the anandamay kosh, one achieves a lower form of Mukti as soon as one crosses over from the manomay kosh and places one's feet in the vigyanmay kosh. It is called nichli (lower) mukti.
The Brahmand is divided into five kosh as discussed earlier. The first three (annamay, pranmay and manomay kosh) form the chandramandal and the last two (vigyanmay and anandamay) form the suryamandal. Chandra means the moon. Just as the moon has no light of its own and only reflects some light of the sun, in the same way in the first three kosh the sadhak has no true knowledge. It is an area of darkness, ignorance confusion and unhappiness. It is the realm where passions, desires, attachments, memories etc., continue to force one to take births on the earth plane again and again. But the suryamandal, (surya means the sun) is full of light. Here the sadhak acquires true and complete knowledge. There is no room for suspicion, confusion, ignorance and unhappiness born out of ignorance. The sadhak is no longer bound by passions, desires, attachments, memories etc. So he does not go down any more. In other words he does not take birth again on the earth plane. He progesses further and bound by the magnetic force of the Guru, he reaches the anandmay kosh, goes through it and ultimately achieves sayujya mukti. Hence, crossing over from manomay kosh into the vigyanmay kosh is known as lower mukti.
Question No.30 What care should one take while in the physical presence of the Guru?
Answer: It is said 'Adab pahla kareena hai muhabbat ke kareenon mein' (Being respectful is the first condition to be fulfilled in love). This is the guiding principle that one has to follow in conducting oneself in the spiritual path. One should be very polite, respectful, and silent in the presence of the Guru. One should speak only when asked to. And one should be very brief and to the point. If one does not understand something one should not keep asking. One ought to listen to what the Guru says and try one's best to understand his words. One should not move one's hands and legs and try to sit still.
The focus of one's attention MUST be on the Guru. One must not allow one's thoughts to wander on any other subject. Doing so is considered as a big disrespect in spiritual circles. Guru forgives all mistakes but he does not forgive those who keep thinking about worldly things in his presence. Actually this causes a lot of pain and agony to him. The mirror of his heart is pure and any thing around is got reflected there. All that we think gets reflected there. Good thoughts do not cause so much pain and agony to him but bad thoughts really hurt him. He has cleaned and polished the mirror of his heart to see his beloved and not to see reflections of our bad thoughts.
If the Guru is silent, one should remain silent. When the Guru is silent, he is emitting/transferring very large amounts of current to those present. When he is talking, such high scale emissions/transfers do not take place. Hence it is better if there is silence. If the Guru is talking to someone and not looking towards you, do not think that he is not aware of you or is not paying enough attention to you. Powerful people do several things at one time. He would be talking to others and at the same time transferring his current to you.
Question No. 31 What is the importance of food for sadhaks?
Answer: Originally we were pure, fully knowledgeable, fully conscious of the entire universe, full of bliss and peace, because we were in the Supreme Being or Paramatma. After separating we gathered a lot of impurities and that process is still continuing without stopping for a second. All thoughts, whether negative or positive; untrue/incorrect knowledge gathered about the world; desires; passions; kaam-krodh-lobh-moh-mad-matsar; and ego constitute these impurities. These are located in our mun and buddhi.
In the path of sadhana, our mun and buddhi are gradually and increasingly purified by the grace of Shri Guru Maharaj through the process of dhyan that we do twice a day. It is common sense that we should keep away from dirt after having taken a bath. It is no use bathing if we are to cover ourselves with dirt the next moment. The process of our cleansing taking place within us by the grace of Shri Guru Maharaj, is reversed to the extent we gather impurities from our surroundings. We delay our reaching the destination to the extent we gather impurities from our surroundings.
Food is a very important medium of transmission of thoughts; it is a very powerful source through which thoughts enter deep into our consciousness i.e. mun. Our mun is composed by the subtle parts of the food that we eat. If the food is bought / sourced through dishonest means, it becomes a great source of impurity. If the food items are of tamasi or rajasi character, they become a great source of impurity. They create/encourage negative propensities in the mun. The negative thoughts that are active in the mun of the cook while cooking, enter the food and then into our mun.The negative thoughts of the person serving food enter into our mun the same way. The thoughts that arise in our mun while eating become hyper active and keep coming up again and again.
So while Shri Guru Maharaj keeps purifying us, we keep collecting impurities through food. We therefore need to practice the chintan that Shri Guru Maharaj has taught us and which has been discussed in Question No 27 in this series. It is reproduced below:
Question No32: It is said that in RSM, the Guru blinds the inner eyes of the sadhak so that he knows not where he has reached and what he has achieved. Please elaborate.
Question No.30 What care should one take while in the physical presence of the Guru?
Answer: It is said 'Adab pahla kareena hai muhabbat ke kareenon mein' (Being respectful is the first condition to be fulfilled in love). This is the guiding principle that one has to follow in conducting oneself in the spiritual path. One should be very polite, respectful, and silent in the presence of the Guru. One should speak only when asked to. And one should be very brief and to the point. If one does not understand something one should not keep asking. One ought to listen to what the Guru says and try one's best to understand his words. One should not move one's hands and legs and try to sit still.
The focus of one's attention MUST be on the Guru. One must not allow one's thoughts to wander on any other subject. Doing so is considered as a big disrespect in spiritual circles. Guru forgives all mistakes but he does not forgive those who keep thinking about worldly things in his presence. Actually this causes a lot of pain and agony to him. The mirror of his heart is pure and any thing around is got reflected there. All that we think gets reflected there. Good thoughts do not cause so much pain and agony to him but bad thoughts really hurt him. He has cleaned and polished the mirror of his heart to see his beloved and not to see reflections of our bad thoughts.
If the Guru is silent, one should remain silent. When the Guru is silent, he is emitting/transferring very large amounts of current to those present. When he is talking, such high scale emissions/transfers do not take place. Hence it is better if there is silence. If the Guru is talking to someone and not looking towards you, do not think that he is not aware of you or is not paying enough attention to you. Powerful people do several things at one time. He would be talking to others and at the same time transferring his current to you.
Question No. 31 What is the importance of food for sadhaks?
Answer: Originally we were pure, fully knowledgeable, fully conscious of the entire universe, full of bliss and peace, because we were in the Supreme Being or Paramatma. After separating we gathered a lot of impurities and that process is still continuing without stopping for a second. All thoughts, whether negative or positive; untrue/incorrect knowledge gathered about the world; desires; passions; kaam-krodh-lobh-moh-mad-matsar; and ego constitute these impurities. These are located in our mun and buddhi.
In the path of sadhana, our mun and buddhi are gradually and increasingly purified by the grace of Shri Guru Maharaj through the process of dhyan that we do twice a day. It is common sense that we should keep away from dirt after having taken a bath. It is no use bathing if we are to cover ourselves with dirt the next moment. The process of our cleansing taking place within us by the grace of Shri Guru Maharaj, is reversed to the extent we gather impurities from our surroundings. We delay our reaching the destination to the extent we gather impurities from our surroundings.
Food is a very important medium of transmission of thoughts; it is a very powerful source through which thoughts enter deep into our consciousness i.e. mun. Our mun is composed by the subtle parts of the food that we eat. If the food is bought / sourced through dishonest means, it becomes a great source of impurity. If the food items are of tamasi or rajasi character, they become a great source of impurity. They create/encourage negative propensities in the mun. The negative thoughts that are active in the mun of the cook while cooking, enter the food and then into our mun.The negative thoughts of the person serving food enter into our mun the same way. The thoughts that arise in our mun while eating become hyper active and keep coming up again and again.
So while Shri Guru Maharaj keeps purifying us, we keep collecting impurities through food. We therefore need to practice the chintan that Shri Guru Maharaj has taught us and which has been discussed in Question No 27 in this series. It is reproduced below:
1. When taking food
The Upanishads say that foodgrain is Brahma. Lord Krishna has stated in BhagvadGita that among things eaten I am foodgrain. When the plate of food comes before you, believe that the food items are filled with divine light and God/Guru is before you. Offer the food to God/Guru and start eating quietly considering the food as Prasad. If you are sitting among other people and they are talking think that God/Guru is in each of them and He is speaking through so many mouths. Believe that God/Guru is present in so many forms and is entertaining me. In the end thank God/Guru, do pranam and get up.
When such food reaches the stomach, it creates divine blood full of light which illuminates the blood vessels and the nadis. It removes the effect of Raj and Tam from the heart, and provides pure satoguni peace. Without any effort the chakras are activated, the kundalini rises and intellect is transformed. Food taken in thoughts of God/Guru subdues the negative propensities of the indriyas and helps in concentrating the mun on one thought. Mun is composed of the subtle elements of the food that we eat. That is why if one can ensure purity at the food level, things become very easy in the spiritual path. The key to success in the spiritual path lies in ensuring purity of food. It should be bought of money earned through hard work and honest means, the person cooking the food and the person serving it should be of pure thoughts, and at the time of eating the food should be taken exclusively drowned in thoughts of God/Guru. This helps a lot in getting darshan. Those who find difficulty in concentrating their mun on the image of God can concentrate on the familiar image of their Guru. The benefit in both the cases is the same.
Question No32: It is said that in RSM, the Guru blinds the inner eyes of the sadhak so that he knows not where he has reached and what he has achieved. Please elaborate.
Answer: There are innumerable types of powers in the mun. One can do wonderful/extraordinary things by using such powers. Normally, these are either scattered outside or buried deep inside. That is why the sadhak considers himself powerless. When he practices concentrating his mun through the process of dhyan, those powers gradually develop and open up. The sadhak acquires control over these innumerable powers. At such times the Samarth Guru covers the disciple’s inner eyes with a veil and pushes him forward in his journey towards the Atma. The disciple does not come to know what are the powers over which he has acquired control. He does not know the point he has covered or reached in his journey towards the Atma. The Guru takes him blindfolded. The benefit is that he is saved from falling down. He is saved from the troubled and dangerous world of powers -- consequent name, fame, and chances of its misuse etc. He does not acquire any ego ( I have achieved so much – I am very powerful and very superior to ordinary human beings – I can do this – I can do that – etc, etc. ) As a result he reaches his destination very fast without facing the insurmountable hurdles that maya has created for anyone trying to reach the Atma. Later he reaches a point in this journey where his mun undergoes a transformation. He is no longer interested in using the subtle powers of the mun. He is strongly pulled upwards towards the Atma. Worldly affairs appear to him as false and useless. At this point the Samarth Guru removes the veil from his eyes, and shows him where he has reached . Now there is no danger of falling down or the disciple becoming egoistic. Now no attraction of this world can influence him.
This system is followed in RSM.
Question No 33: What is the meaning of the term “Yog-Kshem-Vahamyaham” that Lord Krishna speaks of in the Bhagvad Geeta?
Answer: Lord Krishna says to Arjun -- I am responsible for the “Yog-Kshem-Vahamyaham” in respect of all those who remember me and worship me through upasana with single minded devotion (i.e. worshipping only me and not any other God/deity/power). I ensure that all that they need reaches them and safeguard and protect whatever it already in their possession, because they are fully dependent on me.
“Yog-Kshem-Vahamyaham” , therefore means ensuring that all that one need reaches him and safeguarding and protecting whatever is already in his possession.
Question No 34: It is said that badam (almond) and milk are very good for yogis and those who do sadhana. Please explain.
Answer: Badam (almond) provides strength to all parts of the body, increases semen, (but does not encourage or excite sexual desires and passions), keeps the mun peaceful, and suppresses negative thoughts. All this happens because Badam is satoguni in character. It makes the mun satoguni and is very helpful in sadhana.
Milk is also very useful but it excites sexual passions and activates the mun into incessant activity. As a result sometimes the sadhak makes grave mistakes and slips to lower spiritual levels/planes. This happens when one drinks boiled and sweetened milk. Cold milk kept for a long time is tamoguni in character. Milk which is not warmed/boiled and to which nothing has been added is good for sadhaks.
Question No 35: What are the various types of eyes/powers of vision that human beings have been blessed with?
Question No 36: What is the state of "Jeevan-Mukti" (being liberated from maya even when still alive in human body")?
Question No 36: What is the state of "Jeevan-Mukti" (being liberated from maya even when still alive in human body")?
Answer: There are three types of eyes
Physical eyes – These are the two eyes we all know and use in our lives. These can only see the sthool (material) forms and shapes. Things made up of earth, water and fire elements are visible to these eyes. They cannot see the sukshm (subtle, non-material) forms and shapes. The sukshm elements i.e. air, space, mun, buddhi and ahankar are beyond the scope of these eyes.
Shiv Netra/Gyan Netra/Divya Netra/Sukhsm Netra/Vivek Netra – The second eye which is located in the lowermost portion of buddhi (Area of Vivek where vivek shakti resides) is called by all these names. Normally it is closed. When we achieve the state of sanyam of mun, there is some movement in the vivek shakti. It begins to develop slowly. It acquires force and sharpness. This development of vivek shakti leads to the opening of this eye. Slowly the eyelid of this eye opens up. If the sadhak practices sanyam of mun for a long time continuously, it finally opens up fully. The vision of this eye is known as vivek drishti. It does not take the focus of objects to another place for examination and decision as is the case with physical eyes. Instead, it sees, examines and decides about the object at the point at which it is located. This eye does not remain open 24 hours even in cases of yogis and spiritually evolved persons. It opens up when they do sanyam. Those in lower states of spiritual advancement can’t open this eye at their will Sometimes during meditation it opens up on its own and after some time closes down on its own. So long as it remains open the sadhak becomes privy to extraordinary knowledge of self, universe and the creator. But as soon as it closes the sadhak again goes into darkness.
Men who have attained very high levels of sanyam can open this eye at their will. They can know everything about the universe/creation at the sthool, sukshm and karan levels – from beginning till end – what happened in the past, what is happening and what is going to happen. They can clearly see and experience everything. The shiv netra can see the five sukshm elements and all that is made up of these in addition to the sthool elements – air, space, mun, buddhi, and ahankar. Their colors, forms, powers and actual activities become visible to the sadhak.
Atma Netra -- The third eye is the Atma-Netra. It is located in the anandamay body of the Being. It can see the form, properties, powers and all-pervasiveness of the Atma. It is this eye through which one gets darshan of the Brahma. Opening of this eye is fully dependent upon the Guru. It can never open without the blessings of the Guru. But for this the Guru must be a Samarth Guru . Every Guru does not possess the power to open the atma netra of the disciple. The guru should have gone beyond the boundaries of Maya, above the anandmay kosh. He should be a resident of Nijdham and should be favourably inclined towards the disciple. When the disciple discards all his ego, surrenders completely and begs for help, prays to the guru to have pity on him, it is only then that current flows down from the atma of the guru and strikes open this eye. It does not require days and months to do this. It is done within seconds. The sadhak does not come to know that his atma netra has been opened by his Guru. He learns of it when later on he starts seeing things through this netra.
This eye once opened does not remain open always. Sometimes it opens up and sometimes it closes down. Till one is in the physical body, vikshep continues to create disturbances. The rajasi and tamasi powers of sukshm maya continue with their disturbing activities because the body has been created by these gunas. These gunas can never be destroyed. They will exist so long as the physical body exists and will continue to cast their influences. Under the influence of the raj and tam this atma netra closes down. The sadhak again cannot see anything. Only memories remain. He loses his blissful atmic-state. But soon the eye again opens up and he is back again in that blissful atmic-state.
At first one sees one’s own atma separate from one’s physical body. He sees his own real self which is different from the body. He is no longer caged in the duality of happiness-sorrow, etc. He goes beyond this dualism. Now nothing can make him happy or sad. Thereafter the atma of others become visible to him. He sees that all material shapes are filled with the same atma.
One who gets atma netra becomes free from all desires, passions, rag-dwesh, kam-krodh-lobh-moh etc. He sees all as his own. He sees no difference between himself and others. Everyone appears to be the same atma, having disguised themselves in different physical bodies. This state of existence is called the ‘state of being jeevan-mukt’ i.e. freed from the shackles of maya even when still alive in the physical body.
Such a person shouts in wonder and astonishment -- Oh!!! Where is the world that I have seen till now gone? I can’t see it anymore. Where has it disappeared?
Question 37: What is the heart referred to in the sadhana of RSM? Is it the same as the biological heart that pumps blood? Please explain.
Answer: In the human body there is a place where the Atma resides along with all its powers and advisors – mun, chitta, buddhi and ahankar. In spiritual language it is called ‘heart’ and sufis call it ‘kalb’. This is located one inch below the left nipple. It is not the same as the biological heart that pumps blood. It is not a physical entity that can be seen with the physical eyes. It is non-material and visible only to those whose divya netra has been opened by the guru. During dhyan / meditation the sadhak must focus his attention at this very place according to the process taught in RSM. Whatever one thinks, sees, tastes, smells, feels, and does -- all get recorded in this heart as dots in the first instance. When repeated, the dots become darker and deeper. On further repetition the dots take the shape of thick walls. The Atma which is at the centre of the heart, surrounded by the mun chitta buddhi and ahankar and which provides light to all these advisors slowly gets surrounded by these walls. As a result, the light of the Atma does not reach the mun chitta buddhi and ahankar. All these advisors then lose contact with the Atma, and grope in darkness for lack of proper knowledge. They ultimately become wayward. Lack of the knowledge makes them fall in evil ways of maya. This is the reason for ignorance and downfall of the human beings.
In RSM the guru only asks the sadhak to do the dhyan 15-20 minutes in the morning and evening. During this process the sadhak has only to “see” the process that has been taught as “happening”. He needs to “do” nothing. The guru uses his shakti to slowly clear the heart of all the dots that have merged together to form dark walls around the Atma. One day the wall is broken, and completely removed. The mun-buddhi-chitta-ahankar again receives the light of the Atma. The sadhak now gets true knowledge of self, creation and God and regains his true form and bliss.
Question No 38: Does any world beyond the world we live in really exist? Do Heaven and Hell really exist? Is there any truth in the belief of cycle of births and deaths? Is there any substance in the concept of Moksh, Mukti, Nirvana? Please explain.
Answer: (Kindly NOTE that this answer is based on writings of RSM and accounts read by the blogger in books dealing with Near Death Experiences, books on Life after death, etc. The final picture that emerges is quite clear and unmistakable.)
The universe has been created by the will of the Supreme Power variously referred to as God, Iswhwar, Bhagwan, Almighty, etc. In Hindu spiritual philosophy this supreme entity is referred to as Parmatma. It is considered that all beings are part of that Paramtma and the part of Parmatma present in all beings is referred to as Atma. These two terms often mean one and the same thing and are used synonymously.
At the time of creation a flow of power/energy/current from Paramatma emanated and gradually created the universe in five circles. The first circle was Region of Bliss (Anandmay Kosh), second was region of True Knowledge (Vigyanmay Kosh), third was region of mun (Manomay Kosh) fourth was Region of Pran (Pranmay Kosh) and fifth and last was Region of matter (Annamay Kosh). After having created the universe containing planets, suns, rivers, mountains, hills, oceans, animals, birds, trees, reptiles, and various forms of creatures, the same force created the human being. It kept all the powers that were contained in the universe in this human body but in a very miniscule form.
The creation comprising five circles is divided in spiritual philosophy into two regions – suryalok and chandralok. Surya means the sun and Chandra means the moon. The first two circles – anandmay and vigyanmay are collectively known as Suryalok. The lower three circles – manomay, pranmay and annamay are collectively known as Chandralok. Surya or sun has light. We can see things as they are in the light of the sun. It gives us peace and happiness. Moon also gives us light but of a hugely diminished intensity, since it is reflected light of the sun. In this poor light, we cannot see things clearly. Consequently there is confusion, ignorance, fear, uncertainty and tension. There is no peace or happiness. A rope is lying at a distance. But in moonlight one is not sure whether it is a rope or a snake. Some movements in the rope caused by blowing winds creates fear and suspicion that it may be a resting snake. This is the state of ignorance, fear, uncertainty, confusion, mental turbulence, agony, lack of peace and also lack of happiness. One does not know for sure what one should do or what one should not.
Beings who are in the Chandralok live in ignorance, fear, uncertainty and unhappiness. They do not get real happiness and bliss. This is because the light of their Atma does not come out and illuminate their mun, buddhi, and ahankar – the three instruments that live in the heart of human beings along with the Atma and through which human beings operate in this world. The light of the Atma is obstructed by walls of avaran and mal that surround it in the heart. These walls of avaran and mal are created by all those thoughts,experiences and actions of the Being where his ego thinks that I am thinking, I am experiencing, I am doing. Impressions of these actions, experiences and thoughts get recorded in the heart first as dots, then as thick deep dots, which on continuous repetition merge to form walls. These dots are known in spiritual language as sanskars. As a result of these thick dark walls, the mun, budhi and ahankar are immersed in darkness. Therefore, beings in Chandralok never get true knowledge of self, creation and the Creator.
Such Beings consider themselves as being only the physical body – nothing beyond that. They think that death is the end. That there is nothing beyond death. That the purpose of life is to satisfy the various sense organs, desires of name, fame, etc. That making oneself happy is the single motto of human life – whether by hook or by crook – this does not matter. That there is no law of getting good results for good actions, and bad results for bad actions. That there is no superior authority responsible for creation and maintenance of this universe. That this universe has come into existence on its own or by accident, etc. That life has developed as a result of similar accidental combination of water, chemicals etc. That there is no re-birth. That there is no other world where one goes after death. That all ideas of God being the supreme authority, responsible for creation, maintenance, and destruction; law of karma, i.e. good karmas inviting rewards and bad karmas inviting punishment in this or subsequent births etc., are figments of imagination of persons having fertile, clever brains or persons who are stupid and cowards. These Beings know not the truth but are 101% sure that what they think is the absolute, final truth. In fact they look down upon people who believe and worship God as ignorant, foolish, stupid people. They become terribly limited to their physical bodies and the material world around them.
When they die, they lose their physical bodies. By an unseen force they are pulled out of the body. The Atma alongwith mun-buddhi-ahankar comes out of the physical body. They are now located in the second body, i.e. the pranic body. (We have five bodies – physical, pranic, thought body (mun), knowledge body (buddhi) and body of ego (ahankar) as per the five circles of creation). This is not a physical material body and is invisible to the physical eyes. The pranic body is identical to the physical body the only difference being that it does not have the physical sense organs. The Being in the pranic body can see, hear, think, understand, desire, feel happy, feel sad, laugh, weep, repent, feel remorse, become hopeful, become hopelss, get irritated, angry, frustrated etc., and do everything exactly the same way he did when alive except being able to operate in the physical world through the physical sense organs and satisfy them physically (desires of food, drink, speech, hearing, touch, and sex, etc. ). Sometimes the pranic body gathers particles of matter to some extent and becomes visible to the physical eyes. At such times the people having physical bodies on earth plane refer to such Beings with pranic bodies as bhoot (ghosts ). Non-believers dismiss such sightings as figments of imagination, hallucination, etc.
Such Beings suffer a pitiable fate upon death. Life long they believed that there is no life after death. That death would be the end, and nothing of them would remain after death. But here the facts are otherwise. They continue to exist identically as they existed earlier. They see their dead bodies being cremated or buried by their near and dear ones. They are confused and unable to reconcile the actual events happening now with their life-long beliefs. They find themselves alive even after their bodies having been destroyed or interred. So they try to operate in the physical world just as they had been doing so long. They extend their hands to catch, hug, kiss, their near and dear ones. But Lo!!! Their non-material hands pass through the physical material bodies of their near and dear ones. They shout out to them but no one can hear them. They can see food, drink etc., but cannot taste or eat them because they do not have the physical sense organs. Desires arise in their hearts but none can be fulfilled for want of physical sense organs of gratification. The bad deeds that the beings performed on the earth plane come to haunt them here. They see themselves being punished and cry out in pain. They see all this according to what they had heard or read in religious texts when they were alive on the earth plane. This is a terribly pitiable state of agony, pain, ignorance, confusion, fear, uncertainty, despair, despondency, hopelessness, incapacitation, etc., which defies description.
Such beings continue to live in their earlier place of habitation because of their extremely strong attachment to those places, and persons. But their plane of existence is the Pranic Plane and this non-material plane or world is called Hell. How long they live there, it is not possible to tell as it is the domain of the supreme authority. But it is stated by saints that they leave this plane when their attachment/attraction to the persons and places on the earth plane weaken sufficiently.
In some cases that unseen force pulls out the Beings from physical bodies (at the time of death) and puts them in another plane which is the plane of thoughts or mun. This plane is known as Heaven. A tenure in Heaven is the reward given to beings for good karmas of service to others where the deeds are done with expectations of reward – where the deeds are not done selflessly without any expectation whatsoever. In this plane one is able to satiate all the desires of the sense organs on that non-material plane. One gets what one wants instantly. One can have whatever one wants to eat, taste, drink, a big palatial house, servants, young extremely beautiful wives, vehicles, etc. There is no want as all desires of the five senses are fulfilled. All these happen exactly as they happen when we are in a dream state.
That unseen force at some later point in time pushes the beings of Heaven (when the rewards of good karmas have been fully enjoyed and exhausted) and Hell (when the attraction/attachment to the persons and places on the earth plane weaken or their punishments are over, etc, etc.) back to the physical world where they are born as human beings or in lower bodies (animals etc.).
This is the cycle of births and deaths – flitting endlessly between earth plane, hell and heaven.
One can get freedom from this torturous cycle. By doing sadhana as taught by a Samarth Guru one can achieve complete freedom by working one’s way up through the planes of pran, mun, buddhi, and ahankar. They can cross the boundaries of maya or creation and land in Nijdham. They can become absolutely free and Masters of their own free will. This is called moksha, mukti or nirvana. Having achieved that they can come down to visit any plane they want and can even on desiring take birth as human beings and go back to Nijdham at their will.
All these are absolute truth and FACTS OF CREATION. These non-material or spirit planes can be seen. One can go there while still alive as visitors, just as one goes to some other country on a tour. But for this one has to lift onself to high spiritual levels, through sadhana as taught by a Samarth Guru. At a point in sadhana the Guru opens the shiv netra or gyan netra of the disciple. It is through this inner eye that one can see the other planes of Hell, Heaven, and even the other higher planes and realms, which are very subtle and non-material. When one becomes powerful enough, one can go to these realms, see things and come back to their physical bodies. One recognizes beings in those planes because their spirit, non-material bodies are identical to their physical bodies they had just before their death. One can talk to them, enquire about their well being, state, experiences, tell them about their relatives on this earth plane etc. Such things were common in India in the earlier ages, when the common people were very highly spiritually evolved. Various texts of the Hindu religion are full of such stories. But in this age of material progress and spiritual ignorance these things are considered as false and concocted stories. Unfortunately, the so called educated people have neither knowledge of the spirit world, nor are they ready to believe their own ancestors, nor are they ready to delve deep into this world and find out things for themselves simply because they do not have the time, inclination, or energy and guidance. But most unfortunately, they claim with 101% certainty and confidence that all these are not possible citing pathetic laws of science. The world of spirit is NOT BOUND BY LAWS OF SCIENCE. They are bound by the laws of the spirit world.
Question No 39: Does the Human Body have any Aura?
Answer: When the Brahmandiya Mun completed the work of creation, then in the image of the creation, it created a body and kept in at everything that was there in the Universe, but in a much smaller scale. This body was called the human body. Though this body appears to be tall in shape but its actual shape is oval or egg-shaped. Around every human body there is an egg shaped aura or area of light. The physical body and the aura together create the oval or egg-shape just like the universe which is also oval or egg-shaped. This aura cannot be seen with the physical eyes. Those who are able to open their sukshm netra (also known as Gyan Netra/Divya/Netra/Vivek Netra/Shiv Netra etc) can see this aura clearly. The auras of all human beings are not the same. They vary in colour and composition from person to person. Persons who are evil and are engaged in negative actions, are seen as having dark auras with very little light. Dark black clouds appear to surround their physical bodies. Positive people have white coloured auras. Yogis and those who have attained control over sukshm subtle powers have golden coloured auras. Shakti-Upasaks have red auras and saints have sparkling white auras full of bright light. The higher one has reached in the spiritual path, the brighter is his aura.
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