SURE WAYS TO SUCCESS IN LIFE AND GOD-REALISATION BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA (Message 3)
SURE WAYS TO SUCCESS IN LIFE AND GOD-REALISATION
BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
(Message 3)
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CHAPTER ONE (...Continued)
ETHICAL CULTURE
Do you know the reason why I have chosen this subject as the third
item? Atman is the basis of everything. So I have placed spiritual
culture in the very beginning. There is intimate relation between
Atman and `will'. Will is only Atman or God in motion or
manifestation. So I have dealt with will-culture after spiritual
culture. No spiritual or will-culture is possible without ethical
culture. So I have placed this subject as the third important item.
Ethical culture will result in ethical perfection. An ethical man is
more powerful than an intellectual man. Ethical culture brings in
various sorts of Siddhis or occult powers. If you study Yoga Sutras,
you will find a clear description of the powers that manifest by
observance of the practices of Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya
and Aparigraha. The nine Riddhis roll under the feet of an ethically
developed man. They are ready to serve him.
The philosopher need not necessarily be a moral or ethical man; but,
a spiritual man must of necessity be moral. Morality goes hand in
hand with spirituality. Morality co-exists with spirituality. The
three kinds of Tapas, viz., physical, verbal and mental that are
prescribed in the seventeenth chapter of the Gita, the practice of
Yama in Raja Yoga philosophy, and the Noble Eightfold Path of the
Buddhists, viz., right thinking, right endeavour, right action, right
living, etc., are all best calculated to develop the moral side of
man. Sadachara or right conduct aims at making a man moral, so that
he may be fit for the reception of Atma-Jnana or the realisation of
the Supreme Tattva.
You should always try your level best to speak the truth at all
costs. You may lose your income in the beginning. But, in the long
run, you are bound to be victorious. You will realise the truth of
the Upanishads: "satyameva jayate nanritam. Truth alone triumphs, but
not falsehood." Even a lawyer who speaks the truth in law courts, who
does not coach up false witnesses, may lose his practice in the
beginning; but later on, he will be honoured by the judge as well as
the client. Thousands of clients will flock to him only. He will have
to make some sacrifice at the outset. Lawyers generally
complain: "What can we do? Our profession is such. We must tell lies.
Otherwise we lose our case." These are false excuses. There was an
advocate, a mental Sannyasin who was practising in Uttar Pradesh, who
was a friend and benefactor of Sannyasins, who never coached false
witnesses, who never took up criminal cases, and yet, he was the
leader of the bar and was revered by the judges, clients and
colleagues. O, my friends, barristers and advocates, who are killing
their conscience and who are slayers of Atman! Will you all follow
this noble example and ideal? Be truthful. You will have a peaceful
death. Do not kill your conscience in order to have comfortable
living, and in order to please your wife. Life here is evanescent and
like a bubble. Aspire to become divine.
The various formulae—ahimsa paramo dharmah (Non-injuring is the
highest of all virtues); satyam vada, dharmam chara (speak the truth
and do virtuous actions); do unto others in the same way as you wish
others to do unto you; do as you would be done by; love thy neighbour
as thyself — are all best calculated to develop the moral aspect of a
human being. Morality is the basis for the realisation of Atmic unity
or oneness of life or Advaitic feeling of sameness everywhere.
Ethical culture prepares you for the Vedantic realisation of sarvam
khalvidam brahma (All, indeed, is Brahman; there is no such thing as
diversity).
All aspirants commit mistakes in jumping to Samadhi and Dhyana all at
once, as soon as they leave their houses, without caring a bit for
ethical purification. The mind remains in the same condition although
they have practised meditation for fifteen years. They have the same
jealousy, hatred, idea of superiority, pride, egoism, etc. No
meditation or Samadhi is possible without ethical culture. Meditation
and Samadhi come by themselves when one has ethical perfection.
BHAVA CULTURE
Bhava is a Sanskrit term; there is no proper equivalent in English.
It means mental attitude or mental disposition. Bhava is internal
feeling. There are three kinds of Bhavas, viz., Sattvic Bhava,
Rajasic Bhava and Tamasic Bhava according to the nature of the
quality that predominates in man. Sattvic Bhava is divine Bhava. It
is Suddha Bhava. Just as thought or memory or will can be cultivated
or developed by practice, so also, Bhava can be developed. An evil
Bhava can be transmuted into a good Bhava. The Bhava of friendliness
or enmity is a mental creation. The enemy or friend is not outside.
It is the feeling or imagination from within. An intimate friend of
long standing becomes a deadly enemy within a second. One hot or
harsh word changes the situation completely within the twinkling of
an eye. When there is friendly Bhava, Mr. Smith expects and imagines
that his friend Mr. Nicholas will serve him when he is sick, that he
will have a good loving company in Mr. Nicholas, that his friend Mr.
Nicholas will speak loving words, that he can get a loan of money
from Mr. Nicholas when he is in distress, and that Mr. Nicholas will
show a loving face and receive him with hospitality when he visits
his house. These are the feelings of men when friendly Bhava reigns
in their minds. When they lose their friendship, Mr. Smith entertains
different kinds of feelings towards Mr. Nicholas. He has no
confidence in his old friend and colleague. He is afraid of him. He
turns his face when he meets his friend. He speaks ill of him. He
thinks that Mr. Nicholas will injure him. The whole position is so
radically changed. The Bhava has so completely changed now.
Vedanta says: "Man is identical with Brahman (Existence-Absolute)
when he gets rid of his ignorance." A human being erroneously
identifies himself with his body and wrongly imagines that he is a
little Jiva with little power and little knowledge. This is his
present Bhava. This is human Bhava. This should be changed into
Brahma Bhava by changing the angle of vision and mode of thinking.
Think you are Brahman. Think you are pure and all-pervading
intelligence, light and consciousness. Think you are immortal. Think
you are omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Think you are Sakshi.
Entertain Sakshi Bhava and Akarta Bhava: "I am the witness. I am not
the doer. I am not the enjoyer." By this practice you can destroy the
idea of agency and of enjoyer, and free yourself from the bondage of
Karmas, and attain the state of Brahman or the highest bliss,
knowledge and immortality. Vedanta also adds: "See and feel Brahman
everywhere and ignore the names and forms." It teaches you to develop
Atma Bhava or Brahma Bhava by Vichara and right thinking and
meditation.
When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, a mental state or Bhava
corresponding to the nature of the idea comes in. Think of your enemy
for sometime, an inimical Bhava will manifest. Think of mercy or
universal love; Prema Bhava or Karuna Bhava will manifest. Think of
universal service; Seva Bhava will come in. Think of Lord Krishna and
His Lilas at Brindavan; Krishna-Prema Bhava will manifest. Feeling
always accompanies thinking. You cannot separate thinking from
feeling. They are like fire and heat.
You should be ever watching the mental states through careful and
vigilant introspection, and should not allow any negative and
undesirable Bhava to manifest. You must immediately change the evil
Bhava by thinking of the opposite Bhava. Positive overpowers the
negative. A Sattvic Bhava is a valuable spiritual asset for you. You
must always try to get established in Brahma Bhava through Sattvic
Bhava. The struggle will be keen in the beginning. There will be
internal warfare between the Asurika and the divine Bhavas. The
former will try its level best to re-enter the mental factory. In the
long run, through constant practice, Sattvic Bhava will carry the
day. Food has a direct bearing upon Bhava. Sattvic food easily brings
in Sattvic Bhava. Put yourself on an exclusive diet of milk and
fruits only for a fortnight and study the nature of your mind and
Bhava. You will have a wonderful calm mind with Sattvic Bhava. When
there is this Sattvic Bhava, the mind naturally moves towards God,
and meditation comes by itself without the least possible effort on
your part.
When the devotee thinks that he is a servant of the Lord, he
entertains Dasya Bhava. When he thinks that the Lord is his friend
like the immortal Arjuna, he entertains Sakhya Bhava. When he thinks
that the Lord is his son, he develops Vatsalya Bhava. When he thinks
that the Lord is his husband like Sufis or Rup-kalaji of Ayodhya, he
develops Madhurya Bhava or Kanta Bhava. He feels that the Lord is
present everywhere — Sarvam Vasudevamiti — and develops Tanmaya Bhava.
A devotee always thinks that God does everything and that he is an
instrument in the hands of God. He thinks that he is only Nimitta;
this is his Bhava. By entertaining this Bhava, he gives up the idea
of agency and enjoyment and thus frees himself from the bonds of
Karma. He rests in perfect, unalloyed peace by developing this Bhava.
He says when anything happens, whether desirable or undesirable, "God
is everything. God does everything for my own good. God is just. Thy
Will be done. All is Thine. I am Thine, my Lord." By the practice of
this Bhava, he is always happy, under all circumstances and
conditions of life.
The Bhavas of a Bhakta and a Vedantin differ. The Vedantin entertains
Sakshi and Akarta Bhavas. The Bhakta entertains Nimitta Bhava. The
Vedantin develops Brahma Bhava. The Bhakta develops Dasya Bhava. The
Vedantin identifies himself with Brahman. The Bhakta entertains the
Bhava of duality. He worships and adores. Eventually, through Para
Bhakti, the Bhakta also gets Jnana and attains the same state which a
Jnani attains. The modes of Sadhana and the Bhavas differ in them in
the beginning. They meet on the same platform ultimately.
A rich man and a Pandit have the Bhava of arrogance and superiority.
A real Sannyasin has the Bhava of equality and oneness, and the Bhava
of love. Bhava differs in different persons, according to nature and
quality. In worldly parlance, the relationship of father and son,
husband and wife, master and servant, friend and friend, brother and
sister, etc., is meant to develop the various degrees of Prema and to
extend this Prema to God by purifying the lower emotion into higher
sublime divine emotion. That is the aim and object. The lower human
Bhava is transmuted into higher divine Bhava. Worldly relationship
and Bhava is preliminary training for the development of divine
Bhava. Do not forget this point.
THINK OF THE OPPOSITE
THE METHOD OF PRATIPAKSHA BHAVANA
Watch all your feelings very carefully. Suppose you get a gloomy
feeling. Take a small cup of milk or tea. Sit calmly. Close your
eyes. Find out the cause for the depression and try to remove the
cause. The best method to overcome this feeling is thinking of the
opposite. Positive overcomes the negative. This is a grand, effective
Law of Nature. Now think strongly of the opposite of gloom. Think of
cheerfulness. Imagine the advantages of cheerfulness. Feel that you
are in the actual possession of this quality. Again and again repeat
the formula OM CHEERFULNESS mentally. Feel: "I am very cheerful."
Begin to smile and laugh several times. Sing some tunes that can
elevate you quickly. Singing is very beneficial to drive off gloom.
Chant OM loudly several times. Run in the open air. The depression
will vanish soon. This is the Pratipaksha-Bhavana method of Raja
Yogins. This is the easiest method. The method of driving gloom by
force, by willing, by assertions, by command — "Get out O gloom"—
taxes the `will' very much, although it is the most efficient method.
It demands great strength of `will'. Ordinarily, people will not
succeed. The method of displacing or dislocating the negative feeling
by substituting the opposite positive feelings, is very easy. Within
a very short time, the undesirable feeling vanishes. Practise this
and feel. Even if you fail several times, continue the practice. You
will be successful after some sittings and some practice.
You can treat in the same manner other negative feelings as well. If
there is the feeling of anger, think of love. If there is harshness
of heart, think of mercy. If there is lust, think of the advantages
of celibacy. If there is dishonesty, think of honesty, integrity. If
there is miserliness, think of generosity and generous persons. If
there is Moha (infatuation), think of discrimination and Atmic
Vichara. If there is pride, think of humility. If there is hypocrisy,
think of frankness and its invaluable advantages. If there is
jealousy, think of nobility and magnanimity. If there is timidity,
think of courage, and so on. You will drive off the negative
feelings, and will be established in the positive state. Practice of
a continued type is essential. Be careful in the selection of your
companions. Talk very little, and that too, on useful matters.
THOUGHT-CULTURE
This is also another vital subject. Very few people know this art or
science. Even the so-called educated people are unaware of this
fundamental education. All have random thinking. All sorts of loose
thoughts of diverse kinds come and go in the mental factory. There is
neither order nor harmony. There is neither rhythm nor reasoning.
There is neither concord nor organised working. There is neither
system nor discipline. All is in utter chaos and confusion. There is
no clarification of ideas. You cannot think of one subject even for
two minutes in an orderly and systematic manner. You have no
understanding of the laws of thought and the laws of the mental
plane. There is a perfect menagerie inside. All sorts of sensual
thoughts fight amongst themselves to enter the mind of a sensualist
and gain the upper hand. The eye Indriya struggles to bring its own
thoughts. It wants to have sight-seeing. The ear Indriya wants to
hear radio music, and so on. In the vast majority of persons, only
base thoughts, lustful thoughts, thoughts of hatred, jealousy and
fear, exist. They cannot entertain a single sublime divine thought
even for a second. Their minds are so framed that the mental energy
runs into sensual grooves.
Every man has got his own mental world, his own mode of thinking, his
own ways of understanding things, and his own ways of acting. Just as
the face and voice of every man differ from those of another man, the
mode of thinking and understanding also differs. That is the reason
why misunderstanding easily occurs between friends. One is not able
to understand rightly the views of another. Hence friction, rupture
and quarrel occur within a minute even amongst fast friends. The
friendship does not last long. One should be in tune with the mental
vibrations or thought vibrations of another man. Then only one can
easily understand another. Lustful thoughts, thoughts of hatred,
jealousy and selfishness, produce distorted images in the mind and
cause clouding of understanding, perversion of intellect, loss of
memory, and confusion in the mind.
Every thought has got image, form, dimension, weight, shape, colour,
etc. Thought is as much matter as a piece of stone. Thought moves,
and passes from one man to another. Thought influences people. A man
of powerful thought can influence readily people of weak thoughts.
Telepathy is a branch of occult science wherein the Yogi can transmit
messages to any man in any part of the world. Telepathy is the first
telegraphic or telephonic system in this world, known to Yogins and
occultists of ancient days.
A thought of anger or hatred sends arrows from the mental factory
towards the person aimed at, harms the individual, sets up discord
and disharmony in the thought-world, and comes back again to the
sender and harms the sender also. If one can understand the effect
and power of thought, he will be very careful in the manufacture of
his thoughts in his mental laboratory. One should develop the faculty
of producing only pure Sattvic thoughts by protracted mental
discipline, dietetic adjustments, repetition of good Slokas with
meaning, good company, study of divine books, Japa, meditation,
Pranayama, prayer, etc. A good man can help his friend, even though
he lives at a long distance, by good thoughts. You must not allow any
evil thought to enter your mental factory. Watch always your
thoughts. Avoid useless and base thinking, and reserve or conserve
your mental energy. Energy is wasted in idle thinking.
Keep yourself always occupied in doing virtuous actions and the study
of religious books. You can thereby cultivate good and sublime
thoughts. Destroy random thinking. Take a subject, and think on its
different aspects and bearings. When you think so on one subject,
never allow any other thought to enter the conscious mind. Again
withdraw the mind to the subject on hand. Take for instance: you
begin to think on the life and teachings of Jagadguru Adi
Sankaracharya. Think of his birthplace, his early life, his
character, his personality, his virtues, his preachings, his
writings, his philosophy, some of the important utterings in his
works or Slokas, the Siddhis that he exhibited from time to time, his
Digvijaya, his four disciples, his four Maths, his commentary on the
Gita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. Think of these items one
by one, in order. Exhaust them. Again and again bring the mind to the
point. Then take up another subject. By this practice, you will
develop organised thinking. The mental images will gain intense
strength and force. They will become clear-cut and well-defined. In
ordinary persons, the mental images are destorted and undefined.
Every thought has got an image. A table is a mental image plus some
external something. Whatever you see outside has got its counterpart
in the mind. The pupil is a small round thing in the eye. Retina is a
small structure. How is it that the image of a big mountain seen
through a small aperture or structure is cast on the mind? How does
the big form of a mountain enter a tiny hole in the eye? This is a
Marvel of marvels. The image of a mountain already exists in the
mind. The mind is like a big, vast sheet of canvas cloth that
contains all the pictures of the objects seen outside.
You must have a knowledge of the mental laws, viz., the law of
association, the law of relativity, and the law of contiguity. Then
you can develop thought-culture very easily. You can remember things
through the `law of association'. Brahmacharya and pure Sattvic diet
are essential for thought- culture. Get up at 4 a.m. Sit on Virasana
or Padmasana or Siddhasana. Repeat your Mantra—Om or Ram or Hari Om—
for ten minutes, and then practise thought-culture. Have another
sitting at night. When you think on one subject, do not allow other
thoughts to enter. When you think of rose, think of the different
kinds of roses only. Do not allow other thoughts to enter. When you
think of mercy, think of mercy and mercy only. Do not think of
forgiveness and tolerance. When you study the Gita, do not think of
tea or a cricket match. Be wholly occupied on the subject on hand.
Napoleon controlled his thoughts in this manner: "When I want to
think of things more pleasant, I close up the cupboards of my mind
revealing the more unpleasant things of life, and open up the
cupboards containing the more pleasant thoughts. If I want to sleep,
I close up all cupboards of my mind!"
Thought is both force and motion. Thought is dynamic. Thoughts move.
There are various kinds of thoughts. There are instinctive thoughts.
There are visual thoughts. There are auditory thoughts (thinking in
terms of hearing). There are symbolic thoughts (thinking in terms of
symbols). Some thoughts are habitual. There are kinaesthetic thoughts
(thinking in terms of movement, as in playing a game). There are
emotional thoughts. If there is mental fatigue, the processes of
thought change from visual to auditory, and from auditory to
kinaesthetic. There is intimate connection between thinking and
respiration, as there is close relation between mind and Prana. Where
the mind is concentrated, breathing becomes slow. If one thinks fast,
the respiration also becomes fast. There is a thought-reading
machine, known as psychograph, which registers correctly the type of
thoughts.
THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
The subconscious mind is termed "Chitta", in Vedanta. Much of your
subconsciousness consists of submerged experiences, memories thrown
into the background, but recoverable.
When you show symptoms of losing your memory, as you grow old, the
first symptom is that you find it difficult to remember the names of
persons. The reason is not far to seek. All the names are arbitrary.
They are like labels. There are no associations along with the names.
The mind generally remembers through associations, as the impressions
become deep thereby. You can remember well in old age some passages
that you had read in schools and colleges; but you find it difficult
to remember in the evening a passage you read in the morning. The
reason is that the mind has lost its Dharana-Sakti (power of grasping
ideas). The brain-cells have degenerated. Those who overwork
mentally, who do not observe the rules of Brahmacharya and who are
afflicted with much cares and anxieties, worries, etc., lose their
power of memory soon. Even in old age you can remember old events, as
there are associations with events.
The mental processes are not limited to the field of consciousness
alone. The field of subconscious mentation is of much greater extent
than that of conscious mentation. Messages, when ready, come out like
a flash from the subconscious mind to the surface of the conscious
mind through the trapdoor in the subconscious mind or Chitta of the
Vedantins. Only ten per cent of the mental activities come into the
field of consciousness. At least ninety per cent of our mental life
is subconscious. We sit and try to solve a problem, and fail. We look
around, try again and again, but fail. Suddenly an idea dawns that
leads to the solution of the problem. The subconscious processes were
at work. Sometimes, you go to sleep at night with the thought: "I
must get up very early in the morning to catch a train." This message
is taken up by the subconscious mind and it is this subconscious mind
that wakes you up unfailingly at the exact hour. The subconscious
mind is your constant companion and sincere friend. You repeatedly
fail at night to get a solution for a problem in arithmetic or
geometry. In the morning, when you awake, you get a clear answer.
This answer comes like a flash from the subconscious mind. Even in
sleep it works without any rest incessantly. It arranges, classifies,
compares, sorts all facts and figures, and works out a proper
satisfactory solution. This is all due to the subconscious mind. With
the help of the subconscious mind you can change your vicious nature,
by cultivating healthy virtuous qualities that are opposed to the
undesirable ones. If you want to overcome fear, mentally deny that
you have fear, and concentrate your attention upon the opposite
quality, the ideal of courage. When courage is developed, fear
vanishes away by itself. The positive always overpowers the negative.
This is an infallible Law of Nature. This is Pratipaksha Bhavana of
the Raja Yogins. You can acquire a liking for distasteful tasks and
duties by cultivating a desire and taste for them. You can establish
new habits, new ideas, new ideals, new tastes and new character in
the subconscious mind by changing the old ones.
The functions of the Chitta are Smriti or Smarana, Dharana
(attention) and Anusandhana (enquiry or investigation). When you do
the Japa of a Mantra it is the Chitta that does the Smarana. It does
a lot of work. It turns out better work than the mind or Buddhi.
All actions, enjoyments and experiences leave an imprint in the
subconscious mind in the form of subtle impressions or residual
potencies. The Samskaras are the roots of causing again Jati (life)
and experiences of pleasure and pain. Revival of Samskaras induces
memory. The Yogi dives deep inside and comes in direct contact with
these Samskaras. He directly perceives them through the inner Yogic
vision. By Samyama (concentration, meditation and Samadhi) on these
Samskaras, he acquires knowledge of the previous lives. By doing
Samyama on the Samskaras of others, the Yogi gets knowledge of their
past lives also.
When you desire to remember a thing, you will have to make a psychic
exertion. You will have to go up and down into the depths of the
different levels of subconsciousness and then pick up the right thing
from a curious mixture of multifarious irrelevant matter. Just as the
mail-sorter in the railway mail service takes up the right letter by
moving the hand up and down along the different pigeon-holes, so
also, the sorter (the subconscious mind), goes up and down along the
pigeon-holes in the subconscious mind and brings the right thing to
the level of normal consciousness. The subconscious mind can pick up
the right thing from a heap of various matters.
A Samskara of an experience is formed or developed in the Chitta at
the very moment when the mind is experiencing something. There is no
gap between the present experience and the formation of a Samskara in
the subconscious mind.
Smriti or memory is a function of the Chitta (sub-conscious mind).
It is a separate faculty or category in Vedanta. Sometimes it is
Antarangata, that comes under the mind. In the Sankhya philosophy, it
is included in Buddhi or Mahat Tattva. The Chitta of Patanjali
Maharshi's philosophy of Raja Yoga (yogah chitta-vritti-nirodhah)
corresponds to the Antahkarana of Vedanta.
MEMORY-CULTURE
He who dwells in the subconscious mind or Chitta, and in memory, and
who is within this memory, whom the Chitta and memory do not know,
whose body is the memory (and subconscious mind), who rules the
memory and Chitta from within, is thy Self, Inner Ruler (Immortal
Atman, Antaryami, Amritam). My silent adorations and prostrations to
this Inner Ruler!
Memory-culture is very, very important. It brings success in God-
realisation as well. A forgetful man always fails in his endeavours.
The manager gets displeased with a forgetful clerk. A forgetful man
commits serious mistakes again and again. A man with strong and
retentive memory gets sanguine success in all his ventures and
undertakings. He who has memory can conduct his business-affairs very
successfully, remember credits and debits, and keep accounts in a
satisfactory manner. A student who has a retentive memory will get
success in all his examinations. Intelligence is only one-tenth of
memory.
The Sanskrit term for memory is Smriti. Smarana is remembering. This
is the function of the subconscious mind or Chitta. The Samskaras of
thinking and acting are deeply impressed in the Chitta. The Chitta is
like the sensitive plate of a camera. It is like the sensitive plate
of a gramophone. All the impressions are indelibly recorded there.
Whenever you make an attempt to remember the past events or things,
they come back to the surface of the conscious mind through the
trapdoor. Just as the man enters the stage from the side-curtains,
just as the prisoner comes out of the jail through a small door in
the big main gate, so also the impressions come out through the
trapdoor in the form of big waves of thought or mental image. If you
have a clairvoyant vision or astral eye, you can clearly watch all
subterranean movements of these images in the subterranean workshop
of the mind or the underground mental factory. The term `memory' is
used in two senses. We say, "Mr. John has got a good memory." Here it
means that Mr. John's capacity of the mind to store up its past
experiences is very good. Sometimes you say, "I have no memory of
that incident." Here it means you cannot bring out to the surface of
the conscious mind, in its original form, the incident that occurred
some years ago. It is an act of remembering.
If the experience is fresh, you can have a complete recall of your
past experience through memory. You cannot get any new knowledge
through memory. It is only a repetition.
In ordinary recollection, there is a temporal coefficient. In
personal memory, there is a specific coefficient. That which acts
together with another is a coefficient. In mathematics, the numerical
or literal factor prefixed to an unknown quantity in an algebraic
term is coefficient.
Suppose you have received a nice fan as a present from your friend.
When you use the fan, it sometimes reminds you of your friend. You
think of him for a short time. This fan serves as cause for memory
(Udbodhaka or Smriti-hetu).
The following are the four good characteristics of good memory: (i)
If you read once a passage and if you can reproduce the same nicely,
it is a sign to indicate that you have a good memory. This is termed
Sugamata. (ii) If you can reproduce the same thing without increase
or decrease (addition or subtraction), it is called Avaikalya. (iii)
If you can preserve a fact or passage or anything for a very
considerable period, it is called retentive memory, Dharana. (iv) If
you can reproduce a passage at once without any difficulty when it is
needed, it is called Upaharana.
If your brother is a coward, the sight of a similar man in another
place will bring to your mind the memory of your brother. This memory
is due to similarity of objects (Sadrisyata).
Suppose you have seen a dwarf at Madras. When you see a very tall man
or Patagonian, this will remind you of the dwarf whom you saw at
Madras. The sight of a big palace will remind you of a peasant's hut
or a Sannyasin's grass Kutir on the banks of the Ganga. This memory
is due to dissimilarity in objects (Viparitata).
When you walk along the road on a stormy day and happen to see a
fallen tree, you conclude that the tree has fallen owing to the
storm. In this case, the memory is due to the relation between cause
and effect (Karya-Karana-Sambandha).
A knowledge of the working of the subconscious mind is very necessary
for those who want to develop their memory. Most of the mental
operations take place in the subconscious mind. The conscious mind
takes some rest, but the subconscious mind works throughout the
twenty-four hours. It is the subconscious mind that brings the answer
like a flash of lightning in the early morning, when you fail to get
a solution at night even though you rake your brain for hours and
hours together. It is again the subconscious mind that wakes you up
in the morning when you go to sleep with a firm resolve: "I should
catch the train at 3 a.m.". It is a most faithful servant, provided
you know the technique of manipulating it in a masterly manner. You
can extract tremendous work from it. All the prodigies, or
intellectual giants of the world, know the act of handling and
tapping this portion of the mind. The Chitta analyses, sorts,
arranges facts and figures, takes out all old records from the
various pigeon-holes of the mind, and produces in the early morning
or at any time, a clear balance-sheet of facts for your perusal and
review. Before you retire to bed, give orders to the Chitta to do any
kind of work. It will keep the answer ready in the early morning.
When you are in a dilemma, when you are at your wits' end and
confused, when you do not know how to solve a serious problem, give
orders to the Chitta—a definite command—placing before it the nature
of your difficulty. In the morning at 4 a.m., you will have an
unambiguous answer. Do this. Practise this. Then only you will have
wonderful conviction and strength. You will find a very reliable
friend in the subconscious mind.
A man of strong and retentive memory can turn out tremendous work in
the twinkling of an eye. He can master any subject or art in a short
time. Dr. Samuel Johnson used to repeat passages after passages in a
few minutes, by committing them to memory. His mother was quite
astonished. She used to ask him: "Johnson, my dear child, get this
passage by heart." Before she would ascend the staircase, he would
follow her and say, "Mamma, mamma, I know this by heart." He would
then repeat them then and there. What a wonderful memory Johnson had!
What one man has achieved can also be achieved by another: this is an
immutable Law of Nature.
If you read the introduction of "Pranava Vada" written by Sri Babu
Bhagawan Das of Varanasi, you will find that he collected all the
materials for his big book in three volumes by hearing the
recitations from a Pandit who was blind from his very birth and who
knew the contents of many books by heart. He knew the numbers of the
pages also. You go to Bakshi Sur who lives in a village in Lakhimpur-
Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. He has a wonderful memory. He is a blind man
from his birth. He can quote all the verses from Surdas and
Tulasidas. He can quote the page numbers, too. How he learnt this,
how he committed this to memory, is a Wonder of wonders today!
In olden days, Sanskrit scholars got by heart all the Vedas. The
Gurukula system of education has its own advan¬tages. It develops
memory to a very marvellous extent. Even now there is a Sanskrit
Pandit in Varanasi who has committed to memory the whole of the
Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahma Sutras, Khandana Khadyam, Chit Sukhi
and Advaita Siddhi, the greatest monumental work on Vedanta. There
are small boys in the Darshan Maha Vidyalaya of Sri Raghavachari in
Rishikesh who have committed to memory the eighteen chapters of the
Gita. The Gurukula system of education is wonderful. The students of
modern universities cannot compete with the students of the Gurukula
system.
Brahmacharya, dietetic adjustment and discipline of Indriyas are very
essential for developing memory. The seminal energy has a direct,
intimate connection with the cells of the Chitta and brain. You
should try your extreme level best to preserve every drop of your
vital fluid. Bad memory is due largely to heavy losses of this life-
giving energy. Young school and college students do not realise the
vital importance of Brahmacharya. They grope in utter darkness. Their
minds are filled with passion by daily looking at the nude pictures
and embraces in the film-shows. They indulge in novel-reading that
excites passion. They always seek bad company. They are conceited,
arrogant and self-willed. They never care to approach the sages who
can give them inspiring lessons on the science of the Self, memory-
culture, and conquest of passion. They eat whatever they like. They
have no idea of Sattvic diet and effects of unwholesome food on the
different compartments of the brain. They have no knowledge of
discipline of Indriyas and the science of dietetics. Hence they fail,
and fail miserably too, in their lives and lead a cheerless, gloomy
life in darkness and despair. This is their only mistake. Those who
are careful in Brahmacharya and food, those who have Satsanga with
Sadhus and Sannyasins, are always quite safe. They become quite
successful in their lives. Even if they commit mistakes, they are
then and there corrected by wise men.
There are Udbodhakas or Smriti-hetus that bring things to memory. The
sight of a wrist-watch brings the recollection of your friend who
presented a wrist-watch to you. The law of association is of immense
help in developing your memory. The remembrance of a word that ends
in `ity, such as "cupidity", "avidity", etc., will bring to memory
other words such as "stupidity", "superiority", "inferiority", etc.
The remembrance of a word that ends in `tic, such as "romantic", will
bring to memory other words as "fantastic." In this way, you can
remember things. You will have to group things like this in the
various pigeon-holes of your brain. Connect one thing or event with
another of a like nature. Then all these things will come back to
your memory quite readily and willingly.
EXERCISES FOR MEMORY-CULTURE
I
Here are some easy exercises for memory-culture. Sit on Virasana or
Padmasana. Close your eyes. Imagine there is a big garden. In one
corner there are jessamine flowers, in another roses, in another
Champak, in another lily of the valley. First think of the jessamine,
then rotate the mind to roses, then to Champak, and then to lily.
Again bring back the mind to jessamine. Revolve the mind like this
for two or three minutes. Look at the map of the heavens at night and
count the stars in a small localised area. On Thursday morning, try
to remember the dietetic preparations, vegetables, kinds of Dhal,
etc., that were prepared on Wednesday. This is another kind of
exercise.
II
Study one important Sloka from the Gita. Find out parallel lines in
the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, the Upanishads, the Yoga Vasishtha and
the Bible, and connect all these passages and keep them in your
mental disposition or pigeon-holes of the brain.
III
Bring back the word `V-I-B-G-Y-O-R' to memory. Try to remember the
various colours such as violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange
and red. Coin your code words to help you for remembering. Every one
of you can have your own code words.
IV
Coin your catch-words, some that start with A, some with B, some
others with R, some that end with `tion, some with `ness. Here are
some sentences:—
"An Austrian army arrived at Aurangabad." "Be bold, but be
benevolent." "Cunning camels carried caravans." "Doctor Dadabhai died
during Dipavali." "Examination is a great botheration to the Hindu
nation whose sole occupation is cultivation." "If you do not want to
study, hang that matriculation and take to meditation. This is a sure
way for Salvation." "If you combine Satsanga and Kirtan with
meditation, this will form a good spiritual emulsion." "This is my
firm conviction after mature deliberation and careful consideration."
Here, you find all words ending in `tion. This is a specimen for you.
You can do in your own way. Every one of you has creative power of
your own.
V
Japa, meditation, prayer, devotion, Sirshasana and Pranayama develop
memory wonderfully. Here is a short description of Sirshasana. (For
detailed particulars, vide the book "YOGA ASANAS".) Sirshasana is the
king of all Asanas. Spread a fourfold blanket. Rest the head over
locked fingers, and slowly raise the legs up. Then slowly bring down
the legs without jerks. Take the help of a wall or any of your
friends in the beginning. Do it for a minute; and gradually increase
the time to ten minutes. It removes diseases of the eyes, ears,
nerves, blood, stomach, intestines, gonorrhoea, spermatorrhoea,
dyspepsia, constipation, etc. It augments the digestive fire and
improves appetite. It is a blood and nervine tonic. Intellectual
faculties develop. It helps Brahmacharya and makes you an Urdhvareto-
Yogi.
VI
Here are some assertions and affirmations for developing memory.
Meditate and assert on them:—
1. I have a very strong memory—Om Om Om.
2. I can remember things now nicely—Om Om Om.
3. My memory has very much improved—Om Om Om.
4. 4. I have a wonderful retentive memory—Om Om Om.
VII
"Day by day, in every way, I am becoming better and better through
the grace of my Lord." Repeat this formula several times daily.
Meditate on this in the morning also for five minutes. You will have
wonderful improvement. Meditate on the meaning and feel also.
I shall speak a word on keeping a memorandum notebook. Daily jot down
in the notebook, as soon as you rise from bed in the morning, the
various kinds of work that you have to do in the course of the day;
and see if all have been carried out to the very letter. Tick each
item as soon as it is finished.
VIII
Take a packet of playing cards and have six cards from out of it and
see them very carefully. Then place them in front of you with face
downwards. Through memory, jot down in order on a piece of paper,
their exact description. You can slowly increase the number to ten or
twelve. This exercise will also develop memory.
IX
Lie down in any easy chair quite comfortably. Recollect the picture
of your father. Close your eyes. Just try to bring out a clear
description of some of his distinct physical characteristics and
marks on the body, such as the kind of nose, hair, the condition of
his eyes, forehead, lips, ears, chest, whether broad or pigeon chest,
whether sinewy or thin arms, whether there is symmetry in his limbs,
the condition of his teeth, his gait, way of talking, special
distinctive features and physiognomy, special traits that attract
people, the nature of his voice, special marks or moles on the
different parts of his body, etc. After seeing once any great man,
try to bring out the special qualities and features that have
arrested your attention.
X
Try to remember synonymous terms. This will increase your vocabulary
of words and you will be able to write beautiful essays and deliver
excellent lectures. You will become a great journalist. You can write
thrilling books. Take, for instance, the word "compassion"
or "generosity." Try to bring out the synonymous terms such
as "pity", "mercy", "liberality", "munificence", etc. Through the law
of association, connect one idea with several other ideas. This will
develop your memory. The thought of `coffee' will bring the idea of
Nilgiri Hills where it is grown, and the idea of `Stane's Company'
who sell coffee seeds, and the idea of the founder of this company.
Through the law of `Sadrishya' or similarity, you may remember other
places in the world where coffee is cultivated. You can remember the
advantages of coffee. The idea of coffee will bring in the idea of
similar beverages, like tea, and the name of `Lipton' and his native
place, how he started his business and how he became a millionaire in
the end, and the nectar of immortality which the Yogins drink. All
these ideas will come in your mind and flash out in the twinkling of
an eye. Keep a small notebook in your pocket. Whenever good ideas
flash in your mind, then and there jot them down. Take hints. Later
on, you can develop them. Jot down, in your diary, the lessons you
have received from great Mahatmas.
XI
Just walk briskly along the Mall in Lahore or the Chowringhee in
Calcutta. Have a keen acute perception. See what is going on in this
shopping centre. As soon as you reach home, jot down on a piece of
paper the names of shops, and the important articles that are
exhibited in the showrooms outside. Next day, walk along the same
road and verify your jottings.
XII
Try to remember the different makes of motor cars, such as Ford,
Studebaker, Chevrolet, Standard, Moris, Austin, etc., and their
prices. Recollect the names of different philosophers of the world in
the East and in the West, such as Sankara, Ramanuja, Kant, Plato,
etc., and their important works and teachings. Compare the Eastern
with the Western philosophy. Do this closing your eyes. This will
develop your memory in subtle things. The memory of gross things is
easier than the memory of events of philosophical ideas. Events can
be more easily remembered than names of persons, because there are
associations for events. Names are arbitrary. There is intimate
connection between memory, keen observation and acute hearing. Mind
thinks on objects that are seen or heard. One who has developed his
power of hearing and seeing can have better memory.
XIII
There is yet another exercise. Just imagine that there is a canvas-
sheet in front of you which contains the pictures of nine animals. In
the first top-row, there are lion, leopard and cow; in the second
row, horse, zebra and bear; and in the third row, elephant, buffalo
and tiger. Practise this exercise daily. First try to remember the
animals in the first row, then in the second, and lastly in the
third. Now try to remember, in this order, from above downwards,
viz., lion, horse, elephant; leopard, zebra, buffalo; cow, bear and
tiger. You can change the order in many other ways like, algebraical
formulae, or permutation and combination. Exercises on the memory of
different kinds of gross and subtle sounds, tastes of articles of
food, touch of various articles, various shades of colours, etc., can
also be practised with advantage.
XIV
Read one or two pages in a book. Then close the book, and try to
remember the important ideas and reproduce them in your mind. Write
down the contents in your own way, or bring out an exact reproduction
on a piece of paper. Compare and contrast these passages with other
passages that are contained in other books. Draw your own conclusions
and inferences. This practice will develop wonderfully your memory
and will enable you to remember things for a long time. Mark the
important passages with a red pencil on the sides, and have thin blue
or red underlinings wherever it is necessary. In underlining, do not
blot out the words. Take down notes of what you have read, and turn
over the pages of the notebook which contains in a nutshell all the
important points, every week. Whenever you read a book, keep a
dictionary by your side. Never read without a dictionary. When you
come across difficult words that you do not understand, refer to the
dictionary and note down the words and their meanings in a separate
notebook. Many lazy students skip over the pages of books that they
do not understand, and imagine their meanings in their own ways. This
is anything but desirable. Those who practise in the above manner
will become truly learned and great within a short time. They will
have a rich vocabulary of words and can command huge audiences. They
can become distinguished orators, journalists, and able writers of
prose and poetry. The Sanskrit term for the power of memory is Smriti-
Sakti. The power of memory needs the help of grasping power and
Dharana Sakti. Dharana Sakti is the power of holding ideas. Those who
have good Dharana Sakti will have remarkable retentive memory.
XV
Practise self-analysis or self-examination for ten minutes before you
go to bed. Sit comfortably on a chair. Close your eyes. Think of all
actions, good and bad, that you did during the course of the day.
Think of all the mistakes that you committed consciously or
unconsciously. On the first day, you may not be able to find out even
two or three mistakes in your actions, because you are not in the
habit of doing so. But, by daily, regular and systematic practice,
you will be able to visualise clearly the actions and mistakes of the
day. Even an hour will not be sufficient to review the actions. The
mind becomes subtle and sharp by the practice of introspection. It
goes more and more inward. It dissects, analyses, groups, classifies
and brings the list of actions in the twinkling of an eye. This
practice will develop your memory and reduce the number of mistakes.
You can note down all the actions and mistakes the same night, or the
following morning, in your diary. A time will come when you will do
only good actions, without committing even a single mistake. The name
of Benjamin Franklin comes to my mind just now.
XVI
Study several times the eighteen chapters of the Gita. Try to
remember the Slokas according to different headings such as those
that treat of Viveka, Vairagya, Sadachara, development of Gunas,
three kinds of Tapas and the three kinds of food as described in the
seventeenth chapter, Slokas concerning Pranayama, practice of
concentration, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga,
control of mind, etc. You must group them and classify in the pigeon-
holes of your mind. This is also a kind of exercise for memory-
culture. Select any kind of exercise that suits your taste,
temperament and capacity.
XVII
Develop the power of describing exactly a cricket match or a football
match. Watch the game. As soon as you reach home, note it down on
paper, correct the same then and there, and bring out a clear copy.
It is always better to keep paper and pencil in your pocket, or a
diary. Busy people, and those whose aim in life is to become great in
every way, should always take down notes then and there, even while
walking. They can take hints or shorthand notes in their own way, and
can develop them at leisure. Whenever good ideas roll in your mind,
at once jot down in your pocket-notebook. This is the keynote to
success in life in all endeavours, in every walk of life, and in all
spheres of activity. Practise, feel and enjoy. Mere theorising will
not do. You should become a practical man. I always hammer on this
point again and again, and I am not at all tired of doing so. I want
you to become a great man of admirable ideals, and not in the unknown
future, but right now this very minute. Give your full heart to me. I
have got my own ways of developing a man quickly and perfectly. I
have a strong passion for service, but I do not get the right type of
aspirants. Attend a conference, and reproduce the speeches in your
own style and send them to newspapers. You can become a first-class A-
1 reporter and able journalist in a short time. Visit Badri Narayan,
Gangotri or Gomukh where the Ganga takes its source, and take down
notes. Give a full description of what all you have seen in the daily
papers and journals. All these practices will undoubtedly develop
your memory.
XVIII
Here is yet another exercise for memory-culture. Close your eyes. Sit
comfortably in a chair. Try to remember the richest persons of the
world such as the Nizam of Hyderabad, Rockefeller, Ford; the biggest
rivers in the world such as the Amazon, the Nile, the Brahmaputra;
and the seven holy rivers in India, viz., the Ganga, the Yamuna, the
Godavari, the Sarasvati, the Narmada, the Sindhu and the Kaveri. You
can remember the Sloka:—
gange cha yamune chaiva godavari sarasvati
narmade sindhu kaveri jale asmin sannidhim kuru.
Remember the waterfalls, the Niagara, the Sivasamudram; remember the
lakes, Chilka in the Ganjam District, Manasarovar in the Himalayas,
etc. You can recall to mind such poets as the immortal Kalidas,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Milton, Shakespeare, Byron and Keats;
essayists such as Johnson and Emerson; philosophers such as Sankara,
Ramanuja, Kant, Hegel and Plato; scientists such as Faraday, Newton,
Bose, Raman and Einstein; Jnanis such as Sankara, Dattatreya,
Yajnavalkya, Madalasa, Gargi, Sulabha, Vamadeva and Jadabharata;
Yogins such as Jnanadeva, Bhartrihari, ¬Trilinga Swami and Sadasiva
Brahman; Bhaktas such as Gouranga Maha Prabhu, Tulasidas, Ramdas,
Hafiz, Mira; the Pancha Kanyakas such as Kunti, Draupadi, Mandodari,
Ahalya and Anasuya; the seven Rishis such as Atri, Bhrigu, Vasishtha,
Gautama, Kasyapa, Pulastya and Angirasa; the seven Chiranjivis such
as Asvatthama, Bali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa and
Parasurama; the twelve Brahma-Vidya Gurus such as Brahma, Vishnu,
Siva, Vasishtha, Sakti, Parasara, Vyasa, Suka Deva, Gaudapada,
Govindapada, Sankaracharya and Krishna. This practice will develop
memory.
XIX
You must know the art of extracting work from the subconscious mind.
If you want to remember forgotten passages in Shakespeare's works,
give a definite command to the subconscious mind just before you
retire to bed. You can talk to your subconscious mind just in the
same manner as you talk to your friend or servant. You can say: "Look
here, subconscious mind. I have forgotten an important passage in
the `Merchant of Venice', and another in `As you like it', which I
studied in my college days. Bring them now to my memory. I want them
very badly tomorrow morning. Do it quickly." Give the order in very
clear terms. The following morning, it will place them like a flash
before you. If it fails to bring in the next morning, give the
command again on the next day. On the following day, you may get the
answer. Sometimes, the subconscious mind is very busy, and the brain
gets congested. The brain is under high tension or pressure on
account of tight work. You will have to wait with a calm mind. You
will have to repeat the command once or twice. You must allow
sufficient time for the subconscious mind and not disturb it
frequently.
A judge has to write summaries of evidences and prepare judgments.
His brain sometimes gets confused. He gets bewildered. He is not able
to arrive at the proper solution. In such cases, the subconscious
mind will beautifully work for him. It will arrange the facts and
figures in perfect order, and place before him a clear summary. He
will have to simply reproduce them on paper the following morning.
In matters which demand too much thinking and long deliberation, you
will have to wait for some days before getting an answer from the
subconscious mind. Again and again you will have to give command to
the subconscious mind at nights, and watch for the results. You need
not trouble the subconscious mind daily by commanding it. Repeat the
command once or twice. You will have to place facts and figures
before it, and make it understand clearly what you exactly want.
INTEREST DEVELOPS MEMORY
A Doctor has got good memory in the remembrance of drugs in the
Materia Medica, because he has keen interest in the treatment of
diseases. He cannot remember even in a single item in matters
relating to politics, because he has no interest in the subject. A
lawyer can remember all the rulings of the Allahabad, Bombay and
Madras High Courts. He cannot remember a few things in a cricket
match, for he has no interest in it.
You will have to create interest first in a certain subject, and the
memory of things will automatically follow. One should be in perfect
knowledge of the subject and should have a general knowledge of all
subjects. A versatile or all-round nature is highly creditable and
laudable. Try to become a versatile genius. A strong and retentive
memory, or a powerful will, and the practice of daily concentration
and meditation will certainly make you a versatile prodigy.
HEALTH AND MIND
A strong man will have a good memory. A weak delicate man of poor
health will have a bad memory. Health plays an important part in
memory-culture. Therefore try to keep a high standard of health,
vigour and vitality by taking proper food, exercise, etc.
In conclusion, I request you to attend to these exercises—
Brahmacharya, diet, Satsanga and various other things that are
inculcated herein—very carefully. Blessed is he who develops memory,
for, he will be a very successful man in the world, and will attain
God as he can remember Him quite easily.
BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
(Message 3)
----------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER ONE (...Continued)
ETHICAL CULTURE
Do you know the reason why I have chosen this subject as the third
item? Atman is the basis of everything. So I have placed spiritual
culture in the very beginning. There is intimate relation between
Atman and `will'. Will is only Atman or God in motion or
manifestation. So I have dealt with will-culture after spiritual
culture. No spiritual or will-culture is possible without ethical
culture. So I have placed this subject as the third important item.
Ethical culture will result in ethical perfection. An ethical man is
more powerful than an intellectual man. Ethical culture brings in
various sorts of Siddhis or occult powers. If you study Yoga Sutras,
you will find a clear description of the powers that manifest by
observance of the practices of Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya
and Aparigraha. The nine Riddhis roll under the feet of an ethically
developed man. They are ready to serve him.
The philosopher need not necessarily be a moral or ethical man; but,
a spiritual man must of necessity be moral. Morality goes hand in
hand with spirituality. Morality co-exists with spirituality. The
three kinds of Tapas, viz., physical, verbal and mental that are
prescribed in the seventeenth chapter of the Gita, the practice of
Yama in Raja Yoga philosophy, and the Noble Eightfold Path of the
Buddhists, viz., right thinking, right endeavour, right action, right
living, etc., are all best calculated to develop the moral side of
man. Sadachara or right conduct aims at making a man moral, so that
he may be fit for the reception of Atma-Jnana or the realisation of
the Supreme Tattva.
You should always try your level best to speak the truth at all
costs. You may lose your income in the beginning. But, in the long
run, you are bound to be victorious. You will realise the truth of
the Upanishads: "satyameva jayate nanritam. Truth alone triumphs, but
not falsehood." Even a lawyer who speaks the truth in law courts, who
does not coach up false witnesses, may lose his practice in the
beginning; but later on, he will be honoured by the judge as well as
the client. Thousands of clients will flock to him only. He will have
to make some sacrifice at the outset. Lawyers generally
complain: "What can we do? Our profession is such. We must tell lies.
Otherwise we lose our case." These are false excuses. There was an
advocate, a mental Sannyasin who was practising in Uttar Pradesh, who
was a friend and benefactor of Sannyasins, who never coached false
witnesses, who never took up criminal cases, and yet, he was the
leader of the bar and was revered by the judges, clients and
colleagues. O, my friends, barristers and advocates, who are killing
their conscience and who are slayers of Atman! Will you all follow
this noble example and ideal? Be truthful. You will have a peaceful
death. Do not kill your conscience in order to have comfortable
living, and in order to please your wife. Life here is evanescent and
like a bubble. Aspire to become divine.
The various formulae—ahimsa paramo dharmah (Non-injuring is the
highest of all virtues); satyam vada, dharmam chara (speak the truth
and do virtuous actions); do unto others in the same way as you wish
others to do unto you; do as you would be done by; love thy neighbour
as thyself — are all best calculated to develop the moral aspect of a
human being. Morality is the basis for the realisation of Atmic unity
or oneness of life or Advaitic feeling of sameness everywhere.
Ethical culture prepares you for the Vedantic realisation of sarvam
khalvidam brahma (All, indeed, is Brahman; there is no such thing as
diversity).
All aspirants commit mistakes in jumping to Samadhi and Dhyana all at
once, as soon as they leave their houses, without caring a bit for
ethical purification. The mind remains in the same condition although
they have practised meditation for fifteen years. They have the same
jealousy, hatred, idea of superiority, pride, egoism, etc. No
meditation or Samadhi is possible without ethical culture. Meditation
and Samadhi come by themselves when one has ethical perfection.
BHAVA CULTURE
Bhava is a Sanskrit term; there is no proper equivalent in English.
It means mental attitude or mental disposition. Bhava is internal
feeling. There are three kinds of Bhavas, viz., Sattvic Bhava,
Rajasic Bhava and Tamasic Bhava according to the nature of the
quality that predominates in man. Sattvic Bhava is divine Bhava. It
is Suddha Bhava. Just as thought or memory or will can be cultivated
or developed by practice, so also, Bhava can be developed. An evil
Bhava can be transmuted into a good Bhava. The Bhava of friendliness
or enmity is a mental creation. The enemy or friend is not outside.
It is the feeling or imagination from within. An intimate friend of
long standing becomes a deadly enemy within a second. One hot or
harsh word changes the situation completely within the twinkling of
an eye. When there is friendly Bhava, Mr. Smith expects and imagines
that his friend Mr. Nicholas will serve him when he is sick, that he
will have a good loving company in Mr. Nicholas, that his friend Mr.
Nicholas will speak loving words, that he can get a loan of money
from Mr. Nicholas when he is in distress, and that Mr. Nicholas will
show a loving face and receive him with hospitality when he visits
his house. These are the feelings of men when friendly Bhava reigns
in their minds. When they lose their friendship, Mr. Smith entertains
different kinds of feelings towards Mr. Nicholas. He has no
confidence in his old friend and colleague. He is afraid of him. He
turns his face when he meets his friend. He speaks ill of him. He
thinks that Mr. Nicholas will injure him. The whole position is so
radically changed. The Bhava has so completely changed now.
Vedanta says: "Man is identical with Brahman (Existence-Absolute)
when he gets rid of his ignorance." A human being erroneously
identifies himself with his body and wrongly imagines that he is a
little Jiva with little power and little knowledge. This is his
present Bhava. This is human Bhava. This should be changed into
Brahma Bhava by changing the angle of vision and mode of thinking.
Think you are Brahman. Think you are pure and all-pervading
intelligence, light and consciousness. Think you are immortal. Think
you are omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Think you are Sakshi.
Entertain Sakshi Bhava and Akarta Bhava: "I am the witness. I am not
the doer. I am not the enjoyer." By this practice you can destroy the
idea of agency and of enjoyer, and free yourself from the bondage of
Karmas, and attain the state of Brahman or the highest bliss,
knowledge and immortality. Vedanta also adds: "See and feel Brahman
everywhere and ignore the names and forms." It teaches you to develop
Atma Bhava or Brahma Bhava by Vichara and right thinking and
meditation.
When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, a mental state or Bhava
corresponding to the nature of the idea comes in. Think of your enemy
for sometime, an inimical Bhava will manifest. Think of mercy or
universal love; Prema Bhava or Karuna Bhava will manifest. Think of
universal service; Seva Bhava will come in. Think of Lord Krishna and
His Lilas at Brindavan; Krishna-Prema Bhava will manifest. Feeling
always accompanies thinking. You cannot separate thinking from
feeling. They are like fire and heat.
You should be ever watching the mental states through careful and
vigilant introspection, and should not allow any negative and
undesirable Bhava to manifest. You must immediately change the evil
Bhava by thinking of the opposite Bhava. Positive overpowers the
negative. A Sattvic Bhava is a valuable spiritual asset for you. You
must always try to get established in Brahma Bhava through Sattvic
Bhava. The struggle will be keen in the beginning. There will be
internal warfare between the Asurika and the divine Bhavas. The
former will try its level best to re-enter the mental factory. In the
long run, through constant practice, Sattvic Bhava will carry the
day. Food has a direct bearing upon Bhava. Sattvic food easily brings
in Sattvic Bhava. Put yourself on an exclusive diet of milk and
fruits only for a fortnight and study the nature of your mind and
Bhava. You will have a wonderful calm mind with Sattvic Bhava. When
there is this Sattvic Bhava, the mind naturally moves towards God,
and meditation comes by itself without the least possible effort on
your part.
When the devotee thinks that he is a servant of the Lord, he
entertains Dasya Bhava. When he thinks that the Lord is his friend
like the immortal Arjuna, he entertains Sakhya Bhava. When he thinks
that the Lord is his son, he develops Vatsalya Bhava. When he thinks
that the Lord is his husband like Sufis or Rup-kalaji of Ayodhya, he
develops Madhurya Bhava or Kanta Bhava. He feels that the Lord is
present everywhere — Sarvam Vasudevamiti — and develops Tanmaya Bhava.
A devotee always thinks that God does everything and that he is an
instrument in the hands of God. He thinks that he is only Nimitta;
this is his Bhava. By entertaining this Bhava, he gives up the idea
of agency and enjoyment and thus frees himself from the bonds of
Karma. He rests in perfect, unalloyed peace by developing this Bhava.
He says when anything happens, whether desirable or undesirable, "God
is everything. God does everything for my own good. God is just. Thy
Will be done. All is Thine. I am Thine, my Lord." By the practice of
this Bhava, he is always happy, under all circumstances and
conditions of life.
The Bhavas of a Bhakta and a Vedantin differ. The Vedantin entertains
Sakshi and Akarta Bhavas. The Bhakta entertains Nimitta Bhava. The
Vedantin develops Brahma Bhava. The Bhakta develops Dasya Bhava. The
Vedantin identifies himself with Brahman. The Bhakta entertains the
Bhava of duality. He worships and adores. Eventually, through Para
Bhakti, the Bhakta also gets Jnana and attains the same state which a
Jnani attains. The modes of Sadhana and the Bhavas differ in them in
the beginning. They meet on the same platform ultimately.
A rich man and a Pandit have the Bhava of arrogance and superiority.
A real Sannyasin has the Bhava of equality and oneness, and the Bhava
of love. Bhava differs in different persons, according to nature and
quality. In worldly parlance, the relationship of father and son,
husband and wife, master and servant, friend and friend, brother and
sister, etc., is meant to develop the various degrees of Prema and to
extend this Prema to God by purifying the lower emotion into higher
sublime divine emotion. That is the aim and object. The lower human
Bhava is transmuted into higher divine Bhava. Worldly relationship
and Bhava is preliminary training for the development of divine
Bhava. Do not forget this point.
THINK OF THE OPPOSITE
THE METHOD OF PRATIPAKSHA BHAVANA
Watch all your feelings very carefully. Suppose you get a gloomy
feeling. Take a small cup of milk or tea. Sit calmly. Close your
eyes. Find out the cause for the depression and try to remove the
cause. The best method to overcome this feeling is thinking of the
opposite. Positive overcomes the negative. This is a grand, effective
Law of Nature. Now think strongly of the opposite of gloom. Think of
cheerfulness. Imagine the advantages of cheerfulness. Feel that you
are in the actual possession of this quality. Again and again repeat
the formula OM CHEERFULNESS mentally. Feel: "I am very cheerful."
Begin to smile and laugh several times. Sing some tunes that can
elevate you quickly. Singing is very beneficial to drive off gloom.
Chant OM loudly several times. Run in the open air. The depression
will vanish soon. This is the Pratipaksha-Bhavana method of Raja
Yogins. This is the easiest method. The method of driving gloom by
force, by willing, by assertions, by command — "Get out O gloom"—
taxes the `will' very much, although it is the most efficient method.
It demands great strength of `will'. Ordinarily, people will not
succeed. The method of displacing or dislocating the negative feeling
by substituting the opposite positive feelings, is very easy. Within
a very short time, the undesirable feeling vanishes. Practise this
and feel. Even if you fail several times, continue the practice. You
will be successful after some sittings and some practice.
You can treat in the same manner other negative feelings as well. If
there is the feeling of anger, think of love. If there is harshness
of heart, think of mercy. If there is lust, think of the advantages
of celibacy. If there is dishonesty, think of honesty, integrity. If
there is miserliness, think of generosity and generous persons. If
there is Moha (infatuation), think of discrimination and Atmic
Vichara. If there is pride, think of humility. If there is hypocrisy,
think of frankness and its invaluable advantages. If there is
jealousy, think of nobility and magnanimity. If there is timidity,
think of courage, and so on. You will drive off the negative
feelings, and will be established in the positive state. Practice of
a continued type is essential. Be careful in the selection of your
companions. Talk very little, and that too, on useful matters.
THOUGHT-CULTURE
This is also another vital subject. Very few people know this art or
science. Even the so-called educated people are unaware of this
fundamental education. All have random thinking. All sorts of loose
thoughts of diverse kinds come and go in the mental factory. There is
neither order nor harmony. There is neither rhythm nor reasoning.
There is neither concord nor organised working. There is neither
system nor discipline. All is in utter chaos and confusion. There is
no clarification of ideas. You cannot think of one subject even for
two minutes in an orderly and systematic manner. You have no
understanding of the laws of thought and the laws of the mental
plane. There is a perfect menagerie inside. All sorts of sensual
thoughts fight amongst themselves to enter the mind of a sensualist
and gain the upper hand. The eye Indriya struggles to bring its own
thoughts. It wants to have sight-seeing. The ear Indriya wants to
hear radio music, and so on. In the vast majority of persons, only
base thoughts, lustful thoughts, thoughts of hatred, jealousy and
fear, exist. They cannot entertain a single sublime divine thought
even for a second. Their minds are so framed that the mental energy
runs into sensual grooves.
Every man has got his own mental world, his own mode of thinking, his
own ways of understanding things, and his own ways of acting. Just as
the face and voice of every man differ from those of another man, the
mode of thinking and understanding also differs. That is the reason
why misunderstanding easily occurs between friends. One is not able
to understand rightly the views of another. Hence friction, rupture
and quarrel occur within a minute even amongst fast friends. The
friendship does not last long. One should be in tune with the mental
vibrations or thought vibrations of another man. Then only one can
easily understand another. Lustful thoughts, thoughts of hatred,
jealousy and selfishness, produce distorted images in the mind and
cause clouding of understanding, perversion of intellect, loss of
memory, and confusion in the mind.
Every thought has got image, form, dimension, weight, shape, colour,
etc. Thought is as much matter as a piece of stone. Thought moves,
and passes from one man to another. Thought influences people. A man
of powerful thought can influence readily people of weak thoughts.
Telepathy is a branch of occult science wherein the Yogi can transmit
messages to any man in any part of the world. Telepathy is the first
telegraphic or telephonic system in this world, known to Yogins and
occultists of ancient days.
A thought of anger or hatred sends arrows from the mental factory
towards the person aimed at, harms the individual, sets up discord
and disharmony in the thought-world, and comes back again to the
sender and harms the sender also. If one can understand the effect
and power of thought, he will be very careful in the manufacture of
his thoughts in his mental laboratory. One should develop the faculty
of producing only pure Sattvic thoughts by protracted mental
discipline, dietetic adjustments, repetition of good Slokas with
meaning, good company, study of divine books, Japa, meditation,
Pranayama, prayer, etc. A good man can help his friend, even though
he lives at a long distance, by good thoughts. You must not allow any
evil thought to enter your mental factory. Watch always your
thoughts. Avoid useless and base thinking, and reserve or conserve
your mental energy. Energy is wasted in idle thinking.
Keep yourself always occupied in doing virtuous actions and the study
of religious books. You can thereby cultivate good and sublime
thoughts. Destroy random thinking. Take a subject, and think on its
different aspects and bearings. When you think so on one subject,
never allow any other thought to enter the conscious mind. Again
withdraw the mind to the subject on hand. Take for instance: you
begin to think on the life and teachings of Jagadguru Adi
Sankaracharya. Think of his birthplace, his early life, his
character, his personality, his virtues, his preachings, his
writings, his philosophy, some of the important utterings in his
works or Slokas, the Siddhis that he exhibited from time to time, his
Digvijaya, his four disciples, his four Maths, his commentary on the
Gita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. Think of these items one
by one, in order. Exhaust them. Again and again bring the mind to the
point. Then take up another subject. By this practice, you will
develop organised thinking. The mental images will gain intense
strength and force. They will become clear-cut and well-defined. In
ordinary persons, the mental images are destorted and undefined.
Every thought has got an image. A table is a mental image plus some
external something. Whatever you see outside has got its counterpart
in the mind. The pupil is a small round thing in the eye. Retina is a
small structure. How is it that the image of a big mountain seen
through a small aperture or structure is cast on the mind? How does
the big form of a mountain enter a tiny hole in the eye? This is a
Marvel of marvels. The image of a mountain already exists in the
mind. The mind is like a big, vast sheet of canvas cloth that
contains all the pictures of the objects seen outside.
You must have a knowledge of the mental laws, viz., the law of
association, the law of relativity, and the law of contiguity. Then
you can develop thought-culture very easily. You can remember things
through the `law of association'. Brahmacharya and pure Sattvic diet
are essential for thought- culture. Get up at 4 a.m. Sit on Virasana
or Padmasana or Siddhasana. Repeat your Mantra—Om or Ram or Hari Om—
for ten minutes, and then practise thought-culture. Have another
sitting at night. When you think on one subject, do not allow other
thoughts to enter. When you think of rose, think of the different
kinds of roses only. Do not allow other thoughts to enter. When you
think of mercy, think of mercy and mercy only. Do not think of
forgiveness and tolerance. When you study the Gita, do not think of
tea or a cricket match. Be wholly occupied on the subject on hand.
Napoleon controlled his thoughts in this manner: "When I want to
think of things more pleasant, I close up the cupboards of my mind
revealing the more unpleasant things of life, and open up the
cupboards containing the more pleasant thoughts. If I want to sleep,
I close up all cupboards of my mind!"
Thought is both force and motion. Thought is dynamic. Thoughts move.
There are various kinds of thoughts. There are instinctive thoughts.
There are visual thoughts. There are auditory thoughts (thinking in
terms of hearing). There are symbolic thoughts (thinking in terms of
symbols). Some thoughts are habitual. There are kinaesthetic thoughts
(thinking in terms of movement, as in playing a game). There are
emotional thoughts. If there is mental fatigue, the processes of
thought change from visual to auditory, and from auditory to
kinaesthetic. There is intimate connection between thinking and
respiration, as there is close relation between mind and Prana. Where
the mind is concentrated, breathing becomes slow. If one thinks fast,
the respiration also becomes fast. There is a thought-reading
machine, known as psychograph, which registers correctly the type of
thoughts.
THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
The subconscious mind is termed "Chitta", in Vedanta. Much of your
subconsciousness consists of submerged experiences, memories thrown
into the background, but recoverable.
When you show symptoms of losing your memory, as you grow old, the
first symptom is that you find it difficult to remember the names of
persons. The reason is not far to seek. All the names are arbitrary.
They are like labels. There are no associations along with the names.
The mind generally remembers through associations, as the impressions
become deep thereby. You can remember well in old age some passages
that you had read in schools and colleges; but you find it difficult
to remember in the evening a passage you read in the morning. The
reason is that the mind has lost its Dharana-Sakti (power of grasping
ideas). The brain-cells have degenerated. Those who overwork
mentally, who do not observe the rules of Brahmacharya and who are
afflicted with much cares and anxieties, worries, etc., lose their
power of memory soon. Even in old age you can remember old events, as
there are associations with events.
The mental processes are not limited to the field of consciousness
alone. The field of subconscious mentation is of much greater extent
than that of conscious mentation. Messages, when ready, come out like
a flash from the subconscious mind to the surface of the conscious
mind through the trapdoor in the subconscious mind or Chitta of the
Vedantins. Only ten per cent of the mental activities come into the
field of consciousness. At least ninety per cent of our mental life
is subconscious. We sit and try to solve a problem, and fail. We look
around, try again and again, but fail. Suddenly an idea dawns that
leads to the solution of the problem. The subconscious processes were
at work. Sometimes, you go to sleep at night with the thought: "I
must get up very early in the morning to catch a train." This message
is taken up by the subconscious mind and it is this subconscious mind
that wakes you up unfailingly at the exact hour. The subconscious
mind is your constant companion and sincere friend. You repeatedly
fail at night to get a solution for a problem in arithmetic or
geometry. In the morning, when you awake, you get a clear answer.
This answer comes like a flash from the subconscious mind. Even in
sleep it works without any rest incessantly. It arranges, classifies,
compares, sorts all facts and figures, and works out a proper
satisfactory solution. This is all due to the subconscious mind. With
the help of the subconscious mind you can change your vicious nature,
by cultivating healthy virtuous qualities that are opposed to the
undesirable ones. If you want to overcome fear, mentally deny that
you have fear, and concentrate your attention upon the opposite
quality, the ideal of courage. When courage is developed, fear
vanishes away by itself. The positive always overpowers the negative.
This is an infallible Law of Nature. This is Pratipaksha Bhavana of
the Raja Yogins. You can acquire a liking for distasteful tasks and
duties by cultivating a desire and taste for them. You can establish
new habits, new ideas, new ideals, new tastes and new character in
the subconscious mind by changing the old ones.
The functions of the Chitta are Smriti or Smarana, Dharana
(attention) and Anusandhana (enquiry or investigation). When you do
the Japa of a Mantra it is the Chitta that does the Smarana. It does
a lot of work. It turns out better work than the mind or Buddhi.
All actions, enjoyments and experiences leave an imprint in the
subconscious mind in the form of subtle impressions or residual
potencies. The Samskaras are the roots of causing again Jati (life)
and experiences of pleasure and pain. Revival of Samskaras induces
memory. The Yogi dives deep inside and comes in direct contact with
these Samskaras. He directly perceives them through the inner Yogic
vision. By Samyama (concentration, meditation and Samadhi) on these
Samskaras, he acquires knowledge of the previous lives. By doing
Samyama on the Samskaras of others, the Yogi gets knowledge of their
past lives also.
When you desire to remember a thing, you will have to make a psychic
exertion. You will have to go up and down into the depths of the
different levels of subconsciousness and then pick up the right thing
from a curious mixture of multifarious irrelevant matter. Just as the
mail-sorter in the railway mail service takes up the right letter by
moving the hand up and down along the different pigeon-holes, so
also, the sorter (the subconscious mind), goes up and down along the
pigeon-holes in the subconscious mind and brings the right thing to
the level of normal consciousness. The subconscious mind can pick up
the right thing from a heap of various matters.
A Samskara of an experience is formed or developed in the Chitta at
the very moment when the mind is experiencing something. There is no
gap between the present experience and the formation of a Samskara in
the subconscious mind.
Smriti or memory is a function of the Chitta (sub-conscious mind).
It is a separate faculty or category in Vedanta. Sometimes it is
Antarangata, that comes under the mind. In the Sankhya philosophy, it
is included in Buddhi or Mahat Tattva. The Chitta of Patanjali
Maharshi's philosophy of Raja Yoga (yogah chitta-vritti-nirodhah)
corresponds to the Antahkarana of Vedanta.
MEMORY-CULTURE
He who dwells in the subconscious mind or Chitta, and in memory, and
who is within this memory, whom the Chitta and memory do not know,
whose body is the memory (and subconscious mind), who rules the
memory and Chitta from within, is thy Self, Inner Ruler (Immortal
Atman, Antaryami, Amritam). My silent adorations and prostrations to
this Inner Ruler!
Memory-culture is very, very important. It brings success in God-
realisation as well. A forgetful man always fails in his endeavours.
The manager gets displeased with a forgetful clerk. A forgetful man
commits serious mistakes again and again. A man with strong and
retentive memory gets sanguine success in all his ventures and
undertakings. He who has memory can conduct his business-affairs very
successfully, remember credits and debits, and keep accounts in a
satisfactory manner. A student who has a retentive memory will get
success in all his examinations. Intelligence is only one-tenth of
memory.
The Sanskrit term for memory is Smriti. Smarana is remembering. This
is the function of the subconscious mind or Chitta. The Samskaras of
thinking and acting are deeply impressed in the Chitta. The Chitta is
like the sensitive plate of a camera. It is like the sensitive plate
of a gramophone. All the impressions are indelibly recorded there.
Whenever you make an attempt to remember the past events or things,
they come back to the surface of the conscious mind through the
trapdoor. Just as the man enters the stage from the side-curtains,
just as the prisoner comes out of the jail through a small door in
the big main gate, so also the impressions come out through the
trapdoor in the form of big waves of thought or mental image. If you
have a clairvoyant vision or astral eye, you can clearly watch all
subterranean movements of these images in the subterranean workshop
of the mind or the underground mental factory. The term `memory' is
used in two senses. We say, "Mr. John has got a good memory." Here it
means that Mr. John's capacity of the mind to store up its past
experiences is very good. Sometimes you say, "I have no memory of
that incident." Here it means you cannot bring out to the surface of
the conscious mind, in its original form, the incident that occurred
some years ago. It is an act of remembering.
If the experience is fresh, you can have a complete recall of your
past experience through memory. You cannot get any new knowledge
through memory. It is only a repetition.
In ordinary recollection, there is a temporal coefficient. In
personal memory, there is a specific coefficient. That which acts
together with another is a coefficient. In mathematics, the numerical
or literal factor prefixed to an unknown quantity in an algebraic
term is coefficient.
Suppose you have received a nice fan as a present from your friend.
When you use the fan, it sometimes reminds you of your friend. You
think of him for a short time. This fan serves as cause for memory
(Udbodhaka or Smriti-hetu).
The following are the four good characteristics of good memory: (i)
If you read once a passage and if you can reproduce the same nicely,
it is a sign to indicate that you have a good memory. This is termed
Sugamata. (ii) If you can reproduce the same thing without increase
or decrease (addition or subtraction), it is called Avaikalya. (iii)
If you can preserve a fact or passage or anything for a very
considerable period, it is called retentive memory, Dharana. (iv) If
you can reproduce a passage at once without any difficulty when it is
needed, it is called Upaharana.
If your brother is a coward, the sight of a similar man in another
place will bring to your mind the memory of your brother. This memory
is due to similarity of objects (Sadrisyata).
Suppose you have seen a dwarf at Madras. When you see a very tall man
or Patagonian, this will remind you of the dwarf whom you saw at
Madras. The sight of a big palace will remind you of a peasant's hut
or a Sannyasin's grass Kutir on the banks of the Ganga. This memory
is due to dissimilarity in objects (Viparitata).
When you walk along the road on a stormy day and happen to see a
fallen tree, you conclude that the tree has fallen owing to the
storm. In this case, the memory is due to the relation between cause
and effect (Karya-Karana-Sambandha).
A knowledge of the working of the subconscious mind is very necessary
for those who want to develop their memory. Most of the mental
operations take place in the subconscious mind. The conscious mind
takes some rest, but the subconscious mind works throughout the
twenty-four hours. It is the subconscious mind that brings the answer
like a flash of lightning in the early morning, when you fail to get
a solution at night even though you rake your brain for hours and
hours together. It is again the subconscious mind that wakes you up
in the morning when you go to sleep with a firm resolve: "I should
catch the train at 3 a.m.". It is a most faithful servant, provided
you know the technique of manipulating it in a masterly manner. You
can extract tremendous work from it. All the prodigies, or
intellectual giants of the world, know the act of handling and
tapping this portion of the mind. The Chitta analyses, sorts,
arranges facts and figures, takes out all old records from the
various pigeon-holes of the mind, and produces in the early morning
or at any time, a clear balance-sheet of facts for your perusal and
review. Before you retire to bed, give orders to the Chitta to do any
kind of work. It will keep the answer ready in the early morning.
When you are in a dilemma, when you are at your wits' end and
confused, when you do not know how to solve a serious problem, give
orders to the Chitta—a definite command—placing before it the nature
of your difficulty. In the morning at 4 a.m., you will have an
unambiguous answer. Do this. Practise this. Then only you will have
wonderful conviction and strength. You will find a very reliable
friend in the subconscious mind.
A man of strong and retentive memory can turn out tremendous work in
the twinkling of an eye. He can master any subject or art in a short
time. Dr. Samuel Johnson used to repeat passages after passages in a
few minutes, by committing them to memory. His mother was quite
astonished. She used to ask him: "Johnson, my dear child, get this
passage by heart." Before she would ascend the staircase, he would
follow her and say, "Mamma, mamma, I know this by heart." He would
then repeat them then and there. What a wonderful memory Johnson had!
What one man has achieved can also be achieved by another: this is an
immutable Law of Nature.
If you read the introduction of "Pranava Vada" written by Sri Babu
Bhagawan Das of Varanasi, you will find that he collected all the
materials for his big book in three volumes by hearing the
recitations from a Pandit who was blind from his very birth and who
knew the contents of many books by heart. He knew the numbers of the
pages also. You go to Bakshi Sur who lives in a village in Lakhimpur-
Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. He has a wonderful memory. He is a blind man
from his birth. He can quote all the verses from Surdas and
Tulasidas. He can quote the page numbers, too. How he learnt this,
how he committed this to memory, is a Wonder of wonders today!
In olden days, Sanskrit scholars got by heart all the Vedas. The
Gurukula system of education has its own advan¬tages. It develops
memory to a very marvellous extent. Even now there is a Sanskrit
Pandit in Varanasi who has committed to memory the whole of the
Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahma Sutras, Khandana Khadyam, Chit Sukhi
and Advaita Siddhi, the greatest monumental work on Vedanta. There
are small boys in the Darshan Maha Vidyalaya of Sri Raghavachari in
Rishikesh who have committed to memory the eighteen chapters of the
Gita. The Gurukula system of education is wonderful. The students of
modern universities cannot compete with the students of the Gurukula
system.
Brahmacharya, dietetic adjustment and discipline of Indriyas are very
essential for developing memory. The seminal energy has a direct,
intimate connection with the cells of the Chitta and brain. You
should try your extreme level best to preserve every drop of your
vital fluid. Bad memory is due largely to heavy losses of this life-
giving energy. Young school and college students do not realise the
vital importance of Brahmacharya. They grope in utter darkness. Their
minds are filled with passion by daily looking at the nude pictures
and embraces in the film-shows. They indulge in novel-reading that
excites passion. They always seek bad company. They are conceited,
arrogant and self-willed. They never care to approach the sages who
can give them inspiring lessons on the science of the Self, memory-
culture, and conquest of passion. They eat whatever they like. They
have no idea of Sattvic diet and effects of unwholesome food on the
different compartments of the brain. They have no knowledge of
discipline of Indriyas and the science of dietetics. Hence they fail,
and fail miserably too, in their lives and lead a cheerless, gloomy
life in darkness and despair. This is their only mistake. Those who
are careful in Brahmacharya and food, those who have Satsanga with
Sadhus and Sannyasins, are always quite safe. They become quite
successful in their lives. Even if they commit mistakes, they are
then and there corrected by wise men.
There are Udbodhakas or Smriti-hetus that bring things to memory. The
sight of a wrist-watch brings the recollection of your friend who
presented a wrist-watch to you. The law of association is of immense
help in developing your memory. The remembrance of a word that ends
in `ity, such as "cupidity", "avidity", etc., will bring to memory
other words such as "stupidity", "superiority", "inferiority", etc.
The remembrance of a word that ends in `tic, such as "romantic", will
bring to memory other words as "fantastic." In this way, you can
remember things. You will have to group things like this in the
various pigeon-holes of your brain. Connect one thing or event with
another of a like nature. Then all these things will come back to
your memory quite readily and willingly.
EXERCISES FOR MEMORY-CULTURE
I
Here are some easy exercises for memory-culture. Sit on Virasana or
Padmasana. Close your eyes. Imagine there is a big garden. In one
corner there are jessamine flowers, in another roses, in another
Champak, in another lily of the valley. First think of the jessamine,
then rotate the mind to roses, then to Champak, and then to lily.
Again bring back the mind to jessamine. Revolve the mind like this
for two or three minutes. Look at the map of the heavens at night and
count the stars in a small localised area. On Thursday morning, try
to remember the dietetic preparations, vegetables, kinds of Dhal,
etc., that were prepared on Wednesday. This is another kind of
exercise.
II
Study one important Sloka from the Gita. Find out parallel lines in
the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, the Upanishads, the Yoga Vasishtha and
the Bible, and connect all these passages and keep them in your
mental disposition or pigeon-holes of the brain.
III
Bring back the word `V-I-B-G-Y-O-R' to memory. Try to remember the
various colours such as violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange
and red. Coin your code words to help you for remembering. Every one
of you can have your own code words.
IV
Coin your catch-words, some that start with A, some with B, some
others with R, some that end with `tion, some with `ness. Here are
some sentences:—
"An Austrian army arrived at Aurangabad." "Be bold, but be
benevolent." "Cunning camels carried caravans." "Doctor Dadabhai died
during Dipavali." "Examination is a great botheration to the Hindu
nation whose sole occupation is cultivation." "If you do not want to
study, hang that matriculation and take to meditation. This is a sure
way for Salvation." "If you combine Satsanga and Kirtan with
meditation, this will form a good spiritual emulsion." "This is my
firm conviction after mature deliberation and careful consideration."
Here, you find all words ending in `tion. This is a specimen for you.
You can do in your own way. Every one of you has creative power of
your own.
V
Japa, meditation, prayer, devotion, Sirshasana and Pranayama develop
memory wonderfully. Here is a short description of Sirshasana. (For
detailed particulars, vide the book "YOGA ASANAS".) Sirshasana is the
king of all Asanas. Spread a fourfold blanket. Rest the head over
locked fingers, and slowly raise the legs up. Then slowly bring down
the legs without jerks. Take the help of a wall or any of your
friends in the beginning. Do it for a minute; and gradually increase
the time to ten minutes. It removes diseases of the eyes, ears,
nerves, blood, stomach, intestines, gonorrhoea, spermatorrhoea,
dyspepsia, constipation, etc. It augments the digestive fire and
improves appetite. It is a blood and nervine tonic. Intellectual
faculties develop. It helps Brahmacharya and makes you an Urdhvareto-
Yogi.
VI
Here are some assertions and affirmations for developing memory.
Meditate and assert on them:—
1. I have a very strong memory—Om Om Om.
2. I can remember things now nicely—Om Om Om.
3. My memory has very much improved—Om Om Om.
4. 4. I have a wonderful retentive memory—Om Om Om.
VII
"Day by day, in every way, I am becoming better and better through
the grace of my Lord." Repeat this formula several times daily.
Meditate on this in the morning also for five minutes. You will have
wonderful improvement. Meditate on the meaning and feel also.
I shall speak a word on keeping a memorandum notebook. Daily jot down
in the notebook, as soon as you rise from bed in the morning, the
various kinds of work that you have to do in the course of the day;
and see if all have been carried out to the very letter. Tick each
item as soon as it is finished.
VIII
Take a packet of playing cards and have six cards from out of it and
see them very carefully. Then place them in front of you with face
downwards. Through memory, jot down in order on a piece of paper,
their exact description. You can slowly increase the number to ten or
twelve. This exercise will also develop memory.
IX
Lie down in any easy chair quite comfortably. Recollect the picture
of your father. Close your eyes. Just try to bring out a clear
description of some of his distinct physical characteristics and
marks on the body, such as the kind of nose, hair, the condition of
his eyes, forehead, lips, ears, chest, whether broad or pigeon chest,
whether sinewy or thin arms, whether there is symmetry in his limbs,
the condition of his teeth, his gait, way of talking, special
distinctive features and physiognomy, special traits that attract
people, the nature of his voice, special marks or moles on the
different parts of his body, etc. After seeing once any great man,
try to bring out the special qualities and features that have
arrested your attention.
X
Try to remember synonymous terms. This will increase your vocabulary
of words and you will be able to write beautiful essays and deliver
excellent lectures. You will become a great journalist. You can write
thrilling books. Take, for instance, the word "compassion"
or "generosity." Try to bring out the synonymous terms such
as "pity", "mercy", "liberality", "munificence", etc. Through the law
of association, connect one idea with several other ideas. This will
develop your memory. The thought of `coffee' will bring the idea of
Nilgiri Hills where it is grown, and the idea of `Stane's Company'
who sell coffee seeds, and the idea of the founder of this company.
Through the law of `Sadrishya' or similarity, you may remember other
places in the world where coffee is cultivated. You can remember the
advantages of coffee. The idea of coffee will bring in the idea of
similar beverages, like tea, and the name of `Lipton' and his native
place, how he started his business and how he became a millionaire in
the end, and the nectar of immortality which the Yogins drink. All
these ideas will come in your mind and flash out in the twinkling of
an eye. Keep a small notebook in your pocket. Whenever good ideas
flash in your mind, then and there jot them down. Take hints. Later
on, you can develop them. Jot down, in your diary, the lessons you
have received from great Mahatmas.
XI
Just walk briskly along the Mall in Lahore or the Chowringhee in
Calcutta. Have a keen acute perception. See what is going on in this
shopping centre. As soon as you reach home, jot down on a piece of
paper the names of shops, and the important articles that are
exhibited in the showrooms outside. Next day, walk along the same
road and verify your jottings.
XII
Try to remember the different makes of motor cars, such as Ford,
Studebaker, Chevrolet, Standard, Moris, Austin, etc., and their
prices. Recollect the names of different philosophers of the world in
the East and in the West, such as Sankara, Ramanuja, Kant, Plato,
etc., and their important works and teachings. Compare the Eastern
with the Western philosophy. Do this closing your eyes. This will
develop your memory in subtle things. The memory of gross things is
easier than the memory of events of philosophical ideas. Events can
be more easily remembered than names of persons, because there are
associations for events. Names are arbitrary. There is intimate
connection between memory, keen observation and acute hearing. Mind
thinks on objects that are seen or heard. One who has developed his
power of hearing and seeing can have better memory.
XIII
There is yet another exercise. Just imagine that there is a canvas-
sheet in front of you which contains the pictures of nine animals. In
the first top-row, there are lion, leopard and cow; in the second
row, horse, zebra and bear; and in the third row, elephant, buffalo
and tiger. Practise this exercise daily. First try to remember the
animals in the first row, then in the second, and lastly in the
third. Now try to remember, in this order, from above downwards,
viz., lion, horse, elephant; leopard, zebra, buffalo; cow, bear and
tiger. You can change the order in many other ways like, algebraical
formulae, or permutation and combination. Exercises on the memory of
different kinds of gross and subtle sounds, tastes of articles of
food, touch of various articles, various shades of colours, etc., can
also be practised with advantage.
XIV
Read one or two pages in a book. Then close the book, and try to
remember the important ideas and reproduce them in your mind. Write
down the contents in your own way, or bring out an exact reproduction
on a piece of paper. Compare and contrast these passages with other
passages that are contained in other books. Draw your own conclusions
and inferences. This practice will develop wonderfully your memory
and will enable you to remember things for a long time. Mark the
important passages with a red pencil on the sides, and have thin blue
or red underlinings wherever it is necessary. In underlining, do not
blot out the words. Take down notes of what you have read, and turn
over the pages of the notebook which contains in a nutshell all the
important points, every week. Whenever you read a book, keep a
dictionary by your side. Never read without a dictionary. When you
come across difficult words that you do not understand, refer to the
dictionary and note down the words and their meanings in a separate
notebook. Many lazy students skip over the pages of books that they
do not understand, and imagine their meanings in their own ways. This
is anything but desirable. Those who practise in the above manner
will become truly learned and great within a short time. They will
have a rich vocabulary of words and can command huge audiences. They
can become distinguished orators, journalists, and able writers of
prose and poetry. The Sanskrit term for the power of memory is Smriti-
Sakti. The power of memory needs the help of grasping power and
Dharana Sakti. Dharana Sakti is the power of holding ideas. Those who
have good Dharana Sakti will have remarkable retentive memory.
XV
Practise self-analysis or self-examination for ten minutes before you
go to bed. Sit comfortably on a chair. Close your eyes. Think of all
actions, good and bad, that you did during the course of the day.
Think of all the mistakes that you committed consciously or
unconsciously. On the first day, you may not be able to find out even
two or three mistakes in your actions, because you are not in the
habit of doing so. But, by daily, regular and systematic practice,
you will be able to visualise clearly the actions and mistakes of the
day. Even an hour will not be sufficient to review the actions. The
mind becomes subtle and sharp by the practice of introspection. It
goes more and more inward. It dissects, analyses, groups, classifies
and brings the list of actions in the twinkling of an eye. This
practice will develop your memory and reduce the number of mistakes.
You can note down all the actions and mistakes the same night, or the
following morning, in your diary. A time will come when you will do
only good actions, without committing even a single mistake. The name
of Benjamin Franklin comes to my mind just now.
XVI
Study several times the eighteen chapters of the Gita. Try to
remember the Slokas according to different headings such as those
that treat of Viveka, Vairagya, Sadachara, development of Gunas,
three kinds of Tapas and the three kinds of food as described in the
seventeenth chapter, Slokas concerning Pranayama, practice of
concentration, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga,
control of mind, etc. You must group them and classify in the pigeon-
holes of your mind. This is also a kind of exercise for memory-
culture. Select any kind of exercise that suits your taste,
temperament and capacity.
XVII
Develop the power of describing exactly a cricket match or a football
match. Watch the game. As soon as you reach home, note it down on
paper, correct the same then and there, and bring out a clear copy.
It is always better to keep paper and pencil in your pocket, or a
diary. Busy people, and those whose aim in life is to become great in
every way, should always take down notes then and there, even while
walking. They can take hints or shorthand notes in their own way, and
can develop them at leisure. Whenever good ideas roll in your mind,
at once jot down in your pocket-notebook. This is the keynote to
success in life in all endeavours, in every walk of life, and in all
spheres of activity. Practise, feel and enjoy. Mere theorising will
not do. You should become a practical man. I always hammer on this
point again and again, and I am not at all tired of doing so. I want
you to become a great man of admirable ideals, and not in the unknown
future, but right now this very minute. Give your full heart to me. I
have got my own ways of developing a man quickly and perfectly. I
have a strong passion for service, but I do not get the right type of
aspirants. Attend a conference, and reproduce the speeches in your
own style and send them to newspapers. You can become a first-class A-
1 reporter and able journalist in a short time. Visit Badri Narayan,
Gangotri or Gomukh where the Ganga takes its source, and take down
notes. Give a full description of what all you have seen in the daily
papers and journals. All these practices will undoubtedly develop
your memory.
XVIII
Here is yet another exercise for memory-culture. Close your eyes. Sit
comfortably in a chair. Try to remember the richest persons of the
world such as the Nizam of Hyderabad, Rockefeller, Ford; the biggest
rivers in the world such as the Amazon, the Nile, the Brahmaputra;
and the seven holy rivers in India, viz., the Ganga, the Yamuna, the
Godavari, the Sarasvati, the Narmada, the Sindhu and the Kaveri. You
can remember the Sloka:—
gange cha yamune chaiva godavari sarasvati
narmade sindhu kaveri jale asmin sannidhim kuru.
Remember the waterfalls, the Niagara, the Sivasamudram; remember the
lakes, Chilka in the Ganjam District, Manasarovar in the Himalayas,
etc. You can recall to mind such poets as the immortal Kalidas,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Milton, Shakespeare, Byron and Keats;
essayists such as Johnson and Emerson; philosophers such as Sankara,
Ramanuja, Kant, Hegel and Plato; scientists such as Faraday, Newton,
Bose, Raman and Einstein; Jnanis such as Sankara, Dattatreya,
Yajnavalkya, Madalasa, Gargi, Sulabha, Vamadeva and Jadabharata;
Yogins such as Jnanadeva, Bhartrihari, ¬Trilinga Swami and Sadasiva
Brahman; Bhaktas such as Gouranga Maha Prabhu, Tulasidas, Ramdas,
Hafiz, Mira; the Pancha Kanyakas such as Kunti, Draupadi, Mandodari,
Ahalya and Anasuya; the seven Rishis such as Atri, Bhrigu, Vasishtha,
Gautama, Kasyapa, Pulastya and Angirasa; the seven Chiranjivis such
as Asvatthama, Bali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa and
Parasurama; the twelve Brahma-Vidya Gurus such as Brahma, Vishnu,
Siva, Vasishtha, Sakti, Parasara, Vyasa, Suka Deva, Gaudapada,
Govindapada, Sankaracharya and Krishna. This practice will develop
memory.
XIX
You must know the art of extracting work from the subconscious mind.
If you want to remember forgotten passages in Shakespeare's works,
give a definite command to the subconscious mind just before you
retire to bed. You can talk to your subconscious mind just in the
same manner as you talk to your friend or servant. You can say: "Look
here, subconscious mind. I have forgotten an important passage in
the `Merchant of Venice', and another in `As you like it', which I
studied in my college days. Bring them now to my memory. I want them
very badly tomorrow morning. Do it quickly." Give the order in very
clear terms. The following morning, it will place them like a flash
before you. If it fails to bring in the next morning, give the
command again on the next day. On the following day, you may get the
answer. Sometimes, the subconscious mind is very busy, and the brain
gets congested. The brain is under high tension or pressure on
account of tight work. You will have to wait with a calm mind. You
will have to repeat the command once or twice. You must allow
sufficient time for the subconscious mind and not disturb it
frequently.
A judge has to write summaries of evidences and prepare judgments.
His brain sometimes gets confused. He gets bewildered. He is not able
to arrive at the proper solution. In such cases, the subconscious
mind will beautifully work for him. It will arrange the facts and
figures in perfect order, and place before him a clear summary. He
will have to simply reproduce them on paper the following morning.
In matters which demand too much thinking and long deliberation, you
will have to wait for some days before getting an answer from the
subconscious mind. Again and again you will have to give command to
the subconscious mind at nights, and watch for the results. You need
not trouble the subconscious mind daily by commanding it. Repeat the
command once or twice. You will have to place facts and figures
before it, and make it understand clearly what you exactly want.
INTEREST DEVELOPS MEMORY
A Doctor has got good memory in the remembrance of drugs in the
Materia Medica, because he has keen interest in the treatment of
diseases. He cannot remember even in a single item in matters
relating to politics, because he has no interest in the subject. A
lawyer can remember all the rulings of the Allahabad, Bombay and
Madras High Courts. He cannot remember a few things in a cricket
match, for he has no interest in it.
You will have to create interest first in a certain subject, and the
memory of things will automatically follow. One should be in perfect
knowledge of the subject and should have a general knowledge of all
subjects. A versatile or all-round nature is highly creditable and
laudable. Try to become a versatile genius. A strong and retentive
memory, or a powerful will, and the practice of daily concentration
and meditation will certainly make you a versatile prodigy.
HEALTH AND MIND
A strong man will have a good memory. A weak delicate man of poor
health will have a bad memory. Health plays an important part in
memory-culture. Therefore try to keep a high standard of health,
vigour and vitality by taking proper food, exercise, etc.
In conclusion, I request you to attend to these exercises—
Brahmacharya, diet, Satsanga and various other things that are
inculcated herein—very carefully. Blessed is he who develops memory,
for, he will be a very successful man in the world, and will attain
God as he can remember Him quite easily.
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