Sure Ways to Success in Life and God-Realisation by Sri Swami Sivananda (Msg 8)

SURE WAYS TO SUCCESS IN LIFE AND GOD-REALISATION

BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
(Message 8)
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CHAPTER II (Continued)

YOGA OF SELF-RESTRAINT

The withdrawal of senses is natural to a sage. He never practises
abstraction of senses. The senses always remain in a state of
abstraction. It is only the aspirants that practise abstraction of
senses in the beginning to keep the senses under control. As the
senses cannot do anything independently, control of the mind is also
necessary if you want to attain complete success in abstraction of
the senses. If you can detach the mind at will from the senses, you
will be established in abstraction of the senses.

The senses withdraw from objects even in the case of an ignorant
person who practises severe austerities and abstains from all sensual
objects — also in the case of a sick man who has weak senses; — but,
the taste or inclination or longing for those objects does not vanish
in them. Whereas, in the case of a sage who has realised the Self,
even the longing is entirely eradicated.

Even if the treasury of a king is well-guarded by sentries, clever
dacoits plunder the treasury in astounding manner. Even so, if the
sage who possesses discriminative knowledge strives his level best to
control the senses, the dangerous senses, forcibly carry away his
mind. Although sage Visvamitra was practising severe austerities, he
was carried away by his turbulent senses when he came across the
celestial nymph sent by Indra (the Lord of the Devas) to disturb his
austerities.

A king enjoys peace of mind by closing first the outer portals of his
palace, and then the inner gates. Now the enemies or dacoits cannot
do him any mischief or create any trouble. Even so, the Yogi closes
the outer gates of his body-palace by practising abstraction of the
senses, and then shuts the inner gate, the lower mind which is filled
with various impressions of actions, by practising serenity and
renunciation. Now he rests in his own blissful Immortal Self and
enjoys supreme peace.

Just as the child enjoys full security and peace when it is in the
lap of its mother, just as a baron experiences full security when he
has surrendered himself in the hands of a mighty potentate, so also,
the aspirant can enjoy abiding peace and can have complete mastery
over his senses when he has totally surrendered himself at the feet
of the Lord. That is the reason why Sri Krishna says to Arjuna in the
Gita, "Restraining all the senses, a man should remain steadfastly
intent on Me. He has a stable or poised understanding whose senses
are under control."

The senses are endowed with outgoing tendencies. They, therefore,
drag the ignorant man to the external objects. But the aspirant who
possesses discrimination and dispassion, checks the outgoing
tendencies, curbs the turbulent senses and reaches the abode of
Immortality, just as the driver of a carriage checks the turbulent
horses by the reins and reaches his destination safely. When the sage
completely withdraws the senses from sense-objects — as the tortoise
withdraws its limbs from all sides, — his knowledge is steady. He has
a balanced and poised understanding.

Unrestrained senses do much havoc. Thought of the sense-objects is
the source of evil. Sense-control leads to peace and happiness. The
man who has revolting senses cannot meditate even for a second. Sense-
restraint gives strength, inner peace, contentment, and conduces to
steady knowledge. The self-restrained Yogi, who has subdued his
senses, enjoys infinite peace and bliss.

PRACTICE OF CONCENTRATION

Fix the mind on some object either within the body or without. Keep
it there steadily for sometime. This is concentration. You will have
=0 Ato practice this daily.

Purify the mind first through the practice of right conduct, and then
take to the practice of concentration; concentration without purity
of mind is of no avail. There are some occultists who have
concentration but they have no good character. That is the reason why
they do not make any progress in the spiritual line. He who has a
steady posture, and has purified his nerves and the vital sheath by
the constant practice of control of breath, will be able to
concentrate easily. Concentration will be intense if you remove all
distractions. A true celibate who has preserved his energy will have
wonderful concentration.

Some foolish, impatient students take to concentration at once
without undergoing, in any manner, any preliminary training in
ethics. This is a serious blunder. Ethical perfection is a matter of
paramount importance.

You can concentrate internally on any of the seven centres of
spiritual energy. Attention plays a very prominent part in
concentration. He who has developed his power of attention will have
good concentration. A man who is filled with passion and all sorts of
fantastic desires can hardly concentrate on any subject or object
even for a second. His mind will be jumping like an old monkey.

A scientist concentrates his mind and invents many new things.
Through concentration, he opens the=2 0layers of the gross mind and
penetrates deeply into the higher regions of the mind and gets deeper
knowledge. He concentrates all the energies of his mind into one
focus and throws them out upon the materials he is analysing and
finds out their secrets.

He who has gained abstraction (withdrawing the senses from the
objects) will have good concentration. You will have to march on in
the spiritual path step by step and stage by stage. Lay the
foundation of right conduct, postures, regulation of breath and
abstraction, to start with. The superstructure of concentration and
meditation will be successful then only.

You should be able to visualise the object of concentration very
clearly even in its absence. You will have to call up the mental
picture at a moment's notice. If you have good concentration, you can
do this without much difficulty. In the beginning stage of practice,
you can concentrate on the tick-tick sound of a watch, or on the
flame of a candle, or any other object that is pleasing to the mind.
This is concrete concentration. There is no concentration without
something to rest the mind upon. In the beginning the mind can be
fixed on any object which is pleasant. It is very, very difficult to
fix the mind, in the beginning, on an object which the mind dislikes.

Sit in lotus-pose (Padmasana) with crossed legs. Fix the20gaze on the
tip of the nose. This is called the nasal gaze. Do not make any
violent effort. Gently look at the tip of the nose. Practise for one
minute in the beginning. Gradually increase the time to half an hour
or more. This practice steadies the mind. It develops the power of
concentration. Even when you walk, you can keep up this practice.

Sit in lotus-pose and practise fixing the mind between the two
eyebrows. Do this gently for half a minute. Then gradually increase
the time to half an hour or more. There must not be the least
violence in the practice. This removes tossing of mind and develops
concentration. This is known as frontal gaze. The eyes are directed
towards the frontal bone of the forehead. You can select either the
nasal gaze or the frontal gaze according to your taste, temperament
and capacity.

If you want to increase your power of concentration, you will have to
reduce your worldly activities. You will have to observe the vow of
silence every day for two hours or more.

Practise concentration till the mind is well established on the
object of concentration. When the mind runs away from the object,
bring it back again.

When concentration is deep and intense, all other senses cannot
operate. He who practises concentration for three hours daily will
have tremendous psychic power; he will have a strong will-power.
There was a workman who used to manufacture arrows. Once he was very
busy with his work. He was so much absorbed in his work that he did
not notice even a big party of a Raja passing with his retinue in
front of his shop. Such must be the nature of your concentration when
you fix your mind on God. You must have the one idea of God and God
alone. No doubt, it takes some time to complete concentration or one-
pointedness of mind. You will have to struggle hard to have single-
minded concentration.

Even if the mind runs outside during your practice of meditation, do
not bother much. Allow it to run. Slowly try to bring it to your
object of concentration. By repeated practice, the mind will be
finally focussed in your heart, in the Self, the Indweller of your
heart, the final goal of life. In the beginning, the mind may run
eighty times. Within six months, it may run seventy times. Within a
year, it may run fifty times; within two years, it may run thirty
times; within five years, it will be completely fixed in the divine
consciousness. Then it will not run out at all even if you try your
level best to bring it out, like the wandering bull which was in the
habit of running to the gardens of different landlords for eating
grass, but which now eats fresh gram and extract of cotton seeds in
its own r esting place.

TRATAKA

Trataka is steady gazing at a particular point or object without
winking. Though this is one of the six purificatory exercises, it is
mainly intended for developing concentration and mental focussing. It
is very useful for the student of Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga
and Raja Yoga. There is no other effective method for the control of
mind. Some of the students who claim to belong to Jnana Yoga neglect
this important exercise since it is described under Hatha Yogic
practices. Sri Ramana Maharshi, the famous Jnani of Tiruvannamalai,
is doing this exercise even today. When you visit his Ashram, you can
see this very clearly. When he is seated in a sofa in his chamber, he
is gazing on the walls. When he sits in the verandah in an easy
chair, he steadily looks at the yonder hills or on the sky. This
enables him to keep up the balanced state of mind. Nothing can
distract his mind. He is very calm and cool always. He is not at all
distracted by anyone, even though Bhaktas might be talking and
singing by his side.(These lines were written when Sri Ramana
Maharshi was still living.)

EXERCISES

1. Keep the picture of Sri Krishna, Rama, Narayana, Devi or Lord
Jesus or any picture, in front of you. Look at it steadily without
winking. Gaze at the head; then at the body; then at the leg s. Repeat
the same process again and again. When your mind calms down, look at
a particular spot only. Be steady till tears begin to trickle down
your cheeks. Then close the eyes and mentally visualise the picture.

2. Gaze on a black dot on a white wall. Or draw a black mark on a
piece of white paper and hang it on the wall in front of you. Gaze at
this black mark steadily for sometime.

3. Draw the picture of OM on a piece of paper and have it before your
seat. Do Trataka on this.

4. Lie down on an open terrace and gaze at a particular bright star
or on the full-moon. After sometime, you will see different colours
of light. Again, sometime later, you will see only a particular light
throughout, and all other surrounding stars will disappear. When you
gaze at the moon, you will see only the bright moon on a black
background. At times, you will see a huge mass of light all around
you. When the gazing becomes more intense, you can also see two or
three moons of the same size; and at times, you cannot see any moon
at all even though your eyes may be wide open.

5. Select at random any place in the open sky in the morning or
evening hours, and gaze at it steadily. You will get fresh
inspiration.

6. Look at a mirror and gaze at the pupil of your eye.

7. Some persons do20Trataka on the space between the two eyebrows or
on the tip of the nose. Even while walking, some persons do Trataka
on the tip of the nose.

8. Advanced students can do Trataka on the inner Chakras or Padmas.
Muladhara, Anahata, Ajna and Sahasrara are the important centres for
Trataka.

9. Keep a ghee-lamp before you and gaze at the flame. Some astral
entities give Darshan through the flames.

10. Very few Yogins do Trataka on the sun. It requires the help of a
man of experience by their side. They begin to gaze on the rising
sun, and after gradual practice, they do Trataka on the sun even at
midday. They get some special Siddhis (psychic powers) by this
practice. All are not fit for this Sadhana.

All the first nine exercises will suit everybody; and they are quite
harmless. The last one, sun-gazing, should not be attempted until you
get the help of an experienced man.

INSTRUCTIONS

When you do your practice in your meditation room, sit on your
favourite posture. At other times, standing posture will do. Trataka
can be profitably done even when you walk along the streets. As you
walk along, do not look hither and thither. Gaze at the tip of the
nose or toes. There are many persons who do not look at the face when
they talk to others. They have their own gaze at a particular spot
an d talk. No particular Asana is required for this Sadhana.

When you gaze at a picture, it is Trataka. When you close your eyes
and mentally visualise the picture, it is Saguna Dhyana (meditation
with form). When you associate the attributes of omniscience, purity,
perfection, etc., the name and the form of the object of Trataka will
automatically disappear, and you will enter into Nirguna Dhyana
(abstract meditation).

Do Trataka for a minute to start with. Then cautiously increase the
time. Do not be impatient. Gradual, steady practice is required.
Gazing at a spot even for three full hours continuously counts for
nothing if the mind is wandering. The mind also must be on the spot.
Then only you will advance in this practice and attain many psychic
powers.

Those who cannot gaze for a second in spite of several attempts need
not worry themselves much. They can close their eyes and gaze at the
imaginary spot in the space between the two eyebrows.

Those who have very weak eye-capillaries should do Trataka after
closing their eyes, on an imaginary spot within or without. Do not
tax your eyes by over-practice. When you feel tired, close the eyes,
and keep the mind on the object of Trataka. When you sit and do
Trataka, do not shake the body.

Trataka improves eyesight. Many who have eye-trouble have realised
valuable benef its by Trataka. Going beyond one's powers and gazing at
the sun without any help may produce some trouble. For gazing at the
sun, you must have your guide by your side. The Guru will prescribe
some oil to rub on your head, to avoid such serious trouble as may
arise, to cool the system. You should apply honey to the eyes at
night when you do sun-gazing
.
By the practice of Trataka, many eye-diseases are cured. Eyesight
improves. Many have thrown away their eyeglasses after taking to this
practice. Will-power is developed to a marvellous extent. Vikshepa
(tossing of the mind) is destroyed. It steadies the mind.
Clairvoyance, thought-reading and other psychic powers are obtained
very easily.

Once again, I will have to tell you that Bhakti Yoga, Hatha Yoga,
Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are not incompatibles, like acid and
alkali. They are not antagonistic to each other. Do not neglect this
exercise for the mere reason that it comes under Hatha Yoga
practices. Even though you may claim to be a student of Jnana Yoga or
Bhakti Yoga you can take to this practice. It is a very effective and
powerful remedy for the wandering mind. It prepares the mind
undoubtedly for perfect Dhyana and Samadhi. This is assuredly a means
to the end. You should ascend the Yogic ladder step by step. Several
persons have been benefited by this useful exercise. Why=2 0not you
also, dear friends? I have given you different exercises for Trataka.
Select any one of the methods that suits you best and realise the
spiritual benefits. Do this for one month regularly and let me know
your experiences, benefits and also troubles, if any.

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