Sure Ways to Success in Life and God-Realisation by Sri Swami Sivananda (Msg 9)
SURE WAYS TO SUCCESS IN LIFE AND GOD-REALISATION
BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
(Message 9)
----------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER II (concluded)
PRACTICE OF MEDITATION
Concentration is fixing the mind on one point. It is called Dharana
in Yoga philosophy. Concentration is collectiveness of thought. It is
said to be the placing, settling of mind and mental properties,
fittingly and well on a single object. That state, by the strength of
which mind and mental properties are placed in one object fittingly
and well, without wavering, without scattering, should be known as
concentration. Meditation follows concentration. There is a
continuous flow of one idea only.
The characteristic of concentration is non-wandering. Its essence is
to destroy wavering. Its manifestation is non-shaking. The mind of
the happy man is concentrated. Happiness or ease is its proximate
cause. Concentration is accompanied by ease, even-mindedness and
raptures.
You must be regular in your practice of meditation. You must sit
daily both morning and night, and at the same hour. The meditative
mood or Sattvic Bhava will manifest by itself without any exertion.
You must sit in the same place, in the same room. Regularity in
meditation is a great desideratum and sine qua non. Rapid progress
and great success can be attained if regularity is maintained by the
practitioner. Even if you do not realise any tangible result in the
practice, you must plod on in the practice with sincerity,
earnestness, patience and perseverance. You will be crowned with
sanguine success after some time. There is no doubt of this. Do not
stop the practice even for a day, under any circumstances, even if
you are ailing. Meditation is a first-class tonic. The wave of
meditation will remove all sorts of diseases. It will infuse
spiritual strength, new vigour and vitality. It will renovate and
completely overhaul the different systems and constitutions.
Meditation will give real rest to the body. Be on the alert to catch
the Sattvic wave or the meditative mood. If the meditative mood
manifests, stop at once work of any kind, reading, etc. Sit for
meditation in right earnest.
Pride, self-sufficiency, arrogance, self-assertive Rajasic nature,
irritability, curiosity about the affairs of other people, and
hypocrisy are all obstacles in meditation. Subtle forms of these
Vrittis lurk in the mind. They operate as oceanic undercurrents.
Under pressure of Yoga and meditation, various sorts of dirt in the
mind come out, just as dirt of a room that is shut up for six months
comes out when you carefully sweep. Aspirants should introspect and
watch their minds. They should remove them, one by one, by applying
suitable, effective methods. Pride is inveterate. Its branches ramify
in all directions in the regions of the Rajasic mind. Again and again
it manifests, although the wave subsides temporarily for some time.
It asserts when opportunities crop up.
If the aspirant has the nature of being offended easily for trifling
things, he cannot make any progress in meditation. He should
cultivate amiable loving nature and adaptability. Then this bad habit
will vanish. Some aspirants get easily offended if their bad
qualities and defects are pointed out. They become indignant and
scorn the man who indicates the defects. They think that the man is
concocting them out of jealousy and hatred. This is bad. Other people
can very easily find out our defects. A man who has no life of
introspection, whose mind is of outgoing tendencies (Bahirmukha-
Vritti) cannot recognise his own mistakes. The self-conceit acts as a
veil and blurs the mental vision. If an aspirant wants to grow, he
must admit his defects when pointed out by others. He must try his
level best to eradicate them, and must thank the man who points out
his defects. Then only he can grow in spirituality and meditation.
It becomes a difficult task to eradicate the self-assertive nature.
Every man has built his personality from beginningless time. He has
given a long rope to the Rajasic mind to have its own ways. This
personality has grown very strong. It becomes very difficult to bend
this personality and make it pliable and elastic. The man of self-
assertive nature wants to dominate over others. He does not want to
hear the opinions and the reasons advanced by others, even though
they are sound, logical and tenable. He has a pair of jaundiced eyes
with Timira (caract) also. He will say: "Whatever I say is correct;
whatever I do is correct; the actions and views of others are
incorrect." He will never admit his mistakes. He will try his level
best to maintain his own whimsical views by crooked arguments and
reasonings. If arguments fail, he will take to vituperation and hand-
to-hand fight. If people fail to show respect and honour, he is
thrown into a state of fury. He is immensely pleased if anybody
begins to flatter him. He will tell any number of lies to justify
himself. Self-justification goes hand-in-hand with self-assertive
nature. This is a very dangerous habit. He can never grow in
meditation and spirituality so long as he has self-assertive nature
with the habit of self-justification. The self-assertive man should
change his mental attitude. He must develop the habit of looking at
matters from the viewpoint of others. He must have a new vision of
righteousness and truthfulness. An aspirant should treat respect and
honour as offal, and censure and dishonour as ornament.
Man finds it difficult to adjust to the ways and habits of others.
His mind is filled with prejudice of caste, creed and colour. He is
quite intolerant. He thinks that only his views, opinions and ways of
living are right, and the views of others are incorrect. The fault-
finding nature is ingrained in him. He jumps at once to find the
faults of others. He has morbid eyes. He cannot see the good in
others. He cannot appreciate the meritorious actions of others. He
can brag of his own abilities and actions. That is the reason why he
has no peace of mind even for a second. That is the reason why he
disagrees with all people, and cannot keep up the friendship with
others for a long time. Aspirants do not make progress in the path,
because they too have these defects to a great degree. They should
eradicate them completely by developing tolerance, pure love and
other Sattvic qualities.
If there are hindrances or obstacles in the path of Yoga, it is
difficult, it is a little unpleasant, to carry on the practice of
concentration and meditation. It is easy in some aspirants as there
are no such oppositions. Obstacles can be removed by sincere prayer,
Japa of `Om' or any other Mantra, divine grace or the grace of Guru.
Patanjali Maharshi prescribes Japa of `Om' with Bhava and meaning,
Tajjapas Tadarthabhavanam, for the removal of obstacles. Sri Krishna
prescribes the remedy "macchitah sarvadurgaani matprasaadaat
tarishyasi. Fixing thy thought on Me, thou shalt surmount every
difficulty by My grace" (Gita, Ch. XVIII-58).
If an aspirant in Kashmir meditates upon his Guru or spiritual guide
at Uttarkashi in the Himalayas, a definite connection is established
between him and the teacher. The Guru radiates power, peace, joy and
bliss to the student in response to his thoughts. He is bathed in the
powerful current of magnetism. The stream of spiritual electricity
flows steadily from the preceptor to his disciple, just as oil flows
from one vessel to another. The student can imbibe or draw from his
teacher in proportion to his degree of faith in his master. The more
the faith, the greater is the imbibing or drawing. Whenever the
student sincerely meditates upon his teacher, the teacher also
actually feels that a current of prayer (sublime thoughts) proceeds
from his student and touches his heart. He who has the inner astral
sight can clearly visualise a thin line of bright light between the
disciple and the teacher, which is caused by the movement of the
vibration of Sattvic thoughts in the ocean of Chitta (mental
substance).
If you look upon the world from the higher spiritual plane, you will
have a clear vision of the world. In that supreme cosmic
consciousness, you will have a knowledge of the whole universe.
Arjuna describes this:
"Into Thy gaping mouths they hurrying rush,
Tremendous-toothed and terrible to see;
Some caught within the gaps of Thy teeth
Are seen, their heads to powder crushed and ground.
On every side, all-swallowing, fiery-tongued,
Thou lickest up mankind, devouring all;
Thy glory filleth space: the universe
Is burning, Vishnu, with Thy blazing rays."
Just as small insects or fish move about here and there in a small
lake, just as ants crawl about in the wall of a house, so also, all
these little human beings move about hither and thither within the
body of the Lord. This vision is thrilling and awe-inspiring. You
will see millions of the undeveloped souls who run about with
countless selfish desires, just as the Leucocytes and red corpuscles
move about in a drop of fresh blood when seen under the microscope.
Amidst this multitude of ignorant, undeveloped human beings, you will
find a few fully-developed Jivanmuktas or Yogis, scattered in
different parts of the world, who stand out as big divine flames or
beacon-lights or torch-bearers to guide the ignorant baby-souls and
aspirants, just as the light-house stands amidst the darkness of the
night to guide the captain of a steamer. You will also find some
sincere, growing, and half-developed aspirants who emanate a small
divine flame, who glitter like the stars on a new-moon night.
Wonderful is this vision! Magnanimous is this inner Yogic sight-
seeing with the new eye of intuition!
manah krishna pramathi balavad dridham tasyaham
BY SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
(Message 9)
------------
CHAPTER II (concluded)
PRACTICE OF MEDITATION
Concentration is fixing the mind on one point. It is called Dharana
in Yoga philosophy. Concentration is collectiveness of thought. It is
said to be the placing, settling of mind and mental properties,
fittingly and well on a single object. That state, by the strength of
which mind and mental properties are placed in one object fittingly
and well, without wavering, without scattering, should be known as
concentration. Meditation follows concentration. There is a
continuous flow of one idea only.
The characteristic of concentration is non-wandering. Its essence is
to destroy wavering. Its manifestation is non-shaking. The mind of
the happy man is concentrated. Happiness or ease is its proximate
cause. Concentration is accompanied by ease, even-mindedness and
raptures.
You must be regular in your practice of meditation. You must sit
daily both morning and night, and at the same hour. The meditative
mood or Sattvic Bhava will manifest by itself without any exertion.
You must sit in the same place, in the same room. Regularity in
meditation is a great desideratum and sine qua non. Rapid progress
and great success can be attained if regularity is maintained by the
practitioner. Even if you do not realise any tangible result in the
practice, you must plod on in the practice with sincerity,
earnestness, patience and perseverance. You will be crowned with
sanguine success after some time. There is no doubt of this. Do not
stop the practice even for a day, under any circumstances, even if
you are ailing. Meditation is a first-class tonic. The wave of
meditation will remove all sorts of diseases. It will infuse
spiritual strength, new vigour and vitality. It will renovate and
completely overhaul the different systems and constitutions.
Meditation will give real rest to the body. Be on the alert to catch
the Sattvic wave or the meditative mood. If the meditative mood
manifests, stop at once work of any kind, reading, etc. Sit for
meditation in right earnest.
Pride, self-sufficiency, arrogance, self-assertive Rajasic nature,
irritability, curiosity about the affairs of other people, and
hypocrisy are all obstacles in meditation. Subtle forms of these
Vrittis lurk in the mind. They operate as oceanic undercurrents.
Under pressure of Yoga and meditation, various sorts of dirt in the
mind come out, just as dirt of a room that is shut up for six months
comes out when you carefully sweep. Aspirants should introspect and
watch their minds. They should remove them, one by one, by applying
suitable, effective methods. Pride is inveterate. Its branches ramify
in all directions in the regions of the Rajasic mind. Again and again
it manifests, although the wave subsides temporarily for some time.
It asserts when opportunities crop up.
If the aspirant has the nature of being offended easily for trifling
things, he cannot make any progress in meditation. He should
cultivate amiable loving nature and adaptability. Then this bad habit
will vanish. Some aspirants get easily offended if their bad
qualities and defects are pointed out. They become indignant and
scorn the man who indicates the defects. They think that the man is
concocting them out of jealousy and hatred. This is bad. Other people
can very easily find out our defects. A man who has no life of
introspection, whose mind is of outgoing tendencies (Bahirmukha-
Vritti) cannot recognise his own mistakes. The self-conceit acts as a
veil and blurs the mental vision. If an aspirant wants to grow, he
must admit his defects when pointed out by others. He must try his
level best to eradicate them, and must thank the man who points out
his defects. Then only he can grow in spirituality and meditation.
It becomes a difficult task to eradicate the self-assertive nature.
Every man has built his personality from beginningless time. He has
given a long rope to the Rajasic mind to have its own ways. This
personality has grown very strong. It becomes very difficult to bend
this personality and make it pliable and elastic. The man of self-
assertive nature wants to dominate over others. He does not want to
hear the opinions and the reasons advanced by others, even though
they are sound, logical and tenable. He has a pair of jaundiced eyes
with Timira (caract) also. He will say: "Whatever I say is correct;
whatever I do is correct; the actions and views of others are
incorrect." He will never admit his mistakes. He will try his level
best to maintain his own whimsical views by crooked arguments and
reasonings. If arguments fail, he will take to vituperation and hand-
to-hand fight. If people fail to show respect and honour, he is
thrown into a state of fury. He is immensely pleased if anybody
begins to flatter him. He will tell any number of lies to justify
himself. Self-justification goes hand-in-hand with self-assertive
nature. This is a very dangerous habit. He can never grow in
meditation and spirituality so long as he has self-assertive nature
with the habit of self-justification. The self-assertive man should
change his mental attitude. He must develop the habit of looking at
matters from the viewpoint of others. He must have a new vision of
righteousness and truthfulness. An aspirant should treat respect and
honour as offal, and censure and dishonour as ornament.
Man finds it difficult to adjust to the ways and habits of others.
His mind is filled with prejudice of caste, creed and colour. He is
quite intolerant. He thinks that only his views, opinions and ways of
living are right, and the views of others are incorrect. The fault-
finding nature is ingrained in him. He jumps at once to find the
faults of others. He has morbid eyes. He cannot see the good in
others. He cannot appreciate the meritorious actions of others. He
can brag of his own abilities and actions. That is the reason why he
has no peace of mind even for a second. That is the reason why he
disagrees with all people, and cannot keep up the friendship with
others for a long time. Aspirants do not make progress in the path,
because they too have these defects to a great degree. They should
eradicate them completely by developing tolerance, pure love and
other Sattvic qualities.
If there are hindrances or obstacles in the path of Yoga, it is
difficult, it is a little unpleasant, to carry on the practice of
concentration and meditation. It is easy in some aspirants as there
are no such oppositions. Obstacles can be removed by sincere prayer,
Japa of `Om' or any other Mantra, divine grace or the grace of Guru.
Patanjali Maharshi prescribes Japa of `Om' with Bhava and meaning,
Tajjapas Tadarthabhavanam, for the removal of obstacles. Sri Krishna
prescribes the remedy "macchitah sarvadurgaani matprasaadaat
tarishyasi. Fixing thy thought on Me, thou shalt surmount every
difficulty by My grace" (Gita, Ch. XVIII-58).
If an aspirant in Kashmir meditates upon his Guru or spiritual guide
at Uttarkashi in the Himalayas, a definite connection is established
between him and the teacher. The Guru radiates power, peace, joy and
bliss to the student in response to his thoughts. He is bathed in the
powerful current of magnetism. The stream of spiritual electricity
flows steadily from the preceptor to his disciple, just as oil flows
from one vessel to another. The student can imbibe or draw from his
teacher in proportion to his degree of faith in his master. The more
the faith, the greater is the imbibing or drawing. Whenever the
student sincerely meditates upon his teacher, the teacher also
actually feels that a current of prayer (sublime thoughts) proceeds
from his student and touches his heart. He who has the inner astral
sight can clearly visualise a thin line of bright light between the
disciple and the teacher, which is caused by the movement of the
vibration of Sattvic thoughts in the ocean of Chitta (mental
substance).
If you look upon the world from the higher spiritual plane, you will
have a clear vision of the world. In that supreme cosmic
consciousness, you will have a knowledge of the whole universe.
Arjuna describes this:
"Into Thy gaping mouths they hurrying rush,
Tremendous-toothed and terrible to see;
Some caught within the gaps of Thy teeth
Are seen, their heads to powder crushed and ground.
On every side, all-swallowing, fiery-tongued,
Thou lickest up mankind, devouring all;
Thy glory filleth space: the universe
Is burning, Vishnu, with Thy blazing rays."
Just as small insects or fish move about here and there in a small
lake, just as ants crawl about in the wall of a house, so also, all
these little human beings move about hither and thither within the
body of the Lord. This vision is thrilling and awe-inspiring. You
will see millions of the undeveloped souls who run about with
countless selfish desires, just as the Leucocytes and red corpuscles
move about in a drop of fresh blood when seen under the microscope.
Amidst this multitude of ignorant, undeveloped human beings, you will
find a few fully-developed Jivanmuktas or Yogis, scattered in
different parts of the world, who stand out as big divine flames or
beacon-lights or torch-bearers to guide the ignorant baby-souls and
aspirants, just as the light-house stands amidst the darkness of the
night to guide the captain of a steamer. You will also find some
sincere, growing, and half-developed aspirants who emanate a small
divine flame, who glitter like the stars on a new-moon night.
Wonderful is this vision! Magnanimous is this inner Yogic sight-
seeing with the new eye of intuition!
manah krishna pramathi balavad dridham tasyaham
.
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