Life 41 (Oct 21 - Jan 22)

[winston]

At times, despite regular spiritual practices, we don’t experience peace and bliss. What could be the issue?

Dhyana (Meditation on the Name and Form of the Divine) shouldn’t be vacillating or wavering from one ideal to another.

It shouldn’t be reduced to mere mechanical textbook formulae, rigid timetables of breathing through alternate nostrils, or meaningless stares at the tip of the nose.

It’s a rigorous discipline of the senses, nervous current and wings of imagination. That is why it’s said, dhyana is the valley of peace that lies on the other side of a huge mountain range, with the peaks named “Six Foes”.

These are lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and envy.

One must climb over the range and reach plains beyond. One has to tear the veils before the light can shine on the path.

One must remove the cataract from the eye so that Truth can be seen. Maya (Illusion) is the name of that mist of ignorance, that torments the mind which seeks to plunge into the depths of the Self!

- Divine Discourse, Jun 09, 1970.

Peace or distraction, calm or anxiety - whatever you experience is the product of your thoughts and deeds.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

The Gap Between Heaven and Earth

Attaining the Way is not difficult,
Just avoid picking and choosing.
If you have neither aversion nor desire,
You’ll thoroughly understand.
A hair’s breadth difference
Is the gap between heaven and earth.

— Jianzhi Sengcan, “Faith in Mind”

[winston]

What is the significance of repeating Om?

Om is the sound of the movement of stars in the firmament; it is the sound that manifested when the dawn of creative will stirred the Attributeless into activity.

As a matter of fact, every little disturbance of equilibrium produces sound, however minute.

The meeting of the eyelids when the eye winks results in sound, however faint. There are infinitesimally faint sounds which no ear can hear.

So, you can understand that when the Elements originated and Creation started, the sound Om was produced.

That sound is the primal, the primaeval One. When you are in the dual world, trying to overcome the duality, you identify 'Him' with 'yourself';

When the 'I'-consciousness and the 'He'- consciousness disappear, you repeat only Om.

That is the experience you need and you claim you crave for.

- Divine Discourse, Nov 23, 1966.

Pray to the Divine within for illumination and guidance. Then you will get His guidance without fail.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Joyful Effort

Make your effort diligent, yet joyful.

Don’t get caught up in expectations.

And always remember, there is no such thing as a “bad” meditation.

— John Yates (Culadasa) and Matthew Immergut, “Six Ways to Prepare for Meditation”

[winston]

When misused or unused, however expensive, an electronic gadget becomes mere lumber. How does that thought translate into who we are in our daily life?

You may have a costly transistor or watch or phonograph with you, but if you do not know how to use it efficiently they are mere lumber.

Now, imagine what a wonderful machine you yourself are! Should you not know how to operate it and get the best results out of it?

Provided there is the thirst to know, even one sage adept in that art is enough; many can light their lamps at the flame of that sage.

By imbibing the teachings, your inertia)will be raised into restless activity and purified into poise and serenity.

It’s like fruit growing by the combined influence of earth and sun, first into full sourness, then to partial sweetness and finally complete sweetness, in three stages.

Man too by the twin forces of grace from the Divine and yearning from within grows into the complete sweetness of bliss and love.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 02, 1966.

Human beings are a composite of man, beast and the Divine and in the inevitable struggle for ascendency amongst the three, you must ensure that the Divine wins by suppressing the merely human and the lowly beast.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Seizing Perspective

In moments of upheaval and uncertainty, there’s clarity and knowledge and perspective to be gained but we have to live into those possibilities.

— Interview with Suleika Jaouad by Ann Tashi Slater, “The Myth of Moving On”

[winston]

Seizing Perspective

In moments of upheaval and uncertainty, there’s clarity and knowledge and perspective to be gained but we have to live into those possibilities.

— Interview with Suleika Jaouad by Ann Tashi Slater, “The Myth of Moving On”

[winston]

Why is sacrifice wiser than passionately pursuing worldly ambitions?

Heads bloat only through ignorance; if the Truth be known, all men will become as humble as Bharthrhari.

He was a mighty emperor, who ruled from sea to sea; his decree was unquestioned, and his will prevailed over vast multitudes of men.

Yet, when he realised in a flash that life is but a short sojourn here below, he renounced his wealth and power and assumed the ochre robes of the wandering monk.

His countries and vassal princes shed genuine tears, for they loved and adored him. They lamented that he had donned the tattered robe of the penniless penitent, and lived on alms.

"What a precious possession you have thrown away? And, what a sad bargain you have made", they wailed. But, Bharthrhari replied, "Friends, I have made a very profitable bargain. This robe is so precious that even my empire is a poor payment in exchange."

That is the measure of the grandeur of the spiritual path that leads to the Divine.

- Divine Discourse, Jun 26, 1969.

You struggled upwards from the stone to plant, to animal, then to man! Do not slide back into the beast; rise higher to Divinity, shining with the new effulgence of Love! -

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

It’s Not Rocket Science

When you’re kind to someone else, it feels good. It’s not rocket science.

It feels good to you and it feels good to them. It makes for a very happy, peaceful mind.

— Andy Puddicombe, “10 Tips for Living More Mindfully”

[winston]

Where is the real "temple of joy"? And having recognised it, how should our behaviour change?

There are in the world hotels, hospitals, homes of entertainment, theatres, places of sport, museums, palaces of art etc..

But, however they are named, they are all homes of sorrow.

The only "home of joy" is the temple of the Divine, that is to say, one's own body where He is the Inner Guide and Guardian.

Do not hate anyone, follow The Scripture’s prescription for spiritual health - 'without being inimical to any being’.

The reason for this injunction is that He is the inner Atma (Inner-Self) in everything that exists.

Love is transformed into poison if hate contaminates it. Love some, but do not hate the rest, for that hate will foul the love and make it mortal.

Love comes automatically to the realised soul; but, the spiritual aspirant has to cultivate it by means of service and inquiry into the unity of the Atman (Inner-Self).

- Divine Discourse, Jul 29, 1969.

Like the glow of the flame in a fire, like the rays of the sun, and like waves in the ocean, divine love is the basic quality of a true human being.

Source: radiosai.org