STEP BY STEP METHODS OF JAPA

The word japa means ‘to rotate’, and the practice of japa yoga involves continuous rotation of a mala in synchronization with a mantra. Japa yoga actually means ‘union with the highest existence through rotation of consciousness.’

Of all the systems of meditation, japa is the most popular. Its practice is not confined to followers of the yogic and tantric path, it is also a part of Hinduism, Christianity, Sufism, Buddhism and most other religions and cultures. The practices of japa provide many different techniques and in one form or another japa is applicable to every person. It is the easiest form of meditation for those who do not have the guidance of a guru and is, therefore, the most widely used meditation practice in the West.

The technique of japa yoga is primarily meant for the awakening of psychic awareness in the average individual as well as the spiritual aspirant. It is particularly suitable for those who have a restless, unstable mind and for all who are tamasic or rajasic by nature.,

During japa one has to do two things – chant a mantra and rotate the beads of the mala. These act as a point of reference for awareness. After a short time one gets into a rhythm; the movement of the mala becomes synchronized with the chanting. If one tends to fall asleep or become too involved in thoughts, the mantra repetition and moement of the mala will become uncoordinated or stop altogether.

Rotation of the mala and chanting of the mantra will quickly and automatically make one introverted. Japa provides the practitioner with an easy way to break away from external noises and other disturbances. While practicing it is impossible to become totally absorbed in one’s worries and mental activities as japa requires (and develops) a certain amount of awareness. Japa, therefore, prevents the practitioner from becoming lost in either the inner or outer world, and it keeps sleep and drowsiness at bay.

While practicing japa, thoughts will arise and these must be witnessed and not suppressed. Most thoughts that arise during meditation are very superficial and they must be cleared away to allow the deeper tensions of the mind to manifest. After steady, regular practice of japa, the mind will be overwhelmed by the mantra and less interested in the monotonous patterns of thought. Mental turmoil will subside and balanced, harmonious mind will rest.

When the mind has become still and you have become deeply absorbed in your mantra, a vision or unexpected thought may suddenly manifest. This represents a deeper problem which you must witness without any involvement. If you can do this, it may be all that is needed to remove it. If you have this experience, understand that you are cleansing the mind and are now beginning to penetrate its deeper layers. Let your thoughts flow and let the japa process continue simultaneously. Sometimes the awareness of thinking will become keen and at other times the awareness of the mantra will predominate. There is an alternate awareness of wavering and concentration, fluctuation and unification; this must happen.

One should never wish to be completely free of thoughts in meditation. It is impossible to be totally aware of only the japa or the mantra. Along with the mantra and the actual practice of japa, thoughts will come; fluctuations must take place, memories must return. This is natural, and if it does not happen, you can sure that you have a mental block somewhere and you must get rid of it. So, along with the mantra you can practice antar mouna, the art of witnessing the thought process.

Techniques of Japa
There are many different techniques of Japa but they all fall into one of the following categories.

1. Bakhari japa (also calld nachika) is audible japa. The mantra can be chanted as loudly as you wish. This is the most suitable form of japa for beginners and those people who have a disturbed mind. When one feels depressed, tense, angry or unhappy, this is one of the most effective methods of making the mind peaceful and harmonized. It is the practice for those who are dull, of wavering tendencies or of a restless nature.

It is a very powerful practice, particularly when a large group of people chant together. The whole atmosphere is charged with positive vibrations. Audible japa should be practiced for a few months by all beginners, and those who practice more advanced techniques will benefit by doing a little baikhari before their other japa. This will charge the brain with the powerful vibrations of the mantra. If you practice baikhari japa for hours together your mind attains a particular psychic level, a suggestive state of mind. This is the time when you can use japa therapeutically to make positive suggestions for yourself or for someone else whether they are far away or near. Baikhari japa can be practiced with the eyes open.

2. Upanshu Japa is whispering japa. In this form the lips are moved, but they create no loud or external sound. Only the practitioner can hear the mantra. This stage leads from simple baikhari japa to the more subtle manasik japa, and it is also useful in situations where environmental factors prevent one from practicing baikhari.

Whispering japa is the best form for those want to practice hours of japa at a time. It should also be used by those who are practicing japa with a special mantra for a specific purpose. There is a whole science of mantra, and throughout the world, even to this day, people repeat specific mantras for the purpose of endowing themselves with added strength to face a particularly difficult situation or to change the course of their destiny. There are mantras to bring wealth and prosperity, long life, a successful court haring, protection against disease or disorder, to aid digestion, to induce sound sleep, etc. There are many, many more mantras. The practice of upanshu japa can be done with the eye half closed.

3. Manasik is mental japa. No sound is uttered and the lips do not move. This is the most subtlest form of japa and is the practice for those with a steady mind which is reasonably free of thoughts. If you do manasik japa wth a disturbed mind, you will most likely fall asleep or become lost in the thought processes. If practiced with a calm state of mind, manasik is the best form of japa to delve deeper into the mind. It is said by the wages and scriptures that the steady and devoted practice of manasik japa is enough to lead a man to enlightenment. It should always be practiced with the eyes closed.

4. Likhit japa involves writing the mantra on paper hundreds of times in red, blue or green ink. The letter should be as small and as possible and written with utmost care, concentration and sense of beauty of proportion. The smaller the letters the greater the concentration. Likhit japa is always combined with manasik japa. Each time the mantra is written it should be simultaneously repeated silently.

Combining the practices
It is the best to commence japa practice with baikhari, whether the mind is calm or tense. If the mind is tense, loud japa will pacify and relax the mind. If you are calm you can quickly transfer to upanshu or maasik japa.

If you are doing manasik japa and the mind is wandering too much or becoming drowsy, you should mmediately transfer to baikhari. When you have established control over the mind you can return to manasik japa.

Which mantra and how to use it.
The best mantra to use for japa is a personal mantra which has been given by a Guru. If you do not have such a mantra, it is perfectly safe to use the universal mantra OM. Once you have begun to use a mantra do not change it unless you have been practicing with OM or Soham and a guru gives you a personal mantra.

The mantra should be chanted rhythmically and with clear pronunciation and intensity of feeling. The mantra must be synchronized with the movement of the mala. Each time you repeat the mantra move one bead of the mala. Chant quickly if the mind is disturbed and slowly if the mind is more relaxed.

Before you begin any japa practices read the supplementary notes on “Mantra” and “Mala”. This will enhance your understanding of japa yoga.

The effects of japa and the mantra can be felt within a few weeks. A person who is suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety, restlessness and doubt can be helped by japa even if he has no faith. All he has to do is patiently practice japa for about ten to fifteen days, then, although he may not become a self-realized man, he will be free from his abnormal complexes.

Japa can be practiced at any time in any place, although it is best to practice at a regular time every day, either early in the morning or before sleep at night. If you want to practice while travelling to and from work, or in a place where there are other people, do not use your mala. Never practice for show; your spiritual practices should not be revealed to anyone or they will lose their power.

When you practice japa, the left nostril should be flowing; it is alright if the breath if flowing through both nostrils, but if it is only passing through the right nostril you must change it before you begin japa. Place your left hand under the right armpit and apply a slight pressure for five to ten minutes until the left nostril starts to flow. Traditionally a special kind of arm rest (yoga danda) was used. It was made of wood and placed under the right armpit.

The methods of practicing japa should be quite clear now. Instead of describing for baikhari, upanshu, manasik and likhit, we will give brief instructions for a more advanced variations of Japa.

OM CHANTING
Sit in a comfortable meditative posture. Relax the body and close your eyes.
Start to chant OM aloud. With every utterance of OM move one bead of your mala. Om chanting and rotation of the mala must be synchronized.
Try to be completely aware of the OM chanting and feel the vibrations of the mantra resonating through your whole being. At the same time do not forget to rotate your mala.
Continue in this manner for as long as possible (at least 10 minutes)
Then stop chanting aloud, continue to rotate the mala and take your awareness to the pulse at the eyebrow centre. When you can distinctly feel this pulse, synchronize it with mental (manasik) repetition of the mantra and rotation of the mala.
Be aware of the internal sound of OM at the eye brow centre, vibrating in harmony with the pulse.
Continue in this manner for about 10 minutes, ending the practice as you complete the round of mala rotation.
Finish by chanting OM aloud 5 times.

Practial Note:
For this practice you can choose any pulse centre for concentration, but the eyebrow centre is particularly recommended. Other useful places for pulse concentration are the heart, the throat and the navel.
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Source: The Sure ways for Self-Realisation by Swamy Satyananada Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga.

MALA (or) ROSARY

A mala (or) rosary is a string of small beads which are separated from each other by a special kind of knot called a brahmagranti or knot of creation. The beads are strung on strong cotton thread and although usually 108 in number, malas with 54 of 27 beads are also commonly used.

Each mala has an extra bead offset from the continuity of the main loop. It is called a sumeru (junction or summit) and it acts as a reference point so the practitioner can know when he has completed a rotation of the mala. The mala is an essential part of most of the techniques of japa. It is mainly a tool to maintain awareness.

Malas are most commonly made from tulsiwood, sandalwood, rudraksha or crystal pieces. It is the tulsi mala which is used most commonly for japa. Tulsi is a highly venerated and sacred plant and many psychic and healing properties. It has a strong and purifying effect on the emotion and is soothing to the mind. The devotees of Lord Vishnu use this type of mala as tulsi is regarded as an incarnation of Lakshmi, wife of Lord Visnu. Sandalwood malas are sweetly scented and contain pacifying and protective vibrations. It is said that sandalwood malas are cooling and are beneficial to those who have any type of skin disease. Rudraksha is the inner seed of a jungle fruit. It is supposed to be the most powerful mala for japa meditation and is used by those who worship Lord Shiva. Rudraksha magnetically influences the blood circulation, strengthens the heart and is recommended for those who have high blood pressure. Crystal malas have psychic properties and are used by those who worship Devi.

Malas are not only used by tantra and yoga practitioners. The Buddhist path of Mahayana widely uses japa with a mala of 108 beads plus 3 extra representing the refuge in Buddha, dharma and sangha. The Roman Catholics make use of a rosary which has 54 main beads. In Greece and other Balkan countries where the Greek Orthodox Church is prevalent, all men carry a rosary with them wherever they go and rotate the beads whenever possible. Without these ‘worry beads’, many of these people would feel improperly dressed. Whether they realize the reason for the rosary is uncertain, but nevertheless the tradition still continues today.

Purpose of mala

Many people wonder why a mala is used for the practice of japa and if they happen to use one, they place very little importance on the way it is handled. So let us first explain the purpose of mala. Because of its very nature, the mind does not remain steady for any length of time. Therefore, it is necessary for us to choose a medium or a basis by which we can know when we are aware and we are not. We use a mala as a means for checking those moments when we have become unaware and forgetful of what we are doing. It is also used to indicate how much practice has been done.

The practitioner starts the japa practice from the sumeru bead and proceeds to rhythmically rotate the mala, bead by bead. There is a smooth flow and rotation of the mala until the obstruction of the sumeru.

At a certain stage in japa, when the mind becomes calm and serene, it is possible for the fingers to become inert. They become momentarily paralyzed and you become completely unaware. Sometimes the mala may fall to the ground. When these things occur you should know that you have strayed from the aim of japa, that is, you have failed to maintain awareness. If you don’t have a mala in your hand when you practice japa, how will you know what you are experiencing? It is continuity of a mala that will tell you of your state of consciousness. If you are conscious of the mala and the fingers moving each bead, then you are aware. When japa is done correctly and concentration takes place, the mala will continue to move almost automatically.

A mala may not be something your intellect can accept, but for the successful practice of japa it is necessary tool for the mind.

The fact that a mala has 108 beads needs some explanation. There are many different theories recorded in the scriptures so we will give a few. ‘1’ represents the supreme consciousness; ‘8’ represents the eight aspects of nature consisting of the five fundamental elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, plus ahamkara (individuality), manas (mind) and buddhi (sense of intuitive perception); ‘0’ represents the cosmos, the entire field of creation. To put it another way ‘0’ is Shiva, ‘8’ is Shakthi and ‘1’ is their union of yoga.

There are some scholars who believe that 108 represents the number of skulls on the garland worn by Kali, the goddess of destruction. It is said to symbolize the 108 reincarnations of the jiva (the individual consciousness) after which an individual will become self-realized.

There are similar explanations for the numbers 27, 54, 57, 1001 and so on, which are also used for malas. But actually, the meaning of those numbers has significance at a deeper psychic level. They are numbers chosen to help bring about auspicious conditions while doing japa. They are numbers that have been found suitable by the practical experience of ancient rishis. The explanations of these numbers are merely for those who want intellectual answers.

Besides the 108 beads of the mala, there is also an extra bead, the sumeru, which we have already mentioned. This bead can be considered to represent the top of the psychic passage called the sushmna. And for this reason, the sumeru (or meru) bead is also called the bindu. The 108 beads symbolize the 108 centres, stations or camps through which your awareness travels up to the bindu and then back again. These centres are really chakras though mostly minors ones, and they represent the progressive awakening of the mind. The bindu is the limit of this expansion of mind.

How to use the mala

There is a special method of holding the mala. It should be held in the right hand, supported by joining the tip of the thumb with the ring finger. The thumb should not be used to rotate the mala and the second and little fingers should not touch the mala. The middle finger moves the beads.

When you use a mala you should never cross the bindu. You begin your practice at this point and when you complete one round of mala rotation and find yourself back at the bindu, you simply reverse the mala and continue your practice. You should always rotate the mala towards the palm.

Traditionally, japa is practiced while holding the right hand in front of the heart. This way you can chant your mantra in time with the heartbeat. Also, holding the hand in front of the heart seems to intensify the feeling with which one chants the mantra. The left hand is cupped and placed in the lap facing upwards. It can be used to catch the lower end of the mala to prevent it from swinging about and become tangled. If you prefer, your right hand can be placed on the right knee and the mala can rest on the floor.

You may count the number of times you rotate the mala mentally or by using the left hand as follows. After one mala rotation, place the left thumb on the first joint line at the base of the left little finger. After the second rotation, raise the thumb on the upper line of the little finger. Then on the fourth rotation, transfer the left thumb to the first line of the ring finger and so on. In this manner you can count twelve mala rotations.

The mala which is used for japa should not be worn around the neck. When it is not being used it should be kept in a small bag of its own. This will prevent any negative change in the vibrations associated with the mala. Never lend your japa mala to other people. It is also said that other people should not ever see the mala you practice with. Malas that are used for decoration are not really considered suitable for japa practice.

A mala that is used daily will, in time, become impregnated with very positive vibrations. After a few months, the moment you touch the mala, you will become tranquillized, quiet and still, and the whole feeling in the body will be transformed.

If you practice many mala rotations a day, your arm will get very tired if it is held in front of the heart. Something must be used to support the arm. You can use a piece of cloth made into a sling and let it support your right arm.

Use of a gomukhi

If you do long periods of japa practice every day, the use of a gomukhi is highly recommended. The word gomukhi means in the shape of a cow’s mouth. It is a small bag which resembles the shape of a cow’s mouth. The mala and your right hand are both placed inside the gomukhi so that they are obscured from view. A gomukhi can be used when you walk along a street or whenever you leave your home. It is particularly useful for those who do anusthana (sustained practice for long fixed periods of time). In fact for those people it is a must.

A mala may not be something that western people can easily accept on an intellectual level, but without being aware of it they have accepted malas intuitively. Have you ever wondered where the idea of wearing a string of pearls or decorative beads originated? In all the ancient cultures beads (malas), rings and amulets were used for spiritual purposes and since those times people have been attaracted to these items. In modern times, in the name of fashion, women in particular choose to wear them for aesthetic purposes.

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Source: Excerpt from the book on “Sure Ways to Self-Realization” by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India.
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SCIENCE OF MANTRA

The science of mantra is very ancient and was once widely practised in all parts of the world. Reference to mantra is found in the oldest Vedic scriptures, which are claimed to be more than 5,000 years old.

Literally, the word mantra means ‘revealed sound’. According to the ancient texts, mantra means a sound or a combination or sequences of sounds which develop spontaneously. These sounds were revealed to rishis and other pure beings in psychic states or in very deep meditation, when all consciousness of the self was lost and when nothing but inner light shone in front of them.

Mantra do not have any specific meaning. Their power is not in the words themselves, but in the sound vibrations created when the mantra is uttered verbally or when it takes form in the mind and is not expressed in the voice.

Mantra brings about state of resonance between the individual and the depths of his inner being. They allow the individual to unleash inner cosmic powers, forces and knowledge. The sound patterns of the mantra stimulate a certain effect on the mental and psychic nature of an individual. Each mantra will create, or draw out, a specific symbol within one’s psyche.

There are two important points regarding mantras that should be taken into account. Firstly, mantra should never be misunderstood to be the name of a particular god of a particular religion. There should be no conflict between your religion and mantra. Many people think they cannot repeat Om Namah Shivaya because they would be reciting the name of a Hindu god when they are Christian or Muslim.

Secondly, a mantra cannot be translated. Translation alters the sound. Even though mantras are found in Hinduism, in Buddhism, Catholicism, in Islam and among the Parsis and other religions and sects, they are never translated. If you change the succession and order of the sounds, the mantra ceases to be a mantra. If you translate the words you may have a very beautiful prayer, but not a mantra.

There are thousands of mantras, stemming from a variety of cultures, languages and religions. Some common ones are: Om, Shreem, Hreem, Kreem, Aim, Dum, Hum, Om Namah Shivaya and Om Mani Padme Hum to name just a few. Everyone has a mantra of his own, and just as your personality is the represents your outer self, similarly the mantra represents your inner personality. It is through mantra that we realize our own psychic personality and it is this personality which we really are.

In tantra there are all kinds of mantras; some are personal mantras for use in japa and other meditation practices, and some serve a specific purpose. So, before seeking a mantra it is important to know what you are seeking it for. If you are undergoing some problem in life, then the mantra you employ to get rid of it will be a temporary one, not your personal mantra. When the problem subsides, the mantra will be of no further use to you. On the other hand, if you are trying to awaken the kundalini or psychic powers, then you must have the correct personal mantra.

It is said that a child should receive his first mantra when he is eight years old. He should not practice mantra as we older people do it, but he should repeat his mantra at sunrise and sunset along with breath awareness – five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. This mantra will create a reorientation in his disturbed subconscious contributed by his parents. He should receive his second mantra at marriage or when a great change in his life or a transition in his personality is taking place. This mantra should be an introduction to spiritual life, and also to responsibility and steady mindedness. When he becomes spiritual he should receive his third mantra. It will help him on the spiritual path and enable him to withdraw his mind and to switch of his consciousness from the external world to within. Hindus are given a fourth mantra at the time of death or just before. When a man’s pranas and consciousness are being withdrawn, and all the lights are being extinguished, when his consciousness is functioning only a fraction, this is the ideal time to put the fourth mantra into his ears. This mantra leads his soul to the next birth.

According to tradition, initiation into mantra is given by the guru, one’s mother or revelation. A mantra received in a deep dream or through intuition, which you constantly feel a strong attraction for, may also be taken as your mantra. A mantra can never be bought or sold. When a guru gives a mantra it is never based on a monetary transaction. A mantra obtained in such a way will never have any power.

Once you have a mantra do not change it, it is not something to play with. You can change your home, your religion, your husband or your wife, but you should not change your mantra or your guru. Both mantra and guru are symbols of your consciousness and to change them will create confusion in your psychic body. Once created, that confusion can never be corrected. Sometimes people hear about another mantra and believe it to be more powerful than their own and so they want to change. The mind can so easily influence one into rejecting his own mantra and adopting another.

The following are the only valid reasons for changing your mantra:
Your guru gives you another mantra.
For therapeutic purposes or for some specific problem you temporarily accept another mantra that has the power to help you over the obstacle. In this case the guru should give the mantra, as correct pronounciation is essential and this cannot be revealed in any book.
You realize another mantra which is so overwhelming and compelling that you know it is definitely your mantra.

When one takes a mantra, it must be accepted with absolute faith and with final decision. The mind should be fully impressed by the mantra. A mantra is absolutely personal and must be kept secret. When you keep the mantra secret, it becomes more powerful. This is true with everything. A seed will grow in the earth if it is covered, in secret, but it will never grow into a tree if it is left uncovered and exposed for all to see.

Mantras for spiritual evolution must be practiced for a set amount of time every day. If the mantra is repeated too much, it will affect the whole system, and those who are very psychic, sensitive, unstable, or subject to hallucinations, may not be prepared for that at all. If you regularly repeat the mantra for ten minutes daily, within a few days you will know if you are oversensitive and whether the mantra is impressing your mind to a larger of lesser extent.

Mantra repetition should not create tension in the mind. The mind becomes tense if there are conflicts present due to various mental obstructions. To avoid mental tension, do not try to concentrate while practicing mantra. Simply repeat the mantra as you would spontaneously carry on a conversation. If you talk and try to concentrate on how you are talking and what you are saying, tension will be created. When the mind is very distracted you should never try to concentrate. Concentration (dharana) can only come when sense withdrawal (pratyahara) has been achieved. The purpose of mantra repetition is not to develop concentration but to withdraw the senses and still the mind.

The mantra can be utilized in different ways: it can be practiced in conjunction with the breath, the psychic pathways, concentration on the eyebrow centre and so on. Mantra is a very powerful method of healing.

There are specific mantras for a wide range of ailments and complaints, but these must be given by someone well versed in the therapeutic use of sound and mantras. As well as these, there are bija mantras which anyone can self-prescribe for healing purposes. Each chakra (psychic centre in the body) has a bija mantra and if you have a physical complaint which is located in the region of one of the chakras, you can use its mantra to strengthen and heal. For example, Ram is the mantra for manipura chakra (navel centre) and if it is chanted in kirtan or repeated in japa, it will stimulate the abdominal area benefiting complaints such as peptic ulcer, constipation, diarrhoea and other digestive disorders.

The bija mantras of the main chakras are given in the following table:
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Mantras Chakra Location

(1) (2) (3)

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Lam Mooladhara Perineium
Vam Swadhisthana Base of the spine
Ram Manipura Navel centre
Yam Anahata Heartcentre
Ham Vishudhi Throat
Om Ajna Eyebrow centre
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It is the strength of the sound, the colour of the sound, the frequency, the velocity and the ‘temperature’ of the sound which are responsible for the revitalization that mantra brings. The effect of the Ram mantra on the mind is very soothing and tranquilizing; the Shiva mantra usually develops a sense of detachment, a feeling of ectasy and absolute indifference.

Every mantra has a colour, an element, a devata or a divine form and also a method of recitation. In determining an appropriate mantra, astrology is taken into account, with reference made to the science of elements, colour and the predominant guna (tamas, rajas, sattwa). According to the birth sign the major element decides the mantra.

Some mantras are for the earth element, others for water, fire, air and ether elements. Om belongs to the ether element; Ram to the fire element; Gam to the earth element; Klim to the water element and Ham to the air element. Each mantra possess two divisions – sound and form. For instance, Klim is the sound, a bija mantra, and it has an image which is revealed by a simple mantra. Klim is the bija mantra and Krishna is the mantra which exposes the form. Om is the symbolic sound of the cosmic being; Haum – Shiva, Dum - Durga; Kreem – Kali; Hreem – Mahamaya; Shreem – Lakshmi; Aim – Saraswati; Gam and Glaum – Ganesha. Om is the universal mantra and it can be used by everyone at any time without restriction as can its equivalents – Amin and Amen.

Once you have a personal mantra which has been charged by the guru, it will immediately start to change the course of your life. Naturally, this will only happen if you accept your mantra with your heart and mind and utilize it regularly. The mantra is so powerful that it will start to immediately explore the Karmas from the unconscious mind. These karmas could manifest in your moods and feelings or in your dreams which may be pleasant, or even terrifying. Whatever changes you experience will only be positive, anything unpleasant is probably only part of the temporary purification.

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Source: The Sure ways for Self-Realisation by Swamy Satyananada Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga.

CAUSE AND EFFECT IN HUMAN CONDUCT

IT IS an axiom with the scientists that every effect is related to a cause. Apply this to the realm of human conduct, and there is revealed the principle of Justice. Every scientist knows (and now all men believe) that perfect harmony prevails throughout every portion of the physical universe, from the speck of dust to the greatest sun.

Everywhere there is exquisite adjustment. In the sidereal universe, with its millions of suns rolling majestically through space and carrying with them their respective systems of revolving planets, its vast nebula, its seas of meteors, and its vast army of comets traveling through illimitable space with inconceivable velocity, perfect order prevails; and again, in the natural world, with its multitudinous aspects of life, and its infinite variety of forms, there are the clearly defined limits of specific laws, through the operation of which all confusion is avoided, and unity and harmony eternally obtain. If this universal harmony could be arbitrarily broken, even in one small particular, the universe would cease to be; there could be no cosmos, but only universal chaos.

Nor can it be possible in such a universe of law that there should exist any personal power which is above, outside, and superior to, such law in the sense that it can defy it, or set it aside; for whatsoever beings exist, whether they be men or gods, they exist by virtue of such law; and the highest, best, and wisest among all beings would manifest his greater wisdom by his more complete obedience to that law which is wiser than wisdom, and than which nothing more perfect could be devised.

All things, whether visible or invisible, are subservient to, and fall within the scope of, this infinite and eternal law of causation. As all things seen obey it, so all things unseen - the thoughts and deeds of men, whether secret or open cannot escape it.

"Do right, it recompenseth; do one wrong – the equal retribution must be made." Perfect justice upholds the universe; perfect justice regulates human life and conduct. All the varying conditions of life, as they obtain in the world today, are the result of this law reacting on human conduct.

Man can (and does) choose what causes he shall set in operation, but he cannot change the nature of effects; he can decide what thoughts he shall think, and what deeds he shall do, but he has no power over the results of those thoughts and deeds; these are regulated by the overruling law. Man has all power to act, but his power ends with the act committed. The result of the act cannot be altered, annulled, or escaped; it is irrevocable.

Evil thoughts and deeds produce conditions of suffering; good thoughts and deeds determine conditions of blessedness. Thus man's power is limited to, and his blessedness or misery is determined by his own conduct. To know this truth, renders life simple, plain, and unmistakable; all the crooked paths are straightened out, the heights of wisdom are revealed, and the open door to salvation from evil and suffering is perceived and entered.

Life may be likened to a sum in arithmetic. It is bewilderingly difficult and complex to the pupil who has not yet grasped the key to its correct solution, but once this is perceived and laid hold of, it becomes as astonishingly simple as it was formerly profoundly perplexing.

Some idea of this relative simplicity and complexity of life may be grasped by fully recognizing and realizing the fact that, while there are scores, and perhaps hundreds, of ways in which a sum may be done wrong, there is only one way by which it can be done right, and that when that right way is found the pupil knows it to be the right, his perplexity vanishes, and he knows that be has mastered the problem.

It is true that the pupil, while doing his sum incorrectly, may (and frequently does) think he has done it correctly, but he is not sure; his perplexity is still there, and if he is an earnest and apt pupil, he will recognize his own error when it is pointed out by the teacher.

So in life, men may think they are living rightly while they are continuing, through ignorance, to live wrongly; but the presence of doubt, perplexity, and unhappiness are sure indications that the right way has not yet been found. There are foolish and careless pupils who would like to pass a sum as correct before they have acquired a true knowledge of figures, but the eye and skill of the teacher quickly detect and expose the fallacy.

So in life there can be no falsifying of results; the eye of the Great Law reveals and exposes. Twice five will make ten to all eternity, and no amount of ignorance, stupidity, or delusion can bring the result up to eleven. If one looks superficially at a piece of cloth, he sees it as a piece of cloth, but if he goes further and inquires into its manufacture, and examines it closely and attentively, he sees that it is composed of a combination of individual threads, and that, while all the threads are interdependent, each thread pursues its own way throughout, never becoming confused with its sister thread. It is this entire absence of confusion between the particular threads which constitutes the finished work - a piece of cloth: any inharmonious commingling of the thread would result in a bundle of waste or a useless rag.

Life is like a piece of cloth, and the threads of which it is composed are individual lives. The threads, while being interdependent, are not confounded one with the other. Each follows its own course. Each individual suffers and enjoys the consequences of his own deeds, and not of the deeds of another. The course of each is simple and definite; the whole forming a complicated, yet harmonious, combination of sequences.

There are action and reaction, deed and consequence, cause and effect, and the counterbalancing reaction, consequence, and effect is always in exact ratio with the initiatory impulse. A durable and satisfactory piece of cloth cannot be made from shoddy material, and the threads of selfish thoughts and bad deeds will not produce a useful and beautiful life - a life that will wear well, and bear close inspection.

Each man makes or mars his own life; it is not made or marred by his neighbor, or by anything external to himself. Each thought he thinks, each deed he does, is another thread - shoddy or genuine - woven into the garment of his life; and as he makes the garment so must he wear it. He is not responsible for his neighbor's deeds; he is not the custodian of his neighbor's actions; he is responsible only for his own deeds; he is the custodian of his own actions.

The "problem of evil" subsists in a man's own evil deeds, and it is solved when those deeds are purified. Says Rosseau:

"Man, seek no longer the origin of evil; thou thyself art its origin."

Effect can never be divorced from cause; it can never be of a different nature from cause. Emerson says:

"Justice is not postponed; a perfect equity adjusts the balance in all parts of life."

And there is a profound sense in which cause and effect are simultaneous, and form one perfect whole. Thus, upon the instant that a man thinks, say, a cruel thought, or does a cruel deed, that same instant he has injured his own mind; he is not the same man he was the previous instant; he is a little viler and a little more unhappy; and a number of such successive thoughts and deeds would produce a cruel and wretched man.

The same thing applies to the contrary - the thinking of a kind thought, or doing a kind deed - an immediate nobility and happiness attend it; the man is better than he was before, and a number of such deeds would produce a great and blissful soul.

Thus individual human conduct determines, by the faultless law of cause and effect, individual merit or demerit, individual greatness or meanness, individual happiness or wretchedness. What a man thinks, that he does; what he does, that he is. If be is perplexed, unhappy, restless, or wretched, let him look to himself, for there and nowhere else is the source of all his trouble.

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Source: THE MASTERY OF DESTINY By James Allen

THE WAY OF THE HEART

In undertaking a spiritual life, what matters is simple: We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart…

It is possible to speak with our heart directly. Most ancient cultures know this. We can actually converse with our heart as if it were a good friend. In modern life we have become so busy with our daily affairs and thoughts that we have forgotten this essential art of taking time to converse with our heart. When we ask it about our current path, we must look at the values we have chosen to live by. Where do we put our time, our strength, our creativity, our love? We must look at our life without sentimentality, exaggeration, or idealism. Does what we are choosing reflect what we most deeply value?

Buddhist tradition teaches its followers to regard all life as precious. The astronauts who leave the earth have also rediscovered this truth. One set of Russian cosmonauts described it in this way: ‘We brought up small fish to the space station for certain investigations. We were to be there three months. After about three weeks the fish began to die. How sorry we felt for them! What we didn’t do to try to save them! On earth we take great pleasure in fishing, but when you are alone and far away from anything terrestrial, any appearance of life is especially welcome. You see just how precious life is.” In this same spirit, one astronaut, when his capsule landed, opened the hatch to smell the moist air of earth. “I actually got down and put it to my cheek. I got down and kissed the earth.”

To see the preciousness of all things, we must bring our full attention to life. Spiritual practice can bring us to this awareness without the aid of a trip into a space. As the qualities of presence and simplicity begin to permeate more and more of our life, our inner love for the earth and all beings begins to express itself and brings our path alive.

Appreciating Moments of Goodness

To understand more deeply what evokes this sense of preciousness and how it gives meaning to a path with heart, let us work with the following meditation. In Buddhist practice, one is urged to consider how to live well by reflecting on one’s death. The traditional meditation for this purpose is to sit quietly and sense the tentativeness of life. After reading this paragraph, close your eyes and feel the mortality of this human body that you have been given. Death is certain for us – only the time of death is yet to be discovered. Imagine yourself to be at the end of your life – next week or next year or next decade, some time in the future. Now cast your memory back across your whole life and bring to mind two good deeds that you have done, two things that you did that were good. They need not be grandiose; let whatever wants to arise show itself. In picturing and remembering these good deeds, also become aware of how these memories affect your consciousness, how they transform the feelings and state of the heart and mind as you see them.

When you have completed this reflection, look very carefully at the quality of these situations, at what is comprised in a moment of goodness picked out of a lifetime of words and actions. Almost everyone who is able to remember such deeds in this meditation discovers them to be remarkably simple. They are rarely the deeds one would put on a resume. For some people a moment of goodness was simple the one who they told their father before he died that they loved him, or when they flew across the country in the midst of their busy life to care for their sister’s children as she was healing from a car accident. One elementary school teacher had the simple vision of those mornings when she held the children who were crying and having a hard day. In response to this meditation someone once raised her hand, smiled and said, “On crowded streets when we get to a parking space at the same time, I always give the parking space to the other person.” That was the good deed in her life.

Another woman, a nurse in her sixties who had raised children and grandchildren and had lived a very full life, came up with this memory: She was six years old when a car broke down in front of her house, steam sprouting from under the hood. Two elderly people got out and looked at it, and one went off to the corner pay phone to call a garage. They returned to sit in the car and wait for much of the morning for a tow. As a curious six-year-old, she went out to speak to them, and after seeing them wait for a long time in a hot car, she went inside. Without even asking them, she prepared a tray of iced tea and sandwiches and carried the tray out to them on the curb.

The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are the moments when we touch one another, when we are there in the most attentive or caring way. This simple and profound intimacy is the love that we all long for. These moments of touching and being touched can become a foundation for a path with heart, and they take place in the most immediate and direct way. Mother Teresa put it like this: “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”

Some people find this exercise very difficult. No good deeds will come to their mind, or a few may arise only to be rejected immediately because they are judged superficial or small or impure or imperfect. Does this mean that there are not even two good moments in a lifetime of one hundred thousand deeds? Hardly! We have all had many. It has another more profound meaning. It is a reflection of how hard we are on ourselves. We judge ourselves so harshly, only an Idi Amin or a Stalin would hire us to preside over their courts. Many of us discover we have little mercy for ourselves. We can hardly acknowledge that genuine love and goodness can shine freely from our hearts. Yet it does.

To live a path with heart means to live in the way shown us in this meditation, to allow the flavor of goodness to permeate our life. When we bring full attention to our acts, when we express our love and see the preciousness of life, the quality of goodness in us grows. A simple caring presence can begin to permeate more moments of our life. And so we should continually ask our own heart, What would it mean to live like this? Is the path, the way we have chosen to live our life, leading to this?

In the stress and complexity of our lives, we may forget our deepest intentions. But when people come to the end of their life and look back, the questions that they most often ask are not usually. “How much is my bank account?” or “How many books did I write?” or “What did I build?” or the like. If you have the privilege of being with a person who is aware at the time of his or her death, you find the questions such a person asks are very simple: “Did I love well?” “Did I live fully?” “Did I learn to let go?”

Letting Go

These simple questions go to the very centre of spiritual life. When we consider loving well and living fully, we can see the way our attachments and fears have limited us, and we can see the many opportunities for our hearts to open. Have we let ourselves love the people around us, our family, our community, the earth upon which we live? And, did we also learn to let go? Did we learn to live through the changes of life with grace, wisdom and compassion? Have we learned to forgive and live from the spirit of the heart instead of the spirit of judgment?

Letting go is a central theme in spiritual practice, as we see the preciousness and brevity of life. When letting go is called for, if we have not learned to do so, we suffer greatly, and when we get to the end of our life, we may have what is called a crash course. Sooner or later we have to learn to let go and allow the changing mystery of life to move through us without our fearing it, without holding and grasping.

I knew a young woman who sat with her mother during an extended bout of cancer. Part of this time and her mother was in the hospital hooked up to dozens of tubes and machines. Mother and daughter agreed that the mother did not want to die this way, and when the illness progressed, she was finally removed from all of the medical paraphernalia and allowed to go home. Her cancer progressed further. Still the mother had a hard time accepting her illness. She tried to run the household from her bed, to pay bills and oversee all the usual affairs of her life. She struggled with her physical pain, but she struggled more with her inability to let go. One day in the midst of this struggle, much sicker now and a bit confused, she called her daughter to her and said, “Daughter, dear, please now pull the plug,” and her daughter gently pointed out, “Mother you are not plugged in.” Some of us have a lot to learn about letting go.

Letting go and moving through life from one change to another brings the maturing of our spiritual being. In the end we discover that to love and let go can be the same thing. Both ways do not seek to possess. Both allow us to touch each moment of this changing life and allow us to be there fully for whatever arises next.

There is an old story about a famous rabbi living in Europe who was visited one day by a man who had traveled by ship from New York to see him. The man came to the great rabbi’s dwelling, a large house on a street in a European city, and was directed to the rabbi’s room, which was in the attic. He entered to find the master living in a room with a bed, a chair and a few books. The man had expected much more. After greetings, he asked “Rabbi, where are your things?” The rabbi asked in return, “Well, where are yours?” His visitor replied, “But Rabbi, I’m only passing through,” and the master answered, “So am I, so am I.”

The Gift of Life
To love fully and live well requires us to recognize finally that we do not possess or own anything – our homes, our cars, our loved ones, not even our own body. Spiritual joy and wisdom do not come through possession but rather through our capacity to open, to love more fully, and to more and be free in life.

This is not a lesson to be put off. One great teacher explained it this way: “The trouble with you is that you think you have time.” We don’t know how much time we have. What would it be like to live with the knowledge that this may be our last year, our last week, our last day? In the light of this question we can choose a path with heart.

Sometimes, it takes a shock to awaken us, to connect us with our path. Several years ago I was called to visit a man in a San Francisco hospital by his sister. He was in his late thirties and already rich. He had a construction company, a sailboat, a ranch, a townhouse, the works. One day when driving along in his BMW, he blacked out. Tests showed that he had a brain tumour, a melanoma, a rapid-growing kind of cancer. The doctor said, “We want to operate on you, but I must warn you that the tumour is in the speech and comprehension centre. If we remove the tumour, you may lose all your ability to read, to write, to speak, to understand any language. If we don’t operate, you probably have six more weeks to live. Please consider this. We want to operate in the morning. Let us know by then.”

I visited this man that evening. He had become very quiet and reflective. As you an imagine, he was in an extraordinary state of consciousness. Such an awakening will sometimes come from our spiritual practice, but for him it came through these exceptional circumstances. When we spoke, this man did not talk about his ranch or sailboat or his money. Where he was headed, they don’t take the currency of bank books and BMWs. All that is of value in times of great change is the currency of our heart – the ability and understanding of the heart that has grown in us.

Twenty years earlier, in the late 1960’s, this man had done a little Zen meditation, had read a bit of Alan Watts, and when he faced this moment, that is what he drew on and what he wanted to talk about: his spiritual life and understanding of birth and death. After a most heartfelt conversation, he stopped to be silent for a time and reflect. Then he turned to me and said, “I’ve had enough of talking. May be I’ve said too many words. This evening it seems so precious just to have a drink of tap water or to watch the pigeons on the windowsill of the medical centre fly off in the air. It’s magic to see a bird go through the air, I’m not finished with this life. May be I’ll just live it more silently.” So he asked to have the operation. After fourteen hours of surgery by a very fine surgeon, his sister visited him in the recovery room. He looked up at her and said, “Good morning.” They had been able to remove the tumour without losing his speech.

When he left the hospital and recovered from his cancer, his entire life changed. He still responsibly completed his business obligations, but he was no longer a workaholic. He spent more time with his family, and he became a counselor for others diagnosed with cancer and grave illnesses. He spent much of his time touching the people around him with love.

Had I met him before that evening, I might have considered him a spiritual failure because he had done a little spiritual practice and then quit completely to become a businessman. He seemed to have forgotten all of those spiritual values. But when it came down to it, when he stopped to reflect in these moments between his life and death, even the little spiritual practice he had touched became very important to him. We never know what others are learning, and we cannot judge someone’s spiritual practice quickly or easily. All we can do is look into our own hearts and ask what matters in the way that we are living, what might lead us to greater openness, honesty and a deeper capacity to love.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jack Kornfield was a trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India and has taught meditation worldwide since 1974. He is one of the key teachers to introduce Theravada Buddhist practice to the West. For many years his work has focused on integrating and bringing alive the great Eastern spiritual teachings in an accessible way for Western students and Western society. He holds a Ph.D., in clinical psychology and is the founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society.
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Source: Excerpt from the Book on “A Path Heart” by Jack Kornfield.
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Are you stressed?

       Stress and strain plague life today. Stress-related disease is reaching epidemic proportions, exacting a heavy toll on the quality of human life. Stress Management courses have mushroomed everywhere. These course trainers often remedies and solutions to stress without reaching the root of the problem. Prescribed treatments such as time management, regular exercise, healthy diet and other such disciplines may help to reduce stress in the short term. But they do not provide the real solution to the suffering masses. They have been tackling the problem from the wrong end. They believe that stress arises from external factors, environments and situations. The true key to stress management is self-management. "It is difficult to find happiness in oneself", says Arthur Schopenhauer, "but it is impossible to find it anywhere else." Yet people, continue to seek, happiness everywhere except in oneself.

THE ANATOMY OF STRESS

      Stress signifies a state of mind. Internal agitations create stress. Not external disturbances. People throughout the world live with the conviction that factors outside themselves produce stress. So they focus all their attention and correction on outer forces to correct this malady. External treatment cannot cure internal disease.

      To solve the problem of stress you must find the source. Where exactly is stress located? Once you locate it, you will know exactly how to deal with it, reduce it and ultimately get rid of it.

      Stress is said to be "Internal". Internal refers to the inner personality of a human being. Your mind and intellect together constitute your inner personality. They define your individuality. You are what you are because of your inner personality determined by the quality of mind and intellect. Your physical body is only the outer personality which serves as an equipment of action. Therefore, a study of the nature of the mind and intellect becomes most important.

      The physical body executes action. The MIND comprises impulses, feelings, emotions, likes and dislikes. The INTELLECTUAL constitutes the thinking equipment, which reasons, discriminates and judges. Your MIND and INTELLECT determine your actions. Stress arises in a person when his mind overpowers his intellect. When his desires and attachments override his intellect. When the intellect loses control over the mind's desires the person becomes disturbed. Stress is the mental agitation causes by UNFULFILLED DEIRES. Thus, a person can live stress-free by training the intellect to maintain control over the mind.

THE MIND AND ITS DEVASTATING INFLUENCE

      The mind comprises emotions. It behaves like a child. The intellect conducts itself like an adult. One cannot afford to let the mind govern the body. The mind has direction or dimension. The intellect alone can direct, govern and control the mind. If the intellect is not available for guiding it, or not powerful enough to control it, the mind can go berserk and devastate the personality. The desires of the mind overpowering a weak intellect can destroy an individual.

THE MIND PLAYS HAVOC

    The human mind can cause enormous damage to you. You must fully understand how it behaves.

      The mind has a natural tendency to ramble to stray away from any fixed point of concentration. It is prone to worry over the Past memories or to become anxious of the future results. It seldom remains in the present. Most people dissipate their lives pondering over their past and anticipating their future. Their mind remain ever agitated .

      They suffer from strain throughout their life. In striking contrast, little children, bubbling with energy, keep acting ceaselessly, the whole day. It seems paradoxical that adults, with far greater strength than children, have much less energy to act. This paradox sterns from the fact that children have no worries of the past or anxieties for the future. Children live in the present. Adults torment themselves with past thoughts and future desires.

      Another distinct property of the mind is that it produces innumerable desires. Desires breed like bacteria in a mind which lacks direction and governance of the intellect. The mind incessantly craves for whatever it does not possess. Hence, the mind is compared to fire. Fire is insatiable. Fire consumes any amount of fuel it is fed. Fire is never fulfilled. Likewise, the human mind is never satiated. It is ever infested with unfulfilled desires and riddled with anxiety.

      Still another quality of the mind is its attachment to objects and beings which it already possesses. Your mind craves for what it does not possess. The moment your mind possesses anything it cultivates attachment. Attachment is a deadly disease of the mind. People develop extreme attachment to family, to partners, to home, to wealth and to power. Thus indiscriminating attachment causes tremendous stress in their lives.

THE THREE STATES OF MIND

      When a person possess innumerable desires and attachments his mind suffers from constant agitation. It is never at rest. It remains always worried and anxious, discontented and disturbed.

      As you reduce your desires and attachments, your mind becomes more stable and less agitated. But you allow your mind's stability to be disturbed by external agents. A disturbed mind takes time to settle down.

      You ought to diagnose this aspect of the mind's nature. Changes, challenges and conflicts are all part of the world. You must look at them as a sportsman views his challenging opponent. The stiffer the competition, the greater the fun. Sometimes you win, sometimes the opponent. Take things sportingly. You then enjoy every bit of life. Life becomes a beautiful game.

      A person who frees himself entirely from desires and attachments reaches the highest state of evolution. His mind remains at complete rest -- in perfect equilibrium. Never disturbed by the world. The best and the worst of circumstances can never upset his mental peace and happiness.

DESIRES RUIN YOUR INDEPENDENCE

      Desires render a person dependent upon the world. More the desires, more the dependence. With the reduction of desires, you become more independent. Independence is the insignia of a human being. All other creatures lack this quality.

      Plants are wholly dependent upon the natural environment around them. Animals are less dependent than Plants, yet very much controlled by the environment. Only a human being can live free from the influence of an ever-changing world.

       A person infested with numerous desires need abundant material wealth to keep himself happy. As he drops his desires the need for material wealth diminishes. Thus, a person of very few desires remain content living by frugal means.

DISCIPLINE YOUR DESIRES

     The mind produces endless desires. The intellect alone can control them. When the intellect controls your desires, they become disciplined and determined. They then assume the form of an aim, ambition, aspiration a goal or an ideal in your life. If, however, the intellect loses its control over your desires, they turn into a craving, lust, greed or avarice. In that state, your mind becomes more disturbed, more stressful. Therefore, your intellect must constantly exercise its control over the endless desires projected by your mind. You will then reduce your stress and strain in life.

MODIFICATIONS OF DESIRES

     When your intellect does not exercise its control over your mind, desires develop into their different permutations. Thus, desires can take different modifications. All of them generate mental agitations causing stress in human lives. Desires are the root cause of all your troubles. You must locate and control desires at their very source. If you fail to do so, they develop to monstrous proportions. The way to control and discipline your desires is to work for a higher ideal in life. Analyse your present activities.

ASSESS THE WORLD PROPERLY

     You do not care to assess the kind of environment that you contact, the type of climate you live in, the nature of people you relate to, and so on. Because of this lack of proper assessment, you develop unreasonable expectations from your contacts. Your mind has its demands and you want the world to cater to those specified demands. You feel everybody must serve the whims and fancies of your mind. You expect everything to fit into your mental pattern. This attitude of expecting the entire world to bow down to your personal likes and dislikes is most unreasonable. Unreasonable expectations cause disappointments in your life. And disappointments cause stress.

       The solution lies in correctly analysing and assessing the people, environments and situations you face. Begin with those who are closest to you. Your immediate partners both at home and at work. Observe closely their outer conduct. Try to ascertain their inner nature. Having found that out decide whether or not you want to live with them. If you decide to continue with them, you must accept their nature and behaviour. Thereafter, its foolish and futile to grumble and complain about them. How can you expect them to be different from what they are? How can you expect a hysterical boss at the Office to be calm and composed? How can you expect a nagging wife to be sweet and docile? How can you expect your bubbling teenagers to be mature and calm? How can a mother-in-law be a mother? To whom would you attribute these 'faults'? To them who are helplessly expressing their own inner nature? Or to you who expect them to live apart from their basic nature? You are asking for the impossible. And when things do not go your way you feel disappointed. You grumble your life away. All these erroneous expectations add to your stress. So let people live their own lives! What cannot be cured must be endured.

       The lack of assessment does not stop with people only. You fail to assess other things as well. The country you live in, the community you associate with the company you work for, the climate you are placed in etc.

DO NOT REGRET THE PAST

     People feel stressed because they brood over their past. They regret---what they have done or not done, what had happened or not happened--over the past. Their minds are cluttered with memories of the past. They remain ever agitated. Spouses regret all their lives for having married. Those who chose to remain single regret their choice till the last days of their lives!

       You must realise that the past is fait accompli. To disturb your present life with past memories is tantamount to suicide. You cannot mend the moments you have already lived. You must learn to concentrate and consecrate your actions to the living present and not the dead past. Do not retrace your steps and regress to your past. Past is past. Let it die. Use your past experience only to the extent of steering your present actions. For example, your arrogant behaviour in the past has caused you endless problems. But do not dissipate your energy worrying about the past. Instead, apply your present energy to share your future.

DO NOT HAND ON FUTURE HOPES

     Besides worrying about the past, people commit another grave mistake of living on future hopes. They focus their thoughts on the unborn future. They seldom live in the present reality. Your craving for future gains prevent you from enjoying whatever you do have in the present. You place hope in the future. Thus, throughout your lifespan you merely entertain and accumulate multifold desires. You procrastinate your actual enjoyment. Consequently, you experience a great deal of mental agitation and stress. The key to life: Focus your attention on the present. Count your blessings. Compare your state to those who possess far less than you …."I had no shoes and complained until I met a man who had no feet." Be satisfied with and learn to enjoy whatever you are provided now. While you "enjoy" present possessions you may plan and programme to achieve greater heights of prosperity. To find satisfaction and enjoyment in the present lot does not mean developing complacency. You must revel in the present and aspire for the highest.

      Talk to the man owning a scooter. He scrumbles too, believing that his happiness will be complete when he purchases a small car. Hopes never end. None finds satisfaction in one's own possessions. Each of them merely craves for greater prosperity. Do not fall into the snares of future prospects. Learn to be content with your present lot and then plan to go higher.

      Learn to be content with your present lot and then plan to go higher.

REDUCE YOUR EGO

     Ego is self-consciousness. It is part of your subtle body which constitutes your inner personality. When you consider yourself distinct and separate from others, you are said to be "egoistic." As long as you have an ego your mind will be disturbed. You will be under stress. Reduce your ego, you become free from mental agitation. Ego manifests in three distinct ways:

1. I am supreme.
2. I alone exist
3. I-am-the doer

       In the first case person believes himself superior to one and all. He has no regard or respect for others', knowledge and experience. Extreme pride and vanity consume any trace of mental peace within him. Such a person's mind will ever be disturbed.

       In the second phase, a person live selfishly centering every interest towards his own welfare. Such a gross, selfish and self-centred attitude produces mental agitation and suffering. In the entire world you will not find a selfish, self-centred, person peaceful and happy. Conversely, you will never find an unselfish person mentally agitated and unhappy.

       In the third phase, a person with this egoistic concept takes his duties as a burden upon his shoulders. He becomes attached and excited about his obligations to the world. He hurries and worries about his work. Your foremost obligation in life should be to merely do whatever you ought to do. That is the beginning and end of all your obligations. You need not brood over or worry about your self-created duties and responsibilities. Your real duty in life is to keep yourself mentally self-sufficient, self-poised and self-pleased.

AVOID COMPLEXES

 
   Most people suffer from complexes. They have either an inferiority or a superiority complex. Rarely indeed do you find a person free from both. Why do you feel yourself inferior or superior to others? Why do you have to compare yourself with others? Why do you not just be yourself? Learn this lesson from nature. Does the tortoise feel itself superior or inferior to a hare? Or the hare feel the same way? Every animal on earth is proud of just being itself. Man alone compares, compares and compares, causing his own suffering.

      You are capable of knowing yourself more than anyone else. Others can only surmise upto a point. Who will know all about you? Your possessions and person, your wealth and vigour, your character and conduct, your emotions and feelings, your thoughts and ideas. You alone qualify to be your own judge. None else. And yet you care so much for the opinion of others. You get flattered when someone puts you higher than where you are. You feel dejected when another condemns you to a lower status. What a strain you go through balancing yourself between the immature opinions and indiscriminate comments of every Tom, Dick and Harry!

THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SQUIRREL

The mountain and the squirrel
Had a quarrel,
And the former called the latter "Little prig."
Bun replied,
"You are doubtless very big:
But all sorts of things and wealthier
Must be taken in together
To make up a year
And a sphere.
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.
If I'm not so large as you,
You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry:
I'll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track.
Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut."

-- R.W. Emerson

      The above simple poem entitled "The Mountain and the Squirrel" points out this weakness of complexes among human beings. The mountain had a quarrel with the squirrel. They called each other names. The mountain bragged about its bigness. That it carried forests on its back. The squirrel admitted its smallness and countered brilliantly, "But you cannot crack a nut". The poem makes it clear that everyone has place in this world. None more important and none else. All beings and things in this world are like spokes in a wheel and God the hub holding everything together.

       The ignorant do not visualise the human race as a heterogeneous variety of personalities. Much less do they realise that every person's nature is best suited for his own evolution. You must understand your present personality and position in life is ideal for your self-development. Not recognising this great gift of nature you compare with others and suffer from complexes. You are not any less or more important than others in this world. You have a part to play in your life. Identify your part and play it well. Your present state and stature is most conducive for your growth. Realise that. Make use of your own talents to discover inner peace and happiness.

HOW TO ELIMINATE STRESS

   
       The subject matter, upto this point laid the accent on reduction of stress. This is because people need to reduce stress before they attempt its elimination, stress reduction is more practical than its elimination. To eliminate stress completely you need to put in enormous effort. The following section explains this process. You can eradicate stress completely only by realising your supreme Self, by knowledge of Self. As long as you remain ignorant of the self, you will entertain desires. Unfulfilled desires cause stress. Just as on waking up from a dream, the knowledge of the waking state eliminates all desires and consequent stress of the dreamer and the world. The dreamer becomes fully liberated from the thraldom of the dream world only on reaching the waking. Similarly, you will gain absolute liberation from this world through Self-realisation alone.

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Source: Article by Swami A.Parthasarathy, India.
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Sense-objects a Trap: Man Bound.

Adi Sankara, author, is very appropriately reminded of the various examples provided by nature where certain species meet their death due to extreme attachment to one or the other of the five senses in the following Verse:


The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish
And the honey-bee—these five are annihilated
because of their salvery to one or the other of the
senses such as sound etc., through their own
attachment. What then is the condition of a man
who is attached to all these five?

- Verse 76: Vivekachoodamani.

COMMENTARY

The deer is always fascinated by melodious sound and the deer hunter signs to charm the deer. Attracted by the melody of sound, the deer has no awareness of the danger it is in, and turns in the direction of the music; the hunter soon makes it his target. The elephants, especially in the matting season, become extremely attached to the sense of touch; rubbing against each other and walking without caution, they fall into the pits got ready to catch them. The moth is enchanted by form and attracted by the brilliance of the flame. It flutters towards it with an agonizing impatience and gets burnt. The fish, ravenously hungry at all times, in its gluttony, swallows the bait, is caught and thus meets its end in the stomach of fish-eaters. The poor honey-bee, attracted by the fragrant smell of flowers, pursues its industrious vocation, collects honey from the flowers and hoards it in its hive, until at last, heartless man set fire to the hive in order to loot the honey-wealth of the bee.

Thus, the author gives us five typical examples wherein each has met its doom because of its attachment to one or the other of the five senses. Most dramatic it becomes when the author concludes with the exclamation, “What then is in store for man who is attached to all these five?”

When a man of ignorance, having neither discrimination nor detachment, vulgarly runs after sense-objects for his temporary nerve-ticklings, he becomes a sad victim of his delusion, and meets a calamitous end for he has allowed himself to be bound by the five strong ropes.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Reverentially called Bhagavatpada Acharya (The teacher at the feet of Lord) and Adi Sankara (roughly "the first Sankara"), Sankara (approximately 788-820 CE) was the most famous Advaita philosopher who had a profound influence on the growth of Hinduism through his non-dualistic philosophy. He advocated the greatness and importance of the important Hindu scripture known as the Vedas (most particularly on the Upanishads, also known as Vedanta)and gave new life to Hinduism when it was suffering due to the increasing influence of Buddhism. He was born in Kaladi, a small village in Kerala, India. His teachers include Gaudapada and Govinda. Reverentially called Bhagavatpada Acharya (The teacher at the feet of Lord) and Adi Sankara (roughly "the first Sankara"), Sankara (approximately 788-820 CE) was the most famous Advaita philosopher who had a profound influence on the growth of Hinduism through his non-dualistic philosophy. He advocated the greatness and importance of the important Hindu scripture known as the Vedas (most particularly on the Upanishads, also known as Vedanta)and gave new life to Hinduism when it was suffering due to the increasing influence of Buddhism. He was born in Kaladi, a small village in Kerala, India. His teachers include Gaudapada and Govinda.
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Source:
Excerpt from the Talks on Sankara’s Vivekachoodamani by Swami Chinmayananda.

DRAGONFLY

At the bottom of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far from the sun. They did notice that every once in a while one from their colony seemed to lose interest in going about with his friends, and clinging to a lily stalk, he gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more. “Look!” said one of the water bugs to others. “One from our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you think she’s going? Wasn’t she happy here? Where do you suppose she went?” No one had an answer. Finally one of the water bugs spoke up, “I Have an idea. The next one of us to climb up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell the rest of us where he went and why.”

As providence would have it, the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, and up and up he went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water and fallen onto a broad lily pad above. When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe what he saw. A startling change had come over his old body. His movements revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from his new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself above the water. He had become a dragonfly.

Swooping and dipping in great curves, he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. Every now and then, the new dragonfly landed happily on a lily pad to rest. It was then that he chanced to look below, at the bottom of the pond. He was right above his old friends, the water bugs! Then the dragonfly remembered the promise. Without thinking, he dived down. He hit the surface of the water and bounced away. He winged off happily into his wonderful new world of sun and air. After experiencing the freedom of his new surroundings for some time, he again landed to rest on the lily pad, of course, having realized….. “If I had not chosen to outgrow the colony of water bugs, to which I was so attached, I would ever become a dragonfly. Now that I have become a dragonfly, even if I want, I can never go back to where I came from. Even if I somehow manage to go back, the colony of water bugs – my old friends – will no longer be able to recognize me in new form…. they won’t understand me. I have to wait till one of them also becomes a dragonfly, for, only then will they understand what has happened to me.”


COMMENTS:

The law of life is ‘When the lower is pushed, the higher delights’. When the body is pushed beyond its perceived limits the mind delights. When the body tells you ‘I can’t walk one more block. I can’t run another lap. I can trek no more,’ and then when it is pushed beyond its perceived limits and when it walks that additional block, runs another lap and treks further – the mind delights. Against the pleading of your body when you do a few more push- ups or few more reps of the bicep curls or another dozen squats – the mind delights. When the lower – the body is pushed, the higher – the mind delights.”

Struggle, suffering, challenges, testing period, tough times – in fact, all these are vocabulary of a man who is seeing only the lower being pushed without recognizing how the higher delights in the process. You are saying the caterpillar is being pushed. I am saying the butterfly is born. Every time man is pushed and got delights… for, it is through this push, man is created. Align yourself to this spiritual truth and so much of your life will change.

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Source: Excerpt from the article published in “Frozen Thoughts” April 2008.