When you study these steps of the Yoga, try to practice them to the best of your ability. -- Swami Abhedananda

1. Ahimsa: Anyone who has conquered the feeling of injuring others, has conquered fear from either animal or other human beings in his presence.
2. Satya: We are stating the ideals of a Yogi. These ideals are very high. We should try to be truthful when ever we are not forced into the opposite feeling.
3. Astey: In the first place, we will remember that the feeling of possession arises from a strong attachment to our petty animal self. First of all, that attachment is to the physical body, and then to anything that is related to the physical body.
4. Brahmacharya: Continence is the next virtue. We must not waste our energy, which is dissipate in most cases by men and women who do not understand the laws of life.
5. Aparigraha: Non-receiving of any gifts is also a virtue. Here the gifts, of course, do not include those that are given by friends or relatives through love, but only such gifts as to obligate and bind us, because there is the motive of getting better things in return.

#hindudharma #swamiabhedananda #yogapsychology

There was an old lady of the name of Gautami who was remarkable for her patience and tranquility of mind. One day she found her son dead in consequence of having been bitten by a serpent. A fowler, by name Arjunaka, bound the serpent with a string, brought it before Gautami and said, "This wicked serpent has been the cause of your son's death. O blessed lady, tell me quickly how this wretch is to be destroyed! Shall I throw it into the fire or shall I hack it into pieces? This infamous killer of a child does not deserve to live longer."Gautami replied, "Release this serpent, it does not deserve death at your hands. By killing it, this, my boy will not be restored to life and by letting it live, no harm will be caused to you. Who would go to the interminable regions of death by slaying this living creature? Those that make themselves light by the practice of virtue, manage to cross the sea of life, even as a ship crosses the ocean. But those that make themselves heavy with sin, sink into the bottom, even as an arrow thrown into the water."
The fowler -- "I know that you know the difference between right and wrong, that the great are afflicted at the affliction of all creatures. Those who value peace of mind assign every thing to the course of Time, but practical men alone assuage their grief with revenge. Therefore, O lady, assuage your grief by having the serpent destroyed by me."
Gautami -- "People like us are never afflicted by such misfortune. Good men are always intent on virtue, the death of the boy was predestined: therefore I am unable to approve of the destruction of this serpent. We do not harbor resentment, because resentment leads to pain. Forgive and release the serpent out of compassion."
The fowler --"Let us earn great and inexhaustible merit hereafter, by killing this creature, even as a man acquires great merit and confers it on his victims as well, by sacrifice upon the altar. Merit is acquired by killing an enemy; by killing this despicable creature, you shall acquire great and true merit hereafter."
Gautami -- "What good is there in tormenting and killing an enemy, and what good is won by not releasing an enemy in our power? Therefore, you, of benign countenance, why should we not forgive this serpent and earn merit by releasing it."
The fowler -- "A great number of creatures ought to be protected from the wickedness of this one. Virtuous men abandon the vicious to their doom. Let me therefore kill this wicked creature."
Gautami -- "By killing this serpent, my son, O fowler, will not be restored to life, nor do I see that any other end will be attained by its death; therefore, O fowler, release that living creature. It came not into life by our orders, nor does it live through our sufferance, we have no right to kill it."
The Fowler said, "Nor had it any right to kill your child, O sacred mother?"
Gautami -- "The death of my child was a predestined affair, it was the will of God and the serpent was only the instrument. And even granting that it was the real and only cause of my child's death is committing a sin will not justify our doing the same. It fell into error through ignorance and our killing it will be much more than an error: it will be a sin committed with knowledge and therefore willfully."
Although, thus repeatedly urged by the fowler for the destruction of the serpent, the big-hearted Gautami did not bend her mind to that sinful act. The serpent painfully bound with the cord, sighing a little and maintaining its composure with great difficulty, then uttered these words slowly in human voice.
"O foolish Arjunaka, what fault is there of mine? I have no will of my own and not an independent! Mrityu (the God of death) sent me on this errand! By his direction have I bitten this child and not of any anger or choice on my part, therefore, if there be any sin in this, O fowler, the sin is his."
The fowler said, "If you have not done this evil, but led by another, the sin is yours also, as you are the instrument in the act. As in the making of an earthen vessel, the potter's wheel and rod and other things are regarded as causes, so are you, O serpent, a cause in this matter."
The serpent said -- "As the potter's wheel, rod and other things are not independent causes, even so I am not an independent cause! Therefore this is not my fault, nor am I guilty of any sun! Or if you think that there is sin, it lies in the aggregate of causes."
The fowler said -- "Not deserving of life, O foolish one, why you bandy so many words, O wretch of a serpent? You deserve death at my hands."
The serpent replied -- "O fowler, as the officiating priests at a sacrifice do not acquire the merit of the act, even so should I be regarded with respect to the result in this connection."
The serpent, directed bt Mrityu, having said this, Mrityu himself appeared there and, addressing the serpent, spoke thus:
"Guided by Kala (Time), I, O serpent, sent you on this errand and neither you nor I am the cause of this child's death. Even as the clouds are tossed hither and thither by the wind, I am, O serpent, directed by Kala. All influences appertaining to Satwa or Rajas or Tamas have Kala for their soul, as they operate in all creatures. The whole universe, O serpent is imbued with this influence of Kala. Sun, moon, water, wind, fire, sky, earth, rivers and oceans and all existent and non-existent objects are created and destroyed by Kala. Knowing this, why do you, O serpent, accuse me? If any fault attach to me in this, you also would be to blame!"
The serpent replied -- "I do not, O Mrityu, blame you. I only say that I was influenced and directed by you. Whether any blame attached to Kala or not, it is not for me to say."
Then addressing the fowler, it said, "you have listened to what Mrityu has said, therefore it is not proper for you to torment me who am guiltless, by tying me this cord!"
The fowler replied -- " I have listened to you as well as to Mrityu and both of you are the cause of the child's death. Accursed be the wicked and vengeful Mrityu that causes affliction to the good! You, I shall kill, sinful and engaged in sinful acts."
Mrityu said,  -- "We both are not free agents, but are dependent on Kala and ordained to do our appointed work. You should not find fault with us, if you do consider the matter thoroughly."
Hardly had he said this, when Kala himself appeared on the scene and spoke this to the party assembled together. "Neither Mrityu, nor the serpent, nor I, am guilty of the death of any creature. We are merely the intermediate causes. The true cause is the past karma (action) of that creature. The child here, died by the result of its own karma in the past. As men make, from a lump of clay, whatever they wish to make even so do men attain to various results determined by karma. As light and shadow are to each other, so are men related to karma through their actions. Therefore none here caused the child's death, he himself was the cause."
Gautami said, -- "Neither Kala, nor Mrityu, nor the serpent is the cause in this matter. This child has met with death as the result of its own karma. I too have so acted in the past, that my son should now die. Let now Kala and Mrityu retire from this place and Arjunaka may release this serpent."
Then Kala and Mrityu and the serpent and the fowler went back to their respective places, but Gautami who knew the truth smiled and said to herself -- "What a drama this is! Karma is itself a conventional word. The truth is, not an atom moves but by the bidding of the Lord, not an atom is outside Him and where then are life and death?"

#doctrineofkarma #mahabharata #mother #spirituality #vedantictale

We know that we don’t have permanent relationship with this world. We all acknowledge this truth and yet do not remember it. If we do not get attached we can experience an unspeakable joy this very moment.

We can remain without attachment in this world but not without detachment. When we are in deep sleep we are oblivious to our relationships in the waking world. The equanimity that prevails then is more that what we get by our associations in our waking state.

It is in our nature to sleep. In deep sleep we forget the waking world. We are strained if we spend even 24h continuously attached to worldly ties (attachment has been used purposefully). The replenishment that we get from worldly ties is not greater that what we get by sound sleep.

We are used to taking regular sleep from birth but we cultivate attachment while growing up. Attachment to toys, games, later money… in all these stages sleep remains dear. After marriage we develop attachment towards family. Some become monk. All enjoy sleep equally and renounce all worldly tags in that state be it monk-ship or a family. We make elaborate preparation for getting comfortable sleep. Mattress, pillow, fan, noiseless environment! We relish in a lot of worldly activity but when we get sleepy we want to put all of them aside.

There is a saint’s poem -- “बैरिन हो गई निन्दरिया” – sleep has become an enemy! Because her desire is to stay in a trance remembering the lord. We are willing to give up, nay, call sleep an unwelcome guest, when we find the one true, constant, eternal relation! The fabricated attachments in this world is transient and it is destined to be severed.

In Gita -- “कर्मणयेवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन” – We have the rights to perform our duty not on the fruits thereof. And mind should not be inclined towards non-working either. With full attention, dexterity, we should do our duty. Why? Because the primary purpose of this human body is to be utilized in service not for sense indulgence. Human form is not merely its physical manifestation – it is the discrimination, Vivek! This supernatural power is bestowed on us to develop rightful detachment. By doing duty with discrimination we practice karma yoga and use it to our favor in developing detachment.

We must serve our family, our parents, this world, everyone – and yet stand aside! The peace that is there in identifying as the doer of such duty is less than the satisfaction and peace obtained by exercising discrimination to stay detached from such identification!

Reference: Hindi Magazine क्लयाण Year 87, volume 10. Article by Ramsukhdas ji titled “साधकों के प्रति” on page 15-18. The above article is a selectively edited much shorter translation of that article in English.

#kalyan #ramsukhdas #spiritual

How emotional is the boy! Each day he can watch the same video... read the same book and cry the same way? Has he gone mad? He cannot decide anymore. He does not know if he hasn't matured or what? He does not enjoy movies nor places nor delicacies. They are all the same to him. At times he only feels oppressed by all the talk that surrounds him and how it is expected of him to talk in the same vein! He enjoys being absolutely free, not worrying about money -- emptying his purse, being left alone -- absolutely alone, he does not feel bored or tired. And there is only one thing that keeps him from making a bold decision and do what he has felt like being from ever since... it is the sense that he is not worthy of that, he is not convinced that he has the strength to make the move. He does not have greediness, It is attachment and desire for feminine company that causes everything else to spring up for him. When he first came across pornography he was deeply disgusted with himself but could not tear himself away from it. The mind was not developed enough to resist temptation by that time, it could not discriminate and hold its ground. And the social inhibition never let him take help from anyone. Although he tried, his efforts proved futile, he was no longer in control of his emotions. He spent nights awake and crying. It gives me a shudder even to remember those nights! He was desperate to change. The thing he devised was to start treating every women with great respect and faith. But porn never left him. He never tried with all his heart. He ensured that he would never think bad thoughts about any women, not even as much as try to touch them. They were sacred to him. But the time that was invested in having these traits robbed him of other normal experiences. He never learned to talk casual, to take things in perspective. He could neither express himself nor accept others.

Is he waiting for something to happen? No, he does not want to relish in past memories nor plan about the future -- now is the only life. What can he learn from outside till he hasn't started to respect and trust the Guru within? Nothing needs to be given up like he feels all the time -- if one clings to the One all that has to be relinquished will fall by itself. Anandmayi Ma says, “as if by compulsion the mind runs towards the gratification of desires that bring suffering... and again... No effort ever goes to waste -- then why all the practice, the concentration comes to no effect? That is because when there is a hole in a pitcher full of water, no matter how small it is all the water leaks away!” And she tells, “The fact that you are aware of your incapacity to concentrate on God's name is also His grace; even though not interested take the name as medicine -- This also will have good result.” Like Raman Maharshi's mantra "naan yaar" (Who am I?) She used to preach "ja hoye jay"(Everything is God's will).

#spiritual

Ordinary people can get away from the powers of Maya only by the grace of an enlightened soul. Very few chosen souls have the strength to merely desire and Maya will become powerless over them -- only those who can identify their oneness in all! For Maya must also have come from the same source which gives rise to ecstasy and bliss. There can be nothing other than the one absolute. Once Ma Sarda said, "I am the Mother of the rich, the poor, the saint and the murderer alike!". Ramakrishna Paramhansa once asked her to keep some people away from herself as their nature is not pure yet. But she would not, She said, "How can I turn away my children, who come to me in distress?" By constant practice and devotion the grace of the God can be had. When you can see that everything is the manifestation of the same Absolute you will neither be tempted nor repelled by anything.

#spiritual

I was listening to ”Meditation: Falling Awake” on ABC Radio National’s The Spirit of Things. I found it informative. I found it voicing the same opinion what i hear on the Guided Meditation recording by Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysore each morning. It is this- Meditation is not necessarily bliss. And this has been said by some other spiritual teachers too. I remember when I was a kid it was much easier and blissful to meditate. I would lose body consciousness in ten minutes. I did not persevere in my practice. I went on and off. Now I am working and live far away from home. I have taken it up again. It takes about one hour to get to that same state it used to take me only ten minutes. And it takes an effort to stay sitting now. The rule I broke was perseverance. I was not sincere. But no spiritual effort is ever wasted. The experience of peace, state of being without desires and love for all draws me back to it. It is very essential to be sincere and persevering in all our endeavours. It is noted that after the initial blissful experience we get in meditation- it decreases. But we must not lose heart. If we do not get discouraged and do not stop the practice we will gain deeper understanding of ourselves. I wish that you may never lose heart and practise sincerely.

Thank you for reading this, if you have a comment you are welcome to write it. I would be happy to read your comment.

#bliss #effort #endeavours #meditation #peace #perseverance #practice #spiritual