The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 10)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

You may find great joy in sitting and relaxing at home  doing just nothing, when your son is grown up and he is earning for the family. But this is a sign of lethargy; slothful luxury is worse than dishonesty. It is the worst abuse of our humanhood. Insincerity to work and sluggishness are the most disgusting blots on the dignity of mankind.

You may argue - "but I have worked so many years and now I am getting pension after retirement."

No my child! I, as your guide, will not like you to sit idly and make merriment. Till you are alive (and able to move your body), you must do some work.

You may have enough resources for yourself and your family, but there are others in the society, who have nothing; so you should work to give something to these others.

Your children have studied and are well settled, but there are many youngsters who are not able to go to school. So rise up from your narrow mindedness and lethargy.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 9)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

The "Karma-Yoga" is the yoga of the body - that means, this yoga pertains to the worldly domains of your life and your deeds. One who meditates upon light in the navel region cannot sit idle. He will always be busy in good actions.

There are three streams of yoga - karma-yoga, gyan-yoga and bhakti-yoga.
I have asked you to inculcate the practice of all these yogas through the medium of light.

Whenever the light of divinity will descend upon a person, it will inspire karma-yoga in his physical being, in his conduct. Then the person will become more duty-bound; work will be worship for him.

The deeds of worship, service, social welfare, and the actions pertaining to transactions of responsibilities, adoption of moral ideals, etc., fall under karma-yoga. These teach us that when our body absorbs the light (of pran), we should become hardworking, our every action should be devoted to selfless duty.

It conveys that  one who meditates upon light should not be lethargic, lazy or dishonest. One who eats and earns without being sincere to his work is equivalent to a thief in my view.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 8)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

 Karma Yoga taught through Dhyan Yoga:

In the first step of this practice of dhyan yoga, you should imagine and try to feel as though the glow of sunlight is being absorbed by your navel. It means that the spark of pran should enter your physical body from the navel and flow in every vein, every artery and every cell.

Why from the navel?

Because this is the connecting point of the umbilical cord between the mother and the fetus and is therefore regarded as the energy center of the body.

As the vital elements from your mother's body, that enabled your healthy birth, used to enter your body from the navel, the light (strength) of God is also induced in it through the same center. When this light will be infused in your body, your bones, your blood, your flesh, all will shine. By this illumination I mean, it will induce energy, enthusiasm, alacrity, courage, commitment to responsibilities, industriousness, zeal for hard work, motivation for altruist service, and love and joy for selfless fulfillment of duties. These qualities will help you accomplish your karma-yoga.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 7)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

When I talk of meditation upon light, I don't mean the physical light as some of you might interpret.

Here it means the divine light, or the sublime glow of pure knowledge.

It is not the physical illumination; rather it is the radiance of spirituality and true knowledge.

We pray "Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya" -
O Lord! Take us from the darkness towards light; here again, we mean - from ignorance to knowledge.

In spirituality, the word "light" is always used in the context of enlightenment, pure knowledge. (This is what should be understood of it in this discourse).

We were talking of meditating upon the sunlight. So, where should we imagine its presence?
In the special kind of dhyan yoga that I have been teaching you this year, I ask you to meditate upon sunlight focused successively at three points - the navel, the heart and the brain (especially the deeper core inside and above the center of the forehead).

These three regions contain the sublime nuclei of power for our three bodies - the physical, the subtle and the astral body.

All these points should be enlightened (in our imagination and inner experience during this practice of dhyan yoga); the brilliance of sunlight should enter all the three bodies.

What does it imply?
It implies the inherent philosophy and practical aspects of the three principal yogas.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 6)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

The soul and God are also basically the same except for the fact that the former is expressed within a limited identity (confined to the individual self) whereas the latter is unbounded, infinite. One is manifested in a tiny domain, while the other is gigantic, unlimited. One is bounded by the thraldoms of maya, while the other is absolutely free. This is the only difference between us and The Divine.

This difference is there because of the mist of ignorance covering up the resplendence of our inner self that keeps us cut off from our eternal origin. If we refine and illumine ourselves (by the purifying radiance of virtues and righteous knowledge) we can attain our soul-reality and also God-awareness.

This is why (during the dhyan yoga) we meditate upon light, focus our attention upon the inner self, upon the sublime roots of our being, and its ultimate goal.

(You may now ask) "So Guruji! Is this why you train us to meditate upon the rising Sun?"
Yes my children! The brilliance of rising sun is a symbol of divine light. You may feel its radiance in your mind during this meditation, or may get a reflection of Goddess Gayatri. It doesn't matter if instead of sunlight you experience the deity's image or some divine reflection. That only shows the degree of progress of your dhyan.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 5)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

Well, so what should be the focus of dhyan?
Who to meditate upon?
One's inner self or the Almighty God?

My children! The two are not really different.
Enlightened evolution of the inner self is God.


Our ultimate spiritual evolution is  shivoham, sachchidanandoham, tatvamasi, ayamatmabrahm, pragyanambrahm.
These five great maxims of Vedanta affirm that the soul, in its absolutely pure form, itself is God.

Take the example of coal and diamond. Except for a minor difference in the atomic structure, the two are quite the same. Diamond is thus a refined form of coal.
The soul and God are also basically the same, except for the fact that the former is expressed within a limited identity (confined to the individual self), whereas the latter is unbounded, infinite. One is manifested in a tiny domain, while the other is gigantic, unlimited. One is bound by the thraldoms of maya, while the other is absolutely free. This is the only difference between us and The Divine.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 4)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

The Omnipresent God and our souls are also far beyond our perception.

What to say about the inner world, we can't even see many components of our own body. We can't look at our own eyes.

Okay, just try to see (without a mirror) how is your nose, how are your eyebrows? How do your eyelids look like? If you can't even see these gross external parts of the body, how will you see what is inside?

When we peep into our inner world and attempt to know it, we perform some kind of dhyan. In fact, dhyan yoga is the best method of seeing inside.

Well, so what should be the focus of dhyan? Who to meditate upon? One's inner self or the Almighty God?

My children! The two are not really different. Enlightened evolution of the inner self is God. Our ultimate spiritual evolution is  shivoham, sachchidanandoham, tatvamasi, ayamatmabrahm, pragyanambrahm.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 3)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)

They might be manifested externally, but the basic elements of life lie deep within.

Where is our life force?

It is not outside; it is inside.

And what about the intellect through which we earn wealth and gain respect?

That also is not external, but, an internal potential. We don't see introvertly, and often keep wondering why God has befuddled mankind by giving us instruments of perception of the external things and events, but no fine-tuned instrument of knowledge of the inner world. We never notice the immense treasure of talents, virtues and divinity, hidden inside our own self. What is easily seen by us is my child, my material property, my this, my that, and what not! But we can't see our future.
 

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 2)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/)  

This is why I stress on you to practice meditation along with the japa of the Gayatri Mantra. Mental concentration on some gross object,  e.g. an idol, or a picture of a deity, is most convenient for the majority of people, because, the human mind, in general, is not so developed that it could be focused, for a long stretch of time, without any visible or perceptible symbol. However, with sincere practice, one begins to realize the presence of God in his inner self, and learns to meditate upon it, without any external symbol.

What is the meaning of dhyan yoga?

Well, let us try to understand it. As you all might know, our life has two facets. One is the external, which is most familiar to us. The holes in our ears open externally; our eyes also open up externally and keep watching what is happening in the outside world. We can see the things outside but we don't even get a glimpse of what is there inside us.

Is there nothing? No my friends! The real substance, the essence is all inside us.

The Practical Aspect of Dhyan Yoga (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 1)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Sept_Oct/PracticalAspectDhyanYoga/) 

Let us all begin with the collective chanting of the Gayatri Mantra,
"Om Bhur Buvah Swah, Tatsaviturvarenyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi, Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayat ||"

Brothers and Sisters, I am giving you a special training of dhyan (meditation) together with Gayatri upasana. There are two modes of upasana (worship) -  those of the name and the form (of God). There can be no devotional practice without God's name and form.

These two are supposed to be the universal modes of worship. Look at any religion, you will find the use of God's name and/or form in their modes of worship. Mohammedans recite the name of Allah on tasabiha; Christian Priests chant God's name with the help of a rosary; the Arya Samajis meditate upon divine form as sunlight; the yogis of Nada Yoga concentrate upon the sublime sounds of the Omnipresent. In any case, the support of meditation (with Divine name or form) is essential for true worship.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 19)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra) 


You empty your accumulated vices and weaknesses here, and make place to take in something worthy from here, which will make you a better, a stronger person. I am giving you a warm farewell with something of that kind, with a wish that you learn to live for divine values also. Don't live only for bodily comforts and selfish joys, learn to lift yourself above this ordinary level of life. Your awakening, your nobility will make me happy. It will also please God.

Go with full confidence and courage. May God bless you in your efforts towards self-improvement and support the progress of your sadhana.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 18)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra) 

Guru means the source of light. There can be no darkness once the light is switched on. You know how Virjanand had elevated his deserving disciple Dayanand, Samarth Guru Ramdas had empowered Shivaji, Ramkrishana had endowed Vivekanand with such remarkable siddhis. My guru had eliminated the darkness within me and enlightened me with the grace of Gayatri Mantra. What riddhis and siddhis I was blessed by its sadhana are all evident before you. I also want to annihilate all darkness from your lives, want to illuminate your inner selves by divine light.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 17)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)

How can our personality sparkle unless we remove the mist of vices and smog of ignorance? The sadhana courses that you will undergo here from time to time are meant to help you in this essential process of self-refinement. You all know that no crop can grow on barren land; ploughing it is a sheer wastage of effort. The same is true about heartless practice of devotion. If your mind and heart are filled with ego, selfish attachments, jealousy, hatred, and similar filth, where and how will the serene sentiments of devotion find place? How would you attain the nectar of devotion of the Gayatri Mantra without paving the way for its descent? The Guru, the noble spiritual master, alone can diagnose the inner ailments, and help in the cleansing, curing and refinement of the disciple’s life.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 16)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)

Spiritual development can’t begin without purifying the body, the mind, the sentiments, and adopting a moral conduct. The gamut of ascetic disciplines and yoga sadhanas, etc., were devised and practiced by the rishis for this noble purpose. They had accomplished absolute self-refinement and moral elevation through Gayatri Sadhana. They had conquered the ego and desires. They wanted to work for the welfare of all beings. A seed cannot germinate and grow into a fructifying tree without dissolving itself in the soil and water; it is only after breaking and softening that it can absorb the fertilizing substances. Blossoming of divine realization is also not possible without the immersion of the identity of the individual self in the cosmic self.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 15)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)


The Puranas describe so many instances of global well being through such efforts.

It was rare in the ancient times that the Indian land suffered a calamitous famine. It happened once due to a near total drought across the country. All the ponds and wells dried up. Cattle, birds and even humans began to die of starvation. Panicked savants went to Rishi Gautam for support and relief. Rishi Gautam was a great, accomplished sadhaka of Gayatri those days. He was moved after hearing the agony of the masses; he gave them the akshaya patra (a celestial pot that offers food and water without any limit and is never emptied), which was a boon the divine force of Gayatri had blessed him with.

Yes, the siddhas of Gayatri Mantra do have such miraculous powers, but they use them judiciously, and only for deserving cases.

Don’t be under the delusive impression that doing japa, aushthana, havan, etc. under my guidance, during your stay here, will magically endow you with extraordinary powers. Nothing can be achieved without developing the necessary abilities and eligibility. It is all the more essential for the invaluable attainment of divine blessings.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 14)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)

Cleansing of your inner core is essential so that the new, virtuous tendencies can be cultivated there. You should adopt the japa - sadhana of Gayatri Mantra as an integral part of your daily life. It is the mantra for the welfare of every being. You should also inspire your friends, acquaintances and family members to perform the japa of this universal mantra, and spread this light to the people in your neighborhood, colony, city, and so on. Its collective sadhana can arouse collective consciousness, and bestow all-round happiness and progress in the world, together with the spiritual upliftment of mankind.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 13)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)

The sublime force generated by its japa sadhana can vibrate in the subtle as well as the external world. Nothing remains unattained or unaccomplished after receiving the blessings of its divine powers. Its immediate benefits of purification and enlightenment of the intellect is the key to spiritual refinement and evolution of personality. Its sadhana can transform an ordinary man or woman into a great saint, yogi or rishi, having angelic potentials. I invite you here and guide you to perform the Anushthana (sadhana) of the Gayatri Mantra, so that the untoward tendencies and vices accumulated during your past lives can be erased, and you begin to rise towards the sunlit path.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 12)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)

The effects of the Gayatri sadhana are indeed miraculous. Once the Indian emperor Akbar called his prime minister Mansingh, and told him to look for some extraordinary means to protect the construction of his fort in Prayag, which, despite the best of efforts and all precautionary measures, had mysteriously collapsed eighteen times in the initial stages of construction. Mansingh also was puzzled about this mishap. He went to Prayag and stayed there with a bleak hope of getting some clue from somewhere. One day, when he was strolling in the forests by the banks of the holy Ganga, he saw a saintly yogi engrossed in meditation.

Suddenly he noticed a boa around the yogi, which was trying to entrap the latter into its fold and gulp him. Amazingly, neither the boa was able to tighten its grip around the yogi, nor its poisonous breath able to have any effect. He stood stunned for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the yogi opened his eyes, and effortlessly threw off the python by the power of his yoga. Mansingh could not believe his own eyes; he had vividly and concretely witnessed the supernatural strength of spirituality. His head was on the feet of the seer. This saint was known as Devmurari Baba. Mansingh narrated the mysterious riddle of the fort before the Baba. He said - "We don't know what kind of a curse it is that the construction of the fort has been ruined eighteen times". The yogi went into deep meditation for some time and then kept a dry flower of basil (manjari) on Mansingh's hand. He said - "Put this beneath the foundation of the fort, then there will be no problem". Devmurari Baba was a siddha sadhaka of Gayatri, and was renowned and revered for his extraordinary powers. He used to give a manjari, empowered by his spiritual energy, to everyone who would come to him seeking some help. That used to have miraculous effects. The manjari given to Mansingh also proved the invisible, indefinable, omnipotence of the Gayatri Mantra by providing stout foundation and support to the mighty fort.

Friends! The power of mantra is indeed real and immense. That of the Gayatri Mantra is indeed supreme, astonishing and infinite.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 11)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra) 

Madhavacharya was a saint living in Vrandavan. He performed the upasana of Gayatri for twelve years, but lost patience thereafter, as he did not get the desired divine benefits. He was quite distressed at that time. He left the sadhana of the Gayatri Mantra and began worshiping Bhairav on the advice of a tantrika. In less than a year’s time he succeeded in the sadhana of Bhairav. The celestial body of Bhairav appeared, but stood at his back, and asked him to demand what he wanted to be blessed with. Madhavacharya said - "If you are the real Bhairav, please appear before my eyes".

Bhairav said - "I can’t appear in front of you, because the brilliance of Gayatri-Shakti infused in you will burn me". The devotee was surprised and inquired that if Gayatri sadhana was so powerful, why couldn’t he get the desired benefits for such a long time? Then Bhairav explained to him how his Gayatri sadhana up till then had destroyed his sins, and burnt the evils accumulated during his past lives, and that it was only after this purification that he would have deserved realization and attainment of the divine boons of the mantra. Now there was no doubt left in Madhava's mind. He restarted the sadhana of the Gayatri Mantra and was soon blessed with divine boons. With the awakening of inner intelligence and acumen, he wrote the "Madhav Nidan", which remains till date, a crucial treatise for the education and expert practice of the Ayurvedic System of Medicine.

The Supreme Significance of the Gayatri Mantra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 10)

(Source: http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Jul_Aug/v1.SignificanceGayatriMantra)

Even today, everyone including those deprived of everything, living in the filth of immorality, those shrouded by ignorance, infirmity or the challenges of circumstances, rise gracefully out of the clutches of misery with the grace of the Gayatri Mantra. Indeed, many are doing so, and marching towards noble and righteous living.

Sure, there could be, and will be, a variation in the time and degree of manifestation of its marvelous effects, depending upon our present level of consciousness, but the elevation begins right from the first day.

Mantras can't instantly and magically grow trees on the palm of the hand. However, there is nothing illusive or unscientific about their effects; there should be no doubt about this. The spiritual evolution induced by the Gayatri Mantra progresses gradually and steadily - but certainly, with the progress in sadhana. Many live examples of the past and present illustrate this fact.