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

(Post 18)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II) 

You usually think that you have great love for your children. But, that also is a delusion.

You mostly have attachment to them. You consider providing them with worldly comforts and worldly means as the best expression of love for them. You relentlessly endeavor to amass wealth and possessions that you could bequeath to your children as tokens of your love!

But have you ever thought that wealth without virtues is a source of depravation?

Thus, by piling up comforts and pelf for your child, you simply make him a lustful, depraved and selfish person, who will spoil his own life and may become a burden for the society.

How can you say that you truly love your child?

Friends! Do you know what is love?

It is the sentiment of causeless joy derived from selflessly working for the welfare of beloved ones. It means giving; it means generosity, compassion, and selflessness.

Bhakti-yoga aims at awakening of this divine sentiment; it means cultivation and expansion of compassion, kindness, altruism and love for sentient beings.

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

(Post 17)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II) 

But, this divine spark within us has practically been extinguished in our lives because of our misdeeds.

If we can’t love our soul, then whom would we love? Ask this question to yourself  - whom do you love truly?

Do you love your wife? No, not really.

You only long for the sensual pleasure and comforts she offers you. A leech sticks to the body and sucks the blood; most of us do the same with the lives of our wives. The youth of a wife is often ruined in satisfying the lust of her husband, and in producing and taking care of the children. She gets prematurely aged and becomes a victim of varieties of ailments. Still he does not understand her problems, doesn’t care for her sickness.

All her potentials, all her resources, have been sacrificed in the thankless service of the husband and his family. If you had truly loved your wife, you should have lovingly taken care of her health; should have helped uplifting her educational and mental levels; should have encouraged development of her talents. On the contrary, you have practically killed her future.

Do you have the noble sentiments of love and devotion? No! If these had a place in your heart, you would have looked after your old parents and other dependents with greater affection. You would have happily offered your altruistic services to the needy.

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

(Post 16)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II)

We should also love our inner self, our soul.

We have always neglected our soul. We have never experienced its presence. Ages have passed, but we have never heard its voice, or bothered about its aspirations.

An old woman, entirely dependent upon you, keeps asking you to take her to the Himalayas for pilgrimage. You, engrossed in your selfish motives, won’t pay any attention. You might even reply rudely that at this last phase of her life, why to worry about going here and there; she should just lie quietly wherever she is!

It sounds strange, but this is how we have been treating our soul. Our soul is a helpless captive in the smog of our ignorance. If we had loved it and taken proper care of it, it would have become so strong and active that its divine power would have transmuted us into angelic beings.

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

(Post 15)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II)

Bhakti Yoga included in Dhyan Yoga

Friends! The third kind of light, which I have asked you to focus upon during this dhyan yoga is that of the inner self.

It is the radiance of our intrinsic faith, our devotion, our sincerity, and our compassion, which sparkles all around in the form of pure love. Awakening of this love is the bhakti-yoga.

We strengthen our body by practicing physical exercises, and make use of the vigor thus gained in our routine chores, and in the hard work required for transaction of our duties on multiple fronts.

Similarly, when we begin with the devotion and love for God, the inner force of emotions we acquire through this bhakti (devotion) should also be utilized and expanded.

We should love our gross body; if we love it, we must take good care of it; keep it neat and tidy; discipline it and maintain its health and harmony. This is a reflection of our love, our devotion for God’s creation.

The same way our devotion should also extend towards our mind; we should look after it cautiously. We should not allow it to be disturbed or agitated. It should be kept calm and serene. Thoughts stored in it should be bright and pristine like the glow of the sun.

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

(Post 14)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II) 

The light of the rising sun you meditate upon should illuminate your inner mind. It should refine your knowledge and focus your thoughts in constructive directions. If this spark of gyan kindles in your mind, I will assume that you have comprehended and assimilated the training of meditation, for which I have guided you in this golden jubilee year of my anusthana sadhana.

If you do not understand and adopt these teachings in practice, your dhyan will only remain a pleasant imagination, and you will gain nothing worthwhile out of such shallow practices. Spirituality is not imagination; it is not a dreamy experience. It is real and experiential. It deals with every aspect of our life; it should be lived in our life today, every day. There is no place for dreams or myths in spirituality. God is not a creation of our dreams or imaginations. His presence should be reflected in all our daily activities.

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

(Post 13)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II)

People regard me as an eminent thinker. If it is true, it is only because of one thing - I have always focused my thinking faculty in specific directions, towards search for true knowledge. I have controlled my thoughts and imaginations; they never fly randomly. They always move in the self-chosen, sagacious directions. They generate and expand around noble ideals and motives.

My mind knits a vast network of thoughts but never leaves the firm base of reality and reasoning. I have blocked the entry of unnecessary, delusive or irrational thoughts. Casual thinking or uncontrolled imaginations do not have any place in my mind.

Friends, in the practice of  gyan-yoga, we must inculcate the insight and courage to eliminate and prevent the base elements that keep intruding in our minds. Instead, if we adopt the kind of thinking that is positive, sane and noble, and nurture it firmly in our mental field, our mind could become a grand reservoir of knowledge. Precious pearls of deep knowledge, ideas and inspirations would then be discovered in its inner recesses. Like the Ganga emerging from the head of Lord Shiva, a spring of pure knowledge could gush out of our minds by the practice of gyan-yoga.

Calmness and stability would then remain firm in our mind like the holy moon on the forehead of Lord Shiva. Our sixth sense, the extra-sensory center of divine prudence, would be activated like the opening of the Third Eye of Lord Shiva. This is the sadhana of gyan-yoga.

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

(Post 12)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2003/Nov_Dec/v1.PracticalAspectDhyan_Yoga_II)

(Translation of the original discourse in Hindi given during a Sadhana Camp in 1976)

The second part of this dhyan yoga involves meditating upon the light spot (of rising Sun) in the center of your brain. The infusion of this light in your brain, in your mind, should inspire you to become a gyan yogi.

The first sign of this progress is that there should be nothing negative or illusive in your mind, your thoughts should be positive and constructive. In general, the human mind is flooded by strong currents of pell-mell thoughts and imaginations; the bedlam of passions and impulses keeps hovering around it, like the fleas and mosquitoes around a drain. Sometimes your mind is boiling in anger, sometimes erotic thoughts perturb it, some moments you are thinking of a movie, soon you may begin to plan for the purchase of a lottery-ticket, and dream about what you will do with the wealth gained thereby and what not!

This way you keep recklessly wasting your mental energy in useless, purposeless and haphazard imaginations and thoughts.

If you were alert and had focused your mind on constructive or analytical thinking, and given a focused direction to your thoughts, you would have delved deeper in your selected field of knowledge; some of you would have become a Voltaire by now! If you had dived deeper in your psyche and given creative, enlightened direction to your imaginations, you might have been another Ravindranath Tagore.