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.

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

(Post 11)

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

Try running a night school and teach the children of others.

My friends! When the light, which you meditate upon, will flow in your body as energy and alacrity, you should work like a karma-yogi; apply the best of your efforts and hard work towards transaction of your duties as a good human being, towards noble aims till the last breath.

We are all bound by our duties towards the society and nation; we should bear these responsibilities gracefully. If you adopt this attitude and transmit it into your deeds, I will regard you as a karma-yogi; then I will be happy that you have grasped the true meaning of meditation and have truly learnt to practice the dhyan yoga as I have taught you.

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.