Our Divine Parents

Hari Om,

I was reflecting recently that our Divine Parents are such a wonderful couple in every way. Now, we know as Advaita vedanta yogis, that there is only One Supreme Being which is the source of all, present everywhere, that this has become all, that this is beyond male/female/age/life/death....pretty much incomprehensible to our tiny human brains and minds. Something impossible to imagine, whose nature is impossible to describe, but spiritual Teachers all over the world describe this as being of the nature of pure selfless love, sweetness, bliss, peace, wisdom and immortality. This nameless, formless Being encompasses all names, all forms, everything and even more.

Yet this nameless, formless Being takes on names and forms in this world and also celestial forms that resemble human beings  that we humans can relate to and worship. And the purpose behind this is to enable humans to be able to meditate upon these forms and thus attain oneness with this Supreme Being.

So hence the Supreme takes on the male God-the-father "Parameshwara" form and female God-the-Mother "Parameshwari" form. They have infinite Names in Sanskrit each describing them as infinite, immortal, the embodiment of love, bliss, peace, desirelessless, full of wisdom, kindness and every virtue (and equally free of anger/pride/lust/hate and any vice).

So in Hinduism, we learn not only that we have Divine Parents, but we learn of their activities both in the celestial spheres (such as heaven, Vishnu/Siva/Devi lokas etc) but also on Earth (when God assumes a human avatar). We learn about our Parents in this way from ancient scriptures known as the Puranas, not composed by any human mind, but revealed to us by great spiritual Teachers. These Teachers also are only manifestations of our Parents also who in their infinite compassion to beings suffering in samsara, explain to us the way to attain Them...in other words, the way to return home.

Let us examine our Divine Parents in the form of the two most popular couples well known in yoga/Hindu philosophy...They who are worshiped by yogis to attain the Supreme Being (Liberation/Moksha/Nirvana....this state has many names, none of which can really describe it as per the Gurus).

The two couples are Siva and Gauri, and Vishnu and Lakshmi. (Saraswati is worshiped on Her own by yogis seeking moksha, but worship pf Her consort Lord Brahma tends to be less common compared to other forms of the Divine).

Each member of both couples represents the all-encompassing Supreme Being describes above, and is therefore worshiped in His/Her own right by yogis seeking liberation.

Even if one is partial to one form out of these, one cannot help but appreciate the sheer beauty and awe-inspiring nature of the other forms too. One is also wonder-struck at the stories of romance and human emotions expressed in the stories of these two couples, but yet, they are woven over the mysterious divine tapestry of Brahman (therefore not a straightforward human story).

Yet for all their similarities in their inner nature, these two divine couples are quite different externally.

For example, Shiva and Durga are the ultimate power couple. Shiva exudes power, strength, yogic self-control, desirelessness, lack of interest in wordly things, self-contentment, fearlessness, withdrawal of the mind inwards towards the Supreme (He is usually pictured seated immovable in deep meditation).
Interestingly also, though Shiva Himself represents supreme wealth (both spiritual and material), He assumes the garb of one who has nothing- no flowers, no jewels, no pretty clothes. Only snakes as garlands and amulets, a tiger-skin as his robe, the glittering crescent moon decorating his matted locks. Yet, for all His rough appearance, He is simply unsurpassable in beauty.
He is visualised as handsome man with beautiful features, despite being dressed as a beggar. His inner beauty makes Him all the more beautiful. This powerful combination of external beauty and internal beauty make Him absolutely adorable to all. Since time immemorial, his devotees have repeated His great mantra (such as "Om Namah Shivaya") and many others with deep love and fervour, and thereby attained their beloved Siva. Who would not feel bliss repeating the Name of such a great One? After all, He is the very essence of our being, our very own Self.

Durga embodies extraordinary yogic tapas like Shiva. She matches Him in Her ability to withdraw Herself from the world and meditate (in Her famous avatar as Parvati). Like Siva, She combines this with a hugely dynamic energy that destroys evil. When one pictures Durga, one thinks of God manifesting as Power (the Power of good). She is depicted as seated on a lion, holding celestial weapons in her delicate hands, out to protect good and destroy evil. Like Shiva, She is incomparably beautiful....with an exquisite shapely delicate feminine form, but yet tremendously powerful.

While Shiva is generally pictured in the mind's eye as serene and motionless, seated in meditation (except in His highly energetic tandava form), Durga is almost always seen as a form with great energy and great activity....activity to win the battle for good over evil.  Unlike Shiva who appears withdrawn, Durga appears completely involved.
Shiva and Durga complement each other beautifully. They are both depicted as extraordinarily beautiful in form, fierce (in a loving parent way), yet infinitely compassionate and loving. Durga is no demure shy female....She is power embodied, strength embodied....She is the One to go crying to if one is feeling scared of anything at all in the world, for She is afraid of nothing, and all the bad guys tremble at the very mention of Her Name....She grants absolute security to Her devotees and makes them pure in mind and heart....

And how romantic are the stories of Shiva and Durga....one is simply wonder-struck by the sheer beauty of the romantic Lilas of our Divine Parents as this couple. And what is even more fascinating is that underneath all the seeming romance, there is no lust at all....only pure selfless love, the love that is divine in nature. There is absolutely no lewd, crude lust here. On the contrary, it is all pure, desireless, deep true love.....a love that loves for no reason, because it is simply one's nature to love.

Now moving on to Vishnu and Lakshmi and some of Their avatars in human form.
Vishnu is depicted as equally handsome as Shiva (unsurprisingly, as they are of course, two forms of the One Parameshwara, God as male). He has all the inner qualities of Shiva, but His external garb is different. He is dressed charmingly with exquisite flower garlands, jewels, clothes - all these ornaments obtain their beauty from Him.
He is jut as beautiful and alluring as Lord Shiva, but just in a different way. Unlike Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu does not appear withdrawn from the world. Like Durga, He is seen as actively involved in our human world and all worlds (Shiva is too of course, but just appears to be deep in meditation most of the time). Lord Vishnu is the One who takes human form as avatars, such as the well-known Sri Rama and Sri Krishna.

His consort Goddess Lakshmi is the embodiment of sweetness and virtues. She is portrayed as lovely, delicate, demure and shy....quite different from Her other form as the fiesty Mother Durga. She is the Mother who is prayed to for material and spiritual wealth, children and both earthly and spiriual attainments. She is symbolic of all that is good and pure in the world.

Both Vishnu and Lakshmi take on avatars as humans at the same times, forming complementary couples. Sri Rama is the ideal married man and human being, His wife Goddess Sita is the embodiment of a loving dutiful wife. Sri Krishna is the Purna Avatar (full avatar of God), He is handsome, cheeky, humorous and playful. His lovely consort Sri Radha is more serious in temperament than Him, and is also fiesty (She freely tells Him off when She is not amused by His humorous behaviour). She is the embodiment of devotion, pure love for the Divine, the ideal devotee.

Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laksmi exude sweetness, traditional beauty and tender love.
Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga exude energy, unconventional beauty and fierce love.

Both are stunning Divine Couples and one feels fortunate to belong to a spiritual tradition where one is taught not only that one has Divine Parents, but also has the chance to read about Their activities (known as 'Lilas' in sanskrit).

Not only this, one knows, as a child of the yogis, that one can oneself meet and experience these forms of the Divine. They are not made up characters by some talented author. No, yogis from time immemorial have retreated into caves (or indeed into one's room in a modern house), and devoutly worshiped the male and female forms of the Divine described above. They have then been blessed with Their Vision ('Darshan' in Sanskrit) and been granted supreme bliss and wisdom or moksha/nirvana.

 Shiva, Durga, Vishnu and Lakshmi are perfectly real. They are, in fact, more real than you and I. You and I are temporary beings on this earthly planet. We are here today, gone tomorrow. But these forms of our Divine Parents have existed since time immemorial and will continue to exist for eternity....worship of Them holds the key to Their eternal realm, our true home.

Hence the strong traditions in yoga that have existed forever.....each based on which of the three (Siva, Vishu and the Goddess) is chosen as the main deity for worship (yoga advises developing undeviating love and devotion to one form of God of one's choice while respecting other forms of God of course).
 Therefore there exists the tradition of Siva-worshipers (Saivites), Vishnu-worshipers (Vaishnavites) and Goddess-worshipers (Shaktas). All in truth worship the same One Supreme Being, but only in different external forms.

We are indeed fortunate to be able to hear of and admire our Divine Parents in such exquisitely beautiful forms (externally and internally) as Siva, Durga, Vishnu/Rama/Krishna, and Lakshmi/Sita/Radha.

Sivananda says the path of devotion (one of the four main paths to God in the yoga tradition) is sweet in the beginning, sweet in the middle and sweet in the end. Other paths certainly have their merits and are also good.... but he and many Gurus, say that the path of bhakti reigns supreme in terms of easiness to practice as a sadhana, as well as efficacy and the joy experienced throughout.

May Siva, Durga, Vishnu and Lakshmi (or whichever form of God we worship) grant us supreme devotion, love for love's sake for Him/Her in this very lifetime.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Completion of second purascharana

Hari Om.

I completed the second purascharana of the Om Namo Narayanaya today (my Guru mantra that I was initiated into nearly 11 years ago). It has been an eventful two years with passing a major post-graduate medical exam, getting married, dealing with some unpleasant personal health issues (including a cancer scare), taking six months out to travel in India including a pilgrimage, returning to Europe and starting work as a doctor, and now the process of looking to buy a house before thinking of starting a family. All in all, in a material sense, it has been very active. However, the thread of japa has fortunately run through all these events and has supported me in all of this.
 For this I am grateful to my Mother Durga, through whose Grace I feel I am able to do sadhana. To say thanks to Her I am going to do some Durga mantra sadhana before starting my next purascharana.

The coming Friday, December 18, is the monthly shukla paksha (bright lunar fortnight) Durga ashtami day that is sacred to Her. The plan is to start a simple sadhana to say thanks to Her on this day. I will do one mala a day of "Om Sri Durgayai Namah" daily for around four weeks from this day until the next Durga ashtami day on January 17. I will also recite the Saptasloki Durga as often as possible during this time, ideally once a day.

Then with Her blessings, I hope to start the next purascharana of the Om Namo Narayanaya mantra on January 24, which is an auspicious day to commence sadhana as per vedic astrology (Ravi pushya yoga). From tomorrow until that day, I will reduce my daily malas of japa of Om Namo Narayanaya from 11 to 5. This is to allow the mind a feeling of rest before committing to another two years of 11 malas a day.

I invited a priest home last weekend to perform a Vishnu homam with offerings of ahutis to the Om Namo Narayanaya mantra. I am unable to do a homam with 80,000 mantra repititions as per the traditional rule of purascharana completion (would be a huge and very long homam/homams). However when I previously spoke to the elderly Swamiji at my Guru's Ashram (the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh) who has been guiding me from the start of the first purascharana,  he said not to worry if I could not do this. He said the main purpose of extended practices such as purascharana is to develop a habit of remembering God regularly and the reason to aim for a certain number of repetitions was to give the mind a target to work towards. He said it was not important to become too fixated on the numbers. In other words, he reassured me that it was not necessary to do homam, tarpanam and marjana if I was unable, and simply advised remembering God and being regular in the japa.

With this in mind therefore, I can honestly say that I have completed 800,000 repetitions for a second time today. However I have not performed any elaborate completion rituals. In terms of completion rituals, I only did a relatively small puja and homam last weekend with the help of a priest (it did take four hours though.) I have done a similar homam and puja twice previously during this purascharana. And that is it. I do not intend to do a further 80,000 repetitions for completion as Sivananda himself advises if one cannot do the homam etc. This is based on the authority of the elderly Swamiji  mentioned above. If I now did a further 80,000 repetitions of japa, I feel my mind would burn out and lose motivation to start the next purascharana which I do not want. Therefore I will do whatever is needed to keep my mind willing to continue the japa practice steadily, even if it means not adhering strictly to every formal rule.

Although 11 malas a day takes only about an hour, it has been kept up daily for several months, and there has been an element of anxiety every day about making sure this happens no matter what else is happening in my life. Therefore, my mind feels like it needs a break from this anxiety.... some 'down time'. I am going to grant my mind six weeks of down time to relax and prepare for the next purascharana......during this time as mentioned, the japa will be reduced to only 5 malas a day (25 minutes). The memory of this down time will I hope keep me going at the slightly more intense pace of 11 malas over the following two years. That worked last time and is therefore the plan once again.

I am also going to use this down time to reflect on my Guru Swami Sivananda's 20 important spiritual instructions and see if I can improve my practice of these.

Once again, I dedicate this purascharana to world peace, for the physical, mental, moral and spiritual wellbeing of all beings everywhere. May a third world war, particularly a nuclear war, be averted by the Grace of God-  this is my most ardent prayer. May humanity learn to live in peace with each other and with fellow spiritual beings in the form of other species on this planet. I feel such a prayer is worship of the Universal form of God, His virat swaroopa. I also pray that, through the performance of such purascharanas, I may attain true devotion to God in this lifetime itself. As my Guru says, once this is attained, nothing more remains to be attained.

Hari Aum Tat Sat

The play of Gunas in our minds

Hari Om.

It is well known in yoga philosophy that there are three Gunas or qualities present everywhere in the Cosmos, both externally and internally within ourselves. These are termed sattva, rajas and tamas in Sanskrit.

Let us analyse these gunas in terms of the human mind and then see how they interact within us to help or hinder our spiritual practice. Lord Krishna says in the Gita (Chapter 6)- Mind alone is friend, Mind alone is enemy, One should lift oneself with the help of one's mind and not allow it to pull us down. Yoga philosophy is very clear that we are not our minds. We say "my hat", "my clothes", "my body", "my mind"- in other words, mind also like the body, clothes and hat is a possession of ours- it belongs to us...but it is not us. No, yoga philosophy says clearly, you are the Immortal Self, ever pure, ever above the vagaries of your mind, Realise this and be free. And to realise this for ourselves of course, we have taken to the spiritual path.

So with regard to the mind, sattva refers to all qualities that help us live in harmony with others here on Earth and which help us to move onwards on our spiritual journey to realise God. This includes kindness, wisdom, determination, hard work, self-analysis, self-correction, non-judgementalness, compassion, forbearance, patience, humility and many other good qualities.
Rajas encompasses negativity such as anger, pride, lack of self-awareness, lack of self-control, rudeness, hate, impatience....these are hot bubbling emotions that consume a lot of energy.
Tamas is also a type of negativity but of a different sort. This involves apathy (the feeling that I don't care about myself or anything), laziness, dullness, foolishness, inertia. While rajas is about over-activity in the mind, tamas is about under-activity. Sattva is the golden middle way- the path of harmony and balance.

We know as sadhakas, we need to increase sattva in our minds to help us progress and reduce rajas and tamas. This is done in a variety of ways, including through diet, yogic exercises, karma yoga and of course practices such as mantra japa, puja and other devotional exercises.

Let us now examine our minds with regard to some attitudes to our sadhana that we may experience at different times.

The Sattvic mind has this attitude to sadhana:
I am a pure divine soul in reality, I have simply forgotten this, I must discover my essential nature, this is why I have been born as per my Guru and the scriptures (these are the words of God Him/Herself).
My Guru has said Yoga is about acceleration, about speeding up this spiritual evolution (what would take millions of years can take one or a few lifetimes).
I have faith in my Guru- he/she said I must try hard to achieve the spiritual goal of life in this lifetime so I must try.
Also I have faith in God- I may see a hundred flaws in my mind but I know God's Name is all-powerful as per my Guru and the scriptures, therefore I will not lose heart. I will carry on with japa even when the mind is as restless as a monkey, or even when it is as dull as can be. Under no circumstances will I stop my sadhana.
May God always help me to walk the spiritual path, without Him/Her, I would surely fall, but with Him/Her, success is the only option.
Come on, mind, let us do more and more sadhana. It may take one lifetime or a few, it does not matter. Let God do as He/She wishes with us, and He/She knows best. I am in good hands. All is well.

The Rajasic mind has this attitude to sadhana:
No no, no time for japa today, I have to cook, clean, check my emails, write a blog entry, go shopping, check facebook/twitter/whatever social media site, ring my friend, meet that person etc etc.
(If it decides to do sadhana)- Hurry up, hurry up and finish the japa, I've got many more things to do today for pity's sake!
Or at other times, it says, Yes sadhana is very important....but I can't keep doing this sadhana all my life, or even for a few lifetimes....it's too long, I simply don't have the patience......I want to attain God by the age of 40....quick quick, hurry up and attain God.....hurry up and come God...(it doesn't matter that I'm not yet fit to experience You.....just give me a short-cut pleaaaase?!)....

The Tamasic mind has this approach to sadhana:
Oh I'm so depressed.....my sadhana is taking me nowhere. Poor me. I know my Guru (and all Gurus) say you cannot measure the effects of sadhana with the ordinary mind that I have. I know they say the effects of japa, kirtan, karma yoga and other sadhanas are very great but not easily visible. But still, I am not able to really believe this. I don't really trust them.
I also don't really trust myself, or have any faith in myself. I am a very hopeless character. Look at me - I am soooo bad! Anger, lust, pride, jealousy and more nasty qualities all reside in me. I am a verrry depraved person.
 God would never like me. I will not get His/Her Darshan for at least a billion years. What is the use then of my few malas of japa a day. It's pitiful, simply pathetic.That too, my japa is done without any feeling, or real bhakti. I do not have any bhakti. I am just a good-for-nothing.
 Yes I know the story of Ajamila. How he said "Narayana" once without even intending to call for God, and all his sins were wiped out and he attained the Grace of God. But I am even lower than him. Ok it's true I have taken the Name of God a few times but I feel my sins are more powerful than the Name of God!  So poor me, alack-a-day, I am doomed...
 As the tamasic mind reflects in this way on an apparently miserable situation, it concludes that there is no point in continuing any sadhana. It says....my sincerity is all fake anyway....I am simply fooling myself, I am not a genuine seeker.....I may as well just give up now...I simply want to crawl away and do nothing except sigh over my very sad situation....
If one gently asks the tamasic mind, well, how about doing some sadhana to emulate the Gurus as they themselves command, it angrily says.....How dare I even think I can become like Sivananda, Ramanuja and other spirtual greats. How dare I? Yes these great Gurus may tell me a 1000 times that I am a divine being with divine potential like them. But no, I refuse to accept what they say. I like to keep these noble Gurus on a very high pedestal and consider myself very low. It is simply egoistic to want to be great like them! It is better to just accept that I am a lowly being and not bother doing any sadhana than be egositic and want to be like them.
No I refuse to listen to what they say (ironically, the tamasic mind doesn't consider this to be egoism!). Ok they may say "Obedience is better than reverence", they may say "For God's sake stop worshiping me, but instead do some sadhana and become like me!".....but I say, no Guruji....you are up there, you are very great...I cannot be like you, I cannot do sadhana like you.....no I shall not even try to obey you in this.....please save me Guruji, even though I am lazy and do not want to do any sadhana.....I know they say, God helps those who help themselves, but I can't help myself Guruji....I simply can't...help me please.....please ask God to make an exception in my case and grant me instant effortless Samadhi....(LOL :)

I don't know about you but I see all of the above types of thoughts in my mind. I witness this tussle between the sattva, rajas and tamas in my mind.
For example, my sattvic mind says cheerfully, Come let us do japa now, it is very good for us in every way. :)
 The rajasic mind says Ok fine, but hurry up and finish fast, I've got other things to do you know....and while you're at it, hurry up and attain God because this sadhana business is really exhausting.... :(
The tamasic mind says glumly, Ok, we can do japa, but what's the point, we've got sooooo far to go on the spiritual path, what's a few malas of japa gonna do (we're not Ajamila).... :(

(I do not literally talk to myself in this way (not always anyway! ;) ,  but such types of thoughts do arise....am writing them in this format to make it clearer).

Anyway, at present, I feel the sattvic mind by God's Grace has won a little ground over the other two minds to keep some form of sadhana going. It's very useful to monitor our states of mind and see what Guna is predominant.....

To summarise,
Rajas and Tamas are self-sabotage. Destroying oneself from within through doubt, lack of belief in oneself, Guru and God.
Rajas is about self-aggrandisement....feeling oneself to be very important....this will lead to utter destruction on the spiritual path....as it fattens the ego with a sense of superiority and creates separateness from God....
Tamas is self-denigration.....this will also lead to utter destruction on the spiritual path. It is harder to detect than rajas sometimes as it can be mistaken for humility at times....because of the difficulty in detecting this, it is a dangerous hidden enemy within us and is, in some ways even more dangerous than rajas (which is cruder and easier to see so can be recognised and dealt with sooner). Self-denigration subtly destroys our self-confidence under the pretext of humility, and thus erodes our motivation to continue on the spiritual path.....it prompts us to quit the spiritual path altogether or do sadhana dully at a snail's pace, thus not utilising this lifetime properly to realise God...

In the case of rajas, one feels superior to others, to the Gurus and to God...
In the case of tamas, one feels inferior to others, to the Gurus and to God.....
Both are a case of egoism, two sides of the same ego coin, that prevent us from experiencing a sense of oneness with others, with the Guru and with God.

Sattva is self-affirmation. It is absolutely based on trust and faith in God. Faith in God on three levels:
1. Faith in oneself, as a child of God. Yoga philosphy/Vedanta says all is God. The sattvic mind says I am a part of God. My true nature is one with God. My mind may manifest all sorts of rajasic and tamasic nonsense and try and convince me otherwise....but I will not believe these thoughts in my mind....I will believe my Guru who says I am a child of God, that I am divine, stainless, ever pure. I am beyond all the three Gunas in reality, my nature is was and ever will be one with God. Therefore to experience my true Reality, I will with confidence, take the Name of God, knowing this is the way to God....
2. Faith in Guru, as a manifestation of God. The Guru tells us to do sadhana and reveal our true nature which is that of God, like the Guru also did. To obey the Guru is to obey God, therefore the Guru is to be obeyed (not merely worshiped, though that is also good). The Guru/God wants our highest welfare and gives advice to achieve this.
3. Faith in God.....here one says, I will not take lightly stories from the Puranas about the extraordinary saving grace of the Name of God.
Stories such as that of Ajamila and others are not merely from a time long gone and now only for reading purposes....there is a deep spiritual meaning to these events, and a serious relevance to my own life today, living in this modern world.
God remains as accessible to me today, as He was to Ajamila and Gajendra a long time ago. I will with great seriousness therefore take the Name of God, knowing that as it removed Ajamila's burden of sins, it will destroy my negativity and sins too and bring me face to face with God.....

Let us therefore develop a 'gunas thermometer', a witnessing component of our mind that watches our thoughts. Let us regularly monitor our mental gunas temperature....and try our best to stay in the warm balanced sattvic zone, and as far as possible avoid the heated agitated rajasic and the cold dull apathetic tamasic modes of thinking.

Thus we ensure that we follow Lord Krishna's command in the Gita to lift ourselves to experience our real Self/God, through the help of our minds. 

Hari Aum Tat Sat.