Hari Aum.
I was reading an article by my Guru, Swami Sivananda, recently on "Purity" as a requirement for success in spiritual life. This is a link to it http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=362&parent=354&format=html
I was reflecting on the story he tells about the sage and the student in this article. You can read the full story above, but this is it in a nutshell. The sage is approached by a student who requests initiation. The sage declines, and the student leaves disappointed. Later the sage approaches the student to request alms or bhiksha.
The student eagerly brings a tasty dish to give the sage in the hope that he will get initiated this time. But he is surprised to see that the sage provides him with a very dirty bowl for the food. He requests the sage to provide a clean bowl for the food as it will be of no use if put into a dirty bowl. The sage then tells the student that this is the reason he has not been initiated.
The student's mind is like a dirty bowl, filled with negative emotions. The sage tells the student to clean up his mind and then return for initiation. The student does so through the usual methods such as selfless service and so on and then obtains initiation.
The moral of the story is that a clean mind is required for spiritual progress.Clean in the sense of filled with good positive thoughts and free of negative thoughts.
In yoga philosophy, there are six types of impure or negative thoughts in the mind. These are described as: desire/lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), mada (pride), matsarya (jealousy) and moha (delusional attachment).
These are six very dangerous enemies on the spiritual path. Unfortunately most of us have all of these to varying degrees- some of us may have more of one, some may have more of the other. But we all have these.
The opposite qualities of these six enemies, help us to progress on the spiritual path. These are our six friends. These are friendly thoughts which aid us in our search for God. What are these?
Self-control is the opposite of lust
Calmness is the opposite of anger
Generosity is the opposite of greed
Humility is the opposite of pride
Goodwill is the opposite of jealousy
Detachment is the opposite of delusional attachment
(P.S. Anger is a form of hatred. The opposite of hatred is love. Also detachment means attachment to God as opposed to objects in the world. It means embracing the world as a manifestation of God, rather than rejecting the world)
The six internal friends need to be cultivated. The six internal enemies need to be transmuted or transformed into the opposites.
How shall we achieve this humungous task? This is no mean feat, no easy task. For example, no matter how often we tell ourselves that we will not get angry again, anger arises unbidden, uninvited. When a desire is not met, then anger arises- so says Krishna, in the Gita. Similarly pride, desire, etc are very difficult to control, and keep arising in our minds, despite us not wanting them. What then shall we do?
Our mind is in the internal battlefield, where the six friends, the 'devas' and the six enemies, the 'asuras' are ever in battle. We all know how difficult it can sometimes be to control our inner asuras.
What then is the answer? Life is short and time is fleeting. Much cleaning of our minds is yet to be done. How shall we progress speedily on the path?
The answer as per my Guru Sivananda's advice is through a combination of methods- the 'yoga of synthesis' or 'integral yoga'. He advises development of the head, the heart and the hand of the human being. He advises the following as the three key components of this practice:
1. Japa- develops the heart, is a 'bhakti yoga' practice. This destroys the six enemies as per my Guru and cultivates all divine virtues including those described above. One should therefore seek refuge in the the name of God he says. Daily japa provides a cleansing bath for the mind.
2. Karma yoga- develops the hand, this involves service of humanity as a manifestation of God. Love is not love if it is not expressed in action. The love for God that is cultivated through japa and bhakti yoga must manifest itself in the form of service of human beings and other living beings- to bring peace and joy to others. As Sivananda says, service of human beings, is service of God. This karma yoga provides a very good opportunity to slowly remove undivine emotions from one's mind and gradually cultivate the opposite divine virtues such as those mentioned above.
3. Jnana yoga- reading and reflection. One studies spiritual books and reflects upon them, their relevance to one's life. This inspires one to perform the above two practices of japa and karma yoga or similar sadhanas. One reflects that life on this planet is short and full of temporary joy and many sorrows. It seems that some people, i.e. the sages, have found a solution to this problem, i.e. the attainment of God. One thinks, well, I should also give this a try. Then one takes up some suitable sadhanas to achieve this purpose.
So one needs to actively cultivate the companionship of the six friends, and actively avoid the six enemies, in order to progress on the spiritual path.
May God bless us all in achieving this task.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
I was reading an article by my Guru, Swami Sivananda, recently on "Purity" as a requirement for success in spiritual life. This is a link to it http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=362&parent=354&format=html
I was reflecting on the story he tells about the sage and the student in this article. You can read the full story above, but this is it in a nutshell. The sage is approached by a student who requests initiation. The sage declines, and the student leaves disappointed. Later the sage approaches the student to request alms or bhiksha.
The student eagerly brings a tasty dish to give the sage in the hope that he will get initiated this time. But he is surprised to see that the sage provides him with a very dirty bowl for the food. He requests the sage to provide a clean bowl for the food as it will be of no use if put into a dirty bowl. The sage then tells the student that this is the reason he has not been initiated.
The student's mind is like a dirty bowl, filled with negative emotions. The sage tells the student to clean up his mind and then return for initiation. The student does so through the usual methods such as selfless service and so on and then obtains initiation.
The moral of the story is that a clean mind is required for spiritual progress.Clean in the sense of filled with good positive thoughts and free of negative thoughts.
In yoga philosophy, there are six types of impure or negative thoughts in the mind. These are described as: desire/lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), mada (pride), matsarya (jealousy) and moha (delusional attachment).
These are six very dangerous enemies on the spiritual path. Unfortunately most of us have all of these to varying degrees- some of us may have more of one, some may have more of the other. But we all have these.
The opposite qualities of these six enemies, help us to progress on the spiritual path. These are our six friends. These are friendly thoughts which aid us in our search for God. What are these?
Self-control is the opposite of lust
Calmness is the opposite of anger
Generosity is the opposite of greed
Humility is the opposite of pride
Goodwill is the opposite of jealousy
Detachment is the opposite of delusional attachment
(P.S. Anger is a form of hatred. The opposite of hatred is love. Also detachment means attachment to God as opposed to objects in the world. It means embracing the world as a manifestation of God, rather than rejecting the world)
The six internal friends need to be cultivated. The six internal enemies need to be transmuted or transformed into the opposites.
How shall we achieve this humungous task? This is no mean feat, no easy task. For example, no matter how often we tell ourselves that we will not get angry again, anger arises unbidden, uninvited. When a desire is not met, then anger arises- so says Krishna, in the Gita. Similarly pride, desire, etc are very difficult to control, and keep arising in our minds, despite us not wanting them. What then shall we do?
Our mind is in the internal battlefield, where the six friends, the 'devas' and the six enemies, the 'asuras' are ever in battle. We all know how difficult it can sometimes be to control our inner asuras.
What then is the answer? Life is short and time is fleeting. Much cleaning of our minds is yet to be done. How shall we progress speedily on the path?
The answer as per my Guru Sivananda's advice is through a combination of methods- the 'yoga of synthesis' or 'integral yoga'. He advises development of the head, the heart and the hand of the human being. He advises the following as the three key components of this practice:
1. Japa- develops the heart, is a 'bhakti yoga' practice. This destroys the six enemies as per my Guru and cultivates all divine virtues including those described above. One should therefore seek refuge in the the name of God he says. Daily japa provides a cleansing bath for the mind.
2. Karma yoga- develops the hand, this involves service of humanity as a manifestation of God. Love is not love if it is not expressed in action. The love for God that is cultivated through japa and bhakti yoga must manifest itself in the form of service of human beings and other living beings- to bring peace and joy to others. As Sivananda says, service of human beings, is service of God. This karma yoga provides a very good opportunity to slowly remove undivine emotions from one's mind and gradually cultivate the opposite divine virtues such as those mentioned above.
3. Jnana yoga- reading and reflection. One studies spiritual books and reflects upon them, their relevance to one's life. This inspires one to perform the above two practices of japa and karma yoga or similar sadhanas. One reflects that life on this planet is short and full of temporary joy and many sorrows. It seems that some people, i.e. the sages, have found a solution to this problem, i.e. the attainment of God. One thinks, well, I should also give this a try. Then one takes up some suitable sadhanas to achieve this purpose.
So one needs to actively cultivate the companionship of the six friends, and actively avoid the six enemies, in order to progress on the spiritual path.
May God bless us all in achieving this task.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
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