Lakshmi sadhana

 Hari Aum.

It is very hot in many places on the planet currently. In these circumstances, it feels natural in my view to turn to worshipping a cooling form of the Divine, namely Mother Lakshmi.

Since November 2011, I have been an enthusiastic worshipper of Narayana/ Krishna by doing daily japa. After doing sadhana for some time, one's deep-seated karmas begin to emerge and this can feel quite taxing. I have had my share of dealing with various karmas, particularly in recent years. I am very much in the mood to seek refuge with Mother Lakshmi as a result.

My plan, therefore, is to spend this time between purascharanas on Lakshmi worship. In the past week, I have taken up regular recitation of one of Her mantras and am also doing some regular puja. I am listening much more to the Sri Suktam again, one of my favourite Vedic prayers. 

I recently bought a copy of the Lakshmi Tantra, a very interesting book about Her worship using various mantras and meditative techniques (I plan to study this in the coming months). This book describes Brahman as equivalent to Lakshmi and Narayana. It describes the spiritual benefits of worshipping them together. 

It also emphasises (as in the Puranas) that the higher Self of all beings is Lakshmi-Narayana (and, with regard to our physical manifestation on this planet, the Puranas say that every woman is a manifestation of Lakshmi, while every man is a manifestation of Narayana).

We are presently in the auspicious month of Purushottama or Adhik masa (that occurs once in three years as per the lunar calendar). This is a very good time to perform spiritual practices as the gates are wide open to receive divine blessings. 

I am using this time to immerse myself in Lakshmi worship. From now until the end of Navaratri this year, I will focus on mantra, yantra and tantra related to Mother Lakshmi. (I continue to worship Narayana by repeating the ashtakshara daily-- however, as I am not currently doing any purascharana, I repeat one mala a day slowly without any pressure. This is proving to be a beneficial experience.)

I have not yet decided when to start the next purascharana. But I know only one thing-- it will happen after I have sufficiently soaked my mind in the worship of Lakshmi (potentially after Navaratri this year). 

I feel happy and peaceful when I recite Her mantra, when I listen to the Sri Suktam and when I engage in Her worship. I want to give sufficient time to these practices for now. I feel that worshipping Lakshmi heals me, recharges my spiritual batteries and gives me the strength to continue sadhana of the ashtakshara. 

 My worship of Lakshmi is not rigid; there is no fixed sankalpa. It is spontaneous and free of any pressure-- after years of the discipline of purascharana, this flexible, spontaneous sadhana of the Divine Mother feels good to me.

I will conclude this post by sharing one of my current favourite online recitations of the Shri Suktam. This is slow and meditative with excellent pronunciation of the Vedic mantras (one can learn to chant along if desired):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG_gQfP-R-4

Om Sri Lakshmi-Narayanabhyam Namah.

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S. I recently met my spiritual mentor in person; this is the lady Swami whom I have known for over 20 years. I discussed with her the ups and downs of my sadhana, including the apparent presence of a twin soul in my life based upon certain events that have occurred in recent years (since late 2020). I explained to her the experiences that some others and I have had on this specific type of spiritual journey. 

She is a traditional Swami who lives a life of detachment. Upon hearing about this unfamiliar subject, she was surprised and concerned (at one point, she urged me to cut the cord with my twin; however, I explained that this would not be at all helpful, and was also not possible).

I said that my intuition currently is to directly include the Divine in handling this energetic cord. My current feeling is that Lakshmi can be the energetic/soul partner of my twin (rather than me) and Krishna can be my partner (rather than my twin). 

In other words, I hand over my end of this energetic cord to Lakshmi for safe-keeping, and request Krishna to take over my twin's end of the cord with me. Instead of being connected with each other's lower selves, we will thus find ourselves more connected to the higher aspect of each other.

This energetic cord is not easy for most twin souls to handle alone; actively requesting the Divine to intervene and take over would be the right way forward I feel. She agreed that this could be one way of managing this connection.

We will see where this leads us. I have no doubt that there will be ups and downs in this approach too-- however, I remain hopeful that, over time, this will bring a greater sense of wellbeing to myself and my twin. Any other twin souls reading this post, may also wish to explore this option. I feel intuitively that this could be very helpful on this type of spiritual journey.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

A play: Conversation between the higher and lower mind part 3

 Hari Aum.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

As spiritual seekers, we know there are two main opposing forces within us which can be called the higher and lower mind. 

Let us continue the conversation between them (from a twin soul perspective).

Lower mind: eating chocolate and watching a movie (enjoying 'spiritual downtime')

Higher mind: 'Hey. We need to talk"

Lower mind: "Not now, I'm busy! It's my spiritual downtime. I don't want to hear anything about spirituality!"

Higher mind: "This is important. Why were you so rude to the twin? You've offended them and they've disappeared off radar!"

Lower mind: "I don't know what you mean! I haven't done anything. I've just been minding my own business!"

Higher mind: "I don't think they appreciated you crying and lamenting over this journey. You've put them off and they're doing another runner. What is the matter with you two lower minds honestly!"

Lower mind: "It's not our fault, honest. Look at all the challenges on this journey! You're asking me why I upset the twin, but I want to ask you something too— why did you upset the spouse? 

Your obsession with being truthful all the time is an issue! I had told you previously that it is good to lie occasionally but you simply do not listen! You had to try and explain this connection to them again recently (and after they had said not to bring it up!)-- and got properly flayed as a result. What did you expect?!"

Higher mind: "Look, honesty really is the best policy in my opinion (at least, for me). In the short term, I accept it can create some challenges. In the long term, however, it is the only way. I am not comfortable with telling lies; this is not in accordance with dharma. 

However, I can accept that sharing every detail of everything all the time may not be necessary or helpful. I do respect the spouse's wishes and do not bring up this topic often. But this connection is real and important to me and there are certain occasions when I feel I must bring it up."

Lower mind: "As far as I can see, this twin soul journey involves both the twin and the spouse getting offended and angry at one! Please explain the point of this? It's utterly ridiculous! The most absurd thing is that this seems to be a common issue for many twins. How do you plan to resolve this? There does not seem to be any solution for us or any other twin souls in a similar situation!"

Higher mind: "You can mock me all you like but being truthful has a certain power of its own. There is an ancient saying 'Satyam eva jayate'  or 'truth alone triumphs'.  This is the teaching of our Gurus and I have some experience of this reality. You will not understand. This current phase is a challenging part of this journey and I will find refuge in spiritual practice. 

I am of the view that this is the answer to achieving peace and harmony in life and is an effective solution to this situation".

Lower mind: "Yes, well, that's up to you— good luck! My philosophy of life is to 'eat, drink and be merry!'. I'm on a non-spiritual holiday now, remember! This is chocolate time, not sadhana time! I'm only prepared to do the bare minimum sadhana at present!"

Higher mind: "Fine, enjoy the chocolate. But remember, in a few weeks, it will be serious sadhana time again!"

Lower mind: "All right! I'm going to enjoy myself thoroughly until then. See you later!"

Note: Regardless of what our lower minds tell us, truth is indeed the very foundation of life. It is the essence of spiritual life. On that note, I would like to share my Guru's teachings on the subject:

https://www.sivanandaonline.org/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=1521

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

The play of gunas in the mind: part 2

 Hari Aum.

As many of us spiritual seekers know, the gunas (qualities) of Prakriti (Nature) are sattva (goodness/ light/ positive qualities), rajas (activity/ passion/anger etc), and tamas (ignorance/ inertia/darkness). According to our scriptures, these three principles are present everywhere in the material realms.

Eleven years ago, I wrote a post on the manner in which these three gunas can influence the mind of the spiritual seeker. 

https://mantrayoga.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-play-of-gunas-in-our-minds.html

Today, I want to write a post on the expression of these gunas in the mind of a specific type of spiritual seeker-- known as the twin soul. There are a quite a few of us twin souls on this planet and, as this is not an easy soul journey, I feel like sharing my thoughts on this topic.

The tamasic mind has this approach to the twin flame journey:

-Run...run....keep running away from them and do not stop! 

-Denial. This cannot be happening to me! How can this happen to me?! What is the Divine doing!

-I am ruined

-This is a disaster! Poor me.

-Help! Somebody please help me-- all these dreams of the twin soul, of my Guru and the Divine make me very uneasy! 

-I just want to live a 'normal life' (mostly eating popcorn, watching movies, eating chocolate and sleeping!). I only want to do what everyone else does-- you know, 'normal' things (eating, sleeping, earning money, hanging out with family and friends). 

-I do not want to do any spiritual practices or walk the spiritual path. Material life all the way, I say!

The rajasic mind has this approach to the twin flame journey:

-Chase, chase...keep chasing them!

-The twin is really hot!

-Forget raising the kundalini to any higher chakras— my favourites are the lower two—that is the be-all and end-all of my existence!

-I want to live a happy, highly sensual and entirely mundane life! 

-All twin souls should basically marry and have kids—that is literally the only purpose of this experience, and nothing else! (Those who do not follow this formula are very foolish!)

-Spiritual life is total nonsense and this bond is not meant to be wasted on spirituality! 

The sattvic mind has this approach to the twin flame journey:

-It is becoming very clear that this is a significant milestone in the spiritual journey

-No running or chasing is needed please (as we cannot really be separated, and this would therefore make no sense)!

-The dreams of the Divine, of the twin soul, and the repeating angel numbers (will write another post on this sometime) definitely mean something-- they are not random. I must pay attention and learn what it is that the Divine wants from me here.

-I have faith in myself, in my ability to adhere to dharma and perform my duties, both material and spiritual. This faith is due to the grace of my Guru, of the Divine. 

-Equally, I have faith in my twin-- I have seen that they too, know the importance of dharma and karma. I intuitively feel that they are doing what they need to on this planet.

-Things are going to turn out ok. This path has involved a lot of karmic purging. I will not let this go to waste-- not for me, and not for my twin (for whom I do have a deep spiritual love that nobody except another twin soul, God and Guru can ever understand).

-The pain that my twin and I have gone through will pave the way for our spiritual progress. I will do my part in full to ensure this. And I have faith that they will do their part too.

-This entire experience has only increased my commitment to spiritual life further. I am stronger today than I was before I had this experience. 

-I am going to get through this, and I know my twin will too. We have our spiritual guides, our Gurus and the Divine. They are with us all the way. And we are going to walk our spiritual paths with full commitment.

-Every tear, every hurt, every moment of suffering that we have experienced on this journey will have been worth it when we achieve the spiritual goal—and we will certainly achieve this through our own efforts that will draw the grace of Guru and God. 

-The karmic purging that we have been through has lessened our karmic burden from past lifetimes-- this has been painful but is deeply valuable from a spiritual perspective. I know that the Divine cannot be attained unless karmic debts are cleared in full, and we have cleared many karmas and will continue to clear our spiritual debts.

-I am going to remain positive and keep walking the spiritual path. I am absolutely going to continue my spiritual practice and keep striving to attune myself to the will of the Divine. And, when my will is attuned in full to that of the Divine (and not my lower ego), success in life will be assured in all aspects -- in the way defined by the Divine. I know this because I have already felt a little of this in my life, and I will keep going, God-willing.

-I feel confident, happy and secure knowing that the Divine has my back. 

-I cannot wait to get started on the next mantra purascharana in the coming weeks! Bring it on I say!

Spiritual life all the way! :)

To summarise,

Tamas and rajas do not allow the twin soul seeker to benefit spiritually from this journey. They keep the spiritual energy/ the kundalini in the lower chakras.

Sattva allows the spiritual seeker to attune themselves to Divine will and progress rapidly on the spiritual path (the twin soul journey can significantly accelerate spiritual progress if approached the right way. It rapidly awakens the kundalini which can then be guided through sadhana to rise to the higher chakras). 

-Dharma and karma yoga are the foundation of this path along with bhakti.

-Faith in oneself, one's twin, Guru and God leads one forward on this spiritual journey.

I will conclude this post by expressing my gratitude to Guru, God, and all those twin souls (including my own) who have directly and indirectly provided me with significant help in my spiritual life. 

Om Namo Narayanaya. Om Sri Durgayai Namah. Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S. A note to my twin:

Even in separation, I feel in union with you. Is this not strange? Or maybe not so strange!

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Nritya: the benefits of dance

 Hari Aum.

We are approaching the halfway mark of this year (unbelievable how quickly it's flying by!) and I hope all of you are well and enjoying your sadhana.

In my case, as I mentioned in a recent post, I am on a spiritual 'holiday'-- I am presently between purascharanas and am making the most of my spiritual downtime! :) 

I am doing a mere 1 mala a day of the ashtakshara mantra of Narayana (down from the average of 7 during the last purascharana). Having taken mantra initiation, the yogic rule is that the mantra must be repeated daily (at least 1 mala/ 108 recitations which takes only 5 minutes). I am therefore dutifully sticking to this rule.

Aside from this, I am repeating some mini-malas (27 recitations) of a Durga mantra, and occasionally some mantras of Lakshmi and Sarasvati almost daily. I remember the Divine Mother a lot these days-- I actually feel closer to Her than Krishna/Narayana (my ishta devata) at present.

As mentioned in previous posts, I have not been too pleased with Krishna in recent years. I have been trying to escape Him but it is of no use. 

My Bharatanatyam dance exams are looming in a couple of months. (I have a number of dance pieces to learn for this examination, including the material from previous years, so it feels a lot more challenging than preparing for our performance in January which went off fairly well!). The syllabus this year includes various aspects of Bharatanatyam such as 'nritta'/pure dance, and 'nritya'/ narrating a story-- and no less than two out of six or seven dance pieces this year are dedicated solely to Krishna!

As part of learning these dances (a 'shabdam' and a 'kirtanam'), my dance teacher has asked our class to explore the lilas of Lord Krishna from the perspective of the gopis (the cowherd women of Vrindavana and perhaps His greatest devotees). We, therefore, have to contemplate, and give expression to, His various childhood lilas such the stealing of butter and hearts, lifting the Govardhana mountain, and playing the flute and mesmerising everyone. 

As we dance, we need to contemplate Krishna's divine form as we gaze soulfully into the distance! It appears that meditation upon Krishna is vital to be able to survive my upcoming dance examination. (As I said in a previous post, once there is a bond with the Divine, He/She does not abandon us, even if we want to abandon Him/Her!)

Speaking of dance, I would like to say that modern medicine says that this is excellent for both physical and mental health. Dance gets the blood circulating, strengthens muscles (a student who recently started told me today that she has discovered muscles she never knew she had!) and improves coordination. 

And, unlike many other forms of exercise (such as swimming, walking or running), dance develops memory as one needs to learn various types of choreography. The article below describes the many health benefits of dancing: 

https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/dancing-brain

From a spiritual perspective, dance can be a dynamic form of meditation upon the Divine (as explained above). It can also help stimulate the flow of prana (or chi in Chinese medicine) and thus benefit the astral body (sukshma sharira) not only the physical one. This is perhaps why many people who feel a bit jaded before a dance class feel much more energised and refreshed mentally afterwards. 

Dance also helps creativity. Some say it helps people get in touch with their feminine side (a male student in my class informed me last year that his wife, who is also a student, had encouraged him to join for this reason; he had been learning martial arts for some years but still found dance to be physically challenging!). And of course, it is also a great way of spending time with family and friends. 

There are so many different dance styles to choose from (virtually every country in the world has developed some form of dance so there are options to suit a variety of tastes). If you haven't yet explored dance as a hobby, I would recommend trying a few styles and picking one that suits you.

As mentioned last month, I am busy placating my lower mind with chocolate and other sweet treats as I prepare myself mentally to take on another purascharana (probably after the dance examination). All this dancing has given me a good excuse to enjoy more of these (yet another benefit of dancing)! :)

I will conclude by sharing a link to a beautiful piece of Odissi celebrating the arrival of the monsoon rains (including the dancing of peacocks) after the scorching heat of summer; this is one of the most ancient classical dance forms of India:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAmSrLGAYM

Om Sri Krishnaya Namah. Om Sri Durgayai Namah. Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.