Seventh Discourse
Page Two
The Greatness of a Sutra
The greatness of an empowering Spiritual thought
It is a well known practice to place the Vedic sacred thread over your ear
when you go to the toilet - I have read that there is a scientific reason for
the above but I am sure of the Vedic reason. I believe that at the time
when you are involved in an unclean activity, if you place an empowering
thoughts to your ear, you will be saved from your becoming unclean. Goswamiji states :
Jin Hari Katha suni nahin kaana.
i.e. Those ears are worthless which have not been used, to hear the narrations
of the Lord.
18 ways or means to achieve the Lord
Methods
Tulsidasji has described various means to achieve the Lord. The fruit of these
efforts is to achieve love and devotion for the Almighty. Those who
are unable to perform these methods or who become Nisaadhan can also achieve the
Lord.
Nine of the methods to achieve the Lord are through devotion and of nine of the means
through knowledge. Yoga is a part of both. The Vedas have described
the above in various details, but the teachings of Tulsidasji and Mahaprabhuji
are similar. Tulsidasji has explained it in brief. When one receives a
long letter, maybe one does not read it as it requires time, but a telegram
one always goes through, leaving all the other work aside. One day maybe I
shall explain the methods in detail but at the moment let us go through it in
brief. Lord Shankar tells Parvati :
Tirthaatan saadhan samudaai
Jog Biraag Gyaan Nipunaai
Nana Karma dharma vrat daana
Sanjam dam jap tap makh naana
Bhoot daya dwij gur sevkaai
Vidya vinaya bibek badaai
Janha lagi saadhan bed bakhaani
Sab kar phal Hari Bhagati Bhavaani
So Raghunaath Bhagati shruti gaai
Ram Kripa kaahu ek paai
Lord Shivji tells Parvati that the Vedas explain certain methods. But the
fruit of those methods is devotion and love. It is alright for those who are
capable of performing the methods, but what of those who are not, those who are
Nisaadhan ? They also achieve, but there are a few conditions. Let us listen to
the 18 methods that the Vedas talk about - Remember 18 is 8 + 1 = 9. Nine is a
complete number. The Scriptures speak in complete and full numbers because they
themselves are complete and full.
Tirthyaatra
Pilgrimage
Going for a pilgrimage is one of the efforts one can put in the spiritual
path. Vidurji went for a pilgrimage for 36 years! So one should
learn from him what to do when one goes on a spiritual travel! A pilgrimage
center has the power to liberate you. but you will be surprised to learn that in
one of the Upanishads it is mentioned :
Tirth yatra adhamaadham
Which means to go from pilgrimage to pilgrimage is not of much use! All
the same one must go for a spiritual journey at lest for a few days to a month
in one year. One generally purifies a place by doing certain
prayers. A spiritual place is naturally purified by the great spiritual
personalities that have lived there or by the heavenly rivers Ganga and Yamuna.
Whenever I go to any place, I get to know about it, by the vibrations I
get there. When I go to foreign countries for spiritual discourses, it
takes 4 or 5 days to create the right vibrations and atmosphere. Sometimes
I feel tired there, something that never happens to me generally in India.
India is the place in which so much worship has taken place by great sages &
saints of yore.
When you proceed to a pilgrimage, I would like to implore you not to sully, not
to make it dirty. Do not destroy what has survived for so many years !
Some people go for pilgrimages to criticize & complain! They criticize the
place or people they know and complain about the difficulties they face in a
pilgrimage center. The Upanishads have stated that to go from pilgrimage
to pilgrimage is useless for people like these. You go for a spiritual
pilgrimage to cleanse yourself of your sins, not to make new ones. In
olden days it used to be so much more difficult to undertake Spiritual travel.
People would take medications with them because it was hard to get much help
when on a pilgrimage. Now a days if you complain, the sages learn
immediately what kind of a person you are! When you go for a pilgrim center,
keep silent or do some more chanting or take a spiritual book of your
choice. The patron saint of the place you are going to, will be pleased
and shower his mercy upon you. Take advantage of the great pilgrim centers
that are available to you in India. Go pray there, listen to the Lord's
name and it will become one of the means to achieve the Lord.
Gyan Biraag Jog Nipunaai
Knowledge
The second method to achieve the Lord is through Gyan or knowledge. One
requires knowledge to achieve devotion or Bhakti. What it means is that if
you know how to keep your eyes open you will not strike against the wall: you
will find a door, you will find a way out, or you will shout till someone opens
the door for you.
Vairaagya
Renunciation
Vairaagya or Renunciation is necessary to achieve Bhakti. What it means,
is that your younger brother wants something you possess-then give it away
happily. Giving happily is vairaagya.
Patanjali Jog
This proficient Yoga can help you to cross over the Ocean of Samsara, i.e. the
world with all its trials and tribulations, and this eminent perfect yoga can
also become means to achieve Bhakti just like Gyan (knowledge), Vairaagya
(Renunciation) and
going for Tirthyatra (Pilgrimages)
Nana Karam
Nana Karam Dharam Vrat daana
Sanjam jam japa tapa nana
There are different types of acts that make one achieve Bhakti. Those who
are proficient in the scriptures have spoken of 5 types of actions or karams.
These 5 karams are Nitya, Nimit, Kaamya, Prayaschit and Aavashyak.
Nitya karam
Everyone has different type of Nitya karam or every-day regular activities.
What time to wake up, bathe, perform certain services, What to offer to the
Lord, how much to pray, what yogic exercises to do.
You may read or recite the Scripture of your choice, but one thing you must
do and that is to not to criticize what others read or recite. You have no right
to do so. Some people ask, "What have you achieved by reciting this prayer
every day?" Achieving, or the speed in your spiritual travel is in the
Lord's hands. You just perform your Nitya Karam. Only sometimes you may have to
change your timing or the amount of times that you perform your prayer when you
travel, and that sometimes is inevitable.
Maanasi Seva
Prayer of Visualisation
Sometimes you are strapped on to your seat in an airplane for almost 24
hours. You can still perform your ritualistic prayers by the power of
visualisation. Imagine the form of your Lord. Make Him sit on a
beautiful seat. Slowly imagine bathing Him and wearing Him the most
beautiful clothes. Then offer Him a feast of 56 Dishes. Since you
are visualising it all, there is no need to be stingy. Offer the Lord food
made with pure ghee extracted by you from milk with great love & effort.
The above is one way. The second method is if you feel that you will not
be able to perform your prayers for a few days, then do it either a few days
earlier or a few days later. But the mind tricks you. Your own inner
self is your alarm Clock - It wakes you up at the exact time that you want to
wake up but the mind tempts you to sleep for a while longer. Mahaprabhuji
believes that you should devote 3 hours out of 24 hrs to the Lord. If you
cannot do it for 3 hours, do it for 1 hour or at least for a few minutes.
Ek ghari
aadhi ghari,
aadhi se puni
aadhi
Tulsi sangati
Sadhu ki
Hare koti
apraadhi
Which means that Tulsidasji claims that even if you spend, an hour, half an hour
or even a quarter of an hour in the Company of an Enlightened Human being, it
destroys all your wrong doings. When you work for an hour in the office you earn
Rs. 10,000/-, then you deduce that if you were to work for 3 hours how much more
would you earn? Similarly when you take the Lord's name for a few minutes,
you receive so much benefit that it follows that if you spend that much longer
in your prayer room, you would reap that much benefit. And in Kaliyuga, this
Iron age, you can pray, lying down, or sitting or however it is convenient to
you
Recite a sanskrit shloka (verse) everyday. Even if you know it by
heart, look at the scriptures, i.e. do the darshan of the scriptures while you
recite. It is said that then the Scriptures bless you, and you will be
able to see yourself in the Scriptures. They become a mirror for you. What I am trying to say is perform your daily rituals regularly, it will bring
about great benefits.
Nimit Karam
Nimit Karam is the action that one performs because of something or/and someone.
For example a Guruji comes to your house, so you decide to have devotional songs
in his presence at your place, or you may decide to perform certain prayers or
rituals.
Some make a certain month the instrument for praying more - like Purushottam
or a certain day of the month like Ekadashi. The Purushottam month is not added
amongst the 12 month of the Calendar, maybe because it has no birth and no end -
It is immortal -Maybe that is the Lord's message to us:- to pray more, chant
more during that month. But if you cannot think of the Lord more during
Purushottam then at least do not criticise or gossip. A lot of people pray
more during the Eclipse of the sun or/and the Moon - Then the Eclipse becomes
the instrument for your increased prayer.
Kaamya Karam
The Karam or action that man performs for a motive or a reason is called a
Kaamya Karam. In the above action one may feel that if one performs a
certain action, a certain result will follow.
Praayaschit Karam
The action that are performed to repent for certain
sins that are committed are called Prayaaschit Karam or Repentance actions.
Whatever sins are mentioned in the Scriptures, their modes of repentance are
also listed there - but some of these prayaschit karam have been exploited for
personal gains.
When I was studying for my S.S.C there was a story in my Hindi Section. A
woman saw a cat coming out of the house and hit her with a stick. The
result was that cat died. The priest was called to enquire as to how to
atone for the act of having killed the cat. The priest declared that a golden cat should be made and donated to
him. After having haggled for a while they finally decided over the
weight of the golden cat. However at that precise moment, the cat regained
consciousness and went and sat on the priest's lap. The priest cried out disappointed,
"I do not want you, I really would have preferred the golden
cat!"
I believe that for atoning for certain sins committed, just take the Lord's
name or read a Chapter from Geeta or 5 verses from the Shrimad Bhagavad or the
Ramanayana.
Pavan Tanay Sankat haran
Mangal Murati roop
Ram Lakhan Seeta Sahit
Hriday basahu sur bhoop
