Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-July.19

The Four Parts of Sadhana

When performing bhajan, I used to be oblivious of everything except God. I want you to be so, too, when you perform bhajan; and I say this with the full confidence that you can develop this single-pointed concentration.
You should frequently introspect to find out your own faults and defects, and realizing their mountainous proportions, make strenuous efforts to eradicate them. It is common human nature quickly to notice faults in others, and to belittle, even justify and condone one's own. Two things should be done to counter this tendency. One is, to stop forthwith making any calumnious reference to others. The other is, to take stock, at bed-time every night, of the time and energy spent during the day on the effort to attain God and, conversely, that spent on maligning others. This two-­pronged effort will quickly purify the mind.
Associating with the godly is another means to purify the heart. Now, it is by no means easy to spot a saint in life. An easier and surer thing is to take recourse to a saint's discourses or book, such as the Dasabodha. Shree Samartha has categorically assured the reader, that one who reads it with complete faith will get the benefit of association with him (that is, Shree Samartha himself). Saints, indeed do not truly manifest themselves in the corporeal body so much as in their teaching, the sadhana they advocate. Shree Samartha has advised four-fold sadhana. One aspect is that we should adopt saguna worship, which alone can eventually lead us to realizing nirguna; for, though it is the Ultimate Reality, nirguna cannot be directly encompassed or realized. The second aspect of sadhana is humility of spirit. Pride puts God away, while one who approaches Him with humility becomes dear to Him. The third part of sadhana is distribution of food, anna-daan, to the best of one's capacity; this is most essential in the present degenerate age. The fourth part is ceaseless remembrance of nama. This is the invaluable gift the saints have devised for us.
One who has in the true sense met a saint, a sadguru, will cease to feel that he has anything yet to achieve. He has no sadhana to perform except doing what the sadguru orders or desires. That, in fact, constitutes a pilgrimage or paramartha for him. Nothing else ever even enters his mind.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-July.19

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-July.19

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-July.18

A Detached Outlook Makes Life Free from Pain

So long as the 'body-am-I' feeling persists, that is, so long as a person identifies himself with the body, he must suffer from anxiety. He can conquer all feeling of anxiety only if and when he ceases to be subjective, and acquires an objective outlook on himself and the world. This he can do only when there is entrenched in him the conviction that God is his sole and never-failing support.
The planets and their positions in a horoscope can influence the body and the mundane matters which pertain to it. Thus, an astrologer may predict how much money one is destined to acquire in his life. He may even be able to indicate whether the person has a devotional inclination, and how much; but whether he will attain to God cannot be foretold, for the stars have no control in this regard. And if one fails to realize God, it is really a dire tragedy for the precious human life. Indeed, all other achievements and acquisitions count for nothing so far as the soul is concerned.
The yearning to realize God has to be genuine and of a high intensity, if it is to be fruitful. Real yearning, borders on franticness, and makes a man overwrought; he is only calmed down when he meets a saint.
Saints do not avert the calamities or unpleasant incidents for their devotees; what they do is to eradicate the fear of them; or, it is this apprehension of calamity that more deeply unnerves a person than even the calamity itself.
Saints do not yield to passions and sense-pleasures, but control them, rule over them as masters. This conquest of one's own self is far more arduous than even subjugating the whole world. Thus freed of serfdom to mundane attractions, they are able to look at themselves and the world objectively, and thus remain unaffected both by pain and pleasure.
We should leave office and business thoughts and worries at the workplace, and not carry them home. The domestic atmosphere should be free from fear and suspicion. Simplicity and straightforwardness of mind are a great asset; they are an inheritance from a previous life as sadhaka.



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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-July.18

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-July.18

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-July.17

Implicit Observance of the Guru's Dictates

Once it so happened that a boy was removed from his mother immediately on birth, and reared elsewhere. When the two chanced to meet after several years, they could not even recognize each other. We humans are in a similar situation. We are in utter ignorance about the purpose of our life, which, in reality, is to realize God, of whom we are part and parcel. What has happened is that we are so thoroughly given to the senses and their pleasures, that we never stop to think of anything else. The senses and the objects to which we look for pleasures are themselves transitory, and therefore incapable of yielding real, permanent pleasure. Consequently, devotion to God, who is eternal, is impossible unless and until we cultivate complete detachment from these transitory, unreal pleasures.
What is it that a guru does? He leads us to the conviction that sense-pleasures are transitory, that is, impermanent, and unreal. Consequently, it is in our interest to obey him implicitly. Whatever spiritual exercise you undertake, if it has not been prescribed by him, will only be so much futile trouble; it will not be of avail. The reason is simple; it means that we consider that the guru has prescribed something inadequate for us; that is, in other words, the guru's dictates, that is, his knowledge and judgement, fall short of perfection. We should never swerve from the conviction that the guru is omniscient, nothing short of God Himself; for it is this conviction that is the foundation of firm faith. The essence of what the guru tells is that nama is the palpable manifestation of the one Ultimate Reality, that is, God; and that nama-smarana is so perfect as a spiritual exercise that it does not need anything to supplement it. It is a hundred-per-cent truth that nama is the most perfect sadhana as well as the ultimate goal.
We should be as intently loyal to the sadhana prescribed by the sadguru as a chaste, devoted wife is to her husband. A person who does his sadhana with such loyalty, can alone be said to be devoted to it, and he invariably comes by unalloyed bliss.
If only we approach God with the yearning and expectation that we apply to mundane objectives, we will not fail to realize true bliss.


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