Acharya Mahaprajna
A chain smoker once attended a sadhana camp. He was advised to give up smoking because it produces diseases. He retorted: "What for are the cigarettes then made? There are innumerable objects in the world to be enjoyed by man. If we gave them up, the industries which manufacture them will have to be wound up and this will result in unemployment on an unprecedented scale." You cannot make such people understand anything. This man attended the camp regularly and practised meditation. In the course of time a sudden change took place in his heart. He developed a strong aversion to smoking, so much so that he would feel uneasy if somebody smoked a cigarette in his presence. This is an example of the change of heart, which cannot be brought about by preaching. Preaching is necessary so far as one has not become an adept. Once you have acquired the skill and have become a spectator (Drsta), you need no sermons. Sermons, preaching and sayings are meant for the unadept, for those who do not possess insight and knowledge. Preksa meditation begins with an exercise in perception. The watch word of sadhana is: "See your self. We always see others, not ourselves. Preksa meditation prepares us to see our own self.
Scientists speak of three dimensions. Length. Width and Height. A fourth dimension has now been added to them. It is Time. The human personality also has three dimensions. Memory, Thinking and Imagination. A fourth dimension may be added for them and that is Perception. It is man's nature to perceive. It is a natural process. Exercise in perceiving the centres of consciousness opens the fourth dimension in our personality. This results in the transformation of personality.
Sadhana does not yield fruit in a short time. It is not a magic wand. It is only the beginning of a long process of spiritual transformation. As we progress in sadhana the mind begins.to become one-pointed and the area of our interests changes. A ten days' or a month's sadhana does not make us detached from our impulses and carvings. Let us not live in the fool's paradise. Sadhana takes time to mature. In order to achieve the fourth dimension, a lot of self-exertion is needed. Self-exertion, faith, time and continuity of practice are the conditions of success in sadhana.
The fourth achievement of sadhana is the capacity for searching solutions of our problems in our own self. The more we look within, the more do we become detached from the world outside us. Politics is the art of perceiving others. Spiritual exertion is the art of perceiving the self. Politicians hold others to be responsible for our evils. A successful politician saves his own skin by throwing all sorts of blames on his opponents. The spiritualist, on the other hand, is one who holds himself responsible for all sorts of evils. He would never point out the evils in others. Self-perception negates perceiving others. The spiritual practitioner always depends on his own internal resources. Ignorance of our own spiritual powers compels us to seek external resources. If we knew this we will never go astray.
Whenever we become a prey to inactivity, laziness and infatuation, we should begin to concentrate on the centres of perception in our body. By doing so we will come to feel refreshed in a very short time. The means of getting rid of ignorance, infatuation, add inactivity and laziness lie within ourselves. We need not seek them in the external world. Sit in an easy posture and concentrate on the red colour like that of the rising sun in the centres of perception in your body. Within ten minutes you will feel refreshed and active.
Mental excitement can be subdued by concentrating on the orange colour in the knowledge centres for ten minutes.
One can get rid of all kinds of sex desires by concentration on the light centres situated in the middle of the forehead and by making the breath touch the throat.
These are some of the means of concentrating the mind on the centres of consciousness. The solution of all our problems lies within us.
