Central Chronicle
Saturday May 10, 2008
There are several forms of spiritual strength which serve as an amour to protect us from all kinds of harm.
Forbearance is another form of spiritual strength. The practitioner of self-discipline should not be perturbed in adverse circumstances. A stone thrown into a pond disturbs the water. There are innumerable people who throw stones into the pond of life and disturb its waters. A sadhaka will not be able to perform his sadhana if he becomes disturbed and loses his patience. He must develop the strength which patience and serenity give.
Serenity is the manifestation of spiritual strength. We should develop this strength and see to it that no disturbance coming from any direction is allowed to disturb us.
There are several forms of spiritual strength which serve as an amour to protect us from all kinds of harm. Without the shield which spiritual strength provides consciousness will not be able to maintain its purity?
Our journey, the aim of which is to arrive at the source of infinite energy, is a short one. If we did the right effort we will be able to achieve this aim.
What are the means of achieving this aim? Let me suggest one. It is called tanmuri yoga. There are two kinds of meditation: meditation on one's own form and meditation on some form other than one's own. The practitioner shall first decide what he wants to achieve. It he wants to achieve the state which is called vitaraga (a passion-free state of mind), he will have to perform the first kind of meditation ie meditation on one's own form.
No other meditation will be suitable for this purpose. Meditation on the vitaraga form is the only means by which we can reach the state of pure consciousness. Meditation on this form will result in spreading illumination around the meditator like the light emanating from a lamp placed on the head of a man in a standing posture. With this illumination the meditator begins to experience the purity of his consciousness.
The entire energy which manifests itself in the course of meditation has got to be diverted towards and concentrated on the aim which the meditator has chosen, whether it is the powers of the mind or those of speech or those of the sense-organs.
The practitioner must first decide what exactly he wants to achieve. Suppose, he wants to achieve an ideal physical strength. An ideal has no form. However, the practitioner will have to build a symbolic image representing his ideal in his mind. For example, the mythical Bahubali is a symbol of ideal physical strength. Once the symbolical image of Bahubali has been formed in his mind, the practitioner should meditate on this image. But evidently there is a distance between the practitioner and the ideal which he wants to achieve. The purpose of meditation is to obliterate this distance. The distance will go on progressively disappearing in the course of meditation. The meditator will be ultimately absorbed in the symbolic image he is meditating upon. In other words, he will be transplanted into the ideal. He will become Bahubali.
Complete relaxation of the body i.e. skayotsarga is inessential condition of this kind of meditation. The body of the meditator will have to be completely immobilized so that its becomes as good as dead. A complete absorption in the ideal will bring about a transformation of his energy and he will ultimately come to feel that his body has gained immense strength.
To summarize, the following points should be kept in mind:
- A decision about the ideal to be achieved.
- To form a symbolic image of the ideal in the mind.
- To divert the entire energy generated in the state of meditation towards
- this Ideal.
- To become absorbed or transplanted into the ideal.
This is how energy can be developed. We may choose either mental or physicals or, speech energy. The method mentioned above is also the method of achieving ridhis (spiritual powers) or labdhis (yogic achievements).
There is no hard and fast rule in this respect. Sometimes people achieve success even without observing any rule at all.