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An Endless Divine Continuity - Part 9

 
Our Association With Nanna - Part 9
   
*Nanna's words
*Amma's words
*Foreword by Author
 
 
1The All Pervading Sovereign
2Attachment and Renunciation
3Where words retreated
4Diversity in Oneness
5Devotion – Meditation – Grace
6 Incredibly rare are the Realized Saints
7 My Heart is a Shrine
8 Sakhi’s Innerness
9 Rasikacharya’s Message
10 Sri Radha Sakhi Rasavani
   
 
DEVOTION - MEDITATION - GRACE

20.10.2000 :


Mahasiddhapurusha, Rasayogi, Our Nanna spoke abut the invisible link between Bhakti Yoga and Dhyana yoga while he was in a state of deep dyana.


" Maharshis and great yogis gave utmost importance to dhyana. That is what I stressed upon. Why did Lord Narayana reside in the Himalayas? We travel all the way to Badrinath to see him. He went there for dhyana. Before he sat down for dhyana, he asked his consort, Rama to leave from his heart. No wonder Badarinath is a significant pilgrim centre. If even Lakshmi Devi is an obstruction in his dhyana, we can imagine the importance of this yoga! Normally, nobody will leave his wife just like that. She is not just his wife; she is also Mahadevi, the wealth of powers. God keeps such power within his heart. One day when Lakshmi Devi came to see Vishnu, his doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya stopped her. 'The Lord is taking rest. You cannot enter now. Please wait.' It may seem that their only mistake is stopping her but that is a great religious blunder. Jaya and Vijaya are extra ordinary yogis and devotees. They lived for many centuries in Vaikunta. They are the only devotees who were four armed like their Lord. The four arms mean that they contain the four states of consciousness in them. God is filled with these four states of consciousness-jagrut, swapna, sushupti and tureeyam. That is why he is known as Vishnu. Vyapanaseelasya Vishnuhu'. He is Vishnu because of his all pervading nature; which means he is filled in the four consciousness planes. He is aware of any devotee in these four planes praying to him even if he is bitten by an ant. He listens to all the devotees' pleas. God gave Jaya and Vijaya status equal to himself! 'You will be present with me all the time. I need your service. Henceforth, you both shall also have four arms like me.' Probably, there are no devotees as great as Jaya and Vijaya! Their penance is so intense too. If they could reside in the holy Vaikunta near the Lord, with four arms, it is indeed a fortune. "


" Goddess Lakshmi moves in the worlds for devotees well being. She is the personification of power Sakhti. Nobody can stop Her. Nobody can take away my power from me; nobody can separate your power from you. She is the power of Hari, Lord Vishnu! One day, she returned to Vaikunta after visiting some other worlds. Jaya and Vijaya obstructed her entry saying the Lord is resting; she must wait for sometime outside. Within a few minutes, Brahma's sons Sanaka Sananda etc. who possessed extraordinary powers came to see Vishnu. Jaya and Vijaya stopped them also and told them to be seated and wait for sometime. The rajoguna within them arose, 'Who are you to stop us from seeing him? We can enter even if he is along with his consort. You do not have the power to stop us. That is why we are cursing you both. You shall be born as demons! You are not fit to live in such a divine place where many Mahatmas come to have God's darshan. If you stop them, it is disgrace to God! It is a disgrace to Mother. You cannot stay here. You must leave.' With their curse, the downfall of Jaya and Vijaya began! "


" Human beings also attain some divine aspects. When you are in a yogic state, at some point, you will gain some radiance. That will never leave you. 'Prithvi apaha tejas vayurakasaha'. First in prithvi (earth) followed by Universe. If you sincerely do dhyana yoga for six months or one year.....Dhyana means inward journey; otherwise it is only bhajan. Dhyana is a great yogic power that will make you travel inwards. This inward journey will take you to the third plane, where the radiance will touch you. You will see a tremendous illumination behind your forehead. That is the region, the plane of radiance. That is where we will reach. Every human being has this radiance. The yoga principles stated by Patanjali also mentions about this radiance behind his forehead. Hence in the third stage of dhyana yoga, he can see his radiance himself during inward journey. So astonishing! Our sadhana is associated with radiance. Without this radiance there is no contemplation on the divine; no power to curse or no right to uplift humanity. That is the importance of this radiance! "


" As soon as Jaya and Vijaya were cursed, they began to lose their radiance. They began to repent for their behaviour. 'We are facing downfall. We have lived in the Lord's shelter for innumerable centuries. We are losing that place and are falling down. O Lord! What a difficulty we have faced.' Very true. You weep when you lose your job, when your house burns down, when your wife dies or your son dies. What is their state? They lost their job which encompassed such wealth and value. They held a responsible position with tremendous powers. Can you imagine their plight! At that moment Lord Narayana appeared before them. Sanaka, Sananda and other devotees bowed to him and prostrated before him. 'O Lord! Forgive for our mistake. We cursed them only due to our rajoguna.' The Lord said 'My sons, just because you cursed them, they did not lose their radiance. You do not have such powers. The reason for them losing their radiance is different. My consort, Goddess Rama also known as Lakshmi and Sakthi resides in my heart. They stopped her when she was coming near me. Nobody has the right to stop her. Their curse began that same moment. This is not due to you. They committed a grave divine mistake by stopping Sakthi from coming near me. They are bearing the consequences of this unpardonable mistake.' "


" Even in dhyana yoga, we face obstacles due to such demonic forces. Vivekananda strongly stressed the point that the forces will not allow you to progress. They will try to stop your spiritual journey. They will cause a loss of one entire life! Don't worry. They will come birth after birth in many lives. So Sadhana is truly warfare. This is the exact wording used by Vivekananda. Sadhana implies fighting; fighting some rival forces. That is the actual meaning of Sadhana. This fighting may last for one day, one year, one life or number of lives. You must be prepared for that.' He spoke from experience that the effect of these forces continues for many lives. That is sadhana. So, one should not expect to see God overnight. You cannot begin sadhana on Wednesday and have his darshan on Friday! It is not so easy, so simple. We must realize the realistic position to some extent. It is not a play with a small child. It is a play with asura sakthis (demonic powers) which established themselves centuries back. They toppled the penance of great sages. When Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were walking in the forest, they came near a mountain. The people in that area told them 'if you walk around the mountain, it is 30 miles. It is too long distance. There is a shortcut of 2-3 miles. However, it is believed that the demons did penance in that area long ago. Nobody knows whether they are still present or not. You must cross the garden where they did penance. You may face some attack from them. You must take care of this aspect if you choose the short cut.' Lakshmana said 'No problem, What can they do? If I shoot with my bow and arrow, they will all be dead.' But what really happened is different. When they walked for some distance he became a different person. The rajoguna within him began to surface. 'Kama esha krodhesha rajaguna samudhbhavaha.' Rajoguna is very powerful. So Lakshmana became very angry. This anger was imparted to him by the demonic forces in that area. "


" Originally, we were at an elevated plane; we were blessed by the divine. We descended from the plane and attained jeevathwa. What is the cause for our downfall? That is what Swamiji hinted. We must be careful that the cause does not repeat itself. You caution in advance that you saw a snake in that path; it almost bit you; so one must be careful while moving in that path. The important point here is that one must face these demonic forces; there is no escape for anybody. Vivekananda said that 'if somebody tells you that there is no problem in this path; your journey is a bed of roses: you can move comfortably; don't believe him because he is a cheat.' You will understand when you actually experience it. The experiences of Buddha are also due to the effect of demonic forces. Maya! His wife came in his vision along with his son. She wept and created pity. She tried her best to change his mind. But only because he is a divine incarnation, he withstood her attempts and asked her to leave. Next, his parents came and cajoled him. He did not relent. Next, the beautiful women in heaven came down and tried to seduce him in many ways. He did not bend even a bit. All these are only the influence of demonic forces. Thy will always obstruct your path of spiritual pursuit. You must be careful and alert all the time. "


" Sadhana is hardly a bed of roses. Sadhana is Sadhana. It is a fight. It is a clear fight. This fight can be in so many ways. Some people become melancholic. Some people become hysterical. "


" It is not only efforts related to dhyana; it is also efforts related to divine. Hence dhyana and bhakthi must work together. Devotion is very essential. 'Bhakthi revainam gamayathi bhakti revainam darsayathi bhakti vasaha purushaha'. The Upanishad states that bhakti is that power which can bring God down to earth. Bhakti does not mean simply playing an instrument and singing his name. That power must attract God. God is endowed with such power that he can turn all the Universes upside down. Bhakti can pull down such a powerful God! Then how powerful is bhakti? That is why you must do dhyana yoga along with bhakti. That is what every sage and Mahatma did. Never separate dhyana from bhakti. Do dhyana with bhakti. Sankaracharya had the power to leave his body and enter into another's body. Yet he remained in Kasi and did dhyana. 'Bhaja govindam bhaja govindam Govindam bhaja moodhamathe'-why do you wander here and there instead of doing Govinda bhajan? He spontaneously hinted at Govinda bhajan. In other words, it is an indication of bhakti. We have no right to give up bhakti. Lord Narayana, the God of such devotees, made his abode in the cold mountain ranges only to declare the importance of dhyana yoga to the world. He wanted to be the inspiration for the people and show them the right path. He asked his beloved Goddess Rama to leave from his heart. 'My dear, the condition for dhyana is that only two exist - me and my deity. You have no place in my dhyana. Please leave.' Being an exemplary and ideal wife, she accepted her husband's words and moved out from his heart. She did not want to go far from him. She wanted to be near him and serve him without disturbing him. She became berry shrubs all around the hills. 'I can't leave him. My duty is to serve him. Cold waves of air surround this place. In the form of these shrubs, I can obstruct the cold waves from disturbing him to some extent. I can stop the jungle beasts' from harming him.' That is how they sacrificed themselves for this world. Dhyana is so powerful. The Lord extricated himself from the Goddess of power, who is indeed his power too. What greatness! What sacrifice! "


" The Lalitasahasranamas contain a verse 'Antharmukha samardhyayai namaha bahirmukha sudurlabhaha'. That is how Mother must be worshipped. You must move inwards. External vision is of no use. I am speaking to you externally. You are going to pilgrimages. That is also external travel. You are doing rituals; you are arranging week long discourses on Bhagawata, you are reciting Mother's name - all these are external only. You are present wherever your mind is present. That is the logic. Everything should remain within your mind; it should not surface. Your consciousness should remain within you; it should not cross the boundary of your body and go out. When you sit down for dhyana, you must not see the road before you or the relatives before you. You must not be distracted by their talk. Infact, you must not even think of God. Even God must be within you; not outside you. Inwardness is very essential. No wonder, Lord Shiva and other Gods were always in a state of inwardness during penance. They are cut away from the world completely. "


" Sidharoodhaswami was my Guru for some time. He was considered to be an incarnation of Shiva. He was a great man. He entered into bhava Samadhi at the age of eight! Honnappa, a farmer asked him whether he saw his buffalo which passed by. My guru did not respond. 'This fellow is posing to be in samadi. How can anyone be in Samadhi when he is only 8 years old? He is simply posing.' He brought red hot coal pieces and threw them on my guru's head. His head burnt but he did not move at all. When Honnappa reached home, his hands were full of sores. He committed a grave religious mistake. As a result, he suffered from sores immediately. His hands were burning. All the villagers came to him, found out what happened and went out in search of swami. When they found him, they pleaded 'Honnappa committed an unpardonable crime due to ignorance. Please forgive him.' Swamiji said, 'I am taking oath on God and saying that he did not pour coal pieces on my head.' He separated from his body. It was no longer his body on which Honnappa threw hot coal. His body was separate; he (soul) was separate. This is the truth. Our true self is not this body. Self identification with the body is responsible for degradation of a soul. You must avoid self identification with the body. You are consciousness. Jeevatma is pure witness consciousness. This body is not consciousness; it is only a lump of mud! It is hypocrisy to unify with this lump and think that it is your true self. If a district Collector identifies himself with a clerk and declares that he is doing the job of a clerk, he is considered to be mad. It is a mad man's talk. My guru's experience is like that. He separated his self from the body at the age of eight or nine! "


" He gave us only one message. You cannot attain God through any other means except dhyana. Bhajan-recital of name and songs are good; they indicate bhakti. But dhyana is the main sadhana of every human being. The Gita mentions 'Dhyanena athmani pasyanthi'. Knowledge is great; dhyana is greater than knowledge. 'Gyanath dhyanam visishyathe.' Dhyanam is highest. Purest knowledge is attained by dhyana. There are many benefits of dhyana. We must prepare ourselves for the war. This is the first warning. To do dhyana, you must fight; it is a fight within you. Lakshmana also faced hurdles. When the demonic forces attacked him, he became irritated and angry. He threw the baggage he was carrying saying 'Are you (Rama) the only son of Dasaratha? I am also his son. Then why should I only carry this luggage? Am I your servant? I am not concerned with your belongings.' Sita began to weep. 'Why is Lakshmana behaving like this? He left his wife, family and kingdom and came to be with us. He has been so devoted to us. Why did he suddenly change like this? Why is he showing such disrespect? Why is he behaving so strangely? How can we travel in this forest with him if he behaves in this manner?' Rama pacified her. 'Sita, Be patient for some time. As soon as we go downhill, his anger will subside and he will regain normalcy. This is a transient phase.' As Lakshmana climbed down the hill, he realized his mistake. He bowed to Rama and begged for his forgiveness. "


" The evil forces are very strong. Though Vishwamitra was endowed with tremendous powers, the evil forces of Mareecha and other demons could not be defeated by him. He stopped his yagya and went near Dasaratha in the night. During that time, the kings had reverence but also were afraid of the sages' anger and curse. He told Dasaratha 'I need protection to complete my yagya. Send Rama and Lakshmana with me. I will come back at 4 a.m. to take them.' 'My sons are so young. How can they protect you? Mareecha and others are dangerous. When great persons like you could not face them, how can these young boys face them? I am Dasaratha (one who can single handedly defeat ten thousand people). I will come with you and protect your yagya.' 'How can you protect me from them? What is your power? You may be Dasaratha but you do not know who they are. I know about your sons. Tell me whether you will send your sons with me or not.' 'I will send them. How can I refuse you?' It is not an ordinary thing to fight with the demons at night. When the demonic forces become very strong, only a divine incarnation can suppress them. That is why Rama and Lakshmana had to fight against them. These forces are potential danger. They cannot rest peacefully when they see somebody prosper. "


" Somebody questioned Aurobindo Yogi. ' We read in religious scriptures that Indra gets angry when somebody is doing penance. He tries to create hurdles to destroy their penance. Is it true? Is there any scientific evidence to prove this?' 'Yes, it is true. I saw this myself.' These forces will not allow you to move higher. In addition, all our wrong deeds over many lives will also become forces to obstruct us. Now you can understand what dhyana yoga really is! "


" Three kinds of forces are involved. We face three forces in dhyana-divine forces from God; the forces due to our acts over many lives and demonic forces. The trident really symbolizes facing these three forces. Shiva is prepared to beat anyone of these three forces. That is why many devotees seek the shelter of Shiva. Ofcourse, nobody knows the veracity of this bhava. However, it is a fact that we must face hurdles in dhyana. The war with demonic forces is unavoidable. Sadhana means fight. The meaning of Sadhana is to fight and win. For winning, you may take not one but many number of lives. This is clearly highlighted in the Vedas. "


" Sadhana is very difficult. Many people say 'You can gain moksha within ten days. You will reach Vaikunta within 20 days.' They are deceiving the world. That is not true. You must face the bare facts. You must gain strength and win over the opposing forces. This kind of worship needs strength. 'Nayamathma balaheenena labhyaha.' The Vedas say that God cannot be attained by the weak ones. Here strength does not mean physical strength. You must have inner, mental strength. Then he will not be deterred by evil forces or any other difficulties. You must be prepared for everything. Vivekananda said 'I cannot give false hopes.' Ramakrishna said 'I don't need a number of people around me, four or five are enough. If I have just five jewel like people with me, I will look after them.' Have no fascination for numbers. They won't help you. Number cannot help you. Number cannot guide the movement. We need quality, not number. We need strong people, strong willed people prepared to face any difficulties, any conditions; even if they are only five or six in number. "


" Brahma's sons (Sanaka and others) are only four in number but each is a gem. Hence, the difficulty in dhyana is to face the evil forces. We need bhakti to face these forces. Our individual strength is not enough. Our strength should be combined with bhakti. Finally, we need divine grace without which the jeeva cannot move forward! Divine grace is absolutely essential and indispensable. Vivekananda put all his matured experience into one of his letter. You must all listen to Vivekananda's words such that they will impress upon your mind. "


" Divine bliss in indispensable. You cannot get moksha merely by dhyana yoga. You must also gain divine bliss. The Gita mentions 'Sarva dharman parityajya mamekam saranam vraja.' Ah! Self surrender! Give up all worldly dharmas. They cannot save you. Why are you holding on to them? 'Matrudevo bhava, Pitru devobhava , Acharya devobhava.' All these dharmas are mentioned in the Vedas but there is no danger even if you don't observe them. But without self surrender and divine association, you cannot move forward despite all efforts. This is the important message given by Vivekananda. "


Somebody read out from the letters of Vivekananda - 'Message of Vivekananda. 'Dear Hari Bhai. I don't think you can obtain God in exchange for any japa or thapa that you may perform. Just as you can obtain vegetables in exchange for the money you pay...Remember that none can obtain Him except by his grace. The Sruthi declares 'Nayamathma.......'


" You go to a market, pay money and buy some vegetables. In the same way if you chant God's name one lakh times a day or do his mantra daily for 4 years, he will surely come to you. Well, if anybody tells you in this way, don't believe him. It is all false propaganda. Don't follow them. None can obtain his grace so easily. It is very difficult. The Vedas stressed that 'Nayamathma pravachena labhyaha....your discourses are of no use; name is of no use; your intellect cannot help you; listening to teaching of Mahatmas will also not fetch God near you. It is not so easy. He is not in the hands of any Paramahamsa. Each human being must uplift himself. 'Uddharedhathma nathmanam athmanamavasadayeth athmaiva athmano bandhu athmaiva ripurathmanaha'. Such a great verse! You must only uplift yourself. If you think 'I will sit here only eating some sweet. God will come near me somehow from somewhere, he won't come. That is not the way. The Gita also emphasizes that you must uplift yourself; you must face your problems yourself. "


Nanna explained clearly about the three opposing forces that one has to face during dhyana yoga. He advised us to face these forces with inner strength and divine grace; move on the royal path of dhyana yoga and reach Mother. We can attain a place at the holy feet of Sri Radha only when the power of our resolution, devotion towards God and divine grace join together. Nanna assured that once we move in this path and reach our goal, we will be freed from the cycle of birth and death.
 

 

 
 
Vraja bhava sagarame nee madhura roopambai
Viswamanthata nindi bahsichu chunnayadi
Vishayadulandunu nee rope madi nilipi
Vededa nee krupakai na Matha.
----
 
 

Mother, Your sweet form is the ocean of Vraja bhava and is shining all over the Universe. I see only Your form in my mind even among worldly matters and seek Your grace.

 
 

 
 

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