divya jyothi jan 2014

From the editors desk

I n s i d e t h i s i s s ue :

Prabhuji Speaks 3

LADS lesson 2 4

Panchadasi - Tattva Viveka

6

Sanatana Dharma 7

Swetaswara Upani-shad Bhavadhare

10

Patanjali Yoga Sutras 13

Where can you find happiness

14

Soundarya Lahari 15

Prabhuji’s Articles in Bodhi Vruksha

19

Yogasanas 22

Divya Jyothi J A N 2 0 1 4 I S S U E 2 4

Hari Om, Wishing all the readers of Divya Jyothi a happy new year 2014 and Makara Sankaranti.

We took a break in Dec 2013 and are back online now and hope this new year will bring in improvements and new changes. One thing we would like to do in the coming future is make the ezine more reflective of what is happening in the Satsang rather than keep it as a collection of articles. We are also looking at other formats and designs that can make the Divya Jyothi visually more appealing. Any suggestions are wel-come. As always hope you enjoy reading and looking

forward to your involvement and support - In Guruseva.

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D i v y a J y o t h i

Prabhuji Speaks

Dear Atmajyothis, Wish you all a very Happy and prosperous New year 2014. New year is a time for celebration. New year is a time for looking back and planning for the coming year. New year is also time to make new resolutions. Last year, Atmajyothis did a remarkable service in terms of teaching of Bhagavadgita, celebrating vari-ous festivals, publishing books and ezine. It is time for us to plan for activities for the coming year. Need to plan activities for Atmano mokshartham, Jagad Hitaya cha. What service activities we can undertake this year ? Can we bring peace and solace to more living

beings ? How can we spend time on practices related to Self Realization in terms of sadhana – spiritual practices ? We need to contemplate and plan. How much time do we have in our life ? After working in office/home, taking care of children, watching TV, hardly about 1.5 hours may be available per day for each of us to work on our-selves. Assuming a time of 1 hour for physical activities and another half hour for meditation, sadhana the time we spend on ourselves is about 180 hours in a year i.e. 7.5 days approximate-ly – not a big number at all. Similarly, assuming time spent on service activities is about 2 hours per week, time spent per year is 104 hours – equivalent of 5 days of time. In other words time spent by us ( if we are regular, sincere) on Atmano Mokshartham and Jagad hitaya cha is about 12.5 days in a year ! Time being so short and precious, let us not waste even a minute. Have a noble resolution for new year and work sincerely to make it happen.

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Chapter 2, Cry of Confusion: Shloka 2.7

Arjuna uvacha Karpanyadosopahataswabhavah Prcchami tvam dharmasammudhacetah Yacchreyah syannischitam bruhi tanme Sisyaste ham sad imam tvam prapannam Arjuna says to Lord Krishna: I am overcome by weakness. Hence I am confused about my duties. I surrender myself to you as a disciple. Please instruct me as to what is righteousness and what is right for me to do. One day, Kishan saw his best friend Aryan stealing money from Karthik's bag. Later in that day, Karthik saw that his money, which he had brought to pay the school fee, was missing. Karthik went to the teacher crying and told her about his money being missing and that he had carefully kept it in his bag. The teacher suspected that some student must have taken away the money from Karthik’s bag and asked all the students about Karthik’s money. She told the students that she would be very happy if the student who has taken the money admits that it was a mistake and comes to her and gives it back. She also told them that there will be no punishment. Aryan re-mained silent. After the class, Kishan asked Aryan to return the money but he refused. Kishan felt sorry for Karthik and was confused now. He didn’t know if he should tell the truth or be a good friend. He was unable to decide. He prayed to God to guide him and help him to do the right thing. Then, suddenly, he recollected that he can ask his teacher’s help. He then went to his class teacher in the lunch break. On seeing Kishan waiting for her near the Staff Room the Teacher asked, “What is the matter Kishan?” Kishan said, “Mam, I am unable to decide about something. Please help me. I want to know what is greater, friendship or truth.” The Teacher said, “Truth is the greatest at all times. Nothing else is greater than the truth. Where there is Truth, there is God. If you are confused, take the side of truth.” After listening to the Teacher carefully, Kishan said, “I am afraid to take the side of truth. I will lose by best friend if I take the side of the truth. I do not want to hurt my friend. What should I do now?” The teacher was not able to understand why he was afraid to be truthful so she asked, “I think you are hiding something from me. Can you please tell me what has happened? I will not tell an-yone what you tell me now.” Kishan now stood silently for a while and then said, “Mam, I saw Aryan taking money from Karthik's bag this morning. Though I knew that, I did not tell you in the classroom because Aryan is my best friend. If I had told you that he had stolen the money, he would stop talking to me. I am

LADS - lesson 2

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scared of hurting and humiliating Aryan and at the same time I am feeling bad for Karthik. I have tried to be a good friend, but I still feel that I have done a mistake. Now, I have come to you to seek your advice and know what is right.” The Teacher now understood clearly and said, “Relax my child. I will help you to make the right decision. Your confusion reminds me of Arjuna in Mahabharata. Arjuna also faced a similar situ-ation in the battle field. He was finding it very difficult to fight the war as the people against him were his cousins the Kauravas, his grandfather Bhishma, his Guru Dhronacharya and other relatives. He did not want to kill his own relatives and Guru, he did not know if it was right to fight and kill his relatives or to leave the battle which was being fought for justice. He then bowed down to Lord Krishna and prayed to him to remove his confusion between right and wrong and show him the right path. Similarly, you have done the right thing by telling me about your confusion. Your fear of losing your friend is wrong. That fear is making you weak and una-ble to decide. When somebody is making a mistake, it is correct to advise them, whether they take your advice or not is left to them; but you who know the truth should always stand by it. There is no need to be afraid to stand by the truth or to speak the truth at any time. ‘If you protect the truth, the truth shall protect you’ say the Rishis of our country.” Kishan, now smiling with bright eyes said, “Mam, I thank you very much for bringing clarity to me. I am not sad anymore, I know that what I am doing now is right and that gives me courage. I will stand by the truth. I will also pray to God to help everyone who is confused and is afraid. I not only know now that truth is the greatest thing but also know that when we are confused and unable to decide, we should sincerely ask the elders who know more than us to clarify our doubts. When we sincerely pray to God seeking for guidance, he will definitely send someone to our rescue, either teacher, or parent, or a friend, or a brother, someone who knows more and can guide us. Once our doubts are clarified we will be strong to take the right decision and act according to it.” Kishan then went in search of Aryan whom he found in the playground. Aryan ran towards him and started describing his plans with excitement. He said, “Kishan, I will go to the new shop near my house today and buy many things video game CDs, a transformer and bay blade. Will you come with me? I have a lot of money today I will buy something for you too.” Kishan was sad to see that his friend Aryan wants to enjoy like this by taking away someone else’s money. He said, “Aryan, stop now. The money which you want to spend on buying these things is not your money. It is Karthik’s fees. What you want to do is wrong. Please give it to Mam and she will give it back to him.” Aryan was angry now, he shouted saying “I will stop talking to you if you ask me to stop. I am not giving back the money. I am going to buy many things. This is my decision.” Kishan looked at him for a while hoping that he will change his decision. Aryan did not say any-thing. Disappointed, Kishan said, “Sorry Aryan, I am not with you in this. I know that you are wrong. I pray to God that you realize this soon. I am feeling bad that you are not going to be my friend anymore, but I am going to be truthful and this is my decision.”

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Panchadasi - Tatva Viveka Parama Sadgurugalige Namanagalu… Salutations to Pujaneya Prabhuji… ‘‘O Sadgurudeva! Those who take refuge at the feet of the Gurudeva with the Vedic Dictum 'Thou Art That' are granted the boon of knowledge of Brahman and are freed from the realm of birth and death. O Gurudeva! O Pujaneya! Please bless me to merge in Your Lotus Feet’’.

स�वांशौ पच�भ�तषेा ं�मा�द�ि��यपचकम ्|

�ो �वग"#रसना&ाणा(यमपुजायत े||१९ || From the Sathva guna aspect of these five elements are born the five senses viz ear, skin, eyes, tongue and nose respectively. 19 The sathva aspect of the five Mahabhutas is taken and the five sense organs are created re-spectively. The quality of space or Akash is sound (Shabda) and hence the ears to hear. From the Air or Vayu, the skin, organ of touch is born. From fire or Agni, the eyes are born to see. From water or Jala the tongue, organ of taste is born and from earth or Prithvi the nose, organ of smell is born. If there is no coordination in the five perceptions, the result will be chaotic. The coordinating agent is the Antahkarana or the inner perception which makes the collective ex-pressions of the Pancha Mahabhutas possible in the subtle body. Let us try to understand what Antahkarana (Spiritual Heart) is! As Gurudeva says the spiritual Heart has four components as shown in the figure below. The four components of the Spiritual Heart are – the objective mind (Manas), the subjective mind (Buddhi), the subconscious (Chitta) and the ego sense (Ahamkara). The witness (Sakshi) illuminates all the four components of the Spiritual Heart. Just like the physical heart which is responsible for pumping the blood, the Spiritual Heart generates feelings, emotions and thoughts which drive the physical body. It is the Spiritual Heart which moves to another body after death. It is here we

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have to discover the Divinity. In yogic terminology Spiritual Heart is called as the inner instru-ment (Antahkarana). Functioning of the Spiritual Heart - Antahkarana The inputs from sense organs are received by the objective mind (Manas). When the senses be-come aware of some object, an impression of the object is created in the objective mind. The objective mind queries “What is this object”? For further processing the inputs pass through the subconscious mind (Chitta) – vast store house of memory and egoistic impressions (Samskaras). The functioning of the Spiritual Heart is explained in next shloka. Shirasa Namisuva, Gurudeva Pada sevaki

Parama Sadgurugalige Namanagalu... Salutations Pujaneya Prabhuji ‘’O Sadgurudeva ! You not only remove the five pain-bearing obstructions, such as ignorance, ego-ism, attachments, aversion and the clinging to life, but also endow your devotee with the requisite qualifications, such as discrimination between Self and non-Self, detachment, etc. My mind was in-capable of understanding the Truth. On the Contrary, it was full of blemishes, such as attachments! You blessed that mind to understand Truth and freed it from attachments. O Gurudeva! O Pujane-ya! Please bless me to merge in your Lotus Feet’’ Let us see what Sanatana Dharma says about one of the four Purusharthas – Dharma. Dharma – What is Dharma? Dharma is not just the duty that we have to do in our daily life. Dhar-ma is the way of living; what has to be done when you are child (balya), young (koumarya), adult (youvana) and old (vrudyapya). Sanatana Dharma has blessed the world by showing the way. It has Vedavyasa’s Brahmasutras, the ten Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. But it is difficult for a common man to understand. Only people who have studied the scriptures deeply can understand Sanatana Dharma’s expositions. Therefore, it has a number of works which are within reach of the common man. In various ways, it shows the path of goodness to the common man. Apart from deity puja, Sanatana Dharma has imparted several teachings. In a particular instance, while praying to God, it has said thus: “O Lord! I have some earnest prayers and You must fulfill these.” However in reality, these are prayers we must seek. What are these things to be prayed for? Our first prayer

Sanatana Dharma

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must be to remove our ego and grant us with humility. This is the most important prayer and this is our Dharma. We are all vulnerable to ego and that leads us to commit mistakes. Generally, we think nobody can question us. We feel our wealth, authority and influence will be sufficient to silence our critics. This ego makes us commit wrong deeds. Each of us can ask our conscience as to whether what we are doing is right or wrong. There is no better judge then our consciousness. We forget that our consciousness is the real judge everyone has to remember this. Nobody may question us in the outer world on account of our wealth and authority but the inner world it will never leave us. The consciousness will be in the form of needle pricking us 24x7. What would our answer be? Neither wealth nor authority will be with us when we are answerable to our Consciousness. We will be left with no other alterna-tive than to accept whatever punishment is meted out to us. Had we possessed the knowledge of this fact before doing the wrong act, we would not have committed it at all nor would you have to face the consequences. This is the way how Sanatana Dharma shows us the way. Our first prayer to God must be to remove ego, which is the root-cause of all wrongdoings. Let not ego be cultivated at any circumstance. We can obtain anything only when coupled with God’s grace. If we are wealthy today, it is due to God’s grace. Use the wealth for noble acts, not for wrongdoing. The Sanatana Dharma has said that “one who does not use his wealth for spiritual acts or for the welfare of the society, but for his own wellbeing only, is a sinner.” If we think our wealth is for feeding ourself, our wife and our children, we are merely eating sin. If we neither use it for spiritual purposes, nor for the welfare of the society of what use is our wealth? Our predecessors have stated thus: “The wealthy have to remember one thing – wealth is spent in three ways. Charity being the first, enjoyment being the second, and loss due to robbers, Kings or fire, being the third. While robbery causes loss, “loss due to Kings” implies Tax! Tax is levied on everything! When we sleep in the night, robbers rob. If not, a electrical short-circuit trig-gers a fire! Therefore, whatever charity we do with your own hands, is truly ours. Whatever char-ity we have performed in this birth, will give us happiness in our next birth. There is nothing else that will secure our happiness in the next birth. When we leave this mortal coil, who will come with us? We would have helped a lot of people, deeming them to be our relatives, friends, etc. But will they come with us after our death? Nobody will come. They will leave without turning back. Then what will accompany you? – Sanatana Dharma says Dharmah tam anugachchati. If we have done any charity, helped others or rendered service to God, only that will accompany us. So we should never forget this. This is the reason why a person said something very enjoyable: Greedy men, think that they can bundle-up all their wealth onto their heads and take it with them when they leave this world, without giving a penny to anybody. To such people, it is said, “O you greedy man! What you think is right. You can indeed bundle-up your wealth on your head when you are dying. But there is a way for it. Be charitable to deserving people when you are alive. This will definitely pile-up onto your head and come with you!”

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If we really want to bundle-up something when we are dying, we have to give charity to worthy people. Suppose we are going on a pilgrimage and we require some money for it. It is not possible to carry huge amount wherever we go. So what we do is deposit cash here in our bank and with-draw it in an ATM wherever we go. Sanatana Dharma also prescribes something akin to this. If we do good now, it will come in handy in our next birth. We believe that the cash we deposit here can be withdrawn from any ATM anywhere. Then why can’t we have the same belief in what the Sanatana Dharma says?! Belief and sincerity are very essential to man. In a particular in-stance, man’s surprising attributes are described thus: Wealthy people lend money in thousands, based on just a promissory note. Whether the borrower will repay or not, is known only to God. If he files an insolvency petition, the lender will get nothing in return!! But are we ready to believe when the Sanatana Dharma say that we will obtain ten times the merit in the next birth, in accord-ance to what we give away in this birth. We believe a piece of paper, but not the Sanatana Dharma! We began all this in the context of shedding ego. Being egoistic due to wealth is improper. We should use our wealth for noble causes, not for wrongdoing. Therefore, we should pray to God that we should not have ego. When we distance ourselves from ego, we will not commit mistakes. Shirasa Namisuva, Tamma Pada sevaki

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Today we are going to continue with Shwetaswara Upanishad, Chapter 2 and Shloka 7. So after realizing the Supreme Being – Parabrahma, the root of ignorance is destroyed totally. Because of that all past karmas, Karmic impressions will no longer affect. Such a realized soul may worship that Parabrahma in the form of Savitr(S). This is the meaning off this Shloka. See, all of us keep taking birth after birth after birth. To fulfill our desires, deep rooted desires. The reason for taking birth is we have desire. So what do you mean by birth? Birth means, taking up a new body, dropping the old body just like you drop your old clothes and wear new clothes or like you discard your old vehicle and buy a new vehicle. Why do you need a new vehicle? Because you have a desire to go somewhere. Similarly we keep taking birth after birth by chang-ing bodies after bodies because we have some desires, deep rooted desires and to fulfill those desires we take birth. In the process of fulfilling those desires we keep creating more and more karma. To fulfill a desire we have to act and when you act there is a result of action called Kar-ma phala that comes to you and that karma phala leaves an impression in the mind. That impres-sion can be good or bad and both these good and bad impressions lead to further series of ac-tions. So this is an endless chain of series of action and reaction which goes on and on and on. So what is the solution for this? Not to have desire is the solution? It does not work that way. Not to have desire is not a solution. To fulfill all the desires, is that a solution? No, that also doesn’t seem to be a solution, because the moment you fulfill one desire, the next desire sprouts up. To fulfill the next desire, again you have to act and there will be good/bad impressions associated with that and then there is one more karmic impression created with that. So, you can never complete or fulfill your desires by trying to fulfill them. The moment you fulfill a desire you get a tempo-rary relief. You think, “I will be very happy if I get a job”. You get the job, the happiness is tem-porary. The next moment he will start worrying, “When will I get my promotion/hike?” Till he gets promotion there will be stress and when somebody else gets the promotion there will be jealousy. So fulfillment of desires itself is never ending process. It is similar to pouring ghee into the fire. The more you add ghee, the more the fire is and the more you fulfill the desires, the more the Desires sprout. So, stopping or dropping the desires is not a solution. Fulfilling the desires is also not a solution. Then what is the solution? People will have a big desire, the big desire is to realize the Self. To realize the God, the Brah-man. This is actually when somebody who has come to an understanding that fulfilling of the de-sires will not solve the problem, the problem is not in fulfilling, but the problem is in the person who is seeking for the fulfillment of desires. I am seeking something outside of me because I have a deficiency in me. Inherently I have a shortcoming in me. Deep inside I am unfulfilled. If the short-coming, deficiency deep inside is not corrected, the problem will not get solved. It is like a basket without a bottom, whatever you put into the basket will fall down. Similarly whatever you try to fulfill will not satisfy you because there is a bottomless pit inside you. That bottomless pit inside is a feeling of inadequacy. I feel inadequate. The inadequacy can manifest in terms of money or in

Swetaswara Upanishad Bhavadhare

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terms of youth or body or health or knowledge etc. In some way or other we feel the inadequa-cy. The problem we have is with Self identity. Now if this Self identity is not addressed properly, the desires will never get fulfilled. This is an eternal problem. So how do you address the Self identity? Can we address the Self identity by changing a job, by acquiring money, wealth etc.? Everything external to you, you try to do. But pain is inside. How can you give a solution from outside to the pain which is inside? The pain is deep inside you that, there is a deep shortcoming in me, whatever might be the shortcoming. Everybody looks happy, ‘Oh! That person looks very happy; I am the only one who is unhappy’. But what you don’t know is that everybody is suffering from the same problem. It is like a genetic disorder or rather it is a congenital disorder as per the doctors. By birth you get the disorder and that disorder is wrong Self identity. When you were a small child and when your parents came and stood in front of you, you were so small and they looked like giants. For a small child everybody looks big. So that small child starts feeling, ‘They are so big and I am so small’. So, from that age itself the comparison starts. So the comparison goes on and on, ‘That person has money, I do not have. This person is so spiritually evolved and I am not.’ So there is no ending for comparison. The problem is the pain inside because of the Self identity. Now that Self identity has to be corrected. Now, Self identity should be corrected from the external things like, ‘Oh how nice you look, how good you look!!” How long can you look so good every day? Can you do that? Sooner or later wrinkles start. So whatever you try to hold on as Self identity will not remain. Everything you try to hold on will collapse. Be it relationships, money, position, power, name, fame or children. You cannot hold onto to none of them. So which means, it leaves a permanent scare inside you, a deep rooted scare and this scare is what causes repeated birth and death. Somewhere you are trying to fulfill that. So what is the solution for this? Your Self identity has to be corrected. If that can be corrected properly, then there can be solution. What is the Self identity correction? You have to know your real Self. Right now you all know is nothing but your pseudo self, your non real Self. You call yourself as a boy or a girl be-cause of the body you have. Body is a vehicle, not you. You call yourself as wife or husband, but that name wife/husband is a relationship, not you. Why are you confusing yourself with those relationships and names? Why are you confusing yourself with the body? When you drop all these false identities that you have, then whatever real identity remains, that is the pure identity which has no birth or death. And that identity is called Parabrahma, Paramatma. That identity is called God, Supreme Reality. And that Supreme Reality is none other than you. So, why don’t I realize that? It is because of the confusion created by the mind. Mind creates the confusion be-cause of mixing you real Self with the false identity. So that has to be corrected thru the process of Jnana , knowledge and meditation. One who does that, he or she becomes free from all Kar-mic impressions, all good and bad Karmic impressions. Actually, there is nothing called good and bad for Karmic impressions. All Karmic impressions get dropped for such a person. He will be purified by realizing the identity with the inner self with the Supreme Reality, Parabrahma. And how do you do that?

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By worshipping the Savitr, the Savitr here is the Sun, Suryanarayana..

ॐ भभूु/वः �वः

त�स1वतवु/रे2य ं।

भग4 देव�य धीम7ह

9धयो यो नः :चोदयात ्॥ So in earlier days, the Sun was the direct representation of God, the Supreme Reality for the ancient people. They did not worship the idols like what we do today. They used natural idols; the Sun represents the natural idol. By worshipping the Sun, Savitr means Prasavita – one who has given birth to the Universe, world. How do you have to worship the Savitr, the Sun? You are worshipping the Sun, but in reality you are worshipping the Consciousness behind the Sun, Na-rayana. And the Consciousness behind the Sun is also there in you as Savitr. Savitr means Prasavita, Savita. Savita means a lady’s name, it is a feminine name. Sun is called savita, be-cause Sun gives birth to the world, similarly the Consciousness in you, Parabrahma in you gives birth to three worlds in you - the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states. And the Conscious-ness is there in you as Sakshi. Realize that Sakshi, realize that Parabrahma in you and become free. That is the meaning of this Shloka. Q: In Gita, Krishna said He taught Self knowledge to the Sun before teaching to Arjuna. What did he mean by that? See, everything in the Universe is Consciousness. In the galaxies, Sun is the largest Conscious-ness. But Parabrahma is beyond the Consciousness. In the sense, Parabrahma, the Supreme Reality is beyond the Consciousness. You have a Consciousness, I have a Consciousness, and sim-ilarly Sun also has an individual Consciousness. So, Parabrahma after creating the Universe, he transferred the knowledge to the Sun, Suryanarayana. See, everything in the Universe whatev-er we have and whatever you know, that Knowledge has to come from the Sun, without the Pranic energy coming from the Sun, you cannot have the wisdom. Ultimately who understands and who knows is the Pranic energy only, the source of that Pranic Energy is Sun and the Knowledge for the Sun came from the Parabrahma. To be continued..

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Shaucha – Purifying apparent impurity

Chapter 2 Sutra 40 (2.40) 12th October, 2012 My humble pranams to all Atmajyothis, the Divine Lights of the Self. Today we are going to fur-ther contemplate on Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.40, Shaucha.

शौचात ्�वा<गजगु=ुसा परैरससंग/ः ॥४०॥ Śaucāt svānga-jugupsā parairasamsargaha ||40|| Purity is a subjective mental view point, what is pure can be considered as impure and what is impure can be considered as pure depending on our point of view. Purity or impurity is not in external objects, but it is in our thought process. Today’s society is body oriented; we do not un-derstand the real Self, the consciousness which is eternally pure. We are pure beings; deep in-side us is the Self which is ever pure and cannot be contaminated. Look at the five elements of nature - space, air, water, fire and earth. Water can be contami-nated, earth can smell filthy but fire cannot be contaminated. Fire is always pure and whatever impurity is put into the fire, it just burns. Air may have odour, but air is pure, space cannot be made impure. As we move from grosser to subtle, from earth to space, it becomes impossible to call anything impure. Nature is pure, when such is the case, how can we think of ourselves as im-pure? Many people, especially women, suffer from the concept of impurity of the body may be be-cause of an incident from the past. We may have a concept of impurity, which is body based, but that is not real. What is real is the ever pure inner Self - Consciousness, Atma, Sakshi or the Witness in us. No impurity can touch it, so we have to contemplate, think and meditate that deep inside is pure Consciousness and “I am pure consciousness”. The body may have impurity in a physical sense, but it is a temple of the Divine. When the kingdom of God is in our heart, the body cannot be impure. We have to learn how to respect our body, how to take care of our body, so that this temple of God is kept clean and use our body to realize the Divine Consciousness inside us. That is what Atma Darshana Yoga is all about – an inward journey into the consciousness. To realize the purity inside us we do not have to become pure, we are already pure. The apparent impurity stems from our ignorance and it can be elimi-nated through practice of Yoga and Jnana.

Patanjali Yoga Sutras

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Most people believe happiness can be found only if they could change their lives to match that of another person. For some it’s in a specific geographical location, for some it’s in a period in history, they say ‘oh, people were so happy in those days, the rishis, the monks, no traffic, no job, no wife, if only I could be in their time!’. For many it’s in the future, I’ll be happy after this, I’ll be happy after that. The reality is most of us are unhappy! We get a glimpse of happiness now and then but it isn’t always there. So what is always there? Well, what is always there, is fear. And because of this fear we apply so many conditions to our happiness.

Spirituality is about transcending fear, becoming free from it, from fear, anger, and illusion! But to remove these, you need to bring in something else. For example, let’s say there is a glass of water with a drop of ink in it, now, to remove the ink you need to pour more fresh water and eventually the water will be pure. Similarly to free our mind from it’s limitations and illusions, you need to pour something divine in it. But how do you know what is pure water? So people start pouring scriptures, lectures, they start reading all kinds of spiritual books, listening to all kinds of talks, visit-ing temples, ashrams etc. Won’t these help? Well they most certainly do help, they make you feel pure, they make you feel peaceful, but they don’t solve the problem. The problem is solved only when the words of wisdom from a living enlightened master is poured onto your mind. The true words of wisdom break and burn all concepts of the mind, concept of pure & impure, concept of I and the other, concept of liberation and bondage, all concepts. To be free from all concepts is to be really peaceful and blissful. When you are free from your concepts you do attach any condi-tion to happiness. Just as they say God and Guru is beyond all words, similarly, the experience of having a Sadguru is beyond all words.

A man went to an enlightened master ( Sadguru ), he cried, ‘I am a failure guruji, I have lost every-thing, I have no money, I have no house, I am not smart, I have no skills, I have nothing!’

The master laughed uncontrollably and said ‘Only you can be truly happy! All of us are stuck with something or the other, Even I have something…students!

In conversations with a true master you will see how the master doesn’t acknowledge the presence or absence of anything as a hurdle to your happiness. What’s anything got to do with you being happy? Happiness is you nature. You are of the nature of infinite happiness, and this is what the master reminds time and again. This is why jesus can free sinners, this is why Buddha can transform a murderer like Angulimala. They look at you with the eyes of truth, they see you and interact with you for what you truly are, not for what you think you are or what the world thinks you are.

You can find happiness only after the Guru has found you. Life, which was a search for happiness, becomes an expression of happiness because of wisdom.

Where can you find Happiness?

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मGये पCरणत शरHच��-वदना ।धनबुा/णान ् पाश ं सृ॒ Lणम1प

दधाना करतलःैFपरु�ता दा�तां नः परुम9थत ुराहो-पNु1षका ॥

(Seeing the Goddess in person, Winning over enemies)

Mother Tripurasundari, the pride (I-sense) of Shiva, the de-stroyer of the three cities, vouchsafe before us- the Mother with her slender waist girdled with jingling mini bells, with her frame slightly bent in the middle by the weight of her breasts that bulge like the frontal globes of the forehead of

a young elephant, with her face resembling the autumnal moon, and with her hand sporting a bow, arrows, a noose and a goad! The Devi is called the Aho-Purushika, the pride or I-sense of Shiva. She who has the wonderful form, of the ego of the God who burnt the three cities should please come and appear before us. Because Shiva as prakasha (pure luminosity) becomes aware of himself as ‘I’ when He is reflected in His Vimarsha-shakti (the objective counterpart). That Vimarsha-shakti which makes Shiva con-scious of Himself as ‘I’, is Devi. The form described here is said to be what shines in the Manipura-chakra of a sadhaka when he contemplates on his identity with the Devi. Tripurasundari – the one who shines as shakshi in all the three cities. Pura means place; Tri means three. Tripura means the three states of a human being. Jagrath; swapna; sushupthi. The one who burns the ego in all the three states of a human being and makes him aware of all the three states is Devi. When the ego is burnt in all the three states what shines out is the pure Conscious-ness Shiva; this is Shiva who becomes Conscious of Himself when Devi burns the ego and igno-rance in sadhakas. Jagrath - In the waking state the objects like sound, touch etc are many and they are different from each other. The Consciousness establishing their differences, being one, is not different (like the objects). We can take the example of Snake and the Rope. Rope is the Reality - The Consciousness. Snake is super imposed on the rope, in reality the snake is not there. But I am able to see the snake be-cause of the rope. If the rope was not there, I wouldn't have seen the snake. So, the rope is neces-sary for the existence of the snake. Just as it is said that He, The God is the cause of everything. What is the cause for me to see the Snake, which is unreal? The answer is Consciousness. Without Consciousness I would not have been able to see the Snake! So, the Consciousness and the Cause

Soundarya Lahari - Verse 7

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are inseparable and the snake and rope are inseparable. But as long as you see the snake, you cannot see the rope. As long as we are aware of the world, we cannot see the God. When the Consciousness and the objects, which are super imposed on Consciousness, become one, then there is no difference between Consciousness, knowledge of the object, and the object. The object, which is superimposed on Consciousness merge with the knowledge of the object, and the knowledge of the object merge in Consciousness and there is Only Pure Consciousness. Everything that we see in the waking state, the objects are different, the Consciousness is one and the same. The difference is not in the Consciousness or the knowledge, but the difference is in the objects. Swapna - What about dream state? Similar is true with reference to dream state; although the objects seem to be stable in waking state and not in dream, this difference between the dream and waking state seems to be true, but the Consciousness is ONE and does not differ in two states. The same applies in the dream state also; there are many different objects in our dream state. The objects are different, the knowledge is different from the objects, but the knowledge or the Consciousness itself is one and the same. In dream the objects what we see don't last, they disappear when we wake up. The objects in the waking also disappear when we go to sleep! The difference between the objects in the dream state and waking state is, the objects in the waking state seems to lasts longer, but the objects in the dream state disappear as soon as we wake up. The objects in both states can be differentiated but the Consciousness of both the state are one and are not differentiated, the Consciousness which make perception in dream possible, and the Consciousness which make perception possible in the waking state is one and the same. This shows that the Consciousness in all the three states waking, dream and deep sleep is not dif-ferent. The states may be different, the objects may be different, the objects can be distinguished from one another, but the Consciousness itself is one and the same Witnessing in all the three states. Sushupthi - What about deep sleep state? It is same truth in deep sleep state. For a person awakened from deep sleep, the ignorance of deep sleep is known in the form of memory. This memory is that of the object (ignorance) experienced during deep sleep. Therefore, the Con-sciousness alone illumined the ignorance in deep sleep.'' What is the ignorance in deep sleep state? Ignorance is the absence of knowledge. Absence of knowledge is experienced and is stored in memory. This memory or the experience of ignorance is illumined by the Consciousness, which is in unmanifest form in deep sleep state.

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In deep sleep the objects are stored in memory and one can experience the absence of knowledge when one comes out of deep sleep. One can remember the ignorance of deep sleep state. The objects in dream state disappears when one wakes up, the objects in the waking state disappears when one goes to sleep, but the objects in deep sleep get stored in memory which one experiences only when one comes out of deep sleep state. The objects appear and disappear in waking and dream state, but the objects get stored in deep sleep state, which can be experienced when the Consciousness illuminates the objects stored. In deep sleep state, one can never experience anything. Absence of everything in the deep sleep state can be experienced when the Consciousness illuminates when one comes out of deep sleep state. So, the Consciousness illuminates the experiences of the waking state, the dream state and the absence of everything in the deep sleep state. The experiences may be different in waking and dream state and nothing can be experienced in deep sleep state, but, the Consciousness is the Same in all the three state, making one experience in waking state, making one to feel that he is experiencing in dream state, and deep silence in deep sleep state and experience the memory of deep sleep when one comes out of deep sleep state. The Consciousness is just witnessing in all the three states. The Consciousness remains the same in all the three states, the objects may be different, the states of mind may change, but the Consciousness remains the same. We can recognize only one state. When we are awake, that is total reality, when we are dream-ing, that is total reality, when we are in deep sleep that is total reality. In the three states the re-ality is Pure Consciousness! But we are not aware of it. The Consciousness in the dream state, the Consciousness in the waking state, the Consciousness in the deep sleep state are not different from each other, they are all same. So, the one who shines as the Sakshi in all the three cities or states is called Tripura Sundari. Pura means place; Tri means three. Tripura means the three states of a human being Identity - May 'I' ever be present, who is this 'I'? It is we, we are that Atman. When we give up the individuality, that is like the waves in the ocean and become one with the ocean, we are At-man. Self means 'I' ness or 'My' ness. There started ' I am '. Every interaction with the world we start with 'I am'. Who are you? ‘I am so and so'. What are you doing? 'I am doing this'. We iden-tify our self with the material existence and start saying 'I am so and so', I am wife, I am mother and so on. This is 'mine', belongs to 'me' etc. As Gurudeva showed us how we identify our selves with the relativity, In childhood we are daughters and sons of our parents, at young age we are wife and husband of so and so, in old age we are mother and father of so and so, we identify with the names given by our parents and say I am XYZ, after marriage we add our husband's name and extend our identity by extending

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the name. In old age we say we are such a person's mother or father. With parents we are children, with husband we are wife, with children we are mother or father. What are we without them? Without parents we are not children, without husband we are not wife, without children we are not mother or father. Than who are we?? Or who am 'I'. Body, Mind and intellect are the characteristic of 'I'. When we identify with the body mind & in-tellect, the conditions apply (limitations). This is presence of ' I ' (ego). For Atman - There is noth-ing, neither characteristic nor condition, nor association with body mind & intellect. I.e., the ab-sence of these qualities or without separateness is Atman. The presence of these qualities is 'I' ness, this is the only difference between Individual (ego) and The Atman (without separateness). When a sadhaka contemplates on his identity with the Devi he will be without separateness.

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Prabhuji’s articles in Bodhi Vruksha

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Zen Koans

A Mother's Advice

Jiun, a Shingon master, was a well-known Sanskrit scholar of the Tokugawa era. When he was young he used to deliver lectures to his brother students. His mother heard about this and wrote him a letter: "Son, I do not think you became a devotee of the Buddha because you desired to turn into a walking dictionary for others. There is no end to information and commentation, glory and honor. I wish you would stop this lecture business. Shut yourself up in a little temple in a remote part of the mountain. Devote your time to meditation and in this way attain true realization." Learning To Be Silent

The pupils of the Tendai school used to study meditation before Zen entered Japan. Four of them who were intimate friends promised one another to observe seven days of silence. On the first day all were silent. Their meditation had begun auspiciously, but when night came and the oil lamps were growing dim one of the pupils could not help exclaiming to a servant: "Fix those lamps." The second pupil was surprised to hear the first one talk. "We are not supposed to say a word," he remarked. "You two are stupid. Why did you talk?" asked the third. "I am the only one who has not talked," concluded the fourth pupil.

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Yogasana STEP – 1 : Introduction of Asana

• Name: Sethubandhasana • Meaning: Bridge pose • Justification: In final posture body like a

bridge • Type: Supine • Category: Culturative • Stithi: Supine • Vishranti: Shavasana • Counts: 4 • Complimentary: Navasana

For details please contact Yogacharya Prasad at [email protected]

STEP – 2 : Demonstration

• Silent Demonstration: Final posture as shown in figure • Demonstration with counts, explanation and breathing: • Come to Stithi (Supine) • Ekam: Inhale and bend your knees and bring it near buttocks • Dve: Exhale and raise middle portion of body; move your feet away from body • Hold the posture for 1 minute with normal breathing • Trini: Exhale and drop down your middle portion • Chatvari: Inhale and straighten your legs, and put it on ground • Come to shavasana and relax.

STEP – 4 : SUBTLE points

• Raise your hips as much as possible • Hands should be on ground • Move your feet little by little while moving away from body • Perform the complementary asana.

STEP – 3 : Benefits and Limitations

• Good for hips, pelvis, back and neck

• Good for hamstring, back muscles

• Stimulates thyroid gland

• Helps in reducing menopause symptoms

• Good for hypertension

Specific Limitations:

• People with neck problem should avoid this posture

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Next month Dec

2013 we are

celebrating

Christmas. Please

send your

contributions

based on the same


Participate

Weekly satsangs: At Prabhuji s place over the weekends and at Ananda Hall, Gandhi Bazaar (open to all) on Thurs-days. Satsangs for festivals are organized at a convenient date/time.

There are various forums for you to participate and contribute.

Readers Reviews: If you have valuable feedback for Divya Jyothi please share them with us. You can email them to [email protected] and [email protected]

Spiritual Insights: You can contribute short articles on your spiritual experience, your love for Sadguru (prose/poems), poetry, etc.

Articles: These can include articles on various spiritual topics like Upanishads, Vedanta, Yoga, Trivia, Quiz, Puzzles, Yajna Activities, or your own original ones. Please encourage children to contribute. For contributing in Kannada, please visit google.co.in/transliterate to transliterate your article from English to Kannada font. Copy paste the Kannada font in the body of Gmail and mail the same.

Transcribe: Well be studying the 10 important Upanishads over the next year. Prabhuji’s teachings will be translated to various languages. Atmajyothis have volunteered. If interested, please get in touch with Prabhuji

Spiritual Masters: Articles of teachings on various spiritual masters. All contributions can be mailed to [email protected] and [email protected]

Come Online:

• Atmajyothi Satsang is online at www.atmajyothi-satsang.org.

• Atmajyothi Satsang is also on Facebook and Prabhuji can be

reached at [email protected] • Listen to Prabhuji's live and recorded talks on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/user/atmajyothisatsang

Page 3: Pictures and short reports of Satsang activities

divya jyothi jan 2014

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