Monday, August 26, 2024

WELCOME TO THE JANMASHTAMI ISSUE OF E-SANAI


 by Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Welcome to the Janmashtami issue of our e-zine. In this issue, I will present a selected portion of a speech delivered by our Master, wherein He has stressed the importance of regular and repeated Satsang.

The Master has likened a new dress to our Samsar. To take care of our dress, we must regularly laundry it and iron it; otherwise, it gets dirty through the accumulation of dust and impurities that it’s exposed to. He has likened the Samsar to a house of impurities. If one lives in this Samsar, he will be exposed to these impurities. The impurities are Ahamkara and Abhimaan. These impurities constantly rise in our minds and degrade our progress toward spiritual perfection.

The Master points out that He regularly practices reminding Himself of His real identity (Brahman/Atman) so that there is no scope for Ahamkar and Abhiman to rise in His mind. On many occasions, He has urged us to spend some time “relaxing” every day and reminding ourselves of our Reality.

He further goes on to state that we should be consistently remembering the Lord (and take His name) even in the most difficult of situations in life.  Life’s difficulties are simply vehicles for us to learn about our own Reality (according to Him, bedona/pain has been the real vedas that have allowed Him to realize the I-Reality). He points out that the common man often sadly curses his luck when encountering a situation in life which he doesn’t like. This cursing further causes his own degradation. These actions and thoughts come back to haunt him in future lives. We therefore shape our future lives by our current thoughts and actions. This is called destiny or fate.

So, can we all resolve to follow our Master’s words and try to remember the I-Reality in the most difficult of situations? To not encourage the I/mine thoughts that come to our mind everyday, so that we can progress on the practical path that the Master has shown us?

Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur!

 

What goes around comes around


 by Smt. Mandira Lahiri

Positive thoughts attract positivity. Negative thoughts attract negativity. We all are aware of this divine law. It is easy to say, but difficult to practice it in our lives. To practice what we preach is very difficult— so we have to pray to the Divine to help us to do the same. The benefits are immense even if we are able to follow it, partly. 

Ravi (one of our acquaintances) was going through a rough patch at his workplace. The CEO of the company had appointed Sunil (a new entrant) as Ravi’s new boss. Many more modifications were made which caused a lot of upheaval in Ravi’s mind — so much so that he thought of quitting his job. So, one day when his wife came to know about her husband’s anguish, she read a few lines from her Guru’s book to him. The gist of those lines was as follows — Just accept the new challenges in life, do not fight them, embrace them. Be very calm, patient, accommodating and positive to the changes in your journey of life.  After absorbing the main idea of those lines, Ravi decided to work on it. From the next day onward, Ravi kept all negativity at bay and started going to office with new a zeal and enthusiasm. He helped his new boss by providing everything that he needed. He adapted and adjusted to the new ways of working. Very soon he developed a good rapport with his new boss through his due diligence and cooperation. In no time he became the apple of Sunil’s eye. In six months, Sunil went to the CEO and told him that there was nothing which he could do and Ravi could not do. In fact, Ravi could do it much better. The projects done in the last six months were mostly done by Ravi. He requested the CEO to let him go as he had become redundant and instead promote Ravi to his level which he very well deserved.

Ravi was not only promoted, but also became the new CEO of his company upon the present CEO’S retirement.

So, we see a little bit of correct understanding brought about this wonderful change.

Our new neighbors with two small kids moved in to the flat above ours. The kids would keep jumping and running around all day long. The thumping sound would annoy us no end. We would often go upstairs and keep requesting them to be a little considerate as we were senior citizens who stay at home most of the time. However being the children that they were, they would stay quiet for some time, then resume their running, jumping and playing.  This created a lot of tension between the two families. One day the lady of the house sent us a beautiful message — explaining that they had a small kid staying above their flat. So, her family too had to put up with all the noise created by this child living upstairs. However, they were perfectly okay with it. This message from her changed my whole outlook. Our relations with each other improved. My power for tolerance increased. We don’t get irritated anymore. We are there for each other through thick and thin. The children have also grown up now; so the noise levels created by them have also reduced. We get such positive vibes from the family that we don’t want them to shift ever.

So, what did the trick? It was just the way I was thinking; correcting the course of my thoughts, changed the whole scenario.

Long time ago in our neighborhood, there was this house where the children would ill-treat their old parents. Seeing this would disturb me quite a bit. My mother-in-law explained it to me one day — she told me that the parents had not treated their parents well, nature was returning the same thing to them. She told me not to get perturbed, instead pray to God so that good sense prevails.

When I was a little girl, I went to see Rajesh Khanna’s “Bawarchi” with my parents. We all were very impressed by the film. Rajesh Khanna comes into a house as a cook. The house was in a state of chaos. The members of the house were at loggerheads with each other. It was a complete ‘Ashanti Niketan’. Rajesh Khanna gradually brought about a positive change in the household with his love, care, attention, patience and presence of mind. Again, there was love and warmth among the members of the family. There was peace. A complete turnaround took place just because of positivity.

How magical are the ways of the universe! Goodness begets goodness — negativity attracts negativity and positivity attracts positivity!  The principles of this world phenomenon are truly amazinHere are excerpts from ‘The Speaking Tree’ dated 19/4/23 written by James Anderson — “Everything we harbor eventually exudes outside. It is a law of nature. We don’t just absorb and contain, we always manifest. We are social beings. What we emit has a profound effect on the surrounding atmosphere. This necessitates continual observation. If we invite muck into our being, it will ooze outside: the choice is ours and within our control. We have to be conscious and constantly align to the Truth. Our atmosphere is shaped by the consciousness inside. This is valid for individuals and communities. The character of a society is made up of its sum of contagious vibrations. Communities carry a particular vibration, and each individual tends to approximately determine and reflect it.”Guru’s words help us to adhere to positivity, which is otherwise impossible.

Sadguru Sri Sri Babathakur’s words from the book ‘Science of Oneness’ — ‘Science of Oneness’ is immensely needed for the present-day crisis of human society. The rule of Divine–Self is that those who listen to this ‘Science of Oneness’ will be really blessed and fortunate enough to have inspiration and enlightenment from some of the words of Divine Essence imparted by Omniscient Guru according to their readiness, efficiency and agreeable constitution. Nobody will be deprived or exempted from the benefits of this ‘Science of Oneness’. This is the eternal seed of God. So, your human nature will be transformed into Divine Nature. In that Divine Nature, you will be able to realize your True Nature and that of all. There is no conflict, no difference, no misunderstanding. With the help of ‘Science of Oneness’ you can embrace all as One. Then and then only a true ‘Satya Yuga’ will appear among you. It depends on your right understanding. Otherwise, it is only an information that you gather from the scriptures or hearing someone else. It is within your True Nature and within your spiritual understanding. That can again be revealed by the ‘Light of Oneness’ which is your True Nature to be cultured cultivated by all means.’

 

Spiritual Practices for the realization of Purushottama


The following is a transliteration of excerpts from pages 115-116 of Brahma-Atma Vidya Vol 2 by Shri Ramen Basu

 

 

 

 

Spiritual practices for the realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Absolute (Purushottama):

1)      The Pure I — the Supreme Personality of Godhead Absolute Itself (Supreme Person) is in all respects eternally perfect, ever present and ever revealing in the bosom of the Supreme Self, i.e. in the bosom of Brahman, the Self-God, the Real I.

2)      All kinds of manifestation of the I of I-Reality is verily cent-per-cent I. This I has no exception. One undivided Absolute I has become all, is in all, all verily exist in I, verily all are I and I Itself is all. I is all-perfect in the bosom of I, for I and by I. This Real I of the Absolute Consciousness is the I of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Absolute (Supreme Person, Purushottama), the Greatest I. It verily is all-perfect and inseparable.

3)      I is Saccidananda Itself, the Supreme Person (Purushottama). All are fulfilled by Me. All are born of Me, all are established in Me, again all are getting dissolved in Me. This I Itself is Saccidananda Brahman Atman, One without a second Self.

4)      No one is inferior to Me, no one is equal to Me and no one is superior to Me. This is the identity of the eternally non-dual Self-God, the Real I, the Absolute Self— the Supreme Personality of Godhead Absolute (Supreme Person, Purushottama).

5)      Get your-self in the Consciousness of the Supreme Person. Merge in the ocean instead of being in a pit or ditch or a drain. Come in the ocean of Saccidananda because that verily is your identity. There is no return from there.

6)      The experience of the Supreme Person is filled with Graceful Love. The spiritual practice for the realization of Graceful Love is based on the Supreme Person i.e., it is executed based on the all-pervading, all-preserving, partless and Pure Conscious Existence.

7)      What is unity and identity with the Supreme Person? The practice which has perfectly synthesized all modifications of the inner sense organ. All modifications mean all ideas, emotions, feelings, sentiments, none are exempt. The Supreme Person will reveal when all modifications are immersed in the Consciousness. That means— ‘I Is’, not ‘I am’.

8)      At the root of all kinds of manifestation is that Absolute Conscious I Itself, or the Supreme Person, Purushottama. The central word of Sri Gita is Purushottama, the Supreme Person— the last word of chapter 15— with all ideas and emotions, worship this Purushottama, i.e. all possible ideas are nothing but evolving expressions of the Eternal I Absolute. Very rare is that Realizer who has realized His I as the I of all. ‘Ekoham Sarvamiti Sa Mahatma Sudurlabha’. ‘Ekoham’— Absolute I alone is Reality. This is the highest realization.

9)      Under all circumstances, to accept, adjust and accommodate everything within and without in the Self-Consciousness is ‘Mene Maniye Chola’. This verily is the worship of the Purushottama (Supreme Person) in perfect synthesis of the modifications of the inner organ. The worship of the Supreme Person is the ecstasy of Love of non-duality. This verily is known as Jnan-Vijnan Yoga i.e., identification with the united principle of Supreme Knowledge (manifested) and Supreme Wisdom (unmanifested). The perfection of this Yoga is fourfold— 1) I am all, 2) Self of all I am, 3) Without all I is and 4) Beyond all I is.

10)  By ‘Sarvoham’ is meant ‘all I am’. ‘Sarvatmakoham’ means ‘I am in all’. ‘Sarvashunyoham’ means ‘attributeless Iis’. ‘Sarvatitoham’ means‘beyond attributeful and attributeless I is’ or ‘equanimous state of attributeless and attributeful— Nirgunaguni’.

11)  ‘I am all’ is indicative of Virat in the form of the universe, the outer Purusha (outer Being). ‘I am in all’ is indicative of inner Purusha Hiranyagarbha (inner Being). First two are the attributeful idea of I.The third step— ‘I without all’is the idea of attributeless. That verily is the Central Being, in other words Hridaya Purusha (Being in the Heart of all). The fourth I, the ‘I beyond all’ is the ‘Transcendental I’. That is the attributeless- attributeful or the perfect identity of the inner Purusha and outer Purusha, the Purushottama. Beyond the Transcendental state is the trans-Transcendental state of Purushottama. That is supremely hidden and is full of mystery. Hence, this topic is ineffable.

Submitted at the lotus feet of Sri Sri Babathakur