Things we need or not need

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Man can be happy with much less than he seems to think essential. When some article is with you for some little time, you feel it is indispensable and you do not know how to live without it. Like the silkworm, you weave a cocoon for yourself, out of your fancy. Do not allow costly habits to grow, costly from the monetary as well as the spiritual point of view. Watch your likes and dislikes with a vigilant ye and discard anything that threatens to encumber your path.

- BABA

True Sadhana

There are three stages of Sadhana (spiritual practice). They are concentration, contemplation and meditation. When you fix your gaze on one form, it is concentration. When this form physically moves away after sometime, you still look at this form with your mental eye. That is contemplation. As a result of this exercise, this form gets imprinted in your heart permanently. That is meditation. If you go on meditating thus, the form remains in your heart permanently. You should not confine your spiritual practices to concentration and contemplation only.

While it is true that these are the first steps in your spiritual practices, you must progress further. You must transform concentration to contemplation and later into meditation. When you transform thus, you will continue to visualize the form of God at all times. The ancient Rishis (seers) adopted this form of meditation. That is why God manifested before them whenever they wished, talked to them and fulfilled their desires.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Bakthi is needed for Salvation

Something for us to think about:

"As you know, hatha yoga is a process of purifying one's body so that we prepare it for dhyana. In ashtanga yoga 'asana' is defined as 'yoga yogya sarira sthiti' - body posture which enables meditation. Sri Krishna in Gita establishes the following ladder for salvation:

1. fundamental atma gnana - that the atma is different and superior to the body.

2. Practice of karma yoga ( one of the many constituents of karma yoga is pranayama - which formed the basis of the later hatha yoga)

3. Chitta suddhi - blemishes in our mind gets cleaned

4. Practice of gyana yoga

5. Atma sakshatkara - Realise the true nature of atma ie the atman is essentially full of gyana and bliss, and it is in absolute servitude to paramatma. But it is bound by it's karma in this samsara. It has to get released of this bondage and the only way is bhakti towards paramatma

6. Practice of karma and gyana yoga removes anaadi kaala paapa which are obstacles to start bhakti yoga (they are bhakti arambha virodhi paapa)

7. Then we begin bhakti yoga, which is so sweet as our body speech and mind are absorbed in Sri Krishna

8. Continued practice of bhakti yoga removes all other sins that are obstacles in attaining salvation.

9. When our prarabdha karmas get exhausted, we renounce this body for ever and reach His lotus feet.

So gyana matures to be bhakti (bhakti:ca gyana visesha:). Bhakti is defined as - snehapurvam anudhyanam bhaktiriti abhidheeyate - prolonged mediation embellished by love is bhakti. Sri Krishna says that there is no means other than the path of devotion to know, see and reach Him. Quote " bhaktya tu ananyaya sakya: ahamedvam vidhorjuna - gyatum drashtum ca tatvena praveshtum ca parantapa". Moreover Sri Krishna says in the last verse of 6th chapter

"yoginaamapi sarvesham madgatena antaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yukta tamo mata:"

Bhakti yoga, where the devotee's mind is absorbed in Me, is superior to all other yogas. One who earnestly practices bhakti yoga is intimate to Me.

The last three angas of ashtanga yoga - dhaarana ( subhasraye manasa: pratishthapanam - focus the mind on the divine form of Bhagavan): dhyana and samadhi ( isvara vasikaranam Or Darsanam / sakshatkaram)-

all these three constituents, are about paramatma.

From all the above it is very clear, that asana or pranayama or hatha yoga are at at a much lower level. These are a few of the many procedures that purify and prepare us for meditation and devotion. Eventually, bhakti is the only means for salvation"- Sri Vellukuddi Krishnan

The Gita

All we die-hard hatha Yogis- the Lord has clearly mentioned in the Gita that He values devotion as the best means to reach Him. He also clearly says - think of me every moment. We dont need clearer instructions than this. We dont need to complicate our lives by wasting our energies on awareness and its implications.

Purification of the heart

The aim of all sadhanas is to purify the heart. This does not require hatha yoga. We need to

be simple, frank and good people and kind. Without achieving this, all else is a waste.

We practice daily- so what?

We practice asanas daily- so what? We are perfect in the asana inside and outside- so what?

Have we changed inside- our thoughts? our feelings? Let us reflect on these which are far more relevant and important.