Tag Archives: Atmasakshatkar Diwas

The Ten Guidelines for God-realization


 

(Excerpts from Satsang of Pujya Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu)

One, who seeks to realize God, should assimilate these five rules in his day to day life.

1. One should cleanse one’s mind of the filth of bias and try to remain impartial. If one has to judge, one should be a little liberal towards others while being just towards one’s kin. This will safeguard the purity of one’s heart. Favouring one’s own kin makes the task of God-realization more difficult. In order to maintain peace and harmony in the family, one should avoid partiality and be fair towards all. This is the way to properly manage the affairs of the day to day life. Such impartial and affectionate conduct helps one attain success both in the material as well as in the spiritual world.

2. Keep your heart pure and innocent like that of a child. The truth is innate; falsehood is artificial and requires so many devious means to conceal it, and still it finally comes out in the open. Therefore, try to keep your heart like that of an innocent child. Don’t be too clever. Avoid artificiality. When guests arrive, offer them with affection even if it is only a glass of water. They will appreciate your straightforwardness. If you try to impress them with pomp and ostentation, your honesty and spontaneity will thereby be suppressed. You should neither try to impress anyone nor should you be unduly impressed by others. Deal with others knowing that both you and him are but manifestations of God. Your conduct then will become innocent like that of a child.

3. One should not entertain feelings of superiority or inferiority towards others on the basis of Varna, Ashram, caste or creed.

4. One should not waste one’s time and energy in futile disputes. Speak as little as possible in words full of pith and substance and keep away from controversial debates.

5. Steer clear of all activities, thoughts, detractors, friends and company, which hinder you from devotion to the Lord and from attaining divine enjoyment, divine bliss, divine capabilities and repose in the true Self.

If one observes these five rules of conduct in life, one can make good progress on the path to God-realization. So, these are the rules of worldly conduct. Then, there are 5 rules of spiritual conduct also, which an aspirant ought to observe for God-realization.

These rules are:

1) Be compassionate towards all beings. In your heart of hearts, you should have a feeling of compassion for all, including a criminal. When the magistrate pronounces a punishment but with the well-being of the criminal in his mind, he not only attains the merits of carrying out his duty in right earnest but also gets his heart sanctified by the feelings of compassion and kindness towards the criminal.

2) Do not find faults with Saints, nor should you ever lend an ear to their detractors.

3) Maintain piety of your body as well as mind. Keep your body clean through bathing, etc. and purify the mind through japa and pranayama.

4) Don’t overstrain yourself, nor should you be slothful.

5) Don’t hanker after the transient and trifling sense objects. Even your spiritual and devotional practices should always be free from desires. Don’t pray to the Lord for fulfilment of your temporal desires; rather devote yourself to the Lord for the very sake of His love alone.

One who sincerely and diligently observes these rules of worldly and spiritual conduct, has his heart purified and a pure heart realises the Supreme Self readily.

The Boon of Self-realization


 

No one in this world, be that person a scholar, doctor or a person of authority, can alleviate all the sufferings of an individual forever.

A doctor can alleviate physical ailments but is unable to deal with mental afflictions. A psychiatrist can help in mental disorders but is unable to tackle physical ailments. Morever, neither of them can relieve the pain of birth and death. But Self-realization, as such, removes all afflictions forever.

If you are dejected, sorrowful or grumble, your life force diminishes. Your loved ones will become estranged from you. But, when you remain cheerful, even strangers become friendly towards you.

It is rightly said, ‘The world laughs with one who laughs; nobody is interested in one who weeps.’

Cheerfulness of the chitta (Mind) is possible only through Self-realization. One, who has attained Self-realization, is forever free from the sorrows of birth and death, old age and sickness, for he considers that bodily afflictions like old age and sickness do not affect his True Self. Those who have the opportunity to imbibe the satsang of (Self-realization) are truly blessed. A person who regularly listens to satsang becomes elevated to a much higher state of mind than someone who earns millions. Many millionaires are languishing in hospitals in the U.S.A. They have no peace of mind, no happiness in life.

Therefore, the first principle is to be cheerful.

The second is to accept that God is our own, ‘God is mine and I belong to Him.’ The virtues earned by such a belief far outweigh those attained through fasting and penance. Bathing in the Ganges or performing Hom-havan (Fire sacrifices) is external (physical) sadhana. But one considers, “God is mine” in the mind. Therefore it is internal (mental) sadhana.

The third principle is smaran (Remembrance) and doing japa. Occasionally, one should confine oneself to a room and do japa of God’s name of one’s liking or the Guru-mantra.

What if one has no Guru…?

The life of those without a Guru is as futile as the ornamentation of a widow.

Even though they perform severe penance, vrata (A religious vow) and fasting, they fail to attain bliss and realize the spiritual heights that are easily experienced by the beloved disciples of a Guru. When one worships the Guru or the Lord, converses with Him and looks at His image with a fixed gaze without blinking, one experiences bliss. The heart becomes filled with bliss and one gets inspiration when one does japa while looking at the photo of the Guru. This increases one’s inner happiness and contentment which in turn augments one’s spiritual powers. Then worldly comforts follow you like a pet dog. Whether you make use of them, disregard them or distribute them is purely a matter of your own choice.

It is but natural that spiritual progress brings about material advancement.

Therefore being cheerful, believing that God is our own and that we belong to God, and doing smaran of the divine name along with constant japa, kirtan (Devotional songs), etc. purify the mind and the body, sharpens the intellect and finally leads to the realization of the True Self. And once having attained Self-realization, you will be saved from the sufferings of taking birth in 84 lacs of species.

Self-Realization -in a Moment


 

(Excerpts from Satsang of Pujya Sant Shri Asaramji Bapu)

(In the Ashram on the serene banks of the holy Sabarmati river, the ‘Sri Yoga Vashishtha Maharamayana’ was being read out.)

Vashishthaji said, ‘O Rama, The illusion of this visible world cannot be nullified without contemplating on enlightening precepts. O Rama! Act in accordance with the guidelines of satsang and virtuous scriptures; keep away from rituals performed with a desire of future rewards, including those prescribed by the Vedas; remain unaffected by the three Gunas (attributes) associated with them, and I shall remove the grime of illusion from your vision at once.’

In a spontaneous reaction to these words, Pujyashree said, ‘Wow! How spirited! How dynamic is the Guru of Lord Rama!! Kudos to Bhagwan Vashishthaji! Victory to the Guru of the Lord!’

A person may say, ‘Our Guru is God-personified. Maharaj! We call you Bhagwan, God.’

What is so great about this’ Even God Himself must take the refuge of a Guru. Lord Sri Rama was a disciple of Vashishthaji Maharaj.

Why proclaim Godhood’ That would only prompt people to demand rains or ask to give life back to the dead. So do not become God, but be established in God. If you consider yourself to be the doer, you will become trapped. It is as simple as that. Simply become established in Him! Then there is only bliss.

Vashishtha Maharaj says, ‘Rise above desires and I will eradicate the illusion of this world in an instant, leading to your enlightenment.’

Once the wiring fittings are ready, it is only a matter of switching on the button and the darkness is dispelled within a second. Does it take too long to switch on the button’ That is all the time it took on that momentous day of Self-realization of Pujyashree.

The illusion of this visible world was dispelled forever. It took Guruji (Pujyapad Sri Lilashahji Maharaj) just a few moments but the consequent impact was so profound that it is there even today. Even death cannot undo such accomplishments.

O Rama! When the existence of this perceivable world comes to an end, the observer also will cease to be; and once they both lose their existence then what remains is Absolute Existence, the Pure Self.

When the existence of this visible world disappears, the observer also disappears along with the notion of non-attachment. Then what remains is the Supreme Being, Parabrahman.

O Rama! Without enlightening satsang the illusion of the perceptible world cannot be eradicated. He is but a fool who seeks to remove the delusion through logical arguments. For it ends up only strengthening the illusion of the world. Whatever you experience is nothing but this creation consisting of space, time, actions and the five elements. Even if one is absorbed in samadhi, detached from this world; sooner or later he will come back to this same world from his samadhi and will once again consider this world to be real.

Arguments will not lead to peace. Meditation alone will not work either, because after the meditation, you will again experience this world and the physical body. Then questions like, ‘What should I do’ Where shall I go” will continue to nurture the sense of doership. So long as the doer remains, bondage will persist.

A mirage can be approached, not by any action or by chasing it, but only by means of the knowledge that it is but a mirage. You may of course ponder on doing something to dispel the mirage. No! What is needed is simply to accept the fact that it is an illusion. Similarly, you only have to realize your own Pure and conscious Nature, the Self. Study scriptures on Self-knowledge, and contemplate thoughts that strengthen these very ideas and hold fast to the Supreme goal; then you will soon succeed in your endeavour.