Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-5/6 - By Swami

Mukundananda

Swami Mukundananda is a world renowned

spiritual teacher from India, and is the
senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji
Maharaj and founder of JK Yog. He has
received his degrees in engineering from
world renowned institutes in India, IIT and
IIM. He has inspired people all over the
world on the path of spirituality, holistic
health, yoga, meditation, service to society
and God realization. For details:
www.jkyog.org

Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-5 [Sadhana Karu

Pyare]
Sadhana Karu Pyare is a unique philosophical compilation set in 54 lines
and arranged in the form of couplets (dohas). In these lines, Shree
Maharajji has summarized the entire philosophy of the knowledge of God
and Guru (Philosophy of Divine Love). Swamiji explained the complete set
of 54 lines at the Puri Sadhana Shivir in 2008, which we will reproduce in
this series.
This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
brahma my jv k karu, jn guru so pyre
sevya so sambadh apano, jn guru so pyre
hari me guru me bhed jani, lavaleh mnahu pyre
In this verse, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj reveals that from the
Guru, we must learn about our relationship with God.
God is our eternal relative, even though we may not be able to see Him at
present. There is an interesting event that took place in the state of Kerala
during the rise of Marxism and Communism. Many people spoke against
God, and atheism was quite a common practice. A communist leader was
speaking to an audience of a few hundred listeners. He said "There is no
entity called God. It is just superstition and blind faith. If there is any God,
I challenge Him to prove His existence. Here I am, denying His existence.
Let Him appear with a flash of thunder and lightning and kill me. If He
does not appear, then it proves that there is no entity called God." He

waited for two minutes and nothing happened. He proclaimed, "If there is
a God, He is a coward. He did not accept my challenge and did not attack
me. Or, if He is not a coward, then there is no God at all."
One person stood up from the crowd and said "God is your father. In this
material world, if you ask someone to prove his identity as a father by
killing his son, you will not find anyone willing to do such an act. Why
should a father kill his son just to prove his identity? In the same way, God
is all merciful and all graceful. He is our eternal Father and Mother. He
does not need to go around killing people to prove His own identity."
Our relationship with God is eternal. We do not have this kind of
everlasting and endless relationship in this material world. Our material
father, mother and son will die one day. They are not our real father,
mother or relatives. Our true relationship is only with God. Why is that?
This word sambandh, or relation, is made from the Sanskrit root bandh,
with the prefix sam, and the suffix un. It means eternal and complete
bond. Do you have such a bond with your father? No, he passed away
twenty five years ago. And recently my mother also passed away. One of
my daughters has also died. That means they were not your sambandhis.
That is why all the scriptures strongly state:
vedaihcha sarvairamevavedyo
vedtakit vedavidevidevachham
Shree Krishna says "Arjun! What do you have to understand from all the
Vedas and Vedic scriptures? Only this much that your relationship is only
with Me, and you must love Me exclusively." Lord Brahma says:
bhagavn
brahma
krtsnyen
triranvkhya
manhay
tadadhyavatsatkuastho ratirtman yato bhavet
He says, "I have churned the Vedas and the other scriptures three times
and have come to the conclusion that they declare only one thing - Your
eternal relationship is with Shree Krishna alone, and you have to love
Him." Shree Maharajji says that God keeps on watching us and eagerly
waits in anticipation, "When will this soul come to me and love me? I shall
liberate him from all bondages that very instant, and bestow upon him the
nectar of Divine love." Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said:
tomr aham yadi kahe ek br
Dear Soul! Just say it once with all your heart, "O Shree Krishna! Only you
are mine." Not, "You are also mine and this material world is also mine."
Do not divide your affection between your material father at home and
your eternal father, God.
We could ask God, "You are never seen, and my father at home loves me
dearly." God says, "Accept that you are mine." We can question again, "On
what basis should we accept this statement?" God says, "Accept it on the
basis of knowledge. Understand fully and decide firmly that you are not
this material body but the eternal soul. You will then realize that the soul's
eternal relationship is only with God."
You will attain this knowledge of your relationship with God from the Guru.
Understand this from the Guru in various ways, so that you become
convinced. Then on the basis of this knowledge, you must repeated
contemplate about your relationship with God. How and what are you to

contemplate? This will be explained in the subsequent lines of 'Sadhana

Karu Pyare' series.
Kripaluji Maharaj explains in the last line on the Guru within this bhajan:
"There is no difference between God and Guru." He has repeated this in
other bhajans as well:
mere guruvar mere giridhar pyre
dou ekahi ho na sapanehu nyre
Not even in your dreams should you think that God and Guru are different.
Why? Because God is not in front of us and we have not seen Him. But,
our Guru is in front of us and we can see him. Now, if we look on our Guru
as a normal human being, we will conclude that he is in the same
category as we are.
Our flawed thinking will naturally comment, "He sits, stands, talks and
eats just like us. How can he be different from us? We commit mistakes
and so the Guru might also commit mistakes. Then why should we obey
him? Hence, we will not follow our Guru's instructions." This kind of
thinking is harmful for our spiritual growth and could even lead to our
spiritual downfall.
There is an amazing example from Lord Buddha's time. Gautam Buddha
had a cousin named Anand. He spent 40 years in the company of Lord
Buddha. When it was time for the Buddha to leave his material form,
Anand said "I have got so much association with you, yet I have not
progressed spiritually. In comparison, your other disciples have made
great strides." Gautam Buddha replied "Anand! This is your mistake. You
erred when you came to me the first time, many years ago. Anand asked
him "What was my mistake?"
The Buddha then reminded Anand of their dialogue forty years ago.
Anand: I am not your disciple yet but I shall be one tomorrow. I am now
speaking as your elder cousin brother and I have a few conditions. First, I
shall make you my Guru, but if whenever I invite any person to meet you,
you should not avoid him under any pretext.
The Buddha smiled: "Yes, agreed".
Anand: Second, you must take me with you everywhere you go. You
should not depute me on work that requires staying away from you.
The Buddha: Yes, you shall be with me at all times.
Anand: Lastly, you must answer every question of mine and should not
deny me an answer on any pretext.
The Buddha: I am ready to grant all that you wish.
Gautam Buddha recalled this dialogue that took place 40 years ago. The
Buddha said, "Anand, you did not develop the feeling of Divinity towards
your Guru inside your heart and mind. You treated me like your younger
brother and did not look upon your Guru as God. Hence, you did not
receive any spiritual benefit."
How do we develop a feeling of 'Godliness' towards our Guru? We must
always feel and think of our Guru as God Himself.
gururbrahm gururvishu gururdevo mahehvara
gururskht parabrahm tasmai hr gurave nama

"The Guru is Lord Brahma (The God of Creation). The Guru is Lord Vishnu
(The God of Sustenance). The Guru is Lord Shiva (The God of Destruction).
My salutation to such a Guru, who is the Supreme God".
The key aspect is to think that God and Guru are one. God is present
amongst us in the form of our Guru and Graces us with His presence
amongst us as our Guru. If we continuously remind ourselves of this fact,
it will slowly give rise to feelings of 'Godliness' towards our Guru and help
us surrender our mind and intellect to him.
What is the difficulty in considering our Guru as God? We Indians are born
with innate devotion in our hearts. In certain faiths, it is believed that God
watches us from seventh heaven. Look at us Indians. We perceive Divine
presence in every animate and inanimate object. Our culture tells us:
atithi devo bhava, mati devo bhava, piti devo bhava
We consider our guests as God, our mother as God, our father as God. We
are able to think of a rock as God and we begin to worship it! We even
worship a tree as though it were God Himself. If we are able to accept
inanimate objects as God, what is the problem in accepting our Guru as
God?
So, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "Do not think of God and Guru
as two separate entities. They are one and the same. There is no
difference between them."
________________________________________________

Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-6 [Sadhana Karu

Pyare]
Sadhana Karu Pyare is a unique philosophical compilation set in 54 lines
and arranged in the form of couplets (dohas). In these lines, Shree
Maharajji has summarized the entire philosophy of the knowledge of God
and Guru (Philosophy of Divine Love). Swamiji explained the complete set
of 54 lines at the Puri Sadhana Shivir in 2008, which we will reproduce in
this series.
This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
sdhan me hai pramukh man, indriy nahi pyre
mokh aru bandhan k kra, ek man h pyre
pratham karu hari dhyn man te, jais ruchi ho pyre
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj now begins to explain how we should
do sadhana or devotion. He says that in practicing devotion, the
involvement of the mind is the foremost thing and not the material
senses. Why does he say that? This is because, in this material world,
external behavior and manners take precedence. By external behavior we
mean etiquette. For example, we say "Sorry" and "Thank You". These
days, people use these words without any feeling. A "Sorry" denotes that
a mistake has been done. But there is no real regret, and we merely say it
as a matter of etiquette. While walking, people greet each other, "Jai Siya
Ram!", which means Namaste. Similarly, people say, "How are you?" In

reality, they do not genuinely care how you are doing. Now, if you start
telling all about yourself and your worries, they will get irritated. They
would wonder, "Why did I ever ask him in the first place?"
So, in this material world, etiquette is followed, and it is just an external
act. When two people cross each other while walking, they say, "Good
Morning!", even though they do not know each other. There is no feeling
from the inside; rather it has become a mere formality.
God says that acts such as ostentation, craftiness, artificiality, deception
and superficial words are of no importance in the spiritual realm. God
says, "I will only consider the feelings in your mind." You do not have to
say the word "Ram" even once but you have to feel from the inside. God
will note the feelings in your mind, and accordingly reward you with divine
results.
There was a boy in India. He was reciting the Hindi alphabet to God, 'Ka',
'Kha', 'Ga', 'Gha'. A saint came by and asked him, "What are you doing?"
He said, "I am praying to God." The saint said, "Is this how you say your
prayers?" The boy said, "I do not have the intelligence to recite a prayer,
and hence, I am just reciting the alphabets to God and asking Him to
make a prayer of His choice. I simply want to make Him happy." The saint
replied, "All glories to such innocence. God is attracted to such innocent
behavior, where there is no deception or pretence." So, Kripaluji Maharaj
says that in this spiritual realm, the mind plays a vital role. We have to
train our mind to think in the right direction.
This mind alone is the cause of liberation and bondage. Our mind's
attachment to the material world has kept us bound to the cycle of birth
and death. When we train the mind to detach itself from the material
world and concentrate on God, we are actually attempting to cleanse our
mind.
In this context, let us take a look at the views expressed by philosophers
from around the world. John Milton said, "The mind is a thing of its own. It
can make heaven out of hell, and hell out of heaven." This mind is so
unique that it can give you the experience of heaven while being seated in
hell, and make you feel like hell while living in heaven. It is through the
mind that we experience happiness and sorrow. The mind gives us the
feeling of pleasure and pain.
Sigmund Freud, popularly known as the father of Psychology, stated that
the nature of the mind is to be tense and unhappy. This is a fact that can
never be changed. It is a waste of time even to try it. Another well known
philosopher from the West, Arthur Schopenhauer, said, "The mind keeps
oscillating like a pendulum between happiness and pain. It will always
keep wavering between these two states and nobody can change this
principle."
Many of you may have heard the name of Bertrand Russell, the famous
English writer of the last century. He said that the mind is constantly
troubled. You can only do one thing, engage this mind in some work. By
engaging the mind in some work, it will be less distraught. An idle mind is
a devil's workshop. This principle is partially correct, but it is no cure.
So, we see that without the help of spiritual knowledge, Western
philosophers lose the battle against the mind. Shankarachaya said:

jagadijata ken mano h yen

"Who will be victorious in this world? The one who can control his mind."
This is a wonderful example of the lofty thinking that our Indian
philosophers wrote many thousands of years ago. There is no parallel for
such thinking in the Western culture. In India, we have utilized spirituality
to control our mind. There was a saint called Swami Ramtirth. He visited
the United States and preached a lot about hatha yoga since he was a
hatha yogi, or the one who practices severe physical austerities. His
weakness was that he would get tempted by apples. To beat this
temptation, he took an apple, placed it in front of him on a table and
watched it. After three days the apple started to rot. Yet, he kept that
apple on the table. The apple decomposed further. He now said, "O mind!
are you tempted by this apple? Eat this." So, these 'spiritual' hatha yogis
do hath, the practice of obstinacy or stubbornness on their mind and try to
win the battle against it.
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "This will also not work. Your power of
practicing hath i.e. your 'will power' is limited and maya, or the eternally
existing, lifeless, cosmic power of God is unlimited. Therefore, your will
power is bound to fail in front of the power of maya." If you want to win
and control your mind, there is only one solution - surrender yourself to a
spiritual power. By surrendering to a spiritual power, God will bestow His
Grace and you can control your mind.
Shree Krishna says in the Bhagavad Geeta:
daiv hyaih guamay mam my duratyay
"Arjun! This maya power of God is very difficult to defeat. But...
mmev ye prapadyante mymet taranti te
If you come to my shelter alone and surrender completely to me, I will free
you from the clutches of maya." How do we conquer our mind? By
remembering and meditating upon God. There are innumerable
organizations that teach meditation. Some meditate upon an imaginary
circle, some mediate upon the pranas. It is intriguing to see someone
meditating upon prana instead of God.
Our Guru teaches us to mediate upon God, which means we have to
meditate upon the form of God. Along with this, we can also chant His
Divine Name and Pastimes, sing kirtans that will be helpful in the
remembrance of God. If we involve our material senses in the spiritual
area, it will be easier to attach our mind in God. But this is not compulsory.
If you do not feel like doing kirtans, you can simply meditate upon the
form of God. But it should not turn out that you neither contemplate on
God nor sing His kirtans. So, to be safe, the best thing is to chant His
names, sing His virtues, listen to His Divine words, and remember Him
with the mind. This type of bhakti called tridha bhakti has been accepted
and taught by many saints, and Kripaluji Maharaj has also recommended
this:
hr kiha smaraa manas vachas saras krtana |
hrotrea hravaa nitya tridhbhaktirgaryas ||
He says, "Remember and contemplate Shree Krishna with your mind, sing
the glories of Shree Krishna by chanting kirtans and hear to beautiful

kirtans." This tridha bhakti is the best and most powerful. It is because of
the power of tridha bhakti that in this sadhana camp we are engaging in
devotion day and night. If we were practicing some other kind of devotion,
we would not experience that Bliss, and we would lose interest in 2 or 3
hours. For example, when we sit to perform a yagya, fire sacrifice, we can
hardly sit for a couple hours without getting distracted. We start to think,
"When will this get over? I cannot understand the mantras that the pundit
is chanting, nor am I able to enjoy the Bliss of God."
It is the grace of our Guru that he has gifted us this simplest and very
sweet form of bhakti that helps us attach our mind to God. Hence, tridha
bhakti is the easiest and best for people of this age since the three
primary senses (mouth, ears and mind) are engaged in remembrance of
God.