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Spiritual Snippets N K Srinivasan

Introduction
I am writing some of the thoughts that occur to me from time to time relating to spiritual path and spiritual awareness. Though I am a Hindu, I hold all religions to be valid paths for selfrealization or liberation or salvation --these being similar terms,though may connote slightly different meanings to followers of different faiths. If you consider human history, you will find that religions founded by the Great Ones---Hindu seers, Jesus Christ, Gauthama,the Buddha, Prophet Muhamed and others---were suited to their times with certain common themes /concepts which are true for all ages . Oftentimes , in the practice of each religion, one gets confused between the time-less meassages and the timely practices and find disconsonance and much quarrel ensues.For instance what is holy food ,what is filthy food---this varies

from one religion to the other depending on the situation at the beginnings of that religion.

The Paths--common denominator


The spiritual paths are essentially two: Jnana or path of

contemplation,meditation,introspection and path of self-inquiry or Atma-vichara in Hindu parlance and so on AND Bhakti on. It is considered by many that the path of Bhakti is easier and suited well for modern times since many do not have the time or energy or mental quietitude for contemplative life and for pursuing Jnana. Be that as it may, in my opinion ,both the paths are equally difficult though a modern person may find it easier to follow the path of Bhakti. Jnana path is intellectual in content and difficult to comprehend for many of us. One needs a guru or preceptor to learn the rudiments of this path and then pursue it. But Jnana path is quite general and is the same in almost all mystical traditions in different religions.Thus a true Jnanai attracts people of different faiths, as did Bhagwan Ramana ,for instance. or the path of devotion,worship,prayers, chanting and so

Bhakti path implies two things: worship of

a personal

deity,call the deity or personal god as Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Muruga, Quan Yin or prophets like Moses, Jesus,Mahomed or others representing God on earth. The second thing is that the Bhakta or devotee loses his personal identity and surrenders at some point of time to the personal god, leaving aside his personal desires, will and plans [samkalpa].His or her identity to the chosen God or Ishta devata is such that he /she lives and moves in the being of the God or Goddess. I may add that this position of a Bhakta is akin to that of a chaste wife,who feels that she belongs to her husband, though she attends to the needs of her body in normal daily life.[ A few men also feel the same way towards their beloved partners.] We can briefly state the rewards one gets in this life for following the Jnana path or the Bhakti path. One in Jnana path experiences 'bliss' or mental peace and tranquility, not easily described in words-- " a peace that passeth understanding".. [One may also experience ecstasy , as often people associate ecstasy with the effect of drugs used by those who wish to have 'altered state of consciousness'. But Jnana gives a lasting experience of mental peace unlike drugs which are temporary and

are harmful to the body .]The bliss I am referring to is not just altered state of consciousness, as I understand the term 'consciousness'---a word commonly used nowadays by self-styled Gurus and new-age preachers. Bliss is a state of being which obtains during waking,dreaming and deep sleep conditions. What are the rewards a Bhakta gets? A Bhakta also expereinces joy with greater awareness of his surroundings and above all experiences various "visions" as seen in the lives of many saints. Many saints have stated in detail their visions of their beloved Gods or Ishta devata such as Krishna,Rama, Devi, certain angels and gurus and so on. A common expression for such visions is to burst into songs and hymns in praise of the deity. Sri Ramakrishna and St Thyagaraja experienced such states almost daily during their lifetime. A bhakta with his experience is able to shower blessings or joy around them to true seekers or disciples...this a Jnani also does though to a limited few who are attuned to him.

The two spiritual practices


In essence, there are only two spiritual practices in Hindu tradition: Japa or chanting and Dhyana or meditation. The

others are variations with stylised forms or modifications developed over the years.

Japa is chanting a mantra or holy name or name of gods with certain prefixes. The common mantras or nama japa used extensively are: "Hare Rama", " Hare Krishna", "Om Namo Narayana", "Om Namasivaya" and several others used throughout India. Repetition of these for several times [ a few thousand times to a million times a day] is found to be very effective....Japa controls your thoughts and mind, and purifies your mind for introspection and enlightenment. Many in Bhakti path will vouchsafe that " you do not need any other practice but chanting of Lord's name". I would agree with them without any reservation. But this is important.One who practices Japa must believe in this practice--either because he feels so or he is told by his guru or preceptor or develops the practice based on family traditions. In most cases,we learn Japa from family traditions.
Chanting the special mantras may be effective--as is the case with chanting the 'Gayatri' mantra. Unfortunately chanting this mantra ,after initiation by an elaborate ceremony, called thread investiture ceremony, was limited to brahmin boys. Other castes were forbidden; so also women; but such restrictions have largely disappeared due to social movements. One finds Gayantri mantra being played in supermarkets, as background music while shopping! Imagine how the sacredness associated with this mantra has been trivialised in modern times!--Obviously nobody cares in India !One would say that the power of the mantra has been lost!

Mantra Diksha is the initiation ceremony for chanting a mantra given by a guru, teacher [acharya] or pontiff of a matha. The mantra may be a common one or special one tailored to you or chosen by their guru lineage. The question is : Are these common ones listed

special mantras more effective than the

earlier? Can we have special mantras for healing or for bestowing special favors like prosperity? I, for one, do not believe so. This may be contrary to what is told in numeros mathas [monasteries] by pontiffs and priest/preachers attached to temples and modern gurus and selfstyled yogis/acharyas who have built their followers on such beliefs. The common mantras are effective in cleansing your mind and that is all you need. [Note that Buddhists chant 'mantras' like "Om Mani Padmehum"--derived from Hindu practices.] I shall elaborate on this because "offering mantras" has become a big business for fake gurus , collecting millions of dollars,

by hoodwinking gullible followers by false claims, especially naive western followers. Often the gurus give special mantras to presumably invoke various gods and goddesses with whom the guru supposedly is in talking terms or has received special

dispensation. Associated with this, the guru performs elaborate 'diksha' or initiation ceremony , either one on one or for a group, to form a cult following or just collect money and further their ashram interests. There is hardly any basis for special mantras.The common mantras like "Om Namo Narayana" or "Om Namasivaya" are hallowed by their use by great saints over several centuries. I do not think that modern self-styled gurus with false claims can come up with mantras any better or anything specific. {Read the book on mantras by Swami Vishnudevananda,( a disciple of Swami Sivananda) for whom I have a high regard.} Over the years I have found that many of these gurus themselves succumb to several diseases or painful conditions and some have had tragic deaths or even committed suicide or undergone self-

immolation.[Recent instances are the death of a Baba in Andhra Pradesh due to serious illness at a young age and the selfimmolation of a young saintly woman , also hailing from Andhra, by lighting petrol on herself in Thiruvannamalai.] If they

have had a grip on powerful mantras,such instances cannot be easily understood; if they cannot take care of their own problems, how they came forward to treat others? In most cases, such Babas and gurus were charlatans taking gullible devotees

along the wrong paths--especially unsuspecting, naive western followers or they were self-delusioned mental deliquents.

Meditation or Dhyana is the second practice, often promoted by Jnanis as the only method for self-realization. Dhyana often goes with japa or chanting. A beginner often starts his practice of meditation with silent chanting of his chosen mantra for a long time.Later he would watch the breath--inhalation and exhalation for several minutes.Then he may associate a mantra with breath--for instance, saying "om" with inhalation and "namasivaya" with exhalation.
One powerful technique in traditional Hindu meditation practice is "Soham" meditation. For details and other factors relating to meditation, you can read the present author's book "Fruitful Meditation" [Pub: Pustak Mahal, New Delhi, also available at online sources.] Meditation is often promoted by modern yogis and teachers with much fanfare and heavy price-tag to gather money. In traditional ashrams, meditation was taught without any fee; A modern ,high flying Swami, with several 'franchised' meditation centers charges about $50 for an elementary course in meditation in India and eleswhere. It was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who popularised meditation in the western world.The credit goes to

him. But the modern ones learned that this franchising of meditation courses can spin money for them.For commercial purpose, they take trade mark rights! Needless to say, many of them have been rejected by the Hindu public or chastised by local community. Often these yogis lack the depth of knowledge that goes with advanced methods of meditation. Meditation---watching the breath, sitting cross-legged in some asana," keeping the head,neck and spine erect "[as given in the Gita] are well worn techniques in India, often seen in all temple towns. Similar practices form the essential means in Buddhism also---for instance "zazen" in Zen form. There are two important factors to be borne in mind for success in meditation: 1 Long periods of practice....not just 10 or 20 minutes as touted by money swindling swamis and yogis. One needs to practice meditation for one to two hours in each sitting,though one may begin with 30 minute sessions..This is required because it takes that much time for thoughts to

subside and mind to quieten after its wanderings! {Sri Ramakrishna used to state this analogy: a bird flies hither and thither for a long time;after getting exhausted,comes back to the ship's mast to rest.]Therefore one should cultivate the practice of long durations of meditation ,either in the early hours of morning [around 4 AM ] or at night [after 10 PM].

The second factor is to cultivate the practice of silence; this indeed is very difficult for modern man or woman as they keep talking all the time. Practice of silence, for at least 2 to 4 hours every day, is essential to make progress in meditation. I have seen visitors and inmates engaging in conversations for hours in Ashrams and retreats---in corridors and in rooms.This habit should be given up. Americans keep talking most of the time,hardly using a few words to express themselves. Most American visitors to Ashrams in India waste their times in useless talk within the premises of ashrams, annoying others and spoiling the serene atmosphere that obtains there. Most Indians are too polite to stop this form of disturbance --not to offend foreigners! I have seen many swamis/yogis going to a lonely beach and observing silence and doing meditation, gazing at the rolling waves. This is a good practice if you live close to a beach or stay in a sea-side resort.

Fasting is a good spiritual practice, besides bestowing health benefits.


In the first place, fasting helps to rest the stomach muscles and also cleanse the alimentary canal if one drinks lot of water. It reduces metabolism rate and also helps the brain to rest more. Many elderly persons routinely practice fasting for a

day once a month or once a fortnight.They will extol the benefits of fasting. I observe fasting by skipping one night meal every week.The benefits are seen in the next morning meditation which becomes deeper. Yogis are supposed to take noly one meal a day. But one should practise fasting based on their body conditions and after consulting a physician.

Pitfalls of Bhakti and Jnana paths


Hinduism being an ancient religion, several undesirable or obnoxious practices have crept in over the centuries. With certain level of prosperity in India ,these practices have reached bizarre levels in the past two decades in India. I shall mentiaon a few of them as pitfalls ---to be guarded against. It is the task of 'enlightened' swamis/yogis to put an end to such practices...but such swamis are hard to find ;instead many swamis profit from such practices to hoard wealth, squander money,build their empires and untimately ruin themselves and their mathas or sansthans[oganizations]. Let us take the Bhakti path. Devotion to a deity often leads to elaborate rituals.Certain forms of rituals form part of temple worship or worship at the family altar. Offering flowers or lighting lamps and incense sticks are common.Elaborate,

complex and costly rituals soon take root. In most temples, huge amounts of gold ornaments are added to the deities or idols and also elaborate "marriage rituals" ["kalyana Utsava"] are performed in stylized forms by priests, taking huge amounts from the devotees. The devotees believe that such practices ,done with the help of priests, would bring credit for them or punyas and also bestow worldy happiness and prosperity. Thes e practices started when India was a rich and prosperous country,sometime between 10th and 14 th centuries. This is continued even today. It is not uncommon to find lot of food offerings made to gods and then distributed to rich devotees as 'prasad' inside the temples while poor itenerant beggars and sadhus go begging at the entrance to the temples. I have seen this in so many temples, especially in South India,that when prasad is given inside ,I take only a small morsel --a few grams --as token prasad. Over the centuries, many of the rituals performed for deities or idols in temples were extended to pontiffs of rich mathas and swamis of various religious orders or Abbots of mathas. This has reached ridiculous proportions to day, mainly to gather money for these ignorant charlatans . A common practice is to celebrate the birthday of a swami [60th or 70th or 80th birthdays] with gold coin offerings ["kanaka-abhisheka"] during

which gold coins are showered over the body of the swami by holding a grill on the top of his head and dropping coins over the grill! [Later ,in one instance, the same swami was found to fondle a woman in his private study, though he had taken a vow of celebacy at a young age and was charged for some criminal cases later.} While showering gold coins may be a harmless gesture to make money, other practices are obnoxious.In ancient India, swamis and yogis traveled on foot, often wearing no sandals and therefore it was a custom to receive them as guests and wash their feet before offering food . This practice of hospitality took a bizarre turn . The swamis are offered a seat, their feet are washed with water, the wash water is collected on a platter

and then distributed as 'prasad' or nectar ,called "charanaamrit "[charana-foot amrit-nectar] to devotees to drink. The devotee is told that such 'holy' water is sacred and may cure some diseases .It is considered an act displaying humility and piety. It is the duty of 'enlightened ' swamis to stop such practices; but unfortunately such practices are encouraged by these swamis and even converted to money-making propositions -to do such 'pada-pooja' to these ignorant swamis one should register, pay a fee and wait in line. This practice goes on in many ashrams and mathas I have seen. What is worse, many

educated middle class and rich patrons of the mathas line up with all pomp and show. [The practice of taking wash water of idols, made of some metal or herbal preparations, may have some medicinal value and may be acceptable, but not washing the dirty feet of these charlatan swamis or pontiffs.] [There was another bizarre habit of people rolling on the leaf plates with left over food taken by brahmins in a certain temple in Karnataka. After severe protests and legal tussle, this practice was recently banned by local legislature!] Oftentimes these charlatan swamis are seated in golden rathas or chariots like gods and taken in procession ,the cord being pulled by devotees....Apparently the swamis seem to enjoy such shows. One baba was so rich that his devotees could arrange for a helicopter to shower flower petals on the ratha. Pure devotion with singing hymns [bhajans] and performimg simple poojas or worship can lead to prema or sublime devotion to GodBut the costly, obnoxious practices in the name of devotion to swamis and yogis and even in temples should be curtailed...it may be a few decades before this happens in India.

Pitfalls in Jnana path


The most common and dangerous pitfall for a supposed Jnani is intellectual arrogance---that he has learned scriptures, understood Jnana and therefore intellectually above the common lay person or a bhakta. The superior air and the intellectual tone of such pseudo jnanis can be seen in almost all ashrams of great Jnanis in India. Often such pride increases exponentially when one is surrounded by a few devout seekers or sadhaks and the proud one organises discourses or sat sanghas in nearby halls or homes or he is invited for a 'biksha' or food offering by a devout person. In many ashrams, a budding jnani is asked to do menial tasks to curb this tendency..this is often misunderstood. The Zen masters have the simple dictum: "After meditation, chop wood". In Indian context, one can say: "After Dhyana, sweep the floor or wash the utensils." My father gave me a simple advice when I was a serious student and voracious reader: after half an hour of reading,do some manual task...yes that is good for mind and body.I have followed this advice to this day. The second serious pitfall of those in Jnana path is to deride bhaktas or who follow the path of devotion,with a superior air. They forget that the very Jnanis whom they worship also

followed or follow certain devotional practices.They regard true bhaktas as emotional childish persons, playing with toys .Ramana used to visit temples and read "peria Puranam" containing the biographies of saiva saints.Nisargadatta used to do simple pooja for the pictures in his small room. Then there is the third and most serious pitfall---to consider Jnana as an intellectual exercise and study scriptures as an academic pursuit. One goes on 'learning" from one or more masters the standard texts of Advaita philosophy ["atmabodham", Vivekachoodamani,Panchadasi, Yoga Vasishta, besides the principal Upanishads with Shankara's commentaries] over several years. All that is good, but is not the same as inner attunement or real Jnana which is hard to achieve. Lacking inner purification and self-discipline, mere scholars take the path

of academic pursuits. The problem often surfaces in early stages . Many get confused with various 'technical' terms used and spend years in discussions and disputations over the meaning of the words as given by acharyas or commentators. Unfortunately there are no shortage of books or commentaries on these texts, hundreds of them written over centuries by scholar-philosophers. Even today, new books on commentaries and interpretations keep coming. Recent authors such as Sri Aurobindo and Swami

Chinmayananda have added some more books. What exactly Jnana

entails is often missed. Lacking proper gurus, this could be a problem for many sincere seekers or sadhaks. Therefore the future Jnani takes to the easier path of learning the scriptures and their interpretations for several years. To quote one simple example, the concept of jivan-mukthi [liberation while having the physcial body]is interpreted in many ways by different sects in Hinduism that one had to spend considerable time to learn what this could mean or accept one of the many interpretations. One swami,who is a friend of mine, told me that there are 15 interpretations for jivan mukthi and advised me not to waste the time. As I have seen over many decades now, the Jnana path is not only difficult, but practised by many like a hobby or avocation so that at the end they become disillusioned and turn to Bhakti path and surrender to a Guru or God towards the end of their lives. Hopefully the grace of the Almighty might give them enlightenment if they are pure at heart. Otherwise they write some more books to get some satisfaction, adding to the list of advaitic texts. By this writing I do not wish to discourage an aspiring Jnani from India or elsewhere to pursue this path. But let me add that "practice of Jnana" is important, not the scholarly

approach of Jnana or advaita philosophy. Jnana is essentially beyond mind and intellect. Mind and intellect are useful devices , like tooth picks..they have to be thrown away after proper use.Use your mind and intellect wisely.

Combining Jnana and Bhakti


This is my favorite theme about which I have written in other articles and have told in conversations with my friends. On the surface the two appear to be diametrically opposite. But there comes a time when the two merges into one. This is indeed a subtle process, understood by great masters like Bhagwan Ramana and Sri Ramakrishna.They are not like water and oil that they wont mix. [Even oil can be mixed with water by making droplets of oil and suspending them in water as an emulsion!] When we are with body consciousness with all its limitations and proclivities, Bhakti path is helpful.When we are in purely contemplative mood, Jnana can be useful. Does this mean that one should flip-flop from one to the other...the answer is yes with proper understanding. Elaborating on this ,one may note that advaitins invented two levels of Reality --the absolute [paramarthika] Reality and the transactional or vivaharika ,apparent reality of mundane

existence. We spend most of our time in the realm of apparent reality. Hence devotional path is needed to sail through life. I do not wish to write more on this because this would again reduce to academic discussion.I am sure most readers are able to understand what it means here.

The Role of a Guru


This is a vexed problem in Hinduism and also the question: "Does one need a guru? " is a loaded one.Gurus are not mere teachers or instructors. Gurus mould your character, change your personality, teach you humility and guide you and watch you for years to come till you reach your self-realization. Therefore Guru-Chela relationship is a life-long one--nay, it may extend to several births. Many in the spiritual path cannot comprehend the Guru-Chela relationship at all.

There is a dictum in Hindu faith that "When a chela [disciple] is ready, the guru will appear." In other words, when the chela is fit to receive the instruction, a 'suitable' guru will be

sent by God. It will be ordained.Does that mean the chela should keep quiet? No...he should purify his mind by spiritual

practices and seek sat-sangha or association with saintly people. This is what St Meera, the Rajasthani princess, did

and other countless saints in India. The chela may wander from place to place,go on pilgrimage and read scriptures. Most important ,he should chant some mantra and observe silence as much as possible. Soon trivial talks and mundane cares will drop off. A sense of peace will prevail in his mind...At the right time, the true guru will appear and take care of the chela. [Pilgrimage to holy shrines has been an important practice in India for centuries. Modern yogis often make fun of this practice. With the right frame of mind and observing silence, if one visits various shrines in India, the effect can be wholesome.At the same time,such travel may increase the wisdom of the pilgrim. I have been immensely benefited by my pilgrimages in India ,often alone and with little baggage.] Most teachers and preachers who masquerade as gurus are merely scholars with the gift of the gab, trying to build large ashrams ,hoard wealth and strut about and even indulge in political power.

The spiritual path is a long one ,fraught with dangers and pitfalls.A guru acts like a forest guide holding a lighted lantern in hand to lead you in the way.

Instant Awakenings
In the last few decades, several gurus have appeared from India, professing that they could give instant realizations or awaken at an instant and even perform mass awakenings. They claim that they can raise the kundalini by uttering a few mantras or by touching your forehead. All these claims are unreliable. One cannot raise the kundalini of a chela in mass programs or by touching the forehead without much preparation on the part of the chela.Unfortunately ,to gather a large following and to satisfy the craving of a chela for instant,quick-fix realization, these charlatan gurus indulge in these tricks. Oftentimes the atmosphere is created so that the chela or cheli tends to believe that he or she has had

realization or awakening or raising of kundalini or whatever. In the mass 'instant fast-food culture' in the west, the westerners come to believe that by signing up and paying the fees, they can get what they are "offered" with effort on their part minimum of

at discount prices.This commercialization

of spritual awakening goes on, with the appearance of several gurus both in the West and in India.The real facts emerge in a short time .Many disciples get disllusioned after a year or two and leave the organizations. Some stick on because they benefit enormously by perpetuating the 'system' started by their gurus. One kriya guru was found to have done lot of cheating and indulging in sexual misconduct with female disciples..Yet his 'disciples' went on to found more centers, obviously to make money and lead a comfortable life. In simple commercial terms, when the 'awakener' has found methods to make money by offering useless programs, he becomes truly commercial.He or she starts investing in other enterprises to stabilise the operations.This has happened in the case of almost all the yogis I know of, in India, to a lesser or greater extent. Even traditional pontiffs of mathas which are more than athousand years old have indulged in such obnoxious commercial practices. A small part of the money may be spent for social service projects in India or elsewhere to satisfy the urges of chelas who want to do something for India's poor and get some public support or media coverage. I am writing this not because I am angry with these charlatans....Such charlatans will always exist in the society and have existed from the time of Vedic seers and Mahabahrata

wars.I am writing this mainly because by these charlatans ,the fair name of Hinduism and Hindu spiritual practices are tarnished and defiled.

Siddhi Powers
As one progresses along the spiritual path, one obtains various supernatural or psychic powers. These powers are not to be sought by the sadhak or devotee. These are the by-products of spiritual practice. Great saints like Shirdi Sai Baba used them only to help their true devotees in times of distress. They never exhibited them as cheap parlor tricks or like street magicians. Nowadays you find babas trying to 'materialize' sacred ash or vibhuti or get some gold rings or necklaces or trinkets to attract gullible devotees,calling these tricks as 'visiting cards' or 'business cards'. Why a self-realized person would ever need a 'business card'---one wonders. Why should they attract devotees this way at all? It is all business tricks to build a huge ashram and help their kith and kin.The materializations are all magicians' tricks and sleight of hands only, for hand-held objects. Swallowing a piece of gold amalgam and then regurgitate or vomit out after the amalgam gets hardened and becomes smaller in volume, by

swallowing large glasses of water to float the nugget in the throat column, is an old trick for trained magicians. The devotees are made to believe that the master has materialised a 'golden lingam' from his stomach. Some yogis claimed that they can levitate their devotees by certain magical mantras [sutras taken from Patanjali's yoga sutras]. What they could demonstrate was the hopping of devotees like forgs, not levitation at all.[ This was mentioned by Paramahansa Yogananda in his book : "Autobiography of a Yogi"]Somewhere the navigation part worked wrongly. These cheap demonstrations are repeated even today by some swamis,claiming levitation...levitation does not take place. One wonders why the teacher or swami himself is unable levitate and demonstrate before common people.

Spiritual Practices for all


To sum up, the most important and effective practices are chanting of Lord's name and meditation. Meditation can take different forms ,but a guru's guidance is required. Both the practices require long sessions and daily routine.There is no short cut or quick path in this.Scriptural reading would help a bit but could lead to waste of time beyond a certain point. Scriptural study alone would not lead to spiritual progress.

There are several swamis and yogis making false claims mainly to gather money and build ashrams, at the expense of gullible followers, especially from naive Western brothers and sisters. 'Customers beware' slogan is relevant here! Note: I may write further articles on this subject depending on my interest in future.

------------------------ Om Tat Sat-------------------------------------

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