Hari OM
Every month on Poornima day we visit ATMADARSHAN YOGA ASHRAM, and are blessed to attend satsang with Swami Dharmakeerti Saraswati, direct disciple of Guru Paramahamsa Satyananda Sarawati (founder of Bihar School of Yoga).
Currently Swamiji is speaking on Bhakti…..
NA ME BHAKTAHA PRANASYATI
Maya- according to the Advaita School, Maya means, “that which is not” (i.e illusion). For Vishishta Advaita, Maya is the amazing power that the supreme truth has, to make anything come alive. According to the Tantra Vidya, the Divine measures himself into many forms and this divine form resides in the heart centre of all living being. He takes the form of Jesus, Allah or Hari depending on how we want to see him. The reason we have conflict in our mind about the superiority of the supreme power is because we try to make God a reflection of our ego. It is our Manas that start dividing and categorising the supreme.
Indriyas are objectified desires. Indriya is a prolongation of the mind (Manas). If you have controlled the Indriyas, you have already controlled the mind. Indriya is another name for mind. Mind is a higher power than the Indriyas. Just as a minister obeys the king, so also, the five Jnana-Indriyas act in accordance with the dictates of the mind. The five indriyas in human are extremely powerful. But manas is even more powerful than the indriyas and it directs the indriya to choose a particular guna.
With Manas comes desire and also the ability to differentiate between good and evil or right and wrong and the ability to understand Sukshma Dharma.
If justice is called as dharma, the modified justice according to the requirement of time is called as Sukshma dharma. The ultimate goal of Sukshma dharma is only to protect the basic dharma in the new circumstances.
When one starts to observe the close relationship between manas and buddhi, he can start to observe that manas can be a great servant of buddhi who is willing to perform what is decided by buddhi. Manas is not a slave but a great friend and because manas controls to the senses it has great power.
Atma is beyond buddhi. Atma is a part of Paramatma that is present in all and therefore we all have a little capacity to understand the truth. The senses are subtler than the body. The mind is even subtler than the senses. The Buddhi is far subtler than the mind. The Atma is the subtlest of them all. If it is said that Ahamkara (the ego) is able to envelop the Buddhi, it must be deemed subtler than the Buddhi. The ego is extremely subtle. It is all-pervasive. It enters into all one’s actions. This is the reason why man is unable to transcend the ego and comprehend the Atma.
But when Indriya works in harmony with Atma it becomes Karma yoga. When Manas works in harmony with it Atma becomes Jnana yoga. Karma yoga leads the path to Jnana yoga.
Therefore pure devotion and complete surrender to the supreme will help us in moving towards a more spiritual and serene life.
Hari OM Tat Sat
Soneeta (9:30 am batch – Nava Yoginis)