Yoga Sadhana

1. Yoga for Health

1. Most of the diseases take their origin in over-eating, sexual excess and outbursts of anger and hatred. If the mind is kept cool and calm at all times, you will have wonderful health, strength and vitality. Energy is depleted by fits of anger. The cells and tissues are filled with morbid, poisonous materials, when one loses his temper and entertains deep hatred. Various sorts of physical ailments crop up. The blood becomes hot and thin and consequently night pollution results. Various kinds of nervous diseases are attributable to excessive loss of the seminal energy and frequent fits of explosive anger or wrath.

2. Let any disease remain in your body. Do not bother too much. Do not fret and fume. Develop the powers of endurance and resistance. Strengthen your body, mind and nerves. Take plenty of open-air exercises, substantial nutritious food, medicated oil bath and plenty of rest. Have mental and physical recreation. Lead a well-regulated life. Be moderate in food, drink and enjoyments. Lead a spiritual life. All diseases will leave your body by themselves. All microbes will die, when your vitality, vigour and strength are at a flood tide. This is the secret of health and happiness.

3. Do not be carried away by the pompous advertisements made by quacks and charlatans. Lead a simple natural life. You will become all right soon. Do not spend any money in purchasing the so-called patent medicines and specifics. They are worthless. Quacks try to exploit the credulous and the ignorant. Beware. Do not go to the doctors very often. Endeavour to qualify yourself as your own doctor. Understand the laws of nature and the principles of hygiene and health. Do not trespass against the laws of health.

4. Bask in the sun. Expose your body to the rays of the sun for a short time daily. This is heliotherapy or sun-treatment. Sun is the source of energy and power. You will derive energy and power from the sun.

5. Soak 12 almonds at night. Remove the skin and take the almonds with some sugarcandy in the early morning. Or you can make a refreshing beverage by grinding these almonds with a little black pepper and sugarcandy. This is called ‘thandai’ by the Punjabis. This is a fine, cooling and strength-giving tonic.

6. Rest in bed is necessary. Adjust your diet. Take simple, wholesome, easily digestible, bland and non-irritating food. Give up hot, pungent curries, chutneys and chilliest Rest the stomach and the small bowels by taking recourse to partial fasts. If you can fast for a whole day, it is all the better. Fasting eliminates poisons and overhauls the system thoroughly. You can take sago and milk barley water and fruits like sweet oranges, grapes, etc. If you are thirsty, you can take lemon or orange juice with sugarcandy.

7. Observe Brahmacharya. Get up at 4 a.m. and practice Japa of ‘Hari Om’ or any other Mantra and also meditation for one hour. The Name of the Lord is the best medicine or tonic in the world. You should have intense faith in the power of the Names of the Lord. Incurable diseases are cured by Japa or singing Hari’s Name. Meditation creates new, healthy vibrations in all the cells of the body and removes any kind of disease. All the tissues are bathed in the nectar that flows during meditation. All germs that cause diseases are destroyed. The rationale of this kind of Yogic or spiritual treatment is yet unknown to the medical profession.

8. Why do you unnecessarily introduce foreign drugs into the system? Resort to Nature Cure and Yogic Chikitsa. Practise regularly Pranayama, breathing exercises, Asanas, concentration and meditation. This is the ideal treatment. Do not think too much of the disease and too much of the body. Too much thinking of the disease will intensify the malady. Keep the mind fully occupied in some way or the other. This is very important. Take away the mind from the body and think of the diseaseless Atma or Soul within, the bed-rock or substratum for the body and mind. Friend, cultivate this kind of Atma-chintana and attain the Anamayapada or the Painless State Param Dhama or Immortal Brahman. Cheer yourself up. Have a cheerful countenance always. Meditate on Om. Think of Om. Sing Om. Om is thy real name. Om is the best tonic, specific or sheet anchor, panacea or cure-all, ‘pick-me-up’ or sovereign remedy for all diseases. Smile and laugh. Thou art bodiless, undying Soul. Never, never forget this.

9. May God bless you with perfect health, high standard of vigour, strength, vitality and longevity. May you prosper gloriously! Om Santi!

2. Essence of Sadhana

1. Get up at 4 a.m. daily. This is Brahmamuhurta which is extremely favourable for meditation on God.

2. Asana: Sit on Padma, Siddha or Sukha Asana for Japa and meditation for half an hour, facing the east or the north. Increase the period gradually to three hours. Do Sirshasana and Sarvangasana for keeping up Brahmacharya and health. Take light physical exercises as walking, etc., regularly. Do twenty Pranayamas.

3. Japa: Repeat any Mantra as pure Om or Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namah Sivaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Saravanabhavaya Namah, Sita Ram, Sri Ram, Hari Om, or Gayatri, according to your taste or inclination, from 108 to 21,600 times daily.

4. Dietetic Discipline: Take Sattvic food (Suddha Ahara). Give up chillies, tamarind, garlic, onion, sour articles, oil, mustard, asafoetida. Observe moderation in diet (Mitahara). Do not overload the stomach. Give up those things which the mind likes best for a fortnight in a year. Eat simple fool. Milk and fruits help concentration. Take food as medicine to keep the life going. Eating for enjoyment is sin. Give up salt and sugar for a month. You must be able to live on rice, Dhal and bread without any chutney. Do not ask for extra salt for Dhal and sugar for tea, coffee or milk.

5. Have a separate meditation room under lock and key.

6. Do charity regularly, every month, or even daily according to your means, say six paise per rupee.

7. Svadhyaya: Study systematically the Gita, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, Vishnu-Sahasranama, Lalita-Sahasranama, Aditya Hridaya, the Upanishads or the Yoga Vasishtha, the Bible, the Zend Avesta, the Koran, the Tripitakas, the Granth Sahib, etc., from half an hour to one hour daily and have Suddha Vichara.

8. Preserve the vital force (Veerya) very, very carefully. Veerya is God in motion or manifestation—Vibhuti. Veerya is all power. Veerya is all money. Veerya is the essence of life, thought and intelligence.

9. Get by heart some prayer-Slokas, Stotras and repeat them as soon as you sit in the Asana before starting Japa or meditation. This will elevate the mind quickly.

10. Have constant Satsanga. Give up bad company, smoking, meat and alcoholic liquors entirely. Do not develop any evil habits.

11. Fast on Ekadasi or live on milk and fruits only.

12. Have Japa Mala (rosary) round your neck or in your pocket or underneath your pillow at night.

13. Observe Mouna (vow of silence) for a couple of hours daily.

14. Speak the truth at all cost. Speak a little. Speak sweetly.

15. Reduce your wants. If you have four shirts, reduce the number to three or two. Lead a happy, contented life. Avoid unnecessary worry. Have plain living and high thinking.

16. Never hurt anybody (Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah). Control anger by love, Kshama (forgiveness) and Daya (compassion).

17. Do not depend upon servants. Self-reliance is the highest of all virtues.

18. Think of the mistakes you have committed during the course of the day, just before retiring to bed (self-analysis). Keep daily diary and self-correction register. Do not brood over past mistakes.

19. Remember that death is awaiting you at every moment. Never fail to fulfil your duties. Have pure conduct (Sadachara).

20. Think of God as soon as you wake up and just before you go to sleep. Surrender yourself completely to God (Saranagati).

This is the essence of all spiritual Sadhanas. This will lead you to Moksha. All these Niyamas or spiritual canons must be rigidly observed. You must not give leniency to the mind.

3. Gist of Karma Yoga

1. Karma Yoga is selfless service unto humanity. The important point is to serve humanity without any attachment or egoism. The central teaching of the Gita is non-attachment to work. Lord Krishna says: “Work incessantly. Your duty is to work but not expect the fruits thereof.”

2. The mind is so framed that it cannot work without expectation of fruits or anticipation of rewards or even appreciation. You will have to train the mind to work disinterestedly. Worldly people cannot understand the spirit of Nishkamya Karma Yoga as their minds are charged or saturated with impurities. Do vigorous service for some time. You will grasp the spirit of Nishkamya service.

3. A Karma Yogi should be absolutely free from greed, lust, anger and egoism. Then only he can do real useful service. Even if there are traces of these Doshas, he should try to remove them one by one.

4. A Karma Yogi should have an amiable, loving, social nature. He should have perfect adaptability, tolerance, sympathy, cosmic love and mercy. He should be able to adjust himself to the ways and habits of others. He should have an all-embracing and all-inclusive heart and equal vision. He should have a cool and balanced mind. He should rejoice in the welfare of others. He should have all the organs under perfect control. He should lead a very simple life. He should bear insult, disrespect, dishonour, censure infamy, disgrace, harsh words, heat and cold and the pain of diseases. He should have power of endurance. He should have absolute faith in himself, in God, in scriptures and in the words of his Guru. Such a man becomes a good Karma Yogi and reaches the Goal quickly.

5. The man who serves the world really serves himself. That man who helps others really helps himself. This is an important point. When you serve a man, when you serve your country, always think that the Lord has given you a rare opportunity to improve, correct and mould yourself by service. Be grateful to that man who has given you a chance to serve him.

6. Karma Yoga prepares the mind for the reception of Light or Knowledge. It expands the heart and breaks all barriers that stand in the way of unity or oneness. Karma Yoga is the effective Sadhana for Chitta Suddhi.

7. By doing selfless service you purify your heart. Egoism, hatred, jealousy, idea of superiority and all the kindred negative qualities will vanish. Humility, pure love, sympathy, tolerance, and mercy will be developed. Sense of separateness will be annihilated. Selfishness will be eradicated. You will get a broad and liberal outlook of life. You will begin to feel oneness and unity. Eventually you will attain knowledge of the Self. You will realise ‘One in All’ and ‘All in One.’ You will feel unbounded joy. World is nothing but manifestation of God. Service of humanity and country is service of God. Service is worship.

8. Generally people are impatient and they expect Siddhis after doing a little service. The real Karma Yogi who serves the people with humility and Atma Bhava (seeing God in every face) becomes a real ruler of the world. He is honoured and respected by all. The more service you do with Atma Bhava, the more power, energy, and capacity you will get. Practise this and feel.

9. When the thought of doing good to others becomes part and parcel of a man’s very being, then he will not entertain any least motive at all. He takes immense delight in serving others, in doing good to others. There is peculiar joy and Ananda in the vigorous Nishkamya service. He gets inner spiritual strength and power by performing motiveless and selfless actions.

10. Never grumble or murmur when you do service to others. Take delight in service. Be ever ready to serve others. Watch for opportunities to serve. Never miss a single opportunity. Create opportunities. Create field of good service.

11. In the practice of Nishkamya Karma Yoga, there is no loss of effort. There is no harm. There is no transgression also. Even a little of this practice can protect you from great fear of birth and death with its concomitant evils. You will reap the fruits of Karma Yoga, viz., Jnana. There is no uncertainty here. The path of Karma Yoga eventually leads to the attainment of Bliss of the Self.

4. Bhakti Yoga Sadhana

1. Bhakti is the slender silken thread of Prema or Love that binds the heart of a devotee with the Lotus Feet of the Lord. Bhakti is intense devotion and supreme attachment to God. It is the spontaneous outpouring of love towards God. It is pure, unselfish, Divine Love or Suddha Prema. Bhakti is sacred, higher emotion with sublime sentiment that unites the devotee with the Lord. It has to be experienced by the Bhaktas.

2. Human love is all hollow. It is mere animal attraction. It is passion. It is carnal love. It is selfish love. It is ever changing. It is all hypocrisy and mere show. The wife does not care for her husband when he is in the role of unemployment. She frowns at him. The husband dislikes his wife when she loses her beauty on account of some chronic diseases. You can find real, lasting love in God alone. His love knows no change.

3. Bhakti is the basis of religious life. Bhakti destroys Vasanas and egoism. A life without Bhakti, faith, love and devotion is a dreary waste. Bhakti softens the heart and removes jealousy, hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride and arrogance. It infuses joy, Divine ecstasy, Bliss, Peace and Knowledge. All cares, worries, anxieties, fears, mental torments and tribulations entirely vanish. The devotee is freed from the Samsaric wheel of births and deaths. He attains the Immortal Abode of everlasting Peace, Bliss and Knowledge.

4. Sakamya Bhakti is one where the Bhakta worships God for getting riches, son or for removal of sufferings from diseases. Vyabhicharini Bhakti is one in which the devotee worships or loves God for some time and then his wife, children and property for some time. To love God and God alone for ever and ever is Avyabhicharini Bhakti. Prahlada in the advanced stage of devotion meditated on his own self as Lord Hari. This is Abheda Bhakti.

5. The Bhakta remains in the Loka where Lord Vishnu resides like an inhabitant of a state. This is Salokya Mukti. In Sameepya Mukti, the Bhakta remains in close proximity with the Lord like the attendant of a king. In Sarupya Mukti he gets the same form like that of the Lord like the brother of a king. In Sayujya Mukti, he becomes one with the Lord like salt and water. Thus there are four kinds of Mukti for the Bhaktas.

6. Out of love the formless Brahman assumes the form of Lord Hari to please His devotees. God is an embodiment of mercy. The Lord runs after His devotees with food and water in His hands to the forests. He becomes a slave of His devotees. Lord Vishnu says to Prahlada: “Dear, you are too tender of age and too delicate of body to stand the terrible tortures inflicted on you by the hot-headed father. A parallel of his atrocious deed I have never seen before. Pray, therefore, excuse Me if I was late in coming to your rescue.” Again Lord Krishna says: “I am not in My control. I am under the complete control of My Bhaktas. They have taken entire possession of My heart. How can I leave them when they have taken entire possession of My heart? How can I leave them when they have renounced everything for My sake? He who seeks Me in all things, and all things in Me, to him I am never lost, nor he to Me.”

7. By following the following nine modes of worship (Navavidha Bhakti), you can develop Bhakti and attain God-realisation: Sravana (hearing the Lila of God); Kirtana (singing His praise); Smarana (remembering His Name); Padasevana (worshipping His Lotus Feet); Archana (offerings); Vandana (prostration); Dasya (service); Sakhya (friendship) and Atmanivedana (complete self-surrender). Study the Gita, the Ramayana and the Bhagavata. Have Satsanga. Visit holy places (Teertha-Yatra). Do Japa. Meditate. Sing His Name. You can develop Bhakti and have His Darsana.

8. Do you really want God? Do you really thirst for His Darsana? Have you got spiritual hunger? You may deliver thrilling lectures on Bhakti. You may write several volumes on Bhakti, and yet you may not possess a grain of true devotion. He who thirsts for Darsana of God will develop Bhakti. If there is sincere demand for God, then the supply will come. By regular, steady Sadhana may you attain Peace, Bliss, Knowledge, Perfection and God realisation!

9. The Name of God chanted in any way, correctly or incorrectly, knowingly or unknowingly, carefully or carelessly is sure to give the desired result. The Glory of the Name of God cannot be established through reasoning and intellect. It can certainly be experienced or realised only through devotion, faith and constant repetition of the Name. Every Name is filled with countless potencies or Saktis. The power of the Name is ineffable. Its glory is indescribable. The efficacy and inherent Sakti of the Name of God is unfathomable.

10. Just as fire has the natural property of burning inflammable things, so also the Name of God has the power of burning the sins, Samskaras and Vasanas and bestowing Eternal Bliss and everlasting peace on those who repeat the Name of the Lord. Just as burning quality is natural and inherent in fire, so also the power of destroying sins with their very root and branch and bringing the aspirant into blissful union with the Lord through Bhava-Samadhi is natural and inherent in the Name of God.

11. O man! Take refuge in the Name. Nami and Name are inseparable. Sing the Lord’s Name incessantly. Remember the Name of the Lord with every incoming and outgoing breath. In this iron age Namasmarana or Japa is the easiest, quickest, safest and surest way to reach God and to attain Immortality and Perennial Joy. Glory to the Lord. Glory to His Name. Sing ‘Hari Om,’ ‘Sri Ram,’ ‘Radheysyam,’ ‘Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.’

5. Pearl-drops of Prema

1. Every aspirant in the spiritual path becomes a victim to the mood of depression in the beginning of the Sadhana period. You will have to overcome this mood through discrimination, reflection, Vichara, singing Hari’s Name, prayer, etc. This mood is like a passing cloud. You should not be unnecessarily alarmed. It will pass off soon if you are vigilant.

2. Do not mistake emotion for devotion. Whenever you get the mood of depression, sing Hari’s Name vigorously by sitting alone in your room with a melting heart. You may sing silently. This is an easy method to drive away this undesirable mood.

3. Try to control wild outbursts of weeping. This is a weakness and negative state. But allow the pearl-drops of Divine thrill or ecstasy to trickle down occasionally when you are in a profound prayerful mood or meditative state.

4. Shed the precious tears of Divine Prema when you are alone, when you are in communion with the Lord. Do not weep in the presence of others. The rare pearl-drops of Divine Prema are the outcome of melting of the heart by the fire of devotion and the fire of Viraha or painful separation from the Lord. Many people develop a habit of weeping and tears flow on account of frequent irritation of lachrymal glands that secrete or manufacture the tears but not on account of devotion.

5. Sometimes man feigns to be a devotee and sheds false tears just to make his neighbours think that he is a great devotee and on account of sympathetic action his neighbours also begin to weep. You will witness a nice scene of a band of weeping people in a Sankirtan gathering but in the case of heart there will be not an iota of devotion. Devotion is a very rare gift from God. Weeping is not by itself a criterion to judge the devotional nature of a man or a woman. Do not mistake the crocodile tears of a hypocrite Bhakta for the genuine pearl-drops of Divine Prema which inspire and elevate the bystanders. One may not weep outwardly and yet he may be a genuine silent devotee.

6. Open the doors of your heart. Let the lightning spark of love arise in your heart. Let the love pierce you through and through. Let the heart sing to heart. Let your soul mix with the Supreme Soul. Let the heart-lotus blossom and waft its sweet Divine fragrance. Let the Divine thrill strike the strings of your heart. Let the tears flow now on your cheeks. Let the Divine ecstasy fill your whole being.

7. Lord Hari is an ocean of mercy. He has boundless love for His devotees. He is a purifier of the sinful and the fallen. He accepted even Ajamila and that fallen woman Pingala. He drove the chariot of Arjuna in the battlefield. He ran to save Draupadi and Gajendra. Though He is the master of the three worlds, He is a slave of His devotees.

8. Sit silent. Collect the dissipated rays of the mind. Become serene. Repeat God’s Name: ‘Hari Om’ or ‘Sri Ram’ or ‘Om Namah Sivaya.’ Your happiness will know no bounds. God will dwell in your heart.

9. May Lord Narayana take you to His bosom and bathe you in the sacred waters of Divine Prema and transcendental Bliss!

6. How to Spend Your Holidays

1. In the whirlpool of fleeting sensual pleasures you have forgotten the purpose of life and goal. You live more for the body than for the soul. In your pursuit after the phantom shows of worldly vanities, you have annihilated the spiritual instincts and longings of the soul. What a sad state! Mysterious is Maya! Mysterious is Moha! Open your eyes now. Wake up from the long slumber of ignorance. Realise the ultimate Reality and enjoy eternal bliss.

2. Spiritual wealth is the real inexhaustible wealth. Spiritual knowledge is the real knowledge. Spiritual life is the real life. Aspire. Know the Self and be free. Regain the Divine Glory. Meditate and realise the Immortal Atman the Indweller of your heart, the Inner Ruler, the self-existent, self-contained, self-luminous imperishable Soul.

3. Raja Janaka realised his Self within the twinkling of an eye. Raja Khatwanga attained Self-realisation within a Muhurta or forty-eight minutes. Raja Parikshit achieved the final beatitude of life within a week. You can also have Self-realisation within a week if you thirst for God and if you apply yourself diligently to spiritual Sadhana in right earnest with the right attitude of mind.

4. Holidays are not meant for playing cards, idle gossiping, feasting, sight-seeing or aimless wandering. It is very difficult to get a human birth. The aim of life is to attain God-consciousness. Holidays must be well spent. Every second must be utilised in worship and meditation. Delay in Self-realisation is practical death. You have wasted already your life till now. Will you waste the remaining portion of your life also? Will you waste your holidays also? Now wake up. Gird up the loins. Whenever you get holidays start your Sadhana with zeal and enthusiasm and march direct to the goal.

5. Here is a daily routine for you. Follow this tenaciously with faith and earnestness. You can select a quiet solitary room for you in your own house. If you can conveniently manage, you can do your Anushthana either in Rishikesh, Prayag, Benares or Nasik or you can select any convenient place on the banks of Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada or Kaveri. You will have pure spiritual vibrations in these places. These vibrations will help a lot in your spiritual practices. The mind will enter into the meditative mood without any effort. You can put a small grass hut here. Live on milk and fruits. If you find it difficult to live on the regimen, you can take a little rice, vegetables, Dhal and bread. Live alone. Observe complete silence for a week. Shut yourself in the room. Plunge yourself in Japa and meditation. You can do Japa of either Om, Om Namah Sivaya, Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Hari Om, Sri Ram, Gayatri, according to your taste or temperament or repeat your Guru Mantra. Have sleep for three to four hours. You must get up at 3 or 4 a.m.

6. If you are not able to spend the whole time in Japa and meditation, you can combine Kirtan and study of religious books such as the Gita, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, the Upanishads, etc. Whenever the mind gets tired take to Kirtan for one or two hours. Then study religious books. Then write your Ishta Mantra in a notebook for one hour. This will be a sort of relaxation for the mind. Again sit for meditation. Then again have Kirtan, study of books and Mantra-writing. Rotate in this manner. Have as many sittings as you can. You will have good spiritual experiences.

7. Wake up from your long sleep of ignorance. Get knowledge of the Self. O wanderer in the quagmire of Samsara! Go back to your original abode of eternal peace the fountain of infinite Joy and power, the spring of boundless ecstasy, the source of life, the origin of light and love, the immortal blissful Brahmic seat of illimitable splendour and pristine glory. Fill the mind with thoughts of Self. Saturate your feelings with purity and divinity. Let the Light of lights shine in every hair on your body. Let the infinite Godhead vibrate in every cell of your body. Let every breath sing the song of infinity and eternity with Soham or Shyam or Ram!

8. On some holidays you can arrange for a Sankirtan Sammelan or Religious Conference. You can invite great men, Sadhus and Sannyasins for Kirtan and lectures. On such occasions feed the poor, Sadhus, Sannyasins, Mahatmas, Brahmins and students. Publish some leaflets and pamphlets on Bhakti, Yoga and Vedanta for free distribution. Thousands of people will take part and get spiritual benefits. This is a wonderful way of spending the holidays by which the whole city will be spiritually benefited.

7. Message to Retired People

This is a good practice for retired people. After retiring from service you should live for one or two months in Prayag or Rishikesh or in a solitary place on the banks of the Narmada or the Ganga or Yamuna where you can get Satsanga of Mahatmas. You should live alone. If you do not know how to cook your food, and if you can afford you can have a cook. Then only you can destroy Moha or attachment for your wife and children. Then only you can have good concentration and solid spiritual practice. You can return back to your home. Live now in a solitary place that is situated a mile away from your house. Construct a small Kutir. Ask your people to send the food to your place. Sometimes you can take your food in your house. Then again come back to the bank of the Ganga. By so doing you and your family people will be used to separation. They will not get any shock. Eventually you can stay in seclusion for any number of years without any difficulty. Do not write any letters to anybody when you are in seclusion. Spend the pension in charity. Plunge yourself in Japa, meditation, Kirtan and Pranayama. Draw a daily routine and stick to it tenaciously. Sri R.S.S., Mr. T.R.V. and others are following this plan. They have derived wonderful spiritual benefits.

O old man! What is the use of getting a human body if you do not utilise even the last portion of your life in divine contemplation, Bhajan or worship? It is very difficult to get a human body again. Wake up from the slumber of ignorance. Start this practice at once. Rejoice In Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman. Realise the Self and be free in this very birth!

8. A Dynamic Yoga

1. It is due to the veil of ignorance that you have forgotten your real essential nature, the Sat-Chit-Ananda state. It is not at all necessary for you to renounce the world and run to some Himalayan cave to regain your lost divinity. Here is an easy Sadhana by which you can definitely attain God-consciousness, even while living in the world amidst multifarious activities.

2. You need not necessarily have a separate Meditation Room or fix some time for meditation. Close your eyes for a minute or two once in every two hours and think of God and His various Divine qualities such as mercy, love, joy, knowledge, purity, perfection, and so forth during work, and mentally repeat: “Hari Om,” or “Sri Ram,” or “Ram Ram,” or any other Mantra according to your taste.

3. This should be done even during night whenever you happen to get up from bed to micturate or on any other account. Though you are not in the habit of getting up from sleep, you should do this practice at least occasionally when you slightly change your posture during sleep. This sort of habit will come only by repeated practice.

4. Feel all along that the body is a moving temple of God, your office or business house is a big temple or Vrindavan, and all activities such as walking, eating, breathing, seeing, hearing, reading, etc., are offerings unto the Lord. Work is worship. Work is meditation, when done in the right spirit.

5. Work for work’s sake without any motive without the idea of agency (I am the doer, I am the enjoyer), and without expectation of fruits. Feel that you are an instrument in the hands of God and that He works through your organs. Feel also that this world is a manifestation of the Lord or Visva Vrindavan and your children, wife, father, mother and other relations are the images or children of the Lord. See God in every face and in every object. If you develop this changed angle of vision and Divine Bhava by protracted and constant practice, all actions will become Puja or worship of the Lord. This is quite sufficient. You will have God-realisation soon. This is a dynamic Yoga. This is an easy Sadhana. Hereafter do not bring your old lame excuse: “Swamiji, I have no time to do spiritual practices.” Even if you practise this dynamic Yoga for three months, you will become an entirely changed being altogether. Realise right now your identity and intimate relationship with all beings, with ants and dogs, elephants and tigers, Muslims and Hindus, Jews and Christians. There is only a degree of difference in manifestation or expression. All forms belong to God or Saguna Brahman. When you look at a tree or a shrub, a Sikh or a Muslim, endeavour to behold behind the veil of form, the real hidden Consciousness. If you do this for some time, you will feel inexpressible Joy. All hatred will cease. You will develop Cosmic Love or unity of consciousness. This will be a magnanimous experience.

6. Write daily for half an hour in a notebook your Ishta Mantra observing Mouna and without turning to this side or that. Write down in bold types on slips of paper:

* SPEAK THE TRUTH
* OM COURAGE
* OM PURITY
* I MUST REALISE GOD NOW
* TIME IS MOST PRECIOUS
* I WILL BE A TRUE BRAHMACHARI
BRAHMACHARYA IS DIVINE LIFE
* I AM AN EMBODIMENT OF COURAGE,
PURITY, MERCY, LOVE AND PATIENCE

and fix them in the bed room, dining hall, front room and verandahs. Keep some slips in your pocket and diary also. This is an easy way for developing virtuous divine qualities.

7. Here are some Mantras, formulae, for effecting ungrudging and total self-surrender. Repeat them mentally several times daily with Bhava: “O Lord, I am Thine, All is Thine. Thy Will be done. Thou art everything. Thou doest everything.” This practice will remove egoism and mineness and the idea of agency also.

9. Way to Bliss

1. God is the dispeller of ignorance, sorrow and fear. He is the bestower of Eternal Happiness. Know Him. He ever dwelleth in thee.

2. Cultivate a very strong faith in God. Faith is the gateway to God. Faith can work wonders.

3. Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even in your smallest act. This is the secret of success.

4. Be temperate in eating, drinking, sleeping, amusing and in all other things.

5. Follow the correct principles of living. Strive for health, strength, success and God-realisation.

6. Give. Give. Give. Give freely and spontaneously. Give everything. Here lies the secret of abundance.

7. Always act with faith and determination. Be firm in your resolve and fiery in your determination. Have an iron will.

8. Let bygones be bygones. Let the past be buried. There is a brilliant future for you. Exert. Exert. Exert.

9. Be always cheerful and smile away your worries. Develop your will by eradicating desires, egoism and hatred.

10. Sensual indulgence leads you to destruction. Renunciation leads to Immortality. Give up clinging and attachment.

11. Right thoughts make right deeds, right actions and an admirable character. Therefore develop right thinking.

12. Keep the reason pure. Free yourself from egoistic notions. Destroy I-ness and mine-ness. Attain liberation. Be free. Enjoy Bliss.

13. Serve. Love. Give. Restrain (the Indriyas and mind). Be good. Do good. Be kind. Be pure. Be patient.

14. Grow. Expand. Evolve. Destroy separateness. Mix with all. Develop cosmic love. Become selfless.

15. Be vigilant and diligent. Watch and pray. Fast and meditate. Persevere. Destroy fear, worry and anxiety.

16. Serve Sadhus. Have Satsanga. Sing the Names of the Lord. Live in seclusion for a month. Live on milk and fruits. Meditate.

17. “Who am I? What is Samsara? What is Brahman? What is bondage? What is freedom? What is Maya? What is Avidya?” Do Vichara.

18. Become dispassionate. Calm the mind. Have a one-pointed and a balanced state of mind always.

19. Embrace spirituality. Practise purity. Do charity. Develop nobility. Cultivate magnanimity. Attain Divinity.

20. Have purification. Do concentration. Cultivate reflection. Practise meditation. Achieve perfection.