SRI SARVESHWARI TIMES

Vol.VII: No I.  JANUARY 1997

Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ramji

 

What you are seeking is within you

May the New Year bring you peace, prosperity and good health, which is the greatest treasure we have! May your morning, noon and evening be pleasant! May you get good friends and companions! May you not meet those whose vast wealth brings them nothing but miseries! Big people are like the palm trees, which offer no shade to anyone. Shrubs are better. They have thorns, but they have flowers too.


Sadhus (renunciates) are like shrubs. The grass may have been trampled by countless people but it refuses to get destroyed. It is beyond praise and blame. And so are the sadhus. They wear torn, discarded clothes, they live in humble places and in burning ghats. May the New Year bring you gifts! May you be disciplined! May you love your Guru and be loved by him! May your love for God increase!
As always, you have been seeking a change in your life. You want to move away from the common herd and meet those who would bring you the stillness of mind, peace and love for your Guru, as also for God and your parents. You are also in search of something else - but you do not know what.


Be careful in your search, for carelessness will bring you troubles and misery.


What you are seeking in within you. It is throbbing within you, and will keep doing so automatically. You extinguish the light, and then seek it in darkness. Our gurus and pious men direct our attention to the extinguished lamp. The God of the cremation ground reminds you that the body, which you consider all and take pride in, the body you associate with honor and all that you consider as your own, is about to come to him. He warns you repeatedly that you do not have much time on your hands, and that your body is bound to perish. The day you discover yourself and that there are bound to be ups and downs in life, no pleasure or pain will agitate you. You will be still. It is this stillness of the mind that the yogis have called samadhi. A state that great men have described as the desireless mind and aughars and saints have called mahavibhuti.


Worldly riches bring trouble not only to you, but to others also. They prompt you to do wrong deeds. God-given riches turn you into a peepal or bargad (banyon) tree which, though born of a small seed, grow into a mighty trees under which many can take shelter. You will not enter the blind race for name and fame or wealth. You will not grow into a palm tree which, though born of a big seed, can shelter none. Even birds do not build their nests on them. Of course, vultures occasionally sit on them. With God given opulence, you can be like the rivers and lakes which provide potable water. Even though a small householder, you will be able to look after your family and relations. Remember you are great, you are pure, and that is why, you can look after others. Be alert. Be still. Else you will be battered by the tides of circumstances.


Heed the hints of the Guru. Those who surrender themselves to their gurus and follow the path indicated by them, suffer less. But if we ignore their signals, if we have no faith and trust in them, then mere visits to them will be of no avail.


Friends, the Satan moves in the garb of a friend. If you extend your hands to him, nothing can save you. That is why the company of saints is needed. You are molded by the company you keep. A wrong company prevents you from discovering yourself. Instead, the cremation ground bell begins to take toll before you.


Only a person unattached to this perishable body is called a sadhu. He remains distant from both honor and dishonor, and from both caste and religion. If we go to such a sadhu, leaving behind our desires, our aspirations, our hatred, enmity, greed and attachments, we can be greatly benefited. If we go to them burdened with this or that desire, we will get nothing. The sadhu will take the view that if you are already carrying so much burden, why increase your load.


Is it not ironic that you seek from sadhus or your Guru that very thing which is the cause of your misery? Eat what comes to you easily, even if it is coarse. Be contented. Only such a person is considered great and worshipped as a sadhu. He is remembered by posterity. Those with worldly, God-bereft property, are hardly remembered. Pigeons and other birds defile their palaces. They are miserable and seek relief by visiting temples of imaginary gods.


The day we discover that Great Unknown within us, we shall become great. Our thoughts and actions will change, and impure thoughts will not recur.


We can achieve this transformation even if we are householders doing our daily duties. Be satisfied with whatever destiny brings to you, and with a still and unagitated mind, do your work on this earth. After you depart from this earth you will live in the sun-constellation as an observer. You will be influenced no more by the ups and downs that take place on this earth. The day your mind becomes still and gives rise to no thoughts, you will attain shunya (the absolute empty state). You will cease to live an undisciplined life and you will not make mistakes.


The day your mind becomes still, the day you develop patience and you are free from anger and hatred, free from useless disputations, you will become a sadhu. You will become holy. Even Ganga is not that holy - it flows in a particular direction. We may imbibe some of its holiness by going to her provided our mind is pure. The holiness I am talking about is something bigger. It will wholly engulf you and change not only you for the better, but also your children and grandchildren.

This discourse of Baba has appeared in the new book by S. Sahay:

"Worship yourself" life and teachings of Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ram


MY PRACTICE

During one of the satsangs at the Ashram, someone asked Hariji, "What should be my daily practice?" In response to this question Hariji said, "I will tell you a part of my own daily practice, and perhaps that can help guide you." The excerpts of that talk is given below:

  • As I wake up in the morning and take the first conscious breath : I become aware of the most precious gift that I have already been given - Life.

  • As I bring my palms in front of me and look at them : I become aware of the second precious gift that I have been given - Strength.

  • Before leaving the bed, I reach over and touch the earth with my hands : I become aware of the unconditional love of the mother earth and ask for forgiveness for touching her with my feet.

  • Standing in front of the mirror while washing my face, I look into my eyes and try to see the one who is looking from behind those eyes - no ideas, no concepts- just I am. This I am is no different from God, who is looking through all the eyes on the earth.

  • Silently I give my word to this I am:

    I will honor You and respect You.

    I will not subject You to the company of the lowly (tendencies, thoughts or people).

  • As I sit to meditate, first I offer my respect to my Guru, who has revealed and reminded me of the Divine within me. Remembrance of the Guru strengthens faith and trust. And then I pay my respect to my mantra.

  • In my mind, my mantra is just another expression (name) of I am. In order to pay my respect I give It a form seated in my heart lotus - a sweet blue light or a form of the mother, a symbol of unconditional love and protection.

  • Keeping the company of my guru (holding the white light, the light of wisdom or image of my guru in my third eye) I repeat my mantra with utmost love and trust like an infant reaching out to the mother.

  • As the meditation deepens: I, I am, my Guru, my mantra and the divine mother, all become One.

  • Walking away from my meditation seat I carry the peace, contentment and love. I carry this sentiment of utmost devotion and gratitude with me into the world of activity.

  • Through out the day I keep coming back to I am by taking a few mindful breaths and remembering the echo of my mantra resonating within me. At times when I find my self far off in the worldly ocean, I remember the presence of my Guru escorting me back to the shore.

  • In the evening I find time to express my love and devotion by being in the company others who are doing the same.

  • This I am remains as clean as the movie screen after many pictures have been projected on it.



    • This is a part of my practice that I can share with you. Although it sounds lengthy but in reality it is very short and practical. I would not be able to describe the richness of this practice through words just as I could never give you taste of a mango through words. You would have to taste it on your own to truly know it. And once you have tasted it, you would seek it out on your own.

    Ashram News:

    Hariji will leave for India on Jan 8. He will return around the 20th of Feb. During his absence all the classes and activities of the Ashram will go on as usual. Yoga class at the Vintage House has been canceled till Hariji returns from India. All the classes at the Ashram will continue at the same schedule.

    Sunday meditation time has changed. Now the Sunday meditation is held at 7:30 AM.

    Flower Garden: Garden is asking to be planted with large flowered primroses which are used for morning and evening puja. Please contact John at the ashram if you can help.

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