We are the Atman, the immortal Consciousness

We are the Atman, the immortal Consciousness beyond and unattached by the three bodies which are an expression of Atman. This Atman is Brahman, (the absolute Consciousness). Brahman plus Maya is the Universal Being or God, Brahman plus the three bodies is a human being and in this case we call Brahman as Atman.  ~ Atman Nityananda

Follows an extract of Swami Sivananda book Moksha Gita

Brahman is distinct from the gross, subtle and causal bodies. He is the soul of all. He is the Inner Ruler of all. He is eternally free. He is without action, and without motion. 

The three bodies are the layers of unconsciousness that envelop the Light of the glorious Self.

 The causal body is the immediate and the subtlest and hence the most powerful of the layers of ignorance. It is the state of forgetfulness of the Self, where there is darkness and blindness of the soul, and the soul is left there in a state of unconsciousness of the absolute nature of itself. 

The second sheath, the subtle body, is the intensified form of the first,  where there is distraction in addition to the ignorance of the causal sheath, a presentation of untruth over and above the forgetfulness of the Reality. 

The third, the physical body, is the grossest materialisation of the imaginative consciousness where it is thickened to flesh and bone and is completely cut off from the rest of existence. The individual hypnotises itself through intense imagination into the belief that this distinguished body is its essential nature and suffers the acute pangs of separation from Truth. 

Life on earth is only this drama of the misery of the individual egos. 

But Brahman is untouched by imaginative separateness. 

It is the Substratum of all phenomenal play and the world-orbs roll in it like bubbles in the vast ocean. 

It is the Inner Controller of all changing individuals and rests in its eternal repose indifferent to the shadowy appearance of universes and individuals. 

It is eternally free and can be bound by none, not even by motion and action, for motion and action are directed towards an unattained goal, but Brahman has no goal to attain and so no purpose to move and act. It is the majesty of Self-sufficiency, Perfection and utter Truth, beyond which there is nothing. 

It is the Be-all and End-all of everything. When that is attained, everything is attained.

THE ESSENCE OF SPIRITUALITY \ Swami Sivananda

THE ESSENCE OF SPIRITUALITY
by Swami Sivananda   

Slay egoism, your arch-enemy, through self-sacrifice, self-surrender, self-denial, service, humility, prayer, worship, Japa nama and identification with Atman.

Burn this ego, through discrimination, Vairagya (dispassion)  Atma-vichara (enquiry into the nature of Atman, the Supreme Self) and Samadhi.

You will enjoy the immortal bliss of the Eternal !

REMEMBER ALWAYS

Without practice nothing can be achieved. The practice should be accompanied by perfect faith and devotion.

If there is no faith and regularity, success is impossible. Practice should be continued till you get perfection.

FOUR POINTS FOR MEMORY IN SADHANA

1. REMEMBER THE PAINS OF SAMSARA - will produce Vairagya (dispassion)
2. REMEMBER DEATH. - will produce Vairagya (dispassion)
3. REMEMBER THE SAINTS. - will bring inspiration.
4. REMEMBER GOD. - will cause attainment of God-consciousne

~ Swami Sivananda

Dispassion & Renunciation (Vairagya and Tyaga) \ by Swami Sivananda

Swami Vivekananda about Abhyasa & Vairagya

Dispassion & Renunciation
 (Vairagya and Tyaga)
by Swami Sivananda 

What is Vairagya (Dispassion )?

Vairagya is the opposite of Raga (attachment). Vairagya is dispassion. Vairagya is detachment. Vairagya is indifference to sensual enjoyment here and hereafter. It is the second item in Sadhana Chatushtaya: 1.Viveka, 2.Vairagya, 3.Shadsampat (Six virtues) and 4.Mumukshutwa (intense longing for liberation).

Vairagya is born of Viveka, or discrimination between Nitya and Anitya (Eternal and non-eternal), Sat and Asat (Real and unreal), Tattwa and Atattwa (Essence and non-essence). Viveka comes through selfless service done in several births and through Puja and Aradhana (worship and adoration of God), and through the Grace of the Lord. From Viveka is born Vairagya. It gives spiritual strength.

A man of Vairagya has no attraction for the material world. So Vairagya is a supreme, inexhaustible wealth for spiritual aspirants. Vairagya aids concentration of mind (Samadhana) and generates burning Mumukshutwa, or strong yearning for Liberation or Emancipation, or Release.

If the mind is constantly thinking of tea and if it gets pain when you do not get it, it is said that you have got 'Aasakti' (attachment) for tea. This 'Aasakti' leads to bondage. The practice of 'Vairagya' (dispassion) demands you to renounce this 'Aasakti' for tea. Mere giving up of taking tea does not constitute the essence of 'Vairagya'.

Study Vairagya-Prakarana in Yoga Vasishtha. You will have a comprehensive understanding of the real Svarupa of Vairagya. A clean description of the actual dispassionate mental state of Sri Rama is given. Palatable dishes, refreshing beverages, affectionate father and mother, brother, dear friends, diamonds, pearls, flowers, sandal, ornaments, soft beds, gardens had no attraction for him. On the contrary, their very sight gave him intense pain.

In Vairagya, Brahmacharya is hidden (Antargata ). Vairagya includes celibacy in thought, word and deed.

Two Kinds of Vairagya

Vairagya (dispassion, indifference, non-attachment) is of two kinds, viz.,
(i) Karana Vairagya (Vairagya on account of some miseries) and
(ii)Viveka-Purvaka Vairagya (Vairagya on account of discrimination between real and unreal).

The mind of a man who has got the former type of Vairagya is simply waiting for a chance to get back the things that were given up. As soon as the first opportunity offers itself, the man gets the downfall and goes back to his former state. Vishaya does havoc in him with a vengeance and redoubled force from reaction. But the other man who has given up the objects on account of Viveka, on account of illusory nature of objects, will have spiritual advancement. He will not have a downfall.

How Vairagya Dawns

Note how Vairagya arises in the mind. The transitory and perishable nature of all things creates a sort of disgust in all minds and, in proportion to the depth and subtlety of nature, this reaction from the world works more or less powerfully in the mind of every individual. An irresistible feeling arises in our mind, viz., that the finite can never satisfy the Infinite within us, that the changing and perishable cannot satisfy the changeless and deathless nature of ours.

When you are not impressed with the idea of rich living, rich style of living cannot attract you. When you are impressed with the idea that meat and wine are not at all pleasurable, they cannot tempt you. In that case, if you do not get meat and wine or rich living, you will not be agonised at all in your mind. Why are you attracted towards a young, beautiful lady? Because, owing to your ignorance, you vainly think you will get pleasure through her. If you have got Viveka, it will at once tell you that you will get immense pain through her. Then the mind will recede or withdraw from the object, woman.
Types of Vairagya

Vairagya is of different types or degrees:

Mild - (Mridu)
Moderate - (Madhyama)
Intense - (Teevra)

Intense Vairagya only will help the aspirant to stick to the spiritual path.

If it is of a dull type like Smasana Vairagya, the mind will simply be waiting to get back the objects that were renounced previously, and the aspirant will get a downfall. He will not be able to climb again to the heights he formerly reached. So, the aspirants should be careful.

Even though their Vairagya is of a mild type, they should try to make it moderate and then intense.

Vairagya comes through looking into the defects of sensual life. Sensual pleasure is not real happiness. It is illusory, transient, impermanent. It is mixed with pain. So, again and again by looking into the defects of sensual life, Vairagya dawns. It should be strengthened through the study of spiritual books, Satsanga, Vichara (discrimination) and enquiry.

How To Develop Vairagya?

By looking into the defects of sensual life and reading books on Vairagya, lives of saints, Bhartrihari's Vairagya Sataka, and 'Vairagya-prakarana' in Yoga Vasishtha, dispassion should be cultivated. These will increase your desire for liberation and your conviction in spiritual life.

Those who do not develop the painless Vairagya inherent in one's self and that with great felicity and happiness are, at best, but vermins in human shapes. When a bee finds that its feet are stuck in the honey, it slowly licks its feet several times and then flies away with joy. Even so, extricate yourself from the mind's sticking and clinging to this body and children-honey owing to Raga and Moha through Vairagya and meditation and fly away from this cage of flesh and bone to the Source, Brahman or Absolute.

Think of the miseries of this earthly life, its cares, worries, anxieties, hunger, thirst, sins, temptations, passion, fighting, fears, vanity, disease, death, old age, sorrow, grief, tribulation, loss, failures, disappointments, hostility, scorpion stings, mosquito bites, etc. This will serve as an efficient nim-paste to wean the mind from Samsara. You must think in the above-manner daily.

Remember constantly the pains of various kinds pertaining to this mundane existence. Moha will vanish if you repeat the following line of Chapter XIII of Gita several times daily: "Janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosha-anudarsanam-Insight into the pain and evil of birth, old age and sickness."

Always make the mind understand clearly that there is only pain in this world. Reflect often on the instability of this world. This is the first Sadhana for aspirants. They can thus develop Vairagya. The mind will be weaned from objects. Attraction for sense-objects will gradually vanish.

Advanced students should not think that they have attained Self-realisation, and that they need not study these books. These books are important to neophytes, middle students and advanced students, too. You should study my books How to get Vairagya and Vairagya Mala. If you are established in Vairagya, the super-structure of Samadhi, Ritambharaprajna (Truth-consciousness), will be duly attained. Some of the important Slokas, if you can remember daily, will be a great help to you.

Need for Enquiry

Vairagya should be born of discrimination, enquiry and analysis. By these, the mind is weaned from sensual enjoyments and rendered thin like a thread (Tanumanasi) and only then is Vairagya lasting. Again and again you will have to make enquiry.

Physical nudity and external penance do not constitute real Vairagya. Real Vairagya should come from enquiry, Vichara. All these material objects do not give us lasting happiness. They lead us unto pain and sorrow. Such deep enquiry, again and again persisted in for a very long time, produces lasting Vairagya.

Vairagya is the real wealth for an aspirant. It helps him to do real Sadhana. It makes the mind introvert. Vairagya puts a brake to the extrovert tendency of the mind. Even if the mind runs towards objects, at once Vairagya will point out that there is pain there, that sensual enjoyment is the cause for rebirth and intense suffering. So the mind is bridled, and gradually through intense practice, it is established in real, lasting, sustained, intense Vairagya.

Vairagya is of two grades:
Para (supreme) Vairagya and
Apara (relative) Vairagya.

Para Vairagya comes after one attains Self-realisation. The whole world then appears like a straw. This gives intense spiritual strength.

Sadhana Without Vairagya Goes To Waste

When Vairagya appears in the mind, it opens the gate to Divine Wisdom.

From dissatisfaction (with the sense-objects and worldly sense-enjoyments) comes aspiration.
From aspiration comes abstraction.
From abstraction comes the concentration of the mind.
From the concentration of the mind comes meditation or contemplation.
From contemplation comes Samadhi or Self-realisation.
Without dissatisfaction or Vairagya, nothing is possible.

Just as cultivation in a stony land or saltish earth becomes absolutely fruitless, so also Yogic practices and Atma-Vichara (enquiry of the Soul) done without Vairagya (dispassion and indifference to the sensual enjoyments) becomes fruitless. Just as water, when it leaks into the rat-holes, instead of running into the proper channels in agricultural fields, becomes wasted and does not help the growth of plants, grains, etc., so also, the efforts of an aspirant become a wastage if he has not got the virtue Vairagya. He gets no spiritual advancement.

Intense Vairagya Necessary for Liberation (Moksha) 

There must be intense Vairagya in the minds of the aspirants, throughout the period of their Sadhana. Mere mental adhesion will not do for success in Yoga.

There must be intense longing for liberation, a high degree of Vairagya plus capacity for Sadhana (spiritual practice).

Then only they will get Nirvikalpa Samadhi and Liberation (Moksha).

It was only Raja Janaka and Prahlada who had Tivra Vairagya (intense dispassion). This kind of Vairagya is necessary for quick realisation. It is very difficult to cross the ocean of Samsara with a dull type of Vairagya. The crocodile of sense-hankering (Trishna) for sense-enjoyments and sense-objects will catch the aspirants by the throat and, violently snatching away, will drown them half-way.

Enemies of Vairagya

The Curse of Affection

Delusion proceeds from affection. It is a common observation that a person is distressed if the cat eats his domestic fowl; but when his affections are not touched, for instance, if the cat eats a sparrow or a mouse, he expresses no sorrow. You must, therefore, root out affection, which is the cause of vain attachment. The body generates numerous germs which people are anxious to remove; but to one variety they give the name "children," for which their lives are wasted away. Such is the delusion of the world.

At the back of affection and love, there is grief and sorrow. Affection is mixed with sorrow. At the back of pleasure, there is pain. Pain is mixed with pleasure. Man sows the poisonous seed of sorrow under the name of love, from which quickly spring up shoots of affection which contain a fire dangerous as lightning; and from these shoots, grow trees of sorrow with innumerable branches which, burning like a heap of covered straw, slowly consume the body.

The knot of affection is strengthened by long indulgence. Affection has entwined its threads around the hearts of men. The principal means to get rid of affection is to consider that this is a fleeting existence. In this wide world, how many millions of parents, wives, children, uncles and grandfathers have passed away. You should consider the society of friends as a momentary flash of lightning and, revolving this often in your mind, enjoy felicity.

Hope and Anticipation

Hope and anticipation are the opposite of Vairagya and Tyaga. They fatten the mind. To be perfectly hopeless is a very high state for a philosopher. It is a very bad state for worldlings. They always say with contempt: "He is a hopeless man." Worldlings and philosophers move towards diametrically opposite poles.

Tyaga (Renunciation)

 Renunciation (Tyaga) Brings About Freedom (Moksha)

Shun the earthly objects as fire or poison or offal. Renounce all desires and cravings. This itself is Moksha (freedom). Renunciation of desires brings about the annihilation of the mind. Annihilation of the mind brings on the destruction of Maya, because the mind alone is Maya. Maya is enthroned in the imagination of the mind. How cunning she is! A Viveki knows her tricks well. She is awfully afraid of the man of renunciation and Atmavichara. She bows to him with folded hands.

What is True Renunciation?

The mind is the all-in-all and its mastery leads to the renunciation of all. Chitta-Tyaga alone constitutes the renunciation of all. True renunciation lies in the abnegation of the mind. It consists in renouncing all desires and egoism and not world-existence. Through such a mental abnegation, you will be able to free yourself from all pain. Then will come immortality in life or enjoyment of the infinite delight of existence free from ego, founded on oneness of all in Brahman.

Peace, love, harmony

The inner work, the centre of our life. Atman Nityananda

The inner work, the centre of our life

To achieve the dissolution of the ego and the realization of our true Self it is necessary to transfer the center of gravity from the personality to our soul and in the inner work.

As long as we are more interested about the matters of personality than our soul, a radical change in our consciousness is quite impossible. The most crucial step in spirituality is  the creation of this magnetic centre in relation with our Soul or essence.b

Our interest and our efforts must revolve around the inner work and our Soul. There must be a continuity of goals and objectives; there must by a methodology and regularity.

Then and only then we can overcome our weaknesses and all obstacles and free our mind from egoism, desires, and defects and realize God consciousness!

Know thy Self ~ Atman Nityananda

By knowing what we are not we can free ourselves from it and realise what we really are

The two main diseases of human mind is desire and pride which is also the  desire to be superior or special.

Desire for pleasure, power, superiority, fame, money, possessions are the main branches of desire.

Desire and egoism are one. The Desire-energy assumes the form of 'Iness' or egoism (the sense 'I am the body', a separate body-mind entity).

Like-dislike, attraction-repulsion, irritability, anger, anxiety, fear, impatience, exhilaration-depression, frustration, greed, attachment, jealousy are the primary modifications of desire.

An underline discontentment, uneasiness, incompleteness, not enough and boredom are the almost ever present emotional moods in us created by the desire-energy.

I am better, I can do it better, I am special, criticism, complaining, comparing, imaginary planning and scheming, calculating, dominating, controlling, the external circumstances prevent me to be happy and complete, it is better elsewhere but not here, are the ways that egoism thinks and acts.

The others are friends or enemies depending on their position or attitude towards us. If they contribute to fulfil our desires and enhance our illusory self-image we love them and if not we are angry with them or we hate them.

Ego wants to control everything in order to feel secure and safe and secure the fulfilment of desires.

Ego is reactive and repetitive. Reacts always with the same emotional and mental patterns like a computer.

Incoherence, inresponsibility, hypocrisy, justifications are characteristics of ego behaviour.

We have to observe ourselves from moment to moment even during the most ordinary moments of our every day life (like for example the time we wash our teeth) in order to discover all these egoic tendencies. We cannot free ourselves from something we ignore.

Observation and discovery are first steps. Disidentification and comprehension are the next. Dissolution is the last.

Once we are aware of a mental or emotional pattern we must disidentify from it, we must by conscious attention, discrimination and  reflexion realize that we are not these mental emotional forms, that they prevent us live in peace, happiness and unity with the Divine and our fellows. And finally we must dissolve them with the power of divine mother by prayer and the repetition of name of God.

Self-awareness, self-observation, discovery, disidentification, discrimination, dispassion, prayer, Japa nama,  reflection, comprehension, concentration and meditation are the means that enable us free ourselves from ego and realize God consciousness.

Is ego the ’I’ thought’ or the identification with thoughts? Atman Nityananda

Is ego the ’I’ thought’?

Some spiritual instructors refer to ego as the 'I thought. The say that ego is the 'I thought and the mind made story of 'me` is based or linked to this 'I thought. Is this true?

The made mind story of `me` is linked to the ego or `Iness` but ego is not the 'I thought. If ego was only a thought, the 'I thought, we were very fortunate because we could dissolve it, very easily, but this is not the case.

It is obvious that thoughts are symbols or mental representations of objects, situations, perceptions, sensations, emotions etc. For example the thought sea is only the symbol of what we call sea. The thought fear is the symbol of what we feel in our body as fear. It is obvious that the mental represantation (thought) is not the sea or the fear itself.

Similarly the ‘I’ thought is not the ego but only the mental representation of the ego. The ‘I’ thought is only the expression of the ego in the thinking mind, it is not the ego itself.

We use the word `I in order to communicate with others or to think about something, but this doesn`t mean that the ego is expressed because we use the word or the thought `I. In other lunguages like for example Spanish and Greek the word `I (which is `Yo in spanish and `Εγώ in Greek), it is not used or very rarely is used either for communication either for thinking. That means that the ego is expressed in them less? Of course not. The ego is not the `I thought. The ego functions in us almost always whether we use the word or thought `I or not. 

If the ‘I’ thought is not the ego, then what ego is? 

The ego is a mass or a field of energy which is crystallized in our psychic prana and in our mind. The sense, ‘I am the body’, or ‘I am a separate person’ is the strongest expression of this ego-energy together with lust and desire.

Desire, ‘Iness’ and pain-body are one and the same thing (the same energy field) - the so called ‘ego’- which apparently appears as three different things; the core of them is lust.

The egoism or ‘Iness” is experienced :

• at the heart level, the chest and face as a strong sense,
• in the thinking mind (Manas) as the ‘I’ thought and
• in the intellect (buddhi) as the conviction or belief that ' I am the body', or ‘the body is me'.

The Ego takes many forms or expressions such as:

I am the doer, 

I am the enjoyer, 

I am the perceiver, 

I am the thinker, 

I am the feeler, 

as well as takes the form of desire, like-dislike, anxiety, fear, stress, attraction-repulsion, anger, irritability, impatient, discontentment, aggressiveness, self assertiveness etc. which are only modifications or forms of the ego-energy and Eckhart Tolle named all these wonderfully as pain-body. ( See image).

"Wherever there is ego, there are mineness, selfishness, likes and dislikes, lust, anger, greed, hypocrisy, pride, jealousy, delusion, arrogance, conceit, impertinence, Vasanas, Trishna or cravings and Vrittis or Sankalpa, clinging to this earth-life (Abhinivesha), agency, doer (Kartha) and enjoyer (Bhokta)."

~ Swami Sivananda

Is the ego the identification with thoughts?

When there is identification there must be two factors involved, the subject and the object of identification. When we say that ego is the identification with thoughts we are not mention what identifies with thoughts.

So the idea that identification with thoughts is the ego cannot be accepted as true because does not make reference to the very thing that identifies with thoughts.

Then what identifies with thoughts?
It is the ego what identifies with thoughts, body, sensations, objects etc. The very nature of ego is to identify with something.

"From ignorance) Avidya came ego or egoism (Ahamkara), the self-asserting principle. The function of ego or egoism is identification (Abhimana).  Dehabhimana (is identifrcation with body, -it is mistaking the body for the Self or pure Atman. It is identification and attachment to the body), Shastrabhimana (it is identification with scrtures),  Desabhimana (it is identification with country);  these are varieties of identifications of ego." 

"This ego identifies itself with the body, mind, Prana, the senses."

 ~ Swami Sivananda

Identification, projection, superimposition and imagination are the functions of ego and due to them hypnotizes us and uses our mind intellect, senses and body for its own sake.

~ Eckhart Tolle

"Since the ego is a derived sense of self, it needs to identify with external things. It needs to be both defended and fed constantly. 

The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often also political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications.

 None of these is you." ~ Eckhart Tolle 

Conclusion: 

The ego is not the identification with thoughts but ego is what identifies with thoughts, body, object, persons, country, religions, etc.

Ego is the veil between God and the soul. When the ego vanishes, then is the realisation of universality or cosmic consciousness. Egoistic assertion is a terrible disease. It separates you from God and your fellowmen.  

- Swami Sivananda  

The main expressions of the egoic energy are: 

1. Identification with the body. The strong sense that ’I am the body’ or’ the body is me

2. Desire for sense pleasure (mainly for sex, food, drink, and sensual objects in general), possessions (money etc.), power, fame and name 

3. All pairs of opposites: Like-dislike, attraction-repulsion, fascination-disappointment  etc.

4. All psychological disorders or defects such as fear, anger, jealousy, envy, impatience, depression, hypocrisy, hatred, etc. The negative energy which is stored in our vital body Eckhart Tolle calls it Pain-body. 

Burn this ego, through discrimination,  Atmavichara (enquiry into the nature of Atman- the Supreme Self) and Samadhi.  

Slay egoism - your arch-enemy - through self-sacrifice, self- surrender, self-denial, service, humility, prayer, worship and identification with Atman. 

You will enjoy the immortal bliss of the Eternal !

 - Swami Sivananda  

Never forget God ~ Arman Nityananda

Never forget God

Forgetting your Self and God is real death. Bondage and suffering come due to forgetfulness and inattention.

Forgetfulness leads to identification, attachment and the development of egoism and desires for sensual pleasures, which are the womb of delusion, suffering and diseases.

Do not spent your energy and time to illusory sense pleasures which always bring you in a state of separation, incompleteness and discontentment.

Death is waiting you every moment; tomorrow never comes.
Live every moment of your life for God-realization; seek the eternal beauty of divine peace and bliss, the abode of immortality!

Repeat the name of God, breath the name of God, sing the name of God, hear the name of God, adore the name of God; thus you will never forget God.

God and his name are one. Japa nama purifies your heart and your mind, leads to meditation and the realization of God. The realization of peace, love and bliss eternal !


 

The death of ego

The death of ego

 To dissolve the ego it is not enough to practice only in the morning and evening (although this is very important); you must learn to die moment by moment. 

"The death of the ego in the unlimited Silence ( the non-dual Truth) and the shining forth of the Self is the attainment of Oneness (Kaivalya-Siddhi ). In that State of Jnana, pure Bliss will gloriously blaze forth as one’s own True Nature."   

~Sri Ramana Maharshi

Brahman, Maya and Soul by Swami Sivananda

Brahman, Maya and Soul (Jivatman)

by Swami Sivananda

Whatever is, is in reality One. There truly exists only one Universal Being, called Brahman or Paramatman, the Highest Self. This Being is of an absolutely homogenous nature (Eka-rasa). It is pure 'Being', or which comes to the same, pure intelligence-(Chaitanya Jnana). Intelligence is not to be predicated of Brahman as its attribute but it constitutes its substance (essence or Svaroopa). He is absolutely destitute of qualities. Whatever qualities or attributes are conceivable, can only be denied of it.

But if nothing exists but one absolutely simple ‘Being’, whence the appearance of the world, by which we see ourselves surrounded, in which we ourselves exist, as individual beings? Brahman is associated with a certain power called Maya, to which the appearance of this entire world is due.

The non-enlightened soul(Jivatman) is unable to look through and beyond Maya, which like a veil, hides from its true nature. Instead of recognizing itself to be Brahman, it blindly identifies itself with its adjuncts (Upadhis: 3 bodies or 5 koshas), the fictitious offsprings of Maya, and thus looks for its true self in the body, the sense-organs, and the internal organs (Antahkarana, or mind, the organ of specific cognition).

The soul (Jivatman), which in reality, is pure intelligence ­(Chaitanya), non-active (Nishkriya) and infinite (Bhuma), thus becomes limited in knowledge and power, an agent and an enjoyer. Through its actions it burdens itself with merit and demerit, the consequences of which it has to bear or enjoy in series of future embodied existences.

How deep, unfathomable and marvelous is this Maya, the inscrutable power of Brahman! Every human being, though really in essence he is Brahman, does not, though instructed, grasp the Truth 'I am Brahman', but feels convinced, without any instruction that he is such a person's son, mistaking for the pure Atman (Brahman, True Self), the combination of the body and the senses, etc., which is not the Atman and is only perceived like a stone or a pot. Indeed, these worldly-minded persons wander in this miserable Samsara repeatedly deluded by Maya of Brahman alone.

But the wise man with the 4 means of salvation hears the Srutis, reflects and meditates on the meaning of the Mahavakyas: “Aham-Brahma-Asmi” or “Tat-Tvam-Asi” and eventually gets established on Advaita Brahman (Kaivalya-Nishta). He becomes a Jivanmukta (Liberated Soul) and crosses beyond the ocean of Samsara. 

Hail! Hail! to such Jivanmuktas. May their blessings be upon you all.

Om! Om! Om!

 READ ALSO

BRAHMAN IS THE SOURCE OF UNALLOYED BLISS

ATMAN IS BRAHMAN 

SELF DISCOVERY & MEDITATION by Atman Nityananda

Meditation is neither a mean to avoid face the challenges of every day life nor a way to concentrate the mind in one point in order to avoid see our mental and emotional disorders. It is not a technique (like a pill) that can make us happy immediately.  In reality we cannot meditate profoundly if we are not conscious of what governs (dominates) our mind and heart and by proper means or methods get free from them.

Real meditation is to rest effortlessly with a still mind in our essence (awareness) as the essence itself (as awareness). But due to the ego and the samskaras and vasanas that are stored in the chitta, the mind is almost always extroverted, distracted and ever identified with something. Thus it cannot stay even for a moment in its source (Atman, awareness) and experience the peace, the bliss and the freedom of the Self (Atman).

Thus meditation and especially in the beginning is a mean to put a break to the externalization of the mind, to turn it inwards and bring light to what happens in our inner world.

It is a mean to stop the identification with the contents of the mind (tthought, emotions, imaginations), to calm and pacify the mind.

It is a mean to watch dispassionately the mental and emotional waves that appear in the surface of the mind-lake.

It is a mean to be more conscious of the contents of the mind and discover the conditioning patterns that is behind the thoughts and emotions that appear on the surface of the mind and dissolve them by appropriate means.

Finally it is mean to rediscover our essence (Self, Atman), the centre of our existence and be established in That (Self) experiencing always peace, bliss and freedom eternal!

Mantra meditation

Among many techniques of meditation, I consider meditation with mantra as the most effetive one for the majority of aspirants.

The mantra has a great potential to elevate the vibrations of the mind, (filling it with sattva) and thus to quiet the mind and bring it in a state of clarity and peace.

In the long run the mantra becomes a powerful dinamic force which purify the vital, emotional and mental sheaths and eliminates the egoic tendencies and vasanas.

The mantra also serves as an anchor to keep the mind introverted, focused and alert. By hearing attentively the inner sound of mantra (when we repeat it mentally) we keep our attention focused and alert and at the same time we have the opportunity to be aware of the inner silent space where the sound of mantra dissolves and appears as we keep repeating it.  

If we repeat the mantra for a long time gradually the repetition becomes effortless, the inner space of silence becomes more and more evident and it comes to the foreground instead of being in the background of our experience. In this mental state real meditation begins.

If our concentration is steady enough, then we can abandon the mantra and remain focused in the inner silent space. The meditation becomes more and more profound to the extent that our attention is withdrawn from the sensory perceptions and the body sensations and is absorbed into the silent space within. 

We have to continue our practice (normally it takes many years of intense and regular practice) until the mind will merge completely in its source the silent awareness, (this is called Nirvikalpa samadhi). In the profound Nirvikalpa samadhi the meditator and the object of meditation (Self, Atman) become one (nondual state of Oneness) and all vasanas and ego itself is fried out in toto.

With the death of ego liberation or Self-realization is attained and we are free from all suffering, birth and death and we enjoy peace and bliss eternal.

 Peace, love, harmony

THE BONDAGE OF LUST, THE DISEQUILIBRIUM OF HUMANITY AND THE NEW EARTH

Maya is only ‘lust and greed" ~ Paramahansa Ramakrishna

The process of bondage in sensual pleasures

~ PLEASURABLE experience, becomes LUST (longing to experience the same pleasure);

~ LUST becomes DESIRE (the impulse that drive us seek the object of pleasure) which assumes also the form of 'Iness' (viz. I want or I desire).

"Desire is the memory of pleasure.” ~ Nisargadatta

~ By REPETITION of the same pleasure:

LUST becomes PASSION and  DESIRE becomes

1. CRAVING ( irresistible driving force that press us to fulfil the desire),

2. ATTACHMENT (which means that we experience suffering even to think that we will lose or will not get the desired object) and

3. ADDICTION, (our mind is occupied during all day by thoughts and emotions related to the object we are addicted.

DESIRE also assumes the form of emotional-mental currents (known as the pair of opposites)

LIKE-DISLIKE or AVERSION

ATTRACTION- REPULSION

Finally DESIRE modifies as greed, avarice, stinginess, jealousy, anger, hatred, impatience, discontentment, uneasiness, incompleteness, fear, anxiety, depression, disappointment, pride etc. which are energies that create suffering and diseases.

"Lust is like the root of the tree, and desires are branches and twigs.". ~ Paramahansa Ramakrishna

~ Swami Sivananda

Passion reigns supreme in all parts of the world. The minds of people are filled with sexual thoughts. The world is all sexy. The whole world is under a tremendous sexual intoxication. All are deluded and move in the world with perverted intellects. 

~ Swami Sivananda

"A man has a thousand and one desires. But the central strong desire is the sexual desire. The fundamental desire is the urge for a mate. All hang on this central basic desire".

   ~ Swami Sivananda

LUST keeps the mind extroverted and impels it seek through senses the object of pleasure. The main objects of lust are sexual pleasure, food pleasure and pleasure of any kind of substance that we consume through mouth which is produced from the same tattva that is made sexual organs. That's why the mouth is the second main door of pleasure after sexual organs.

SEX PLEASURE

Nowadays earthlings have invented innumerable ways to satisfy their sexual lust (prostitution flourishes, porn industry is one of the most profitable businesses, homosexuality, pedofilia and other perverted forms of sexuality have increased last two decates and are increasing vastly).

Our modern civilization is mostly an industry that invents innumerable ways to satisfy mainly the instinctive centers of pleasure (Sex and food). Cloths, fashion shows, perfumes, hairdressing and all things that are related with the appearance have as a base the sexual drive. Earthlings spent billions of dollars in order be liked and desired by others. Social behaviour is also related with our self-image but if we go deeply enough will see that the basis of our self-image is related with sexuality.

Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff was of the opinion that sexual energy in the modern Western world was misused in the pursuit of personal pleasure and gratification. (4)  He claimed that, in general, the only two proper ways of expending sexual energy were through a conven-tional sex life or through spiritual transmutation. 

In 1916 Gurdjieff spoke to his Russian pupils about the misdirection of sexual energy in the pursuits of everyday life and the self-deception it can entail:           

" Sex plays a tremendous role in maintaining the mechanicalness of life. Everything that people do is connected with ‘sex’: politics, religion, art, the theater, music, is all ‘sex.’ . . . 
What do you think brings people to cafés, to restaurants, to various fetes?  One thing only.  Sex: it is the   principal motive force for all mechanicalness . . . 
Sex which exists by itself and is not dependent on anything else is already a great achievement. But the evil lies in the constant self-deception."  

All kind of pleasure and any sense satisfaction we seek through all senses are only substitutes of the sexual pleasure.

Sexual pleasure has been crystalized in us as lust and desire for sexual pleasure. The lust functions as an impulse which compulsively seeks again again to experience sex pleasure.

Since it is impossible to gratify this urge for sexual pleasure each time the desire for sex arises in us,  we seek unconsciously to find substitutes in order to get some pleasure which will give us some kind of satisfaction and will replace to some extend the sexual pleasure. Food is is the easieast and more familiar to all way.

Food, cigarettes, drinks, and all kind of substances we can taste by the mouth are used as substitutes of sexual pleasure. Looking women/men in TV, magazines, internet, in the streets, at our job place are also ways that sexual lust is gratified in some extend. Sexual dreams is also another way that lust satisfies itself when cannot find satisfaction during the waking state.

This were also found by Dr. Freud; "The sexual instincts are remarkable for their plasticity, for the facility with which they can change their aim...for the ease with which they can substitute one form of gratification for another' (Freud 1938).

And the strange thing is that in this age of 'sexual freedom' that people  can more easily satisfy their sexual drive, the majority has not a satisfactory sexual life. That's why prostitution, pornography* and perverted forms of sexuality are grown up vastly.

Even advertising has become a kind of pornography. The industry exploits women representing them as sexual objects (in many cases  appear or behave in the 'ads', the music videos and fashion show as porn stars) in order to increase the sales.

Small children watch in TV these 'sexy ads' as well as the so called 'pop stars' which dance imitating brutal sexual movements and thus their mind becomes conditioned by false sexual prototypes.

NOTE, PORNOGRAPHY:

According to a survey of 19,000 parents, kids begin viewing porn as early as age 6.

Four out of five 16 year old boys and girls regularly access porn online, while one in three ten year olds have seen it.

60% of 11-16 year olds have internet access in their room.

In 2011, one child was sexually attacked every 20 minutes in the UK.

One in three ten-year-olds have been exposed to pornography online; the largest group of internet porn consumers: 12 to 17 year olds.

A year long survey found that 75% of pre-university students in rural areas of India were addicted to porn.

 In the UK, porn websites are accessed more than social media or shopping.

64% of Australian children are learning about sex from pornography.

Pornhub, the internet’s largest portal of porn, showed the following numbers from 2014. Please keep in mind this is just one site. Total visits: 18.35 billion. Number of videos viewed: 78.9 billion; 11 videos for every man, woman and child on earth.

Source: http://www.roadtograce.net/current-porn-statistics/

FOOD PLEASURE

On the altar of food-pleasure industry has invented innumerable food and drink products to satisfy food-lust. Companies use chemical substances to enrich the taste of junk foods to give variations of taste pleasure to the consumers. Earthlings consume every year tons of alcohol, refreshments and meat which affect their health and their psych. Alcohol, and smoking are very connected with lust.

We do not respect animals due to food-lust. We justify this brutal behaviour saying that meat is necessary for our health while in reality meat eating is one of the main causes of 'modern' diseases. Only in some cases meat could be necessary and even in these cases we need a small quantity of fresh meat not byproducts of meat (Salaam, sausages, canned etc.).

 Billions of animals* are exploited and sacrificed every year all over the world. Meat industry produces many byproducts of meat which give a little illusory pleasure and satisfaction to the lusty-mind of earthlings destroying their health and creating disequilibrium and suffering individually and collectively. 

EXPLOITATION Of ANIMALS :Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans. More than 3,000 animals die every second in slaughterhouses around the world. These shocking figures do not even include fish and other sea creatures whose deaths are so great they are only measured in tonnes. 

Source: (http://www.animalequality.net/food)

There is also animal exploitation to produce furs and other leather items. 

Is there any hope ?

Is there any hope for this dysfunctional humanity to create a peaceful, harmonious balanced, prosperous world in the near future? None. Things go worse and worse. This humanity is in the process of decay and death. There is nothing to stop this process.

We approach very fast to the end* of this degenerated human race which has a great disrespect to life and universal laws and is focused mainly to satisfy the instinctive drives of pleasure and any kind of sense satisfaction. The majority of earthlings will disappear from atomic radiation, earthquakes, floods, famine, uncured diseases and due to the disappearances of some countries under the waters of oceans.

THE END and THE NEW EARTH

~ Mahavatar Babaji

"The change of the present, which is full of turmoil, will be brought about by bloody revolution. Peace will return only after the revolution reaches its zenith.

The destruction will be such that people will die as they work, sleep or stand. In the aftermath of the destruction-which will be total, no country will be spared; big or small-some countries will be totally erased, leaving no sign of their existence.

In some 3% to 5% and up to maximum of 25% of the population will be spared and will survive. Earthquakes, floods, accidents, collisions and wars will bring about the destruction." 

~ Mahavatar Babaji

~ Peter Deunov

Our mother, the earth, will get rid of men that don't accept the New Life. She will reject them like damaged fruit. They will soon not be able to reincarnate on this planet; criminals included. Only those that possess Love in them will remain.

 After the Tribulations, men will cease to sin and will find again the path of virtue. The climate of our planet will be moderated everywhere and brutal variations will no longer exist.  A new order will substitute the old, an order in which Love will reign on earth." 

~ Peter Deunov

When all these will happen? 

it will hapen around 2043 ?

We cannot know when is the the exact time of the end; according my understanding up to half of this century (between 2040-2050). The events unfold very fast and the world is getting worse every day. A minority which works spiritually is prepared in order to be the nucleus of the new era on earth. These will be the seed of the new earth; of a new civilization in which will live  with love, peace, harmony and respect in all forms of life.

Article about the end of humanity: http://elmisattva-prophecies.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/the-end-of-world-at-2012.html

Peace, love, harmony

READ
SUBLIMATION OF SEXUAL ENERGY By Swami Sivananda