Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The first part of spirituality is the elimination of tamas and the increase of sattva ~ Atman Nityananda



Most spiritual aspirants cannot have a significant progress due to tamas guna which produces in them false perception and understanding, inertia, laziness and resistance.
In addition because of tamas they cannot estimate objectively their status; they imagine that they have skills or qualities which of course they don't!

So the main goal of all aspirants in the beginning of their spiritual journey is to eliminate the tamas guna from their mind by self-discipline and constant rigorous practice. It makes no sense to spend much time in sitting meditation; it is only a waste of time. Other practices and disciplines are more important in this first stage of the journey; Japa nama, Kirtan, pranayama, various disciplines, Hatha yoga, svadhyaya, satsang, devotional rituals, auto-observation and dissolution of the egoic tendencies through prayer, EFT, mantra and other methods, and a lot of karma yoga are more important.

Only when the sattva guna predominates in the mind then meditation may be the central practice in our daily program. But this is a matter of many years of preparation, discipline and practice; and because this is a very demanding and unpleasant process most leave at some point the spiritual sadhana or spirituality becomes for them like a hobby.

Bhagavad Gita says in the chapter 18 verse 37.

37. That which is like poison at first but in the end like nectar—that pleasure is declared to be Sattvic, born of the purity of one’s own mind due to Self-realisation.

Usually in the beginning sadhana is bitter and painful (how much depends on the strength of our ego and the preparation of each one from past lives) because we have to abandon our habits, our comforts and the sensual objects. Here when I speak about sadhana I mean a systematic regular sadhana and I am referring to persons that are dedicated to spiritual sadhana, not to those who do a little bit practice, watch videos and attend some conferences and courses. The ego also resists and creates in us emotions and moods of resentment, dissatisfaction, dislike to do the practices, discouragement, laziness, boredom, despair, impatience, fear etc. Moreover we have to experience all painful emotions that until now our ego had repressed in the subconscious mind in order to avoid the suffering.

But if we persist in our sadhana, gradually, the negative emotions will become weaker and the mind pure and sattvic; due to the purity of mind and the increase of sattva we will experience more and more peace, contentment, plenitude and joy. We will be able to remain detached from the mental and emotional movements and rest more in our essence. We will experience the negative emotions as something in a distance, remaining centered in the inner peace and the fullness of our own Self (Atman). Finally when we dissolve all emotions, desires and the ego itself and realize our identity with Atman or Consciousness we will live effortlessly and without a break the peace and bliss eternal free from any kind of suffering, birth and death.

Peace, love, harmony