See also~~ Rising Above Suffering ~ Swami Smaranananda (devotee notes)
SWAMI SMARANANANDA: I would like to share with you a few thoughts on the topic of yoga-meditation as an antidote to stress, fear and worry.
The Taittiriya Upanishad says: “From joy we have come, for joy we live and in that sacred joy one day we shall melt again.” In a world of duality, where we see so much pain and suffering around us, such a statement may sound unrealistic. Isn’t it so? If there is so much pain and suffering around me, is it possible that I have come from joy, that I live in joy and that one day I shall melt again in that joy? However…If we practise the eternal principles that have been well mapped out by the ancient rishis, we will find the truth in such a statement. There is hope.
See also~~ Even One Meditation Can Change You ~ Bro. Chidananda Story
Tapping inner security
In the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, ‘Samkhya Yoga’, Bhagavan Krishna says… “Even a little practice of this dharma, this yoga, will save you from dire fears inherent in this life.” It seems that as long as we have life, what is guaranteed is anxiety. Whether it is a boy of ten or a youth of twenty, a housewife of thirty or a retired person of seventy, the question of ‘What next? What’s going to happen?’ is always there. That anxiety seems to be inbuilt in society, and from anxiety stems fear, and other problems.
Bhagavan Krishna did not assure us that we will be saved from the troubles of life, but he said that we will be saved from the fears that come out of these troubles. Therefore, if we practise yoga-meditation, we can be calmly active and actively calm throughout our lives despite all the troubles around us. No matter what is happening around us, no matter what may happen to us, we can still be joyful. That is the assurance given by Bhagavan Krishna which cannot go wrong, if only we practise in the way that he advised us.
See also~ Prayer: Trusting in God in Every Circumstance of Life ~ Mukti Mata
STORY – “More Valuable Than a Diamond”
I would like to share with you a short story. One person had a lot of difficulties, mainly financial, and because of this he had other difficulties: family difficulties, professional difficulties. He tried and tried, but he could not get through them, he continued to face problems. One night he had a dream where the Lord appeared to him and advised, “Go to the outskirts of the town. There you will find a sadhu, ask him and he will give you a diamond which will solve all your problems.”
The man was very happy. The next morning, before the sun rose, he rushed to the outskirts of the town. To his pleasant surprise he saw a sannyasi sitting there under a tree. So he went to the sannyasi and asked him, “Diamond? Diamond? Diamond?” The sadhu said, “What?” The sadhu did not have the dream, the man had the dream, so he didn’t know. The man then narrated the dream to the sadhu, saying, “The Lord asked me to collect the diamond from you.” The sannyasi said, “Oh! Now I understand. A few days ago when I was walking in the woods, I found something there. This is what the Lord must be referring to.” He took the diamond from his shoulder bag and gave it to the man, “Here is the diamond.” That diamond was so huge, so precious and so rare, and it would solve all his problems and the problems of his children and their children. He was very happy to have it; in one go, all his problems solved!
See also~ “Do the best you can”; Dealing with fear and anxiety ~ Sister Mridani
He went home. However, that night he could not sleep, he continued to toss around in his bed. The next morning, before the sun came up, he rushed to the same spot on the outskirts of the town and found the sadhu. Addressing the holy man, he said, “Here is your diamond. Please take it back.” The sadhu was surprised. “Why?” he asked, “The Lord asked you to collect it from me; I gave it to you wholeheartedly. Why do you want to give it back?” The man said, “There is something in you by which you were able to give away this diamond so easily. I want that something. Not this diamond.”
There is something inside us, that inner security, which is more valuable than the most valuable diamond. That diamond could give material security, health insurance and much else even to a sannyasi, yet he was able to give it away easily. There is something inside each one of us, something special that we should tap. Yoga-meditation is the way.
Ignorance of the Truth “I AM DIVINE”
I would like to give you an example. Suppose you have fever and you approach a doctor. The doctor immediately gives a tablet of paracetamol. You take it and the temperature goes down, but is that all the doctor gives? No. Along with the paracetamol he also gives an antibiotic, because paracetamol only reduces the temperature, giving you temporary symptomatic relief. The root cause of the temperature, the bacteria inside, has to be removed by antibiotics. An antibiotic is required to remove the root cause of the fever; paracetamol alone will not do.
It is the same with your problems. You say, “I have this financial problem, I have this family problem, I have this professional problem, I have this relationship problem, I have this social problem.” All of these problems are there; however, if you try to remove the financial or the family problem only, it will reappear in some other form. So understand the root cause of these problems and remove it. That root cause which is giving rise to all these external problems should be removed. Otherwise we are only trying to have symptomatic relief by removing the financial problem or the family problem. What is the root cause of these external problems? It is ignorance, ajnana.
See also~ Overcoming Fear and Worry Through Communion With God ~ RAJARSI JANAKANANDA
Ignorance is the root cause; ignorance of the truth that ‘I am divine’. I am ignorant of that highest truth. That is the cause of all these problems. If I am divine, and if I really know and realize it, then these problems would not make an impact on me. …
What is God? … My full description of God is this: God is Satchidananda and Aham Brahmasmi. What does it mean? Aham means I, so ‘I am Brahman’. Potentially I am ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss. That is what my potentiality is, I am That. The only thing is that I am ignorant of this. Yoga-meditation is the key which takes me to that point. It gives me a glimpse of that ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss. I don’t have to get it from outside. It is inside. I am there. It is mine. No one can take it, because it is my birthright.
From Joy to Joy
Now you understand the meaning of the aphorism in … “From joy I have come. For joy I live and in that sacred joy one day I will melt again.” I am that joy, and if that is true for me, if I can contact that joy through meditation, then I can boldly say that no matter what is happening around me or to me, I can always be joyful, because that is what I am. If we are contacting God that way in our regular yoga-meditation, we can be calmly active and actively calm throughout the turbulent days of our life; … no matter what is happening around us we can still be joyful.
There may be suffering in life. That we cannot avoid, because suffering is something that is thrust upon us by circumstances over which we have no control. Yet joy is something that we can generate. Essentially, I would like to say that suffering and joy can go together. There can be suffering, there can be pain in me, my body can be aching, but still I can be joyful. That is possible with yoga-meditation, and we give thanks to our ancient rishis and guru parampara who have kept those sacred meditation techniques alive and given them to us. ….
See also~ Sri Daya Mataji ~ “No insecurities; no fear of loss, or injury, or even of death…”
That was the state of Bhakta Mira. She had so many problems, probably much more than what you and I are going through in life, yet she was always joyful because she could contact that God-joy. Bhakta Tukaram, Bhakta Mira, they were all like that. We have so many examples around us. ….
]T]he experience of joy comes with the sense of a presence, a higher presence…It is a conscious, intelligent Universal Being to whom you may appeal. Without seeing anyone, without having a vision, without hearing any sound, you know that you are in the presence of something higher. That is so beautiful about this meditation. The presence, the existence of God is proven to you to the core of your being. It is not intellectual any more. You are not reading or listening to some lectures. It is simply your own experience. Without seeing, without hearing, you are convinced. That is the joy. That joy comes not only to Bhakta Mira and Bhakta Tukaram; ordinary human beings can also feel this joy.
“Silence”
I will share with you another point about what meditation is. One person approached a saint and asked him, “Holy Sir, I want to know God. I am very busy. I don’t have much time in life, so please tell me what is God in one sentence.” This sounds quite familiar, doesn’t it? Generally, we don’t have much time for God. We want to know what is God in one sentence. The sadhu said, “Son, why in one sentence? One word will do.” The man asked, “What is it?” The sadhu answered, “Silence.” Then they had the following exchange:
“What? God is silence?”
“Yes, God is silence.”
“What is silence?”
“Meditation.”
“How do you meditate?”
“In silence.”
“How do you get that silence?”
“By meditation.”
Here the three words, ‘silence’, ‘God’ and ‘meditation’ are used as if they refer to the same thing, which is true, because in a higher sense what he is talking about is not the mere silencing of vocal cords. …
See also~~ “Enjoying Life’s Challenges” ~ Brother Atmananda, excerpts
“Be still and know that I am God.”
For me a better word is ‘stillness’ … In this stillness, where are you? Aham Brahmasmi. When you don’t have thoughts, emotions, anxieties, sight, hearing, where are you? You are with your real self. That is what the saint spoke about. If you go to that stillness, you experience God. That is the fifth step of Patanjali’s ashtanga marga: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara. Pratyahara is that stillness, that interiorization. Then come dharana, dhyana and samadhi. That interiorization is a part of meditation. That is why you meditate, to get to a stage where thoughts, ambitions, anxieties are all subdued. You are so clear, but your mind is active.
See also~~ “Coping with Life’s Troubles” – Swami Smaranananda (devotee notes)
That is why the Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Jesus is referring to this stillness. The classical example is: If God is Aham Brahmasmi, then God’s reflection is in me, I am a part of God; but why can’t I perceive this? The classical example given in spiritual literature is this: “If you want to see the reflection of the moon on a lake, the lake has to be still.” If the lake is ruffled you cannot see the reflection of the moon. The moon is there, but you cannot see it. Even if you see it, it is distorted. So God’s reflection is in me. God’s presence is in me, but the lake of my mind, the lake of my consciousness, is always ruffled. This is why I am not able to see. “Be still and know I am God,” Jesus says. …. the one who is still within is the king of kings.
How do you achieve that? Through yoga-meditation.
We must be so grateful to our guru parampara, starting from Patanjali and even earlier, to Bhagavan Krishna, for giving us the techniques which you and I can use in our own homes. We don’t have to go out to the Himalayas to practise yoga; we can practise and be benefited in our very own homes.
See more~~ Deepening Meditation and Overcoming Negativity in the News ~ Bro. Satyananda
EXCERPTS from devotee notes
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See also~~ SWAMI SMARANANANDA Articles
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