Kriya Study 7
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A Look into Hariharananda's Kriya Yoga Exegesis
Hariharananda Biography
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| After duly considering that "The onlooker may not get potent benefits". [See all] |
He was initiated into the second kriya by Yogananda in 1935. He learnt other kriyas from other swamis and teachers in the Lahiri Baba line too. In 1945 he received the fifth and sixth kriyas from Bhupendranath Sannyal. Maybe it should be pointed out here that Yogananda's fellowship SRF teaches only four graded kriyas while claiming to teach all the kriyas Yogananada knew.
In 1950 Hariharananda became teacher or head (acarya) of a certain ashram (centre) at the request of Yogananda. In 1951 he was authorised by Yogananda to initiate people into kriya yoga.
By the advice and instructions of two of his masters he came to Switzerland in 1974, and later visited many other countries, including the USA.
He established several ashrams (centres) in different parts of India and outside it, and published books on yoga and kriya. [Check]
Many of the brief tenets below tie in with his teachings. Our gist depends on Hariharananda sources that are listed at bottom of the page.
Our Helpful and Assisting Tenets
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| Thinking things over, be as cogent as you can." [Compare John Dewey] |
A broad mind is not easily bent.
The onlooker may not get potent benefits. The one involved, taking part, may or may not. Consider who gains benefit. One way of looking at it is through asking, "Who is in control, who decides in these circles?" If it is not yourself, maybe you have been degraded there.
If you go on from looking at pretty flowers to looking at who gains benefits, you may reach conclusions like, "Those who act, do it from self-serving ends. Always."
To be self-serving often means being selfish. It doesn't have to mean being stupid or insane.
Followers of this and that hailed guru try to serve themselves by serving others. You may suspect that deep down they try even aggrandizements of themselves-to-come by proxy or whim. To be really kingly is different.
The further you go from being yourself as you are, the more trouble you could run into.
Maybe the veneer or facade of silly problems look smal in the start, only to get momentum till they look divine. That could mean that your part in the scheme is reciprocally small. "The bigger they are, the smaller is your part and self-image in the future." That could happen. Be prepared. How? Do not give up cardinal freedoms. They are specified in the UN Human Rights.
If you esteem yourself more than a bit, you try to defy what's bad, no matter its facade or wrappings.
To be broad-minded is like being large inside. It may take time till the broad mind is "full"; that is, has reached well founded conclusions to take into account and/or live by on its own terms.
It helps to discern well - it can be learnt, at least in part. Asking, "What is the issue?" is a tip aligned to that. And those who try to find out of things instead of getting tamed through gullibility and blind following, may need time, and time in such a context (setting) often means regulated patience too.
To see clearly one needs boldness inside to register what is presented, and patience to chart or map some middle course to take in addition.
Be reminded of Tao Te Ching's chapter 81: "As honest words may not sound fine, / Fine words may not be honest ones". [MORE]. Are these "fine words"? To some, yes. :)
Some Hariharananda Tenets
Hariharananda's thought commented upon
Get sincere,
get carefully instructed to breathe in and out and get glad of heart from being lit up a
bit
We
will introduce you to some points that might be favourable for you to consider:- If the dead are served, living is hardly too good.
- Love may be annoying and work terribly. Statistics bring measures in such waters. Troubles make you gasp or pant. Panting may be further refined. Kriya yoga is much refined panting, and almost inaudible too.
- Breathing may be refined. Then . . .? What may later happen?
"A wife is a person who helps you through all the troubles you wouldn't have had if you hadn't got married." [Red Stangland's Norwegian Home Companion [Rsn; Online]Severe stress may maim and eventually kill through psychosomatic mechanisms.
Maybe as many as 11 of the 14 most stressing experiences of Americans tie in with love and love-making. Without that, you would not have been born, presumably. The bottom line: Love can be quite a killer in modern society. That life itself ends in death, is part of a much identical "plot".
As for what is called divine love, one could probably do a lot worse than watching out for the anthropomorphism: attributing human characteristics further "upwards" may be idealism-based tactless - tactless, if out of tune with reality, with how things work.
Here are the most stressing, averaged life events on the much used Holmes-Rahes scale, where 100 points is allotted to the worst single event:
- Death of spouse* – 100
- Divorce* – 75
- Marital separation* – 65
- Jail term (in US prisons) – 63
- Death of a close family member¤ – 63
- Personal injury or illness* – 53
- Marriage* – 50
- Dismissal from work – 47
- Marital reconciliation* – 45
- Retirement – 45
- Change in health of family member¤ – 44
- Pregnancy¤ – 40
- Sex difficulties¤ – 39
- Gain of new family member* – 39
¤: Quite likely to tie in with wedding somebody.
Sincerity is the strength that can make the influence of unwelcome settings dwindle.
Everything (in the universe) is well regulated and follows laws. There is nothing accidental in this world rather all are only incidental.—If a person sincerely seeks enlightenment, God sees that he gets a true guru. [D, G]
ACCIDENTS do happen, and even in the most well-regulated families. Taking care
according to standard procedures and being well-informed and setting up a net and "Safety
first" instigation may help minimise accidents. Don't be deceived.If sincerity is incidental, there isn't much long-range to it, after all? Then getting a guru from God would be incidental. It says so.
If you get carefully instructed the fire of love is hardly terrible
An extreme lovely guru ... wants to pull us into the divine fire of love.—Every action leaves its impression in the subconscious mind and has either a good or bad effect on the life of a person.—The ultimate Truth will be realized. [See F, D, G]
A BAD effect of a love-fire is getting burnt. What then?The truth is that realising is yielding to death's side. The more and better you realise on your own, the more estranged you may find yourself, the nearer to the death side. If you get instructed, however, the effects of truth and shared love may not be terrible, only annoying.
Breathe in and out, and don't disregard old and new expertise
Krishna says in the Gita,"As the Lord, I am equally present in all beings; there is none hateful nor dear to me." God remains detached in all beings—But on the top of the head, He is hiding in the formless state, and He is stimulating our inhalation. That is our Sa body. [D, C]
"THE LORD, equally present in all, hidden on the top of the head, stimulating our
inhalation." Now, medical expertise will probably say the medulla oblongata of the
posterior brain at the nape of the neck is in charge of both breathing in and out. Be
allied with sound medical expertise.Being heart-glad is often out of the reach of the many
Sat-cid-ananda alone is the guru. The guru is only one, but upa-gurus may be many.—He is responsible for his disciples until they attain moksha (liberation). [G]
BEING-consciousness-gladness - is a guru, and just one guru, not many - hidden
from the many.Those with enough wealth tend to light up a bit
Human beings generally do five types of work: earning money by the breath (etc)—If you give extreme love to the breath [work at it], you are a kriyavan. You will get divine joy.—The Kriya Yoga technique that we teach does not rely on the five sense organs. [C]
EARN ENOUGH good money, breathe calmly and you have a chance to gladden up: This
route resonates in the right track too, it seems. All the same Lahiri Baba says, "No one
has attained happiness from acquiring wealth, and it will never happen." We think he is
wrong on that one. Some lessons:"Money can't buy everything, just about 95%" - depending on how you invest and the time factors - and then you may invest in the things that further happiness much more too and enjoy freedom and comforts. But without money 'they' rob you of everything.": "Even what he doesn't have will be taken," said Jesus. American wisdom:
"Wealth does not always improve us—Wealth makes many friends—Wealth means power; it means leisure; it means ability—A good wife and health are a man's best wealth—Virtue is everlasting wealth."
"Call no man happy till he is dead." Or just as well: "Call no man Harpy till he is dead." (A joke) At any rate, "A good eater is a happy man." [Cf Ap]
Those who talk flawlessly of realised masters, not having their own control - beware of them
The seeker of God must learn practical spirituality from the realized master.— [in the end] our hearts throb through all hearts. [C, G]
THEY SAY that most often a realised master had to learn from someone else. But
there are rare exceptions. Don't give your heart away in the beginning of a quest if the
end goal is finding and having it. Don't give up the control you already have or
master.A dead priest is actually dead ... Yes, there is a difference -
A God-realized soul ... has overcome delusion; remaining established in this stage, even at the last moment, he attains the bliss of brahman. When an individual realizes the immortality of the Self, he attains liberation. The cycle of birth and death stops for that particular individual.—The truth is that there is no difference between life and death. Nothing is actually dead. [D]
GREAT loving joy or bliss (ananda) may kill a person, as the effects tend to be
hard to handle, especially if unaided and poorly aided. There are incidents that hint at
it in persons around Ramakrishna when he served as a priest.Brahman (God) is largely a pantheistic godhead conception ("God is everywhere" etc). There are Biblical passages that cover that meaning.
Liberation is a word with many meanings. To be freed from and freed to are two essential meanings that Dr Erich Fromm has written about. To be freed to be who you are are - which you hopefully were in the first place anyhow - is hard, particularly if you are a stand-in for another.
Life and death: Yes, there are differences. If you live, you should be happy to move about in a physical body and gather lessons -
Is the central core of man immortal or capable of being demolished in hell under "the one to fear", as Jesus insists in a gospel passage, or is it immortal as Hindus would have so many believe? That's a big issue.
Often righteousness is served thoughfully, at times thoughtlessly too. Good control is not bad.
Breath is dharma. Dharma means "that which holds life together", and that is religion. Kriya Yoga gives extreme importance to the breath. It teaches that breath control is self control, breath mastery is self mastery, it is deathlessness. [C] ¤
What happens through kriya training is that the breath is slowed down among other
things. This is shown in Autobiography of a Yogi, chapter
26.Dharma has many handed-over meanings, such as law, order, natural righteousness, and also religion is involved with that. The swami equates breath and universal righteousness. We don't know how wise that is, since the teachings of gurus claim that righteousness in the form of consequences of actions tend to follow a soul from one life to another - in other words through states marked by not-breathing in any physical way.
Breath is breath. It comes natural to all of us. To regulate or control breath thoughtlessly can become quite dangerous.
The care-worn, suffering humanity asks for health and food and shelter and takes breathing for granted - is lack of refined breath their 'fault'?
People of all religions, cults and creeds should first learn how to control their breath.—A realized Master can lead someone to the goal.—The advent of Lahiri (Baba) had thus a great significance for the suffering humanity offering as he did a divine manna to the care-worn earth.— [C, cf G, A]
The teaching is that a certain form of forced breathing (kriya) bridges the gap
between a lot, and lets deep understanding grow along with acceptance-behaviour. But if
all around you go against that outlook and its regulated practices, there may be little
you can do in the long run. Jesus was killed, for example. The sea covered with white caps
As God is infinite, the embodied souls (jivas), according to the Hindu scriptures, are (too)—At death, the embodied Self moves from one place to another. Death itself is either painful or peaceful according to the karma of the individual.—This maya is His Cosmic play or Lila.— Moreover, as God is all-pervading, we do not have to establish Divinity in the images. It is already present. [D, D, E, E]
The dept of an issue also depends on receivers. If there is nobody to appreciate and
welcome deep, alien thinking, the issue is marred or made shallow, or neglected. The last
thing happens "all the time".To get below the surface of issues and happenings one has to muster effort, ie. mobilise energy according to well-laid plans.
Permanence speaks of strength, calm and stability do it too.
An individual is like a flower that grows on a tree: It's first the rest that grows, and only later the flower that produces fruits. And after all, what is called individual in art and elsewhere, is largely modifications of already existent patterns and stuff.
As they say, good lila, play, is divine after all. Thus, playful persons may not be the fools others think they are. To the contrary. A reminder: The greatest are as children, much as Jesus had it, and playful children are healthy. Youthful playfulness hints at inner resources as well.
We are for safe swings from oak trees (ie fit and fair play), and go against fervent idolatry gusts that lead nowhere.
Consideration for children helps (id) innocence to grow fairly safely.
Technical,
sanity-helping instructions still compete with loyalistic devotionalism and its rigmarole,
decrees and possible plots under the surface.
Gurus of recent times often preach Vedanta doctrines. There are many Vedanta
schools (cults) of Vedanta. Historically they competed among themselves and with many
others. In earlier times still (Vedic times), conditions and teachings were different, as
evidenced in the literature: the Vedas, the Upanishads and Puranas, to name some ancient
flagships.- True worship depends on righteousness, says Jesus
- Things that come naturally, may be refined and put to good use.
- Predominant yoga outlooks have changed very much over time. In early times Vedanta teachings were not the most popular ones, and Vedanta schools competed among themselves and with many others. In modern days most gurus preach Vedanta, says the Encyclopedia Britannica (s.v. "guru")
- You need technical instructions and maybe a helping hand to refine your breathing to save yourself in a future.
- In the ranks of restrained officers too, freedom is held up as the cherished goal -
- The simple solution is seen in happy, all right all-round living, it is presumed.
Worship in safe surroundings, truth and righteousness (See Gospel teaching too)
The Kriyayoga propounded by Lahiri Mahashaya is based on the principles enunciated in the Bhagavad gita and the Yogasutras of the great sage Patanjali.—God is inhaling. God is inhaling from the day we are born. Our whole body is God, the whole universe is ...—A Sanskrit maxim says, "Worship God after becoming God". [A, cf C, G]
Many words of 'God' tends to make the mind drift. But oak trees of great strength help
us to relax in their safe shadows, and feel some relief in the heat of the day.Youth is quite open and hence open-minded; and proficient boundary-making is hardly won or complete all of a sudden. Live, large oaks help preserve long-range vistas that speak of strength put into system, and its boundaries. Some oaks in Windsor Park are hundreds of years old. That's at times good helps in getting perspectives.
Old oaks were inhaling from the day your forefathers were born. They breathe in beneath the soil, and out above the surface. It's the way of plants to do that.
In Norse ideation the universe is an oak or ash (free choice). In ancient Aryan thinking we find quite the same imagery. Anyway, it helps to be well rooted and cooperate elegantly with fungus too.
What comes naturally, often strains as well
"Breath-Control is Self-Control. Breath-mastery is Self-mastery. Breathlessness stage is deathlessness stage."—As the difficult processes of Rajayoga have been much simplified by the Yogiraj and his Great Master Shri Shri Babaji Maharaj, the Kriyayoga as propounded by them has been called the ‘Sahaja Kriyayoga’, that is the Kriya that comes naturally to man, without putting any artificial strain on the physical machinery. [B, A]
"Breathless is deathless" is a teaching. And "without breath spells death" is
another. The latter is usually the most correct one. You should be aware of that, and that
sitting in yoga without breathing is a rare happening as well.Another part of the swami's teaching needs to be qualified: In the beginning phases kriya takes a whole lot of time and effort. Some particular strain is included. But one is to hope for automated processes in time, with precise, accurate practice that is then enlarged by steps and degrees. A letter that talks of kriya practice:
"I have been sitting from 2:00 in the afternoon to 3:00 or 4:00 in the night [morning], and I sit in the morning too" - The beginner is not asked to use so much time on his or her kriya training. And it is likewise advocated to reduce and even stop striving in the higher stages.
Getting there could take some time.
Times are changing
'Gu' means the Invisible, i.e. God, while 'ru' means the visible. [i.e. whatever]—We all know that birthdays are related to time and ... times are changing. [G, F]
There are other definitions of 'guru' in Indian writing as well.The understanding that some prominent kriya gurus appear to have, tie in with their paternal guru dynasty and its broad views. These personages and their outlooks have the status and rank of being sacred, and "you can't compete with them" is another 'understanding' below the surface level. Very rigorous dynasty outlooks should be right and not wrong, but the latter often happens.
Over centuries it shows up that very many outlooks of gurus of old have been somewhat discarded nowadays due to the fact that most modern gurus think according to Vedanta philosophy. It suggests that quite a lot of outlooks from guru dynasties and ranks have been mistaken, no matter how sacred they were thought to be. That's a historical mention.
You may study teachings and find some flaws too, if you go into basic premises and deductions and discrepancies. We have done so and don't say everything is awkward and bad, or that all is very well. Instead we go against wrong notions set in motion and rigidly held.
Lahiri: "The soul itself is the Eternal. The Always Present One is beyond Time even."
Adjust to that yourself and don't forget who you are.
4
Yoga outlooks
It is absurd to blame God for our miseries and unhappiness which are self-wrought.—Almighty Father is hiding in the fontanel on the top of the head, pulling the inhalation [D, C]
First, consider your own security. The meaning of life is had through coming to
bloom and catering to what is really excellent too. If not, there is something to
blame.Learn to consider well, and learn to lie down and evaluate such as external evidence. Is the "Almighty Father" (Siva) you read of here, the same as the walking, talking and veal-eating God of Abraham? The bet is not.
The guru's teachings of such as "God hiding in the fontanel" deal with yoga-outlooks centred on chakra-mysticism. He refers to the thousand-petalled lotus (chakra) in this way, it seems. He definitely take up such points of view. Further know: in Zen, chakra teachings are not considered necessary. [Cf Edit]
There is at least a theoretical danger of being misled when invisible phenomena are explained. Solid proof is rooted in external evidence, and the critical or scientific outlook may or may not meet with guru resistance if voiced. It depends on guru calibre, among other things.
Contempation derives benefits from assistance
By the practise of meditation, one can develop intuition and quicken his evolution in one birth.—By loving your breath, you love the living God within you and attain the truth [D, cf C]
Overcome your difficulties through evolving something, or parts of yourself. Odds
that look overwhelming to the tiny tot, may seem like a piece of cake to an adult. Thus,
evolution often helps within certain limits.Contemplation (meditation) should help sensitivity and balance on and up. There is more to life than that. Maybe somebody near you needs assistance. Maybe your own inner Child is helped by helping others overcoming their difficulties.
The inner climb may be done in more than one way, as highlighted in the two Japanese Zen schools, Rinsai Zen and Soto Zen. The former tends to advocate sudden illuminations, the latter is more occupied with step-wise progress in contemplation.
Usually, a step-by-step route is fit. Just as a mother takes a small child upstairs in that way, it speaks of order and growth indirectly at least.
Speaking of love and who to love: To love love itself is one route in yoga. There is more than one. The question is what is meant - technically - by such as "loving your breath". We would not guess.
Technical instructions
The disciple has to follow the instructions of the guru faithfully an sincerely and practise meditation regularly—If you take a very short breath [called udan air] and seek God in the fontanel and the pituitary, you will attain calmness and God realization ... The breath must be so short that if you place your finger in front of your nose, the outgoing breath will not touch the finger.—In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, verse 4:34, it is written, "If the breath is not short and touching inside the brain; if one does not maintain pin-pointed attention in the fontanel; and if the technique is not simple, easy and quick, with no big words or complicated concepts, your practice will be in vain and empty". [G, C, C]
The vistas that are openened up here, relate to breathing better than they do who
take a rest and relax for a little while. The breathing that is fought for, seems to be
higher and better than the breathing of blackened working people coming up from a deep
coal mine and into the daylight at last.At bottom are possible benefits of better breathing. If you should want to learn the art of breathing by someone in guru ranks, you will be influenced to show reverence for the art of breathing, for Hindu art, for alleged words of wisdom from gurus in the line, and even bow to pictures of old masters hanging in the room here and there.
To save yourself future embarrassment, think calmly and approach calmly. There may be much safety in the words of the heart-warm professor that peers over his eyeglasses; never neglect that source of information - for his outlooks could be handy, and what he instigates for you, if he does anything of the kind at all, may not be merciless.
Always avail yourself first of information and methods that are free. Handy freedom is hard won and not as easy to regain, even in a common marriage.
They talk of restraint to unfold
It is next to impossible for a householder to follow the strict principles of restraint enunciated in the ‘Astanga Yoga’ of Patanjali. The processes in the Kriyayoga taught by Lahiri (Baba) make us gradually fit to unfold the Divine within ourselves, with much less effort than is usually necessary. [A]
Restraint is sometimes useful, but hardly ever pleasant. That is because man's
biological organism and the wisdom it is based on, doesn't like to be frustrated. Much
frustration can make angry and unruly, and lots of ballyhoo can make enmity too.It is also a (theoretical) possibility that demands for restraint are launched by fakers who are out to take unfair advantage of innocent or inexperienced ones.
If those who have deep needs for being accepted by father figures and the like became proud enough, they could avoid much trouble. In much guru lore there are texts that mention that vicarious fathers in the far may have strong personalities that control happenings, and without even seeming to act. Such father figures may sway the feelings of others if they find it best, and that's much to fight against if their claims or demands of "neutering" (sexual abstinence) is made ineffective. It could work for good or bad too.
The words of "much less effort" have to be looked on in that light too - for example, much frustration is not doing much, and it hurts.
If you want or need to exploit kriya knowledge in freedom, because freedom is an old end goal (moksha in Sanskrit) that hardly anyone should give up in order to get it as a reward after years of repressions of natural desires and things like that, here is a body of texts that are for free so far.
Yoga Sutra Sourcebook
Charles Johnston, tr.:
Patanjali Yoga Sutras
"Kamasutra Tips"
Take your time to make out of these things.
The right direction to awaken to could be "There's no difference between the world (samsara) and nirvana (the beyond)" as in Tibetan Buddhist teachings
The life of a kriya yogi is not guided by past actions, but by the direction of his inner Self. The aspirant rapidly reaches the goal, avoiding the path of haphazard evolution based on his karma.—The divine memory of the Soul has to be awakened . . . [D, G]
You're asked to believe a lot here as well. It often shows up that rigid
beliefs endanger many OK, common adaptations in time.In real life, the trusting, innocent beginner soon becomes someone who is asked to adjust over and over to guru traditions. Formerly good ways of living may be battered from it.
Thus, instead of having to adjust oneself to good parts of the local adaptations that Hindus might very well ascribe to karma, one is required to apply the simple solution that awakens the practitioner that is blown by "the east wind" over his life.
Many adaptations to top-dogs can have a weakening effect. One should beware of that, and be duly informed about the tall dangers to mirth - and joyful, all right living. Motives of the heart find their ways out in the open too. It can work for good or bad (or in between), whatever that may be.
The actions that later help you, may have to be thought about and maybe interpreted too. Perceptions of the finer sides of the art of living can be somewhat loose to begin with, and it can be easy to misinterpret - and acting superficially is a big mistake.
Good influence can help you, bad influence may harm your whole life.
Three
One of the forerunners of tick tack toe essay tables is mind-mapping. Mind-maps
too are used for problem-solving along with self-analysis and calm decision-making.
Instead of probing into possible root causes of this and that in the universe, one may
function fairly all right from day to day. [Cf. Mib 183 ff]- Escapism talk is so different from our essentialist tick tack toe teachings.
- Instead of hard-headed, often internally conflicting contradictions of Hinduism, benefit from instructions in the art of living. The opposite is silly.
A boundless reservoir of escapism talk may not help a dog
"A real teacher is he who is well-versed in the Vedas, sinless, unsmitten by desire and the best among the knowers of brahman, who has withdrawn himself into brahman, is calm like fire that has consumed its fuel, who is a boundless reservoir of mercy,i.e. ineffable and a friend of all good people that prostrate themselves before him." - Sankara—All true gurus are alive, regardless of whether they have retained their physical forms or not. [G, G]
The higher teaching is: Deep inside yourself is the real teacher - your Selfhood.
That real teacher inside you leads and makes you perform step by step out of a measure of
friendliness until many small mistakes and similar matters cloud your mental sky and the
things you are called to do is to bear the current circumstances while you go for forming
better, new ones.Deep within you think of the old, punished criminal that goes day in and day out in a quite similar pattern to that of yogis. He is not asked to renounce all fine and good stuff in a life; it is demanded of him by force. In the light of this we may understand many apparently hard-hearted gurus. Have you thought what long years of rigid training and renunciation could do to men before they get out of their underground caves, after years of misery and begging for food?
Rehabilitating oneself alone is hardly too good.
Deep within you think more tactlessly . . . and yes, the discipline can be tough.
Brahman is not different from tick tack toe lore
HE is old and using HIMSELF up for us—There is a famous saying ... that brahman is the only Reality. The world is ultimately illusory and the individual soul is not different from brahman.—Nothing happens without a cause. Effect and cause correspond to each other. [F, E]
If a cherub mixes with persons who swindle him over and over, he may be used up
too. If a sage can be used up, he is as substantial as the wind as compared to a superior
man who consolidates his own good fate first, and then mobilises for good
fortunes that have a hold and are much solid too.If "nothing happens without a cause", then what is the cause of causes and of causing? It can not be a cause - but is called God.
The adherents of dubious karma beliefs don't always make a point of that karma (cause-effects relations) can also be be formed in the here and now and modified later on - maybe abolished. Karma is not just something from your past, and it may be caused incidentally too, as in a plane crash. Dr. Rudolf Steiner has pointed out that too. The "trick" is not to swindle one's way to Golden Age conditions, swindles could bring havoc later.
If you listen to your inner voice, this may come out of it one day: "Brahman (as me) is not called different from Brahman (as you)." This statement could mark one's recovery from guru submission that is outdated or harsh on the id system. Learn to ask yourself: "According to these teachings, who dispenses good teachings? Is it God (Brahman) inside one's cherub or God that is different from one's innermost mirth?"
Talented persons may succeed in forming new beginnings, and something new and brilliant, and something very successful at large. One should not submit over and over and disregard the godhood and one's gifts that want to "come up" from inside. Brilliant solutions may have no similar precedents! And thus cause-effect linking fails more or less concerning them. And so with bright-minded persons. They may find the way out too.
Mind-mapping is a good tool for getting hold of some of the better shots from inside, but not all of them. We recommend idea-maps, and Jungian dream work - trying to figure out the significance of recurrent dream motifs is much for those who love plots or a little detective work. It could be good for a man.
The real guru cannot be - if the universe is a great hoax (a dream, unreal)
After that, the physical presence of the Master is not necessary for guidance.—Anyone and everyone cannot be a guru. In every age ...—[We should] perceive what we really are, by using the technique of Kriya Yoga, BABA guides from deep within. [G, G, cf F]If there was no prior birth and if every effect has a cause behind it, then what is the cause behind the person who is born an invalid or a moron?—The real guru is one who has attained Self-realization, which means complete mastery over the pulseless and breathless state,i.e. samadhi. [D, G]
Everyone might have thoughts and things we can learn from. It is written in an old
Upanishad that one of the famous gurus of old had lots of teachers: they were birds and
the like, and "showed" the observant guy many useful lessons for handling his own life
and its conditions. Those who serve to teach us lessons, function as teachers, "gurus".
Now, "guru" in religious circles carries more significance too.An ancient tale:
"Vaka Dalbhya [Glava Maitreya] went out to repeat the Veda (in a quiet place). A white (dog) appeared before him, and other dogs gathering round him, said to him:The right helper is better than the one who lives up to old humiliations brought into system.
'Sir, sing and get us food, we are hungry.'
The white dog said to them, 'Come to me tomorrow morning.'
Vaka Dalbhya watched. The dogs came on, holding together, each dog keeping the tail of the preceding dog in his mouth, as the priests do when they are going to sing praises." [Khandogya Upanishad 1.1.12.1-4]In the same book a Satyakama Gabala is instructed by a bull, the fire, a flamingo, a diver-bird (all symbolic of things spiritual, Max Müller presumes), and also his chosen teacher. [See Khandogya Upanishad 1.4.5-10]
One day Adi Shankara was walking on a narrow road when he met an untouchable with a dog. Shankara thought he was too holy to be touched by any of them, but the untouchable would not yield and let him pass on the narrow path. Shankara verbally humiliated the other to make him give way, but it did not help. Instead the man said,
"You have not seen God in me and my dog. Thus, your attainments are just bigwig-conformism."
Shankara understood that he lived against his professed creed, as most Hindus tend to in that respect, and was much ashamed, then strengthened.
The story in one of its versions:
Helpers
ONE DAY Sankara with his disciples went for their bath in the Ganges. When they came close to the Manikarnika Ghat (bathing-place) they saw an untouchable worker at the cremation ground at the bottom of the social scale and devoid of any culture, primitive in their sight, extremely ugly and of a terrifying shape. The man who held four dogs in leash, was approaching in a disorderly way from the opposite direction. Finding no way of avoiding the man, Sankara, greeted him and said,"Untouchable! Step aside aside with your dogs so that we can pass."
The man did not seem to listen to his words at all, and did not wait or deflect. Instead he went on. Sankara cried out again in a somewhat excited voice,
"Stop, fellow, stop! A leave a passage for us."
Still the man did not care to pay heed to Sankara. The terrible-looking man burst out into hideous guffaw. Then he turned to Sankara and spoke in Sanskrit verses,
"Who are you asking to move aside? Are you demanding an omnipresent Self to do so or the body to do so? If you ask the body to move aside - if it is inert matter, how can it move at all?
And how is your own body distinct and different from any other body?
You say that you are firmly established and rooted in the Supreme Truth that there is but One non-dual Entity - One without a second. I see that you are indulging in vain pride through words of wisdom.
Now, is there any difference between the untouchable and the Brahmin in the eye of the knower of Truth?"
On hearing these words and others too, Sankara was greatly ashamed. He clasped his palms in adoration of the man and spoke,
"He who perceives all beings with an awareness of Same-sightedness, acts in consonance with that perception of sameness in all - he indeed is my Guru. I bow down at his feet many times."
But Sankara saw something else too: A divine Being, radiant and shining like the sun and the fire, had met him in all glory, holding the four Vedas (the four dogs) in his hands. [See Acm 61-62]
The right helper sustains or brings strength, whereas a hard-hearted guru makes many unneeded, uncalled-for tears flow. It could happen.
If you persevere in testing our tick tack toe ways of being in control of what could be favourable steps for yourself and your kin, you may not have to rationalise to be in step with the mockingbird, even.
The tick tack toe method has a potentiality to make you focus on steps that could work well and bring good into your life little by little, and if you make efforts to foresee future difficulties and bulwark as needed, you might become a pillar of a society where there is much good conformity which gives strength.
Some persons make efforts to learn by straight observation and good cognition - it could be from animals, birds and other humans, books and so on. Disciplines of science exist and have reached boon-giving competence thanks to such persons.
Godliness from Brahman
Ya is your indwelling self, sa, who is hiding in your fontanel. Kriya Yoga is the foundation of all religions ... Calmness, which is godliness. That calmness cannot be attained without the guidance of a realized master.—(In) death (there is) is only the separation of the two bodies. [C, cf D]Then ignorance disappears and the light of wisdom shines upon him. ¤—He is called ... the Soul of prakriti. Being transcendental, he who knows brahman becomes brahman, for It is unknowable ... [G, cf E] ¤¤
Insider teachings with similar content are taught in books of Tantra too.
[Tåg etc]
Did you know that the Vedas are highest authority in Hinduism, that they are
called eternal, and that in Vedic times people ate meat?
There are many assertions that Tantra can signify Vedic tact: Instead of preaching
indifference to a worldly existence, or renunciation from it by steps and stages, old
Vedas assert the world and triumphant living in it. You have to be hard to conquer and
keep your former victories intact somehow. A sample:Victorious Agni [god of fire], grant us wealth with wisdom, wealth with brave sons, famous and independent,Some people get swayed by rich and not cogent words and phases like "knowing the unknowable" and "calmness is godliness that cannot be attained without a master" (see above).
Which not a foe who deals in magic conquers. [Rikveda, Book 7.1.5]
What is happening in the world, incline individuals to get drunk and quarrelsome and overtaken by some measures of bad luck, rather than become masterful, fine leaders or fortune-tellers.
Some people see things more clearly than others. Listen to them if they allow you to.
Check it up: A,
B,
C,
D,
E,
F,
G
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| Literature | SECTION | First Page |
Ak: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Man's Eternal Quest. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1975.
Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang (main editor), Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie E. Harder: A Dictionary of American Proverbs. (Paperback) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Theosophical, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]
Ebu: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006.
Op: Simpson, John, and Jennifer Speake. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Pa: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1971.
Say: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.
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