Why Sadhana is Difficult

Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2012 23:39:08
To: am-global@earthlink.net
From: "Pavitra" pwKlauss@springnet...
Subject: Why Sadhana is Difficult

Baba

"Nutan jiivan labhiya'chi mora' nutan us'a'r kiran'e..." (PS 5015)

Purport:

Baba, by Your divine grace we all got new life-- in this new light wave
of the dawn. The new dawn has come and vibrated our body, mind, and
soul. Baba You have graciously shown us the path: The path of bliss,
Ananda Marga. By Your grace, we have left all those outdated, rotten,
old dogmas. Except Ista, except You, there is no charm in the life. Your
love and grace is resonating in our entire existence. Baba, we all
belong to the same gotra, one family. This whole world lies within this
same gotra. With the love of our heart we will awaken the entire world
by Your grace. Baba, You have blessed us with new life in this new dawn.
This is nothing but Your causeless grace...


                == WHY SADHANA IS DIFFICULT ==

Namaskar,
The path of sadhana is difficult-- it is not an easy endeavour. Many, of
course, sincerely try to move ahead, and indeed do move ahead on this
path; while sometimes, a few get discouraged and revert to worldly
pleasures to satisfy themselves. And tragically, some never even start
on the path of spirituality and just immediately get swayed by their
baser, animal instincts.

So why is sadhana so difficult?

Firstly, carnal desires are familiar to us and are easy to get.
But, ultimately such crude deeds will only pull one far, far from the
goal and drag our minds along the path of narakya'na-- path to hell.

Baba says, "Microcosms, confined as they are within the relative
factors, have very little controlling authority. The Macrocosm, however,
is the controller of heaven and hell. It is worthwhile to mention here
that the tendency of the human mind to degenerate towards matter in the
path of negative pratisaincara is called hell (naraka), and the movement
of the unit mind towards the Supreme Non-attributional Stance in the
flow of positive Pratisaincara is called heaven. A unit mind which
accepts gold or silver as the goal of life gradually becomes transformed
into gold or silver. The psychic waves, as a result of constant ideation
are first transformed into the waves of gold or silver and finally into
crude gold or silver itself as a result of jad'asama'dhi. Later on it is
reborn as a gold or silver, and spends its days confined within the safe
of a money-minded merchant. This undesirable situation is called
narakava'sa or life in hell." (AMIWL-8)

Due to lack of sadhana, so many follow this path of narakya'na. They
just get bound up in their materialistic desires and ultimately become
like that.

But as human beings, if we fill our mind and life with sensual pleasures
and materialistic pursuits-- like chasing after the opposite sex, or
filling our pockets with money, or running after name and fame-- then we
will just fall into hell. We get be reborn into lower and lower beings like
ants and bugs, or even be reborn as rock and stone. And not only that,
our current human life will turn into a torturous journey of frustration
and suffering as one gets more and more bound to animalistic desires.

So although this path of narakya'na is easy and may satisfy the vices of
our motor and sensory organs, we should not let the mind become a slave
to our crude, external external organs. We should not fall prey to the
allurements of avidya maya. Ultimately, such a path is a complete bust,
a dead-end, and one-way ticket to hell.

Unfortunately, time and again this can happen. In ignorance people may
run in that direction thinking that they will find bliss-- when in fact
the opposite will happen. They will be bound up in angst and
frustration. That is why the so-called glamorous life of so many movie
starts just metamorphoses into a life of depression, drug addiction, and
disease etc. Even this happens to common citizens, as well.

Let us remember-- both practically and theoretically-- that human
desires are infinite and that infinite desire cannot be satisfied by
finite sensual ramblings. In that case, one will just jump from one
crude deed to the next in search of satisfaction until they become so
degraded that they are just beasts in human form.

Thus no one should let themselves get dragged down onto the path of
narakya'na, nor should we allow others to do so.


                JUST LIKE CEMETERY DOG

Those on the path of narakya'an-- those stuffing themselves with crude
pursuits-- may think that they are getting something good, blissful. But
in truth they are just stuck in temporality and ruining themselves.

They are just like the dogs in the cemetery that chew day-long on dry
bones. They chew so long and so hard that they make their own gums and
mouths bleed. And then those dogs chew even harder thinking that now
they are getting some fresh meat due to the taste of that juicy blood.
Little to do they know however, that they are merely sucking their own
blood.

Same is the case with any human being who are satiating themselves
through lustful ways. They may be thinking that they have discovered the
bliss of life, but in truth they are sucking and draining themselves of
their own life-force and getting bound deeper and deeper by avidya maya.

We must not let such a fate befall us.


                   OUR PATH IS DEVAYA'NA

As Ananda Margiis, as human beings, ours is the path of spirituality.
There is no second path. Or rather that second path is the path of
animality-- the road to hell. So even if sadhana seems difficult or even
fruitless, we are to persevere on this divine path, ceaselessly. To stop
and turn the other direction will not bring an ounce of satisfaction. So
we should be determined and ready to continue along out path-- that of
devaya'na.

Baba says, "This path towards divinity is known as “devaya'na”. That is,
the path of elevation from crudity to subtlety followed by humans is
known as devaya'nah (“yanah” means “path”). One who pledges to follow
truth from the beginning, steps onto the path for the attainment of
divinity. And the one who does good deeds while sincerely following
satya finds it easy to advance along this path. This broad path of
spirituality, which has been further broadened by truth, has been
followed by many successful rs'is (sages) who ultimately attained the
supreme status of truth (a'ptaka'ma)." (AV-4)

Thus our path is goading the mind towards Parama Purusa. That is the
course of our movement. In this relative world known as jagat-- where
everything is moving and nothing is fixed-- we are to adopt the path of
divine movement. Failing that we will be on the degrading pathway of
animality.

Hence we should be strict in all the elements and aspects of 16 Points.
Whether we feel inclined or not, we should be vigilant in all these
points as they will bring us forward on our divine path, closer and
closer towards Him. Because narakya'na is not our path; by that way we
cannot be satiated, just degraded.


                             KEY POINT TO REMEMBER

Here the key point to remember about doing sadhana and advancing
on the proper path is that what one thinks about during the day, those
thoughts will flash in the mind during sadhana and even sleep.

I had a friend who was an auctioneer. He would call out the numbers
in an auction. So when he would sit for sadhana then he would repeat
that in his mind instead of his mantra. For instance he might say, "a gold
watch of $100, $100, $100, $100...". In that way he could not do sadhana
or repeat his mantra, just he was repeating $100, $100 Etc.

And his dreams at night would be similar: filled with thoughts and words
from his job at the auction.

When due the mind get polluted with crude thoughts then sadhana will be
difficult if not impossible. It is the same psychology as if one watches a
crude movie before bed then one will dream of that film all night long.

Basically how one engages the mind effects the flow of thoughts. 

So then what is the answer? Every sadhaka needs to be vigilant about what
they think about all day long.

If that auctioneer thinks about Brahma all day on the job then he will
easily be able to sit for sadhana and do his meditation. Thus he need not
quit his job; that would be impractical or even impossible. Only
he needs to change his outlook.

With regards to the movie - in general one should not waste their time in
lame, pseudo-culture pursuits as there is no redeeming quality.

So the key point is to spiritualise the mind day-long with proper ideation, kiirtan,
Prabhat Samgiita, half-sadhana, full sadhana, and all kinds of ways. Then one
will make it over the hump and sadhana will be much easier. The mantra
will flow properly.


                        THE MIND WILL GET TRAINED

And fast or slow, by His grace, that mind which may not like to do
sadhana now will one day embrace sadhana. Because that is the
characteristic of human mind: As you think so you become. So if we are
regular in sadhana then it is sure that one day our mind will like to do
sadhana and delve deep into the ocean of bliss, by His grace.


                          BABA'S BLESSING

As sadhakas, we should faithfully embrace the path of devaya'na-- there
is no other option. By this way, today or tomorrow, we will experience
true bliss and attain Him.

Baba says, "O' human being! Be established in the radiance of godliness,
in manliness, because yours is a path of a revolution. Yours is not a
path of extra caution and hesitant movement. You are travellers on a
difficult path. You have to march ahead, with head held high and with
your chest forward. You have not a moment to stagger or look behind." (SS-1)

Namaskar,
Pavitra


                            PRABHAT SAMGIITA

"Nutan jiivan labhiya'chi mora' nutan us'a'r kiran'e..." (PS 5015)

Purport:

Baba, by Your divine grace we all got new life-- in this new light wave
of the dawn. The new dawn has come and vibrated our body, mind, and
soul. Baba You have graciously shown us the path: The path of bliss,
Ananda Marga. By Your grace, we have left all those outdated, rotten,
old dogmas. Except Ista, except You, there is no charm in the life. Your
love and grace is resonating in our entire existence. Baba, we all
belong to the same gotra, one family. This whole world lies within this
same gotra. With the love of our heart we will awaken the entire world
by Your grace. Baba, You have blessed us with new life in this new dawn.
This is nothing but Your causeless grace...


      *************************************************
                     Where Invented

In the following quote Baba reveals the history of the "ball" which is nowadays
commonly used in innumerable games and sports. The ball is originally invented in India.

The following Baba's teaching reveals this fact.

Baba says, "The meaning of the root verb kand is 'to wallow'. We get the
word kanduka (ball) by adding 'uk' to 'kand' or adding 'u' + 'ka' to kand. Its
etymological meaning is 'that which rolls'; colloquially it refers to
'ball'-- a ball rolls. It should be remembered that the kanduka (ball)originated
in this country. Originally, balls used to be made from cloth, but since
cloth balls did not last very long people in ancient Bengal started making
balls from the shoots of young bamboo." (SC-3, p.70-71)
         *************************************************