From: "Girish Chandra Mitra"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: In the Beginning of Sadhana
Date: Thu 17, Nov 2011 21:26:40 +0530
Baba
"Bhul kare du're thekechi tumi bhul bheunge dio..." (1827)
Purport:
Baba, due to my own defects I am not able to get close to You. Because of not following Your dharmic guidelines, my progress is hindered and I am just keeping myself away from You. Baba, by Your grace, please remove all my shortcomings and weaknesses and bring me in Your closest proximity, take me in Your lap. In my life I have received an abundant amount of love from You; You have graced me so much. Baba, now I am offering my love to You-- please grace me by accepting it.
Baba, in the sky there is a deep blueness and my tender heart is full of love for You. Baba, I do not want my love to remain hidden & secluded in my little heart. By Your grace please allow the reddish glow of my heart-- i.e. my love-- to merge in the vastness of the distant blue sky. Baba, please let my love reach up to the highest realm-- reach up to You.
Baba, when I sing the song and ideate on You there is a deep feeling of longing in my heart. By Your grace You have given the tune and in that way I sing for You. Baba, may my heart's inner longing be goaded & pointed exclusively toward You. Baba by Your grace, I should always contemplate and think of You; my life should revolve and dance around You. My life should be successful, please grace me...
Namaskar,
In this quinquelemental world, usually the life of spiritual aspirants passes in so many mundane activities from dawn to dusk-- trying to meet their worldly requirements and managing their responsibilities.
So when sadhakas try to do sadhana in a pointed way then often times all those mundane plans and programs come again and again into their mental plate during sadhana. This is the regular reality-- for all sadhakas, both wts and margiis.
It is a natural phenomenon because the activities one engages in during the day often cloud the mind during meditation. In that case it is very difficult to start sadhana. That is why Baba has graciously given our Baba Nam Kevlam kiirtan. Singing kiirtan helps tremendously in transitioning the mind from one's mundane daily routine to spiritual sadhana.
However, even then on, some occasions when very positive or very negative incidents happen during the day, then those thoughts strongly dominate the mind. And in that circumstance is not easy to get rid of those thoughts-- they come again and again, barraging the mind during sadhana.
In that condition, what recourse should be taken. By Baba's grace He has given the perfect remedy: Guru Puja, a.k.a Varnarghyadan-- the offering of colours. In systematic fashion Guru Puja cleanses the mind of unwanted thoughts. It enables sadhakas to remove those burdens and start pointed sadhana.
Unfortunately many people waste huge amounts of time "sitting in sadhana" when in reality their mind is just flickering from one mundane thought to another. So this is just a waste of time and-- and even worse-- it degrades the mind.
Altogether, stray or dominating thoughts coming into the mind occurs in everyone's life. I can openly admit that this has happened to me on countless occasions and when I've spoken with others they have also recognized this as a problem.
And the best remedy is Guru Puja, as that has the ability to remove or wash away those impressions from the mind. Here follow are some techniques when doing Guru Puja.
Of course we all know that in Caryacarya Baba has given many points about Guru Puja. And in the Senior Acarya Diary Baba has given more highly valuable guidelines regarding the proper technique of Guru Puja. And those acaryas who are sincere in sadhana guide their diksa bhai in this way.
Some of the instructions I have also received and those aspects which are common points for all-- and are not secret-- I have written below as I feel it is my duty to share these things with my margii family.
SOME OF THE BASICS
1. Guru Puja can be done again and again-- round after round. It is not the strict rule that it can only be done three times. Rather when one is facing any problem then Guru Puja should be done until that problem has been washed away and the mind is feeling light and free.
2. So when any problem is blocking the mind during sadhana such that one's mantra is not coming then Guru Puja is the answer. The basic approach being that one should surrender their problems again and again in order to free and prepare the mind for sadhana.
3. In that way, Guru Puja can be done any time: At the beginning or in the middle of sadhana, and then course always at the end of meditation.
4. As mentioned above, another name of Guru Puja is Varnarghyada'n. Varna means colour, Arghyada'n means offering. So, Guru Puja means offering the colours of the mind to Guru. So here colour means mental colour.
5. If during the whole day someone has to communicate with different people about building a new jagrti and they have to convince others and get a donation, and arrange the labour etc. Then in that case the whole day they involved in thoughts about labour, money, bricks, and cement. All these thoughts are racing through the mind during the day. So when starting sadhana then that time off and on these thoughts related with the jagrti construction may enter into one's mind in sadhana.
6. And if the mind is crowded with unwanted, crude, negative thoughts of money, labour, bricks, cement, building supplies etc during meditation, then ultimately sadhana will be destroyed. In that condition the best option is to do Guru Puja first, and offer one's mental colours to Guru.
7. But doing Guru Puja superficially is not going to give any yield. Rather the whole process of Guru Puja can be repeated again and again until the mind is completely vibrated and ready to offer everything to Him. In that process one can spend extra time doing Guru Puja.
8. Then after doing long Guru Puja, the heaviness of my mind will be released and all those negative thoughts of bricks and cement will be gong. Then one will feel felt better and can start doing sadhana. But if one would have started meditation right away, then in the beginning, in place of doing sadhana, the mind would be cluttered with thoughts about the bricks & cement as that was the main dominating thought in the mind.
9. The question may come that how can this offering of colour theory can be utilised? What is the most effective way to do it?
10. As we all know, in Guru Puja one has to offer a lotus flower. So after sitting in the proper posture then close the eyes and with open palms, one should form a mental lotus. And the colour of the lotus should be the colour of that worldly object which was dominating or disturbing your mental flow during sadhana. If the red bricks for the jagrti is disturbing the mind then one will envision a red lotus.
11, Because each every material object has 5 tanmatras, or inferences. All the tanmatras should be utilised in Guru Puja when offering your mental lotus. And the five tanmatras are: Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, Smell.
12. Brick has its own sound when it falls from the truck during unloading time. That is the first tanmatra and that sound should be ascribed to the lotus flower during Guru Puja.
13. Then of course bricks have a special touch of roughness because it is rock. So during Guru Puja one should picture a lotus that has the hard scratchy surface of a rock.
14. The third inference is form. Here form means that red colour which has already been mentioned.
15. Then 4th tanmatra is taste. And the taste of rock one may know. So then one should imagine that in their hand a red coloured lotus that feel rough like a rock and has a loud sound and that tastes like a rock.
16. Then the 5th and final inference is smell. That also we have to utilise in Guru Puja. Imagine that the whole lotus being formed in one's palms smells like bricks.
16A. So this process should be done with whatever thing is disturbing the mind. For example let's say that one is thinking about sweets like rasagolla during the time of sadhana. Then one will form a white lotus. Because the colour of rasagolla is white. And the touch of that lotus will be the exact touch of rasagolla: soft and spongy plus sticky & syrupy. And the taste of the lotus will be the taste of rasagolla-- very sweet. And the smell of the lotus will also be the exact smell of rasagolla. One should perfectly make one mental lotus that is of white colour with a thick, syrupy touch, and a very sweet taste, and aromatic smell. That mental lotus will be as if it is made of rasagolla material.
17. So whatever one's dominant thought is, after creating this complete ideation using these five inferences: sound, touch, form, taste, smell and when all 5 qualities are present in that mental lotus, then one can start chanting "Akhanda mandala karam..."
18. One must not prematurely begin the chanting of the Guru Puja mantra. First all the tanmatras, step by step, should be incorporated and accordingly one's mental lotus should be formed. Then and only then should the chanting of the of Guru Puja mantra be started.
19. Then after completing the chanting of each round of our Guru Puja mantra, "...Gurureva Parama Brahma, Tasmae Shrii Gurave Namah". Then we are to offer that very mental lotus at the feet of Guru Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji Who is sitting in front of me. Baba guides us that this should be our ideation.
20. So taking the ideation that Beloved Baba is sitting in front of you, then with that bhava and using the Guru Puja mantra in proper way, slowly with good ideation one should offer that very mental lotus to Baba. And then one will see that this will solve their problem or attachment. Those uninvited thoughts related with rasagolla or whatever which are disturbing the mind during sadhana will be gone.
21. Some may wonder then why is it that normally Guru Puja is done just after sadhana?
22. And the basic reply is that when anyone does sadhana then that time mind is busy in ideation & involved in the chanting of one's personal mantra. So that time it is very easy to find out the negative thoughts. And in particular one can pointedly identify which thought is creating the most disturbance.
23. In contrast, when one is busy in mundane work then they may not understand or be able to identify their psychic disturbance, but when one starts sadhana and closes the eyes, then immediately from nowhere so many useless & distracting thoughts will come into the mind. That time one has to gauge and see carefully which one is most disturbing and that very thought one should utilise for Guru Puja. Using the process which is outlined above described.
24. On some special occasions when the mind is so much disturbed with pre-occupied ideas, then before even starting sadhana one should try to do Guru Puja to get rid the mind of those negative thoughts.
25. If for example someone left 5000 rupees on the bank counter and they did not get that money back. Naturally then in their disturbed state of mind, if they start doing sadhana it may be fruitless. In such a special case better one should do Guru Puja multiple times before starting sadhana. By this way the strong thoughts of losing money will be wiped away by His grace.
26. Many of these points my acaryas told me, Baba has included in the Senior Acarya Diary.
27. Special Reminder: If after doing Guru Puja once and still the problem is not solved, then one should do Guru Puja multiple times. Then surely one will see that the mind will become calm, quiet, and relaxed. All those disturbing thoughts will go away. And mind will be pinnacled and ready for sadhana.
28. About the importance of Guru Puja, Baba guides us in this following way, which is written in Neo-Humanism:
Baba says, "'By surrendering all the colours of my mind to You, I want to become colourless'. This surrender to the Supreme Consciousness propels human beings towards Him...This very psycho-spiritual phenomenon is operating behind the process of Varn'a'rghyada'n (Offering of Colours, Guru Puja): 'Oh Lord, make me colourless so that I may move towards You without any hesitation'." (NH-LOI, '87, p.27)
In Ananda Vacanamrtam part 3, Baba further gives guideline how one devotee should do the final offering in Guru Puja :
Baba says, "'Tava dravyam Jagatguro Tubhyameva Samarpaye', 'Everything of mine, along with my mind, is offered at Your altar. Please oblige and accept it'. " (AV,3,p.21)
Sastaunga Pranam at His lotus feet,
Girish
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: In the Beginning of Sadhana
Date: Thu 17, Nov 2011 21:26:40 +0530
Baba
"Bhul kare du're thekechi tumi bhul bheunge dio..." (1827)
Purport:
Baba, due to my own defects I am not able to get close to You. Because of not following Your dharmic guidelines, my progress is hindered and I am just keeping myself away from You. Baba, by Your grace, please remove all my shortcomings and weaknesses and bring me in Your closest proximity, take me in Your lap. In my life I have received an abundant amount of love from You; You have graced me so much. Baba, now I am offering my love to You-- please grace me by accepting it.
Baba, in the sky there is a deep blueness and my tender heart is full of love for You. Baba, I do not want my love to remain hidden & secluded in my little heart. By Your grace please allow the reddish glow of my heart-- i.e. my love-- to merge in the vastness of the distant blue sky. Baba, please let my love reach up to the highest realm-- reach up to You.
Baba, when I sing the song and ideate on You there is a deep feeling of longing in my heart. By Your grace You have given the tune and in that way I sing for You. Baba, may my heart's inner longing be goaded & pointed exclusively toward You. Baba by Your grace, I should always contemplate and think of You; my life should revolve and dance around You. My life should be successful, please grace me...
== IN THE BEGINNING OF SADHANA ==
Namaskar,
In this quinquelemental world, usually the life of spiritual aspirants passes in so many mundane activities from dawn to dusk-- trying to meet their worldly requirements and managing their responsibilities.
So when sadhakas try to do sadhana in a pointed way then often times all those mundane plans and programs come again and again into their mental plate during sadhana. This is the regular reality-- for all sadhakas, both wts and margiis.
It is a natural phenomenon because the activities one engages in during the day often cloud the mind during meditation. In that case it is very difficult to start sadhana. That is why Baba has graciously given our Baba Nam Kevlam kiirtan. Singing kiirtan helps tremendously in transitioning the mind from one's mundane daily routine to spiritual sadhana.
However, even then on, some occasions when very positive or very negative incidents happen during the day, then those thoughts strongly dominate the mind. And in that circumstance is not easy to get rid of those thoughts-- they come again and again, barraging the mind during sadhana.
THE PERFECT REMEDY: GURU PUJA
In that condition, what recourse should be taken. By Baba's grace He has given the perfect remedy: Guru Puja, a.k.a Varnarghyadan-- the offering of colours. In systematic fashion Guru Puja cleanses the mind of unwanted thoughts. It enables sadhakas to remove those burdens and start pointed sadhana.
Unfortunately many people waste huge amounts of time "sitting in sadhana" when in reality their mind is just flickering from one mundane thought to another. So this is just a waste of time and-- and even worse-- it degrades the mind.
Altogether, stray or dominating thoughts coming into the mind occurs in everyone's life. I can openly admit that this has happened to me on countless occasions and when I've spoken with others they have also recognized this as a problem.
And the best remedy is Guru Puja, as that has the ability to remove or wash away those impressions from the mind. Here follow are some techniques when doing Guru Puja.
POINTS ABOUT GURU PUJA FROM SENIOR ACARYA DIARY
Of course we all know that in Caryacarya Baba has given many points about Guru Puja. And in the Senior Acarya Diary Baba has given more highly valuable guidelines regarding the proper technique of Guru Puja. And those acaryas who are sincere in sadhana guide their diksa bhai in this way.
Some of the instructions I have also received and those aspects which are common points for all-- and are not secret-- I have written below as I feel it is my duty to share these things with my margii family.
SOME OF THE BASICS
1. Guru Puja can be done again and again-- round after round. It is not the strict rule that it can only be done three times. Rather when one is facing any problem then Guru Puja should be done until that problem has been washed away and the mind is feeling light and free.
2. So when any problem is blocking the mind during sadhana such that one's mantra is not coming then Guru Puja is the answer. The basic approach being that one should surrender their problems again and again in order to free and prepare the mind for sadhana.
3. In that way, Guru Puja can be done any time: At the beginning or in the middle of sadhana, and then course always at the end of meditation.
4. As mentioned above, another name of Guru Puja is Varnarghyada'n. Varna means colour, Arghyada'n means offering. So, Guru Puja means offering the colours of the mind to Guru. So here colour means mental colour.
CLEANSING THE MIND DOING GURU PUJA
5. If during the whole day someone has to communicate with different people about building a new jagrti and they have to convince others and get a donation, and arrange the labour etc. Then in that case the whole day they involved in thoughts about labour, money, bricks, and cement. All these thoughts are racing through the mind during the day. So when starting sadhana then that time off and on these thoughts related with the jagrti construction may enter into one's mind in sadhana.
6. And if the mind is crowded with unwanted, crude, negative thoughts of money, labour, bricks, cement, building supplies etc during meditation, then ultimately sadhana will be destroyed. In that condition the best option is to do Guru Puja first, and offer one's mental colours to Guru.
7. But doing Guru Puja superficially is not going to give any yield. Rather the whole process of Guru Puja can be repeated again and again until the mind is completely vibrated and ready to offer everything to Him. In that process one can spend extra time doing Guru Puja.
8. Then after doing long Guru Puja, the heaviness of my mind will be released and all those negative thoughts of bricks and cement will be gong. Then one will feel felt better and can start doing sadhana. But if one would have started meditation right away, then in the beginning, in place of doing sadhana, the mind would be cluttered with thoughts about the bricks & cement as that was the main dominating thought in the mind.
SPECIAL TECHNIQUE: USE OF TANMATRAS
9. The question may come that how can this offering of colour theory can be utilised? What is the most effective way to do it?
10. As we all know, in Guru Puja one has to offer a lotus flower. So after sitting in the proper posture then close the eyes and with open palms, one should form a mental lotus. And the colour of the lotus should be the colour of that worldly object which was dominating or disturbing your mental flow during sadhana. If the red bricks for the jagrti is disturbing the mind then one will envision a red lotus.
11, Because each every material object has 5 tanmatras, or inferences. All the tanmatras should be utilised in Guru Puja when offering your mental lotus. And the five tanmatras are: Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, Smell.
12. Brick has its own sound when it falls from the truck during unloading time. That is the first tanmatra and that sound should be ascribed to the lotus flower during Guru Puja.
13. Then of course bricks have a special touch of roughness because it is rock. So during Guru Puja one should picture a lotus that has the hard scratchy surface of a rock.
14. The third inference is form. Here form means that red colour which has already been mentioned.
15. Then 4th tanmatra is taste. And the taste of rock one may know. So then one should imagine that in their hand a red coloured lotus that feel rough like a rock and has a loud sound and that tastes like a rock.
16. Then the 5th and final inference is smell. That also we have to utilise in Guru Puja. Imagine that the whole lotus being formed in one's palms smells like bricks.
16A. So this process should be done with whatever thing is disturbing the mind. For example let's say that one is thinking about sweets like rasagolla during the time of sadhana. Then one will form a white lotus. Because the colour of rasagolla is white. And the touch of that lotus will be the exact touch of rasagolla: soft and spongy plus sticky & syrupy. And the taste of the lotus will be the taste of rasagolla-- very sweet. And the smell of the lotus will also be the exact smell of rasagolla. One should perfectly make one mental lotus that is of white colour with a thick, syrupy touch, and a very sweet taste, and aromatic smell. That mental lotus will be as if it is made of rasagolla material.
17. So whatever one's dominant thought is, after creating this complete ideation using these five inferences: sound, touch, form, taste, smell and when all 5 qualities are present in that mental lotus, then one can start chanting "Akhanda mandala karam..."
THE PRACTICAL PROCESS AND SEQUENCE
18. One must not prematurely begin the chanting of the Guru Puja mantra. First all the tanmatras, step by step, should be incorporated and accordingly one's mental lotus should be formed. Then and only then should the chanting of the of Guru Puja mantra be started.
19. Then after completing the chanting of each round of our Guru Puja mantra, "...Gurureva Parama Brahma, Tasmae Shrii Gurave Namah". Then we are to offer that very mental lotus at the feet of Guru Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji Who is sitting in front of me. Baba guides us that this should be our ideation.
20. So taking the ideation that Beloved Baba is sitting in front of you, then with that bhava and using the Guru Puja mantra in proper way, slowly with good ideation one should offer that very mental lotus to Baba. And then one will see that this will solve their problem or attachment. Those uninvited thoughts related with rasagolla or whatever which are disturbing the mind during sadhana will be gone.
WHY NORMALLY DONE AFTER SADHANA
21. Some may wonder then why is it that normally Guru Puja is done just after sadhana?
22. And the basic reply is that when anyone does sadhana then that time mind is busy in ideation & involved in the chanting of one's personal mantra. So that time it is very easy to find out the negative thoughts. And in particular one can pointedly identify which thought is creating the most disturbance.
23. In contrast, when one is busy in mundane work then they may not understand or be able to identify their psychic disturbance, but when one starts sadhana and closes the eyes, then immediately from nowhere so many useless & distracting thoughts will come into the mind. That time one has to gauge and see carefully which one is most disturbing and that very thought one should utilise for Guru Puja. Using the process which is outlined above described.
IF UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, DO PUJA BEFORE SADHANA
24. On some special occasions when the mind is so much disturbed with pre-occupied ideas, then before even starting sadhana one should try to do Guru Puja to get rid the mind of those negative thoughts.
25. If for example someone left 5000 rupees on the bank counter and they did not get that money back. Naturally then in their disturbed state of mind, if they start doing sadhana it may be fruitless. In such a special case better one should do Guru Puja multiple times before starting sadhana. By this way the strong thoughts of losing money will be wiped away by His grace.
26. Many of these points my acaryas told me, Baba has included in the Senior Acarya Diary.
SPECIAL REMINDER
27. Special Reminder: If after doing Guru Puja once and still the problem is not solved, then one should do Guru Puja multiple times. Then surely one will see that the mind will become calm, quiet, and relaxed. All those disturbing thoughts will go away. And mind will be pinnacled and ready for sadhana.
A FEW OF BABA'S QUOTES ON GURU PUJA
28. About the importance of Guru Puja, Baba guides us in this following way, which is written in Neo-Humanism:
Baba says, "'By surrendering all the colours of my mind to You, I want to become colourless'. This surrender to the Supreme Consciousness propels human beings towards Him...This very psycho-spiritual phenomenon is operating behind the process of Varn'a'rghyada'n (Offering of Colours, Guru Puja): 'Oh Lord, make me colourless so that I may move towards You without any hesitation'." (NH-LOI, '87, p.27)
In Ananda Vacanamrtam part 3, Baba further gives guideline how one devotee should do the final offering in Guru Puja :
Baba says, "'Tava dravyam Jagatguro Tubhyameva Samarpaye', 'Everything of mine, along with my mind, is offered at Your altar. Please oblige and accept it'. " (AV,3,p.21)
Sastaunga Pranam at His lotus feet,
Girish
