Firm Determination A Must

Date: 22 Apr 2009 23:08:17 -0000 From: "Manoj" To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Firm Determination A Must Baba "Arupe chile tumi rupe esecho, dhara'ke a'loke bhaviyecho..." (PS 2665) Purport: Baba, You were formless in Your unexpressed stance of Nirguna Brahma but now by Your infinite grace You have come in form as the Taraka Brahma [1]. Baba, You are so gracious. You have filled this earth with Your divine effulgence and fathomless grace. Baba, with Your boundless compassion You have saturated this world with Your divine nectar. O' Lord, You are the most Loving Entity in this vast universe. I do pranam to You again and again. I surrender completely at Your lotus feet. Baba, in whichever direction I look on this earth, I only see Your magnificent Self in this expressed world. Baba, besides You nothing else exists; except You, I do not see anything. You are reflecting Yourself in each and every entity-- animate & inanimate. Baba this world is filled with Your divine presence. O' my dearmost, You are expressing Yourself with such overflowing bliss in each and every molecule and atom of this creation and in the transcendental realms also. Everything is filled with Your grace-- both the expressed and unexpressed worlds. Nobody is alone; nothing has been forgotten. All are under Your loving shelter. Baba, although You are present throughout this created universe, even then in Bhavatiita [2] also, only You are there. Baba, by Your grace You fill both the manifested and unmanifested worlds with Your divine bliss. Baba, You are the Goal of everyone. Without You, nobody has any future. Those who do not realise this think they are everything. But ultimately because You are the Goal of life their extreme arrogance gets pulverised. Their vanity is just wallowing at Your feet with the hope that You are going to forgive them and shower Your infinite grace and save them from total destruction because You are eternally established in karuna'. Baba, You are so gracious; You have come and showered everything in Your bliss... NOTES TO PRABHAT SAMGIITA #2665: [1] Ta'raka Brahma: Some naive persons think that Taraka Brahma is gone. But that is not true. Because the dhyan Baba has taught us is the ideation on Taraka Brahma. And Baba Himself has said that to know Him and have Him, one must get Him in dhyana. That is why even central workers who were surrounding Baba 24hrs day were also forced to close their eyes and do sadhana each and every day. Because the real connection with Taraka Brahma occurs within. That is why we can say that the presence of Taraka Brahma lives on and on for devotees. Because it is in that form that He is present in dhyana. And indeed that is the only way to realise Him. And that dhyan did not change after 1990-- it is the same meditation. In that case which devotee can truly say that Taraka Brahma is gone-- no one. Because by His grace each and every day we communicate with Him in dhyana in His divine form as the Taraka Brahma. All in all, this is a vast discussion and there numerous angles to discuss but the overarching idea is that for devotees, the divine Presence of Taraka Brahma goes on and on as Baba remains ever-present in their mental plate in that form. Baba says, "Ta'raka Brahma is not a figure of philosophy-- it is a creation of devotional sentiment." (Idea & Ideology) [2] Bhavatiita: In His stance of bhavatiita, Parama Purusa is beyond all physical manifestations and beyond all thought conceptions. Baba says, "Parama Purus'a, the Supreme Reality, is beyond all speech and thought: He is beyond the reach of the vocal cord. So He is bha'va'tiita ["beyond bha'va"]...The more one thinks of His infinite qualities, the more one becomes speechless, the more deeply one becomes absorbed in Him. However He is viewed, He is seen to be the newest of the new-- constantly new. That is why He has been described as bha'va'tiita abhinava ["beyond bha'va, ever-new"]." (NSS, Disc:19)

== FIRM DETERMINATION A MUST ==

Namaskar, As Ananda Margiis, sadhana is such an essential element of our lives. Here following is one well-known, yet tremendously important point, that it is worth bringing to the fore again.

THE MEANING OF SAMKALPA

As we all have seen, each and every aspirant is trying to move towards that Cosmic Hub-- towards that Supreme Goal, towards Parama Purusa. But by His grace only those who have firm determination-- i.e. samkalpa-- can get real success and reach higher stages of realisation in their march towards Him. Only they can reach unto Him, thus attaining the Goal. That is Baba's teaching. Hence samkalpa, or firm determination, is one key point for success in spiritual life. So we should know the true meaning of samkalpa. Baba says, "What is sam'kalpa? When the mind is firmly associated with its object in a relationship of iron-determination it is called sam'kalpa." (AMIWL-9) And here again Baba highlights the importance of samkalpa. Baba says, "'Sa'mkalpa' means 'firm determination'. 'I must do it. I must be successful in my mission. I must adhere to the principles of my life. This firm determination is [a] requisite factor." (AV-12) Hence Baba's directive is that we should apply this feeling of samkalpa in our spiritual practices-- in our sadhana.

JUST A HOOP TO JUMP THROUGH

Unfortunately what happens all to often is that sadhana just becomes something mechanical or just gets delayed right up until the neck of the hour when one is ready to eat. In that case sadhana is just one 'hoop' we have to jump through in order have some food. Means sadhana is not done exclusively for reasons of spiritual attainment but merely as a token exercise in order to take one's meal. We have all seen such things at retreats or seminars where the whole idea is that 'Let us do sadhana and then take food', or more specifically 'Let us do sadhana so that we can eat'. In that case sadhana is nothing more than a ticket or coupon to gain entry into the dining hall. Altogether this is just one lower type of attitude and by following such an approach one can never reach up to the higher realms or get that real sweetness in meditation. That is what Baba is teaching us. So type of thing-- doing sadhana in order to eat-- we have all seen and as far as possible this should be avoided.

LIGHTING THE FIRE OF SPIRITUAL FERVOR

As we know, for proper devotional sadhana, Baba's guideline is that we must allot ourselves sufficient time to delve into our practices. In particular, sadhana itself should take priority. And in each sitting we should take the firm resolve that we must move one step closer towards our cherished Goal, Baba. With this ideal in our heart and mind, we can request unto Him: 'Baba please grace me; I want to reach up to You. Please take me onto Your divine lap'. And indeed in so many Prabhat Samgiita Baba guides us that this should be our approach. So by His grace with this feeling of surrender and motivation we should begin our sadhana practice. Here again is Baba's divine teaching. Baba says, "'Sa'mkalpa' means 'firm determination'. 'I must do it. I must be successful in my mission. I must adhere to the principles of my life. This firm determination is [a] requisite factor." (AV-12) Thus when we do sadhana, we must first lay prostrate to Him in sastaunga pranam and take that firm determination to get success in our sadhana. And then again when doing our shuddhis and when repeating our mantra our mind should be resolute and fixed on the Goal. If however, we just do sadhana in order to take food so that we can go to our mundane job etc, then we will never get success. Our tantric approach must be: 'Baba, You are my Goal; I have to get You; I will get You; I must get You.' With this type of samkalpa or firm determination we will surely get His grace and advance towards our Goal-- Baba.

BUDDHA'S FIRM RESOLVE: DO OR DIE

Here Baba gives us one excellent example of true samkalpa. Baba says, "When Lord Buddha first sat in contemplation, his goal was not fixed. There was doubt and confusion in his mind. He was not certain of what he wanted. And so, whatever he wanted, he was not certain of getting it. But later, when Buddha sat in contemplation, he took a complete sam'kalpa. He fixed his goal and made a firm determination to achieve it. He resolved that he would not get up from his contemplation until he attained spiritual realisation, even if his body perished. Then he succeeded in attaining his goal." (AV-1) As Baba shows us above, Buddha's resolve was 'Do or Die' and in that case He attained that highest level of enlightenment. So the degree to which one takes a deep samkalpa, accordingly they will achieve the result. Those who get true enlightenment by Baba's grace, they must take a very strong vow. But the main idea is that taking a samkalpa is necessary for spiritual attainment. And the more one's resolve, the greater the heights they will reach. So with each and every percent of firm determination that we are able to apply in our sadhana, then by His grace to that degree we will reach new heights in our meditation and our sadhana will become something meaningful-- a truly devotional and spiritual practice in our lives.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace when we take a samkalpa then He guarantees that He will help us-- bless us-- to achieve that Supreme stance. Baba says, "I know one is sure to get divine help. And I know further that one is getting divine help. And I know still further that in future, for infinite time and infinite space, one will be getting this divine favour. And you are all sa'dhakas. You will certainly attain that supreme stance and enjoy that divine blessedness. You are sure to enjoy it, my sons and my daughters." (AV-23, p.76) Namaskar, Manoj

****************************************** Relations with Others

Baba says, "Bear in mind that you have a duty towards-- indeed, you owe a debt to-- every creature of this Universe, but towards you, no one has any duty; from others, nothing is due." (CC-II, 'Sadhana Section, pt #3) Note: In the various dogmatic religions this idea is taught God has created this whole universe solely for the enjoyment of human beings. That is why religious followers kill animals and exploit downtrodden people up to the bone without any qualms. Motivated by this dogmatic teaching, selfish people's mind works in that way. Such lowly people think that, 'Others have the duty to take care of my situation and their own situation as well. And they should not bother me about their own problems'. This is the way such selfish persons think. And if due to some reason that same lowly person helps others then that selfish person thinks that in the near future they should full return plus interest for their so-called service. Thus there is no question of true duty and service; these ideals have no place in their mind. Because of all this present day society's condition is unfavourable-- bleak. All around the west these things are quite common as well as in the big metropolitan cities of the east. The same problem is there also. But Baba's teaching leads in a different direction. In His above mandate from Caryacarya, Baba is very beautifully guiding us that our duty is to serve everybody-- without any expectation of anything in return.

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