Amrit Vani: Pragyāyog-Sādhanā — Invocation of Divine Light — II

(Translation of a discourse by Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya on "Pragyāyog Kī Sādhanā" — continued from the previous issue)

॥ Oṁ bhūrbhuvaḥ svaḥ tatsaviturvareñyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt ॥

Friends,

Upāsanā is like the first experiment towards spiritual development. Most of you may need a 'form' of deity, a focus of your faith, for this experiment. In Gayatri Upāsanā, as part of Pragyāyoga-Sādhanā, an idol or picture of Goddess Gayatri is used for this purpose.

Devapūjana

You worship the idol or picture of the Goddess using water, rice grain, flowers, dīpaka, and incense-sticks; and also offer some sweet or sugar as naivaidya. The Goddess is formless, omnipresent. Obviously, your offerings are of no use to Her. The idol or picture that you worship is only a symbol and so are the rituals and offerings of worship. These symbols indicate and remind the qualities that you should cultivate to become the true worshiper of divinity.

Water flows naturally and embraces everything on its way; so should be your heart — compassionate, and free of the bonds of ego and prejudice. Offering of rice grains symbolizes that some part of your possession, your worldly resources, must be donated for the welfare of His creation. Lighting of lamp implies illumination of your life and also of your surroundings. Burning of incense-sticks generates soothing fragrance that spreads in all directions; it teaches that your deeds and conduct should also spread soothing effects in the ambience of all fronts of your life. Naivaidya consists of some sweet eatables; no salt or spice is used in it. Similar should be your voice and overall behavior — decent, polite, and sweet — devoid of bitterness, rudeness, anger and negativity. Fresh flower represents beauty of Nature; offering it to the deity symbolizes that your life should be beautiful (full of good qualities and noble deeds) and should be dedicated to divine aims.

Recall that it's the feeling and teaching behind a sacrament that is important, not the action or procedure of its rituals. Your worship without grasping and adopting these teachings would be nothing more than ostentation and wastage of time.

Japa and Dhyāna

After the rituals of purification and worship, you are supposed to do japa and dhyāna (meditation). Japa of what? You should do japa of Gayatri Mantra, as Gayatri is the Goddess of Pragyā (absolute, pure, divine wisdom). The count should be at least three mālās (108 chants each). While chanting the first mālā, your prayer-filled feelings should be devoted to your self-refinement (at physical, mental and emotional levels); the second one for purification of your jivātmā; and the third one for refinement of the subtle environment of the world. The purpose of the third mālā is an altruistic service, part of our "Pragyā Abhiyāna" — mission of global dissemination of the light of Pragyā.

Dhyāna (meditation) is essential with japa. The focus of Gayatri Mantra is Savitā. So you should meditate upon the rising sun — a universal symbol of enlightenment. Almost all religions render reverential recognition to sunlight as a symbol of God/divinity. While doing the japa, imagine yourself as a small child, an infant sitting in 'natural dress' in front of the rising Sun. The soothing bright rays/glow of the rising Sun are entering your physical body, mind and the inner self. Absorption of this light is strengthening your body, awakening and inspiring your mind with positive thoughts and light of knowledge, and reaching deep into the inner-emotional core — purifying your intrinsic nature, illuminating your sensitivity and inner-self.

Tapa

There is one more and most important (and difficult) component of sādhanā without which it will not be possible for you to achieve the mental and emotional engrossment and physical labor required for upāsanā and other disciplines. Tapa (self-restraint, penance, ascetic discipline) lays the foundation of self-refinement and is therefore crucial for sādhanā. Bricks get strong after high-temperature heating in a special furnace. Gold gains its precious glow after the process of intense heating and melting. Similarly, tapa of the sense-organs and mind is necessary for gaining and maintaining the purity and ability for sādhanā.

Self-restraint of the sense-organs is vital in attainment of purity. Control over the tongue both in eating and speaking is most important. Once this is done, restraining the passions and desires of other sense-organs is not so difficult. You may begin your tapa by observing fast (vrata) for at least one day in a week. Thursday or Sunday is recommended for aspirants of Pragyāyog-sādhanā, however, you may choose any other day if you have some difficulty with these days. The easiest way to observe this fast is to eat healthy but austere and aswāda (tasteless) — cooked but non-fried meal, without salt and sugar.

Another component of restraining the tongue is — control over the vāñī (voice, spoken words, and speech). The faculty of speech is a precious gift of the Almighty. You must think before you speak. In order to learn to control your tongue, you must observe silence. You may practice it for about two hours at a stretch every day. Choose a time-slot of two hours in your busy schedule. Best is to read, write or contemplate on good, enlightening thoughts during this period of silence.

Brahmacharya

Observance of Brahmacharya (physical as well as mental celibacy/chastity) is essential for sādhanā. Carnal relationship with anyone other than the husband/wife should be completely avoided. The roots of sensual excitation and sexual desires lie in the mind. Erotic imaginations, memories and thoughts should therefore be restrained with firm determination. Immediate positive and constructive diversion of the mind in moments of such impulses is most effective. Recall the lives and works of Bhishma Pitamah, Bhagvan Mahavir, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Adi Shankaracharya and other divine personalities who were staunch Brahmacharins, and could attain immense superhuman powers and live glorious lives.

Sanyam of Time, Money and Thoughts

Disciplined use and management of worldly resources and time is also an important component of tapa. Expenditures should be well-planned and scrutinized; every rupee you spend should be accounted for. Then most of your financial problems and scarcities will be resolved. I can tell you this confidently, as I have experienced it myself: in 1950–1970 my family of five was able to live a simple but a normal and happy life with only Rs. 200 per month; I was also able to save for monthly printing and distribution of "Akhand Jyoti".

Efficient management of time is the key to success on all fronts of life. You must chalk out a daily timetable of major activities and stick to it. Acharya Vinoba Bhave was a saintly social reformer and also a scholar of thirteen languages. He used to get up very early in the morning; there were fixed time-slots for reading, writing, meeting and discussing with visitors, social activities, etc. He used to sleep at 6 pm. So particular was he about his time-table that he used to sleep at 6 pm even in summer when the sun sets around 7 pm in India.

Most importantly, Vichāra-Sanyam (discipline, refinement and positive orientation of thoughts) is a must for glorious success in life. It is the life-line of tapa and progress in sādhanā. Thoughts usually flow continuously without any pause. Most often they are haphazard and unnecessary. You have to be vigilant of what you are thinking. The moment you become alert and pay attention on the ongoing thought, the haphazard thought would pacify. Regular practice of this simple method will gradually check the abrupt wandering of your thought-process. Prāñāyāma, Swadhyāya and Satsang provide excellent support and inspiration for success in this and other facets of tapa.

So, prepare yourself by tapa, and sincerely adopt the teachings of devapūjana. This, together with daily practice of ātma-bodha, tatva-bodha (introspection and self-analysis) and japa of Gayatri Mantra with meditation on rising Sun will help you progress in the pragyāyoga sādhanā for divine enlightenment and soul-evolution.

|| Om Shanti ||

Notes:

Dīpaka: A lamp in which cotton thread is burnt in ghee.
Japa: Silent or mental chanting in a rhythmic manner with emotional engrossment.
Mālā: Rosary of 108 beads.
Jivātmā: Soul expressed in life-form, the individual self.
Savitā: The sublime source of 'light'; symbolized by the rising Sun.
Swādhyāya: Self-study of sagacious thoughts/good books; Satsang: Being in company of enlightened/good people.