Helpful Guidance For Satsangis Struggling With Meditation Practice, by Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram Bahadur of the Radhasoami Satsang
Patience is necessary for making the mind and spirit ascend and the practices should be performed properly, i.e. without any obstruction.
1. It is desirable for the followers of the Radhasoami Faith that they should perform the practices regularly every day with birah [intense yearning] 1 and eagerness. They should concentrate the mind and the spirit and their attention for the first four or five minutes at the Third Til [Third Eye Center] 2 and then, directing their attention to the first or the second region of Brahmanda and concentrating it there, should listen to Shabda [Sound Current] and, at the time of Dhyan [meditation upon the form of the master, also inner Light], should concentrate their mind as well as their attention at the same place and meditate on the Form, whenever it may be visible. They should not exert much pressure in order to make the spirit ascend from lower planes upwards and should only pull their mind, thoughts and attention upwards easily and conveniently and fix them at the region with the help of Shabda or the Holy Form and should be careful that no worldly thoughts of any kind enter their mind and no impulses, whether pertaining to the world or paramartha [spirituality], enter their mind. If they do so, they would certainly get at least some joy of Shabda and the Holy Form.
2. If they do not have any feelings of birah and eagerness at the time of practices, it is desirable that they should carefully read two Shabdas [hymns] 3 containing admonition and feelings of detachment from the world, two Shabdas [hymns] containing feelings of love for the Lord and then sit for the practices and, reviewing their faults and defects, humbly pray in the Holy Feet of Merciful Radhasoami for His Grace and then begin to perform Bhajan or Dhyan.
3. If they are not able even then to bring the mind under control and useless thoughts and impulses continue to arise, they should take up the practice of Dhyan also simultaneously if they are then engaged in Bhajan, i.e. they should begin contemplating on the Holy Form while sitting in the posture for Bhajan [listening to the Sound Current], and at the same time keep their mind directed towards Shabda also. If even then thoughts and impulses do not stop, he should engage in the repetition of the Holy Name also. In this way, the mind would become still to some extent and would engage in the practices,
4. If even then thoughts and impulses continue to trouble and the mind does not properly engage in Bhajan, they should sing within themselves very slowly or inaudibly, at the time of Bhajan or Dhyan, a few verses of some Shabda [hymn] containing feelings of love. It is believed that by doing so impulses would stop and the devotee would get some joy from Bhajan and Dhyan.
5. If the mind remains indifferent and careless even after doing so and continues to indulge in useless thoughts, the devotee should give up Bhajan and Dhyan and continue the repetition of the Holy Name somewhat loudly. He would, in this way, get some purification and he should thereafter engage in Bhajan or Dhyan for some time or should engage in both the practices at the same time. He would then get some benefit.
6. If at any time the mind does not at all engage in these activities and remains indifferent and careless,one should read, with care and with his attention fixed on the meaning thereof, five Shabdas [hymns] giving the secret of the path as well as the details of the ascent upwards, slowly or inaudibly, and should try to concentrate the mind and attention consciously at all the stages mentioned therein and should repeat every verse of the Shabda four or five times or even more and should try to concentrate the mind all the time at the region mentioned in the verse. This kind of path (path) would give benefit more or less equal to that from Bhajan and Dhyan and one should be careful that no thought, whether worldly or paramarthi [spiritual], should be allowed to enter the mind.
7. If none of the above things can be done correctly, it should be understood that the mind is too much given to performing karmas and is dirty and the method of purifying it is that one should attend Satsang carefully for some time and engage himself in some service or the other of the lovers of the Lord and Sadhs and should also listen attentively to their discourses and the discourses of the Satsang and reflect on them. It is only then, that the mind would be purified in some time and love for paramartha would also be engendered. It is then that the practices referred to above would be performed properly.
8. And if one is unable to find an opportunity to live in the Satsang for some time and engage in seva and practices, he should close his eyes, wherever he may be sitting or whatever work he may be doing with his hands or even if he may be lying on the cot, for 6 to 7 minutes after every hour or two, and concentrate his mind and spirit and attention on the first stage and engage in Simran and Dhyan. The mind would not become fickle in such a short time, i.e. 6 or 7 minutes, nor would it engage in any thought and impulses. In this manner, if this practice is successfully performed even ten to twelve times during day and night, one would be able to spend about an hour or so in this undisturbed practice and the devotee would, after some days, certainly experience some joy and he would feel its effect all the time. And even at the time of Bhajan and Dhyan done ordinarily, the mind would become quiet for 6 to 7 minutes each time and get some joy and gradually even this ordinary practice would also be successfully performed. Besides, this practice for a few minutes each time should also be continued at other times so that purification of the mind and the senses may be achieved quickly and more and more joy may also be available.
9. If at any time during the practices of Bhajan and Dhyan one becomes forgetful of the world and is alert within, it is an indication that the practices are being done correctly, but if one finds himself in a condition resembling sleep, and he loses consciousness, both internally and externally, it is desirable that when this condition of forgetfulness begins to appear, he should give up the practice for a few minutes and open his eyes and if drowsiness continues, he should get up and walk a few paces and then sit again for practices and if again he feels sleepy, he should repeat the above-mentioned process and if he feels sleepy even then, he should give up the practice at that time.
10. One should engage in the practices at one time for at least half an hour or twenty minutes and he should remain engaged longer in the practice (be it Bhajan or Dhyan) in which his mind concentrates easily and give less time to the other but the two practices should be performed without fail twice daily and, as far as possible, one should not miss them.
11. Ordinarily, it is desirable to engage in the practices in the mornings and evenings and there are no restrictions, regarding bathing, washing etc. and regarding the place where one should do his Abhyasa [spiritual practice]. One may sit for the practices as one likes and may sit comfortably on a soft floor and if one feels the need to attend to a call of nature, he should first relieve himself. And as regards the place, he should take care that there should be no noise or disturbance where: he performs the practices and no stranger should be present there and nobody should disturb the devotee at the time of the practices. If there is any necessity, one may call the devotee from a distance.
12. A keen devotee may sit for his practices at any place and at anytime either before taking his food or two to three hours after taking his food and may perform the practices for any length of time from 10 minutes to an hour or an hour and a quarter or even for an hour and a half as long as his mind feels inclined at one time. And when, with the Lord’s Grace, his spirit and the mind concentrate and begin to ascend upwards, he should take care in the beginning that they are not pulled upwards too much or too high and should gradually make them ascend upwards, as he may be able to tolerate, and when, on account of the ascent to higher regions, the heart may begin to feel uneasy, he should continue the practice only to the extent it can be tolerated and when he cannot put up with this condition of the heart, he should give up the practice at that time or if the withdrawal is considerable and spontaneous and one cannot put up with it or feels some trouble or fear, even then he should give up the practice and get up and again engage in the practice after some time, so that gradually he may be able to endure that condition and he should also engage in some work after the practices so that his body and mind may not become inactive and lethargic.
13. If any part of the body of the devotee becomes benumbed, languid or useless at the time of Dhyan or Bhajan, he should understand that the practice has been correctly performed. He should not have, on observing this condition, any fear or misgivings. He should slowly get up after the practices and walk for a few minutes. Weariness and languor of the body would then disappear.
NOTES:
1. The idea in ‘birah’ is that the devotee feels an intense yearning to have the Darshan [vision] of the Lord or the Satguru or to meet Him and this yearning is accompanied by anguish and agony at its not being fulfilled or at delay in its being fulfilled. The hearts of true devotees are often filled with such feelings for the Satguru or the Supreme Being.
2. i.e. the Ajia Chakra or the 6th Chakra which is the seat of the spirit in the human body. P. P. III—22
3. The word ‘Shabda’ here means poem. The poems of Saints have been called ‘Shabdas’.
Above is from, Prem Patra Radhasoami, Part 3, by Huzur Maharaj, Discourse Nine: 1-13:
https://archive.org/details/prem-patra-dayalbagh-part-3/page/169/mode/2up
