"Just as high quality seed is the second requirement of success in agriculture, similarly, acquiring a mantra from an accomplished teacher [genuine living spiritual master] is an important component to prepare the practitioner for progress on the spiritual path." (Swami Vyasanand)
Showing posts with label master. Show all posts
Showing posts with label master. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Friday, January 04, 2013
Open a Window to God -- Rumi
Open A Window To God -- Rumi
"If this screen - which is you - is struck from before your eyes, the Beloved will find the Beloved, and you will be entirely lost. Then you will hear with the Ear of your Heart. That Mystery, so long concealed is at last opened, the darkness of your night at last bathed in dawn!" (Fakhruddin 'Iraqi, Divine Flashes, Paulist Press, a volume in the Classics of Western Spirituality Series)
Rumi put it this way, "Listen, open a window to God and begin to delight yourself by gazing upon Him through the opening. The business of love is to make the window of the heart, for the breast is illumined by the beauty of the Beloved. Gaze incessantly on the face of your Beloved! Listen, this is in your power my friend!"
Within our grasp is the ability to regain the Vision of our soul and the Communion with our Beloved Allah; both reside together in the mystical garden, the paradise of the spiritual world. Though the material sphere acts as a dense layer of overcast skies obscuring our vision of what lies beyond, Masters have revealed the Secrets of obtaining paradise to anyone who yearns to discover them saying to their students very much like Rumi did, "This is in your power my friend!"
The process of gaining a vision of paradise and mystic transport has been described as "stripping off old garments" and replacing them with a new heavenly robe made of Light. In his Persian Sufi classic, Divine Flashes, Fakhruddin 'Iraqi describes the process.
"When the Beloved would exalt the lover, He strips from him the garments collected from all the worlds, and clothes him in the robe of His own attributes. Then the Beloved calls him by all his own attributes. Then the Beloved calls him by all his own names, and seats him in his own place. When the lover studies his new clothes he finds himself arrayed in different colors, and will wonder 'what is this beautiful tint, this garment so unique?'"
This quote from Divine Flashes reminds me of Saying 37 in the Gospel of Thomas, one of the earliest collections of the sayings of Jesus.
His disciples said, "When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?" Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and you will take your cloths and put them under your feet like little children and trample them, then you will see the Son of the Living One and you will not be afraid." (The Complete Gospels, Robert J. Miller, Polebridge Press)
Sufism is a form of Islamic Gnosticism which really does have many affinities with earlier Gnostic mystical traditions of the middle east. Like other movements of the past that embrace spiritual experience and mystic transport through the Seven Heavens, Sufis have found it useful to compare out-of-body or ascension journeys to the stripping or shedding of garments. The above quote illustrates their view that each soul on the earth-plane is wearing several garments. We are souls wearing subtle bodies or coverings; our physical body is made out of the material substance of the physical universe. We are, as the late Dr. Carl Sagan put it, "star stuff pondering star stuff." Our bodies are made out of atoms that once came from stars and other objects in the cosmos. When we enter into contemplation and mystical states, our awareness is elsewhere; we become "dead to the world," have risen above body-consciousness.
In that sense, we have, for the duration of our meditation period, "stripped" ourselves of the garment of the body for the purpose of exploring other levels of our existence. The mystic traveler enters into what has been called "the fourth state of consciousness." In addition to the waking state, the dream state, the unconsciousness state of deep sleep, the truly holistic explorer can also integrate into his or her experience the spiritual worlds.
Mysticism teaches that there are many layers of reality, that there are other garments that will eventually be shed during journeys of ascension. These garments or subtle bodies have been given names in Hebrew, Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and other languages. In addition to the "garment" of the physical body, each soul is wearing several other garments or bodies, other sheaths that surround the soul, allowing the soul to connect to the various regions of creation. Counting the physical plane as Level One, Level Two is called by many "the astral plane," made of astral stuff -- astral substance, existing at a slightly higher vibration in the astral region. Level Three is the causal body, made of causal or akashic substance, inhabiting the causal plane. Level Four is the mental body made of mind substance, and is part of the mental plane. The etheric body (Level Five) allows the soul to access that region. Above these worlds of mind and matter, the soul resides in the Timeless Spiritual Realm of Truth (Haq). Metaphysically speaking, we're already in heaven, we just don't know it! 'Iraqi says:
"By day I praised you but never knew it; by night slept with you without realizing; fancying myself to be myself; but no, I was you and never knew it!"
Luckily for us slumbering souls, there are always a few Moses-types in the world freeing those yearning for a real promised land, an occasional Rumi or Shams, here or there, sharing their Secrets about the soul.
"With every breath the Sound of Love surrounds us, and we are bound for the depths of space, without distraction. Out beyond duality, we have a Home, and it is Majesty. That pure substance is different from this dusty world. We once came down; soon we'll return." (Rumi)
Above is from my article, Visions of Allah:
Also see this Rumi/Sufism Podcast:
Thursday, March 17, 2011
In Your Eyes
In Your Eyes - the Resolution of all the Fruitless Searches
In some Eastern spiritual paths there is a
technique of looking into the eyes of the
Master when he (or she) is giving “darshan”
to a crowd. I think of darshan, this mutual
gazing between teacher and students,
when listening to this song by
Peter Gabriel, “In Your Eyes”.
Youtube:
love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes
love, I don’t like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
and all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Meeting an Enlightened Master
Meeting an Enlightened Master
Rishikesh, Sanctuary of Sadhus, Sages and the occasional enlightened Master
by Meggan Brummer
Sydney, Australia
http://www.megganbrummer.com/index.php?p=2_21
(Meeting an Enlightened Master -- Note: This is the section of the article describing an encounter with Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj at the Maharishi Mehi Ashram, Kuppa Ghat, Bhagalpur, Bihar District, India.)
Passing on by the temple entrance I eventually come across a middle-aged American dressed in orange robes peeing behind a rock. His ablutions complete, we engage in the kind of brief conversation designed to assess mutual spiritual worthiness! It transpires he had arrived in Rishikesh some months previously, dipped in the Ganga and prayed fervently for a Master and for spiritual guidance. His prayers were answered by Swarmiji, a holy man who took him on as a pupil and even allowed him to share his dwellings. It is one of those 'coincidences' as it is Swarmiji I am seeking, being fortunate enough to have been previously granted an interview with him.
I am soon led through the simple entrance to Swamiji's living quarters. Swamiji, speaking only Hindi, translated by his American disciple, invites me to sit down on the earthy clay floor besides a beautiful Shrine on which revered pictures of some of the greatest Masters of all time are lovingly displayed - Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Guru Nath (a great 12th century yogi) and Hanuman, aspired to by many as the perfect devotee, with unparalleled strength and commitment.
The 7th of the 8 Limbs of Yoga - Dhyana
My experience with Swarmiji enforces the emphasis I have noted that Masters place on the practice of dhyana (meditation). Dhyana, Patanjali's 7th limb of Yoga, (as described in the Yoga Sutras), is an integral part of any authentic yoga practice. In fact, the purpose of practicing yoga asanas is considered by many great yogis to be the foundation of one's preparation for dhyana. Through the practice of asanas the body and mind are prepared for the state of inner stillness which would otherwise be illusive to attain.
Swamiji
Swarmiji was devoted to his guru, Maharishi Mehi, who, at aged 90, could no longer walk. Swarmiji would carry him around to give his talks and lectures.
Maharishi Mehi was a disciple of Baba Devi Sahab, whose belief in the importance of yoga can be seen in his words "You may remain Hindu, Muslim, Christian or a follower of any other religion. But while living the pleasures and pains of human life, do not live even a single day without inner meditation." Mahatma Ghandi, one of mother India's most beloved children, was an equally strong advocate of the benefits of meditation, once saying "today I have so much to do, I will need to meditate for two hours instead of one."
Consistent Daily Practice
According to Swami Satyananda Saraswati, even a day's break in one's meditation practice lessens the accumulated benefits, as the everyday impressions which gather in the chitta, (memory) will be more difficult to go beyond. An irregular sadhaka (practicing yogi) either sleeps in meditation or is lost in his samskaras (impressions)."A regular sadhaka is able to overcome sleep and dream states, and experiences are seen on the subtle planes."
Devoted to Meditation Swamiji obviously adopted this dedicated attitude to the practice of meditation. His routine has him in bed by 9 PM and then up at 1AM to meditate. For 45 years he has been practicing the meditation taught by Maharishi Mehi, a method which has been handed down from Guru to disciple for over 3000 yrs. "Get up early and do your meditation," says Swamji, "5 hours sleep is enough if you have deep meditation, deep meditation."
According to his new American 'cave-mate', Swarmiji starts his day meditating for 3 hours, seemingly entering a state of Samadhi, (a transcended state of Self-realized awareness). He then silently goes about his morning chores - chopping wood, cleaning, carrying water, before taking his daily bathe in the Ganga. "Even though he is walking around and doing his chores he is very introverted and meditative. But in the afternoon he becomes very playful."
Brahmamuhurta - the best time for meditation
In conversation with Swarmiji, he suddenly bursts out enthusiastically with "Brahmamuhurta!" This, I learn, is the time between 3.00 AM and 6.00 AM known as the most favourable time for Sadhana (one's spiritual practices). During Brahmamuhurta, so called as it is considered the most auspicious time for meditating on Brahman (God), the mind is calm and less engaged with worldly thoughts, worries and anxieties. Also the atmospheric energy during this time is more charged with sattva (purity), increasing the likelihood one's practice will go deeper, with the corresponding health and well-being benefits.
Singing the Ancient Wisdom
Quite spontaneously Swamiji picks up a strange looking string instrument which he begins to play. He sings centuries old songs revering enlightened Masters, their spiritual teachings and methods of meditation. Later he tells me that for thousands of years, great yogis have handed down certain teachings through these simple folk songs.
The Purpose of Life
With Swarmiji there is no such thing as idle chatter; he talks of the impermanence of the body and the purpose of life – attaining spiritual enlightenment to avoid samsara (endless rebirth). He reminds me that when I die nothing will go with me; I will have to leave everything behind, except the accumulated spiritual wealth of my personal sadhana.
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