Reach the Highest Peak (Med 38)
Swami Sivananda
The
wise cut asunder the knot of egoism by the sharp sword of constant
meditation. Then dawns supreme knowledge of Self or full inner
illumination or Self-realisation. The liberated sage has neither doubts
nor delusions now. All the bonds of Karma are rent asunder. Therefore be
ever engaged in meditation. This is the master-key to open the realms
of Eternal Bliss. It may be tiring and disgusting in the beginning;
because the mind will be running away from the point or Lakshya now and
then. But after some practice it will be focussed in the centre. You
will be immersed in Divine Bliss.
A mysterious inner voice will guide you. Hear this very attentively, dear Yogindra!
When you get a flash of illumination, do not be frightened. It will be a new experience of immense joy. Do not turn back. Do not give up meditation. Do not stop here. You will have to advance still further. This is only a glimpse of Truth. This is not the whole experience. This is not the highest experience or realisation. This is a new platform for you. Stand firmly now on this platform. Try to ascend further. Reach the Bhuma or the Infinite or the Unconditioned. You will drink deep the nectar continuously. This is the acme or final stage. You can take eternal rest now. You need not meditate any more.
If a pot with a lamp inside, which is placed in a dark room, is broken, the darkness of the room is dispelled and you see light everywhere in the room. Even so, if the body-pot is broken through the practice of constant meditation on Self, i.e., if you destroy Avidya and its effects (Deha-Adhyasa) and rise above body-consciousness, you will cognise the Supreme Light of Atman everywhere.
Just as the water in a pot that is placed in the ocean becomes one with the waters of the ocean when the pot is broken, so also when the body-pot is broken by meditation on the Atman, the individual soul becomes identical with the Supreme Self.
Just as the student creates interest in his study of mathematics or geometry, although it is disgusting in the beginning, by imagining the great advantage that he will gain by passing the examination, so also you will have to create interest in meditation by thinking of the incalculable benefits that will be derived by its constant practice, viz., Immortality, Supreme Peace and Infinite Bliss.
A man who has not seen Swami Ramakrishnananda who lives in Badrinarayan, hears all about the personality and attributes of the Swami from a man who has actually seen him and who knows him fully well and then tries to visualise a mental picture of him. Even so, the aspirant should hear all about the invisible, hidden Brahman from the sages who have attained Self-realisation and then meditate on the Atman or the Self.
Just as the light is burning within the hurricane lamp, so also the Divine Flame is burning from time immemorial in the lamp of your heart. Close your eyes, merge yourself within the Divine Flame. Plunge deep into the chambers of your heart. Meditate on this Divine Flame and become a Flame of God.
When you study a book with profound interest, you do not hear if a man shouts and calls you by your name. Then you do not smell the sweet fragrance of flowers kept on the table in the flower vase. This is concentration or one-pointedness of mind. The mind is fixed firmly on one thing. You must have such a deep concentration when you think of God or Atman. It is easy to concentrate the mind on a worldly object because the mind takes interest in it naturally through force of habit. The sensual grooves are already cut in the brain. You will have to train the mind gradually by daily practice of concentration, by fixing the mind again and again on the picture of God or the Self within. You will have to cut new spiritual grooves in the mind by practising daily meditation. This mind will not move now to external objects as it experiences immense joy from the practice of meditation.
The practice of concentration and the practice of Pranayama are interdependent. If you practise Pranayama, you will get concentration. Natural Pranayama follows the practice of concentration. A Hatha Yogi practises Pranayama and then controls the mind. He rises upwards from below. A Raja Yogi practises concentration and thus controls his Prana. He comes downwards from above. They both meet on a common platform in the end. There are different practices according to the different capacities, tastes and temperaments. To some the practice of Pranayama will be easy to start with; to others the practice of concentration will be easier. The latter had already practised Pranayama in their previous births. Therefore they take up, in this birth, the next limb of Yoga, i.e., concentration.
A mysterious inner voice will guide you. Hear this very attentively, dear Yogindra!
When you get a flash of illumination, do not be frightened. It will be a new experience of immense joy. Do not turn back. Do not give up meditation. Do not stop here. You will have to advance still further. This is only a glimpse of Truth. This is not the whole experience. This is not the highest experience or realisation. This is a new platform for you. Stand firmly now on this platform. Try to ascend further. Reach the Bhuma or the Infinite or the Unconditioned. You will drink deep the nectar continuously. This is the acme or final stage. You can take eternal rest now. You need not meditate any more.
If a pot with a lamp inside, which is placed in a dark room, is broken, the darkness of the room is dispelled and you see light everywhere in the room. Even so, if the body-pot is broken through the practice of constant meditation on Self, i.e., if you destroy Avidya and its effects (Deha-Adhyasa) and rise above body-consciousness, you will cognise the Supreme Light of Atman everywhere.
Just as the water in a pot that is placed in the ocean becomes one with the waters of the ocean when the pot is broken, so also when the body-pot is broken by meditation on the Atman, the individual soul becomes identical with the Supreme Self.
Just as the student creates interest in his study of mathematics or geometry, although it is disgusting in the beginning, by imagining the great advantage that he will gain by passing the examination, so also you will have to create interest in meditation by thinking of the incalculable benefits that will be derived by its constant practice, viz., Immortality, Supreme Peace and Infinite Bliss.
A man who has not seen Swami Ramakrishnananda who lives in Badrinarayan, hears all about the personality and attributes of the Swami from a man who has actually seen him and who knows him fully well and then tries to visualise a mental picture of him. Even so, the aspirant should hear all about the invisible, hidden Brahman from the sages who have attained Self-realisation and then meditate on the Atman or the Self.
Just as the light is burning within the hurricane lamp, so also the Divine Flame is burning from time immemorial in the lamp of your heart. Close your eyes, merge yourself within the Divine Flame. Plunge deep into the chambers of your heart. Meditate on this Divine Flame and become a Flame of God.
When you study a book with profound interest, you do not hear if a man shouts and calls you by your name. Then you do not smell the sweet fragrance of flowers kept on the table in the flower vase. This is concentration or one-pointedness of mind. The mind is fixed firmly on one thing. You must have such a deep concentration when you think of God or Atman. It is easy to concentrate the mind on a worldly object because the mind takes interest in it naturally through force of habit. The sensual grooves are already cut in the brain. You will have to train the mind gradually by daily practice of concentration, by fixing the mind again and again on the picture of God or the Self within. You will have to cut new spiritual grooves in the mind by practising daily meditation. This mind will not move now to external objects as it experiences immense joy from the practice of meditation.
The practice of concentration and the practice of Pranayama are interdependent. If you practise Pranayama, you will get concentration. Natural Pranayama follows the practice of concentration. A Hatha Yogi practises Pranayama and then controls the mind. He rises upwards from below. A Raja Yogi practises concentration and thus controls his Prana. He comes downwards from above. They both meet on a common platform in the end. There are different practices according to the different capacities, tastes and temperaments. To some the practice of Pranayama will be easy to start with; to others the practice of concentration will be easier. The latter had already practised Pranayama in their previous births. Therefore they take up, in this birth, the next limb of Yoga, i.e., concentration.
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