Change Old Habits = Pujya Gurudev

Is it Possible to Change Old Habits?

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

Habits play a crucial part in life. The personality of a person is determined by his habits. Good habits make a person gentle, genial and great while bad habits deform and disfigure a personality. Everyone is aware of the importance of habits and many wish to change their bad habits in order to improve their character, traits and personality. However, people complain that they find it well nigh impossible to uproot their deeply ingrained bad habits.

This is a counsel of despair and is not true. It is, of course, difficult to uproot and change bad habits, but it is not impossible. If a person is determined and musters the requisite willpower, he can certainly succeed in his efforts.
What is a habit? It is a mental rut created by mechanical repetition of a task. The tyres of a car travelling on a muddy road make a distinct impression. Similarly, the repetition of a task makes an impression on the mind.
            The more we repeat a task, the deeper becomes the impression. Every habit, thus, gets firmly fixed in the mind. A habit can be uprooted by steadily and persistently working against it. Just as performing a task again and again creates a habit, performing an opposite task again and again eliminates it. If the mind forces you towards the old habit, gently but firmly divert it towards the positive habit you want to imbibe instead. It is always easy to go back to old habits and therefore the mind gets effortlessly inclined towards them.
             The formation of a new habit is therefore very difficult initially. However, with repeated performance, it takes roots and becomes a part of ones nature. The refinement of gross and perverse tendencies in a persons personality or bad manners in his conduct is possible only by long-term practice and unwavering determination.
                         Every self-confident person, if he wishes, can dramatically change for the better his mentality and outward conduct through regular practice.
Children are particularly vulnerable to easily imbibe good or bad habits. They constantly imitate the habits of people they come into contact with. To make our children well-mannered, cultured and responsible citizens, it is necessary that we ourselves present an example of an ideal conduct before them so that they can follow in our footsteps and enrich their lives with inspiration and enthusiasm.
If parents exhibit laziness or misbehaviour in their conduct (for example in getting up late in the morning, conversing rudely with people, making inappropriate gestures, etc.), then how can we expect their children, who remain with them for 15-16 hours a day, become civilised and well-mannered?
              To an extent we ourselves determine the environment around us. A cultured person will keep his things in an orderly and appropriate way. His shoes, clothes, hat and even his comb would be clean and tidy.
There would be no dirt on his shoes; his clothes would be ironed and folded neatly. He would appear attractive with simple limited set of clothes compared to an untidy person with a overstuffed wardrobe of costly clothes. He would attain happiness with minimum expenditure. He would not be consumed with the desire to possess a palatial house. In a small house, or even a room, he would live a rich, refined, cultured and caring life. Good manners do not mean how we verbally interact with other people; they mean that we conduct ourselves with dignity, humility and warmth.
                     You may ask: how can one say that I am conducting myself in a reprehensible and disorderly manner? It is easy and self evident. You know that by waking up regularly, exercising the body regularly, having health-giving eating habits, remaining tension-free and taking a good rest to keep the body vibrant and healthy. But alas! How many people can control their eating preferences? In todays hectic lifestyle, how many can remain tension-free? In the mad race for earning more and more money, people have become careless with respect to their health. Many people have enough wealth, which permits them good lifestyle, food, clothes and palatial house.
               Yet they remain in a state of perpetual tension and agitation. Thus we live in a self created hell.. Other examples of self-destructive habits are to watch a movie even though the eyesight is weak; to smoke tobacco, drink alcohol knowing well the damaging effects it has on the body; etc. It becomes the bounden duty of mature and responsible members of society to be vigilant against imbibing ruinous habits and guide and inspire their children by personal example to grow into healthy, happy caring and warm-hearted citizens.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Odyssey of the Enlightened -9 = Pujya Gurudev

Savour the Holy Land of the Lord -3

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

(Akhand Jyoti May-June2009)

The vision of snakebite

Before sitting for meditation, Shriram used to visit the Shiva temple. That day after the darshan of the Lord, he sat beneath the mango tree. He had just sat there when he had the following vision (as he later told to his friends): “I had the darshan of Lord Shiva and was climbing down the steps. The seat of meditation was still 24 to 25 steps away. As I was climbing down, my feet fell on a soft object. I saw that I had stepped on a snake. Within seconds, the angry snake raised its hood and bit my lower leg. Before I could understand what was happening, the snake again bit at my calf muscle and beneath the waist.”

He had heard that a snake bites only once. When the fellow listener interrupted, Shriram said he was feeling this in trance. Then he continued further – “After the snakebite, my body fell to the ground. I was not aware of the treatment that was given. It appeared as if this was being done to somebody else. As the poison from the snakebite began to spread through my body, I experienced drowsiness. People sitting nearby were sprinkling water on my face. The doctor came and asked for some medicines to be brought. By now, the mantrik had also come. He began to beat the metal plate like a drum and chant some incantations. The sound from the plate was very rhythmic. My mind began to get absorbed in that music. The mantrik continued to chant incantations. Once the medicines that were ordered by the doctor came in, the potion was prepared. I drank the potion and instead of getting relief, the pain increased further. It felt as though snakes were biting my entire body. I could experience the sharp stinging and burning sensation; and after some time, those parts of the body first became numb and within a few moments the pain became even more intense.

“I did not know when life ebbed away from my body. When I regained consciousness, I saw a sanyasi with matted locks dragging my body from the river. My family had thrown my body into the river thinking that I was dead. The body of a person who dies of snakebite is not cremated. Whatever might be the physical reason behind it, the occult belief is that snake symbolizes time. It is believed that when Time has chosen somebody, there remains nothing in his being that can be consigned to ashes. The sanyasi pulled my body out of the river and laid it on the bank. The sanyasi sat beside the unconscious body and meditated for a while. The gentle presence of the sanyasi brought back my senses slowly. He lovingly patted me and said ‘Get up and go home. Your parents must be getting worried’.

“On hearing the command of the sanyasi, I tried to get up. The other message that came to me was not to come to that place again. I was asked to mediate at home. I very much wanted to know who the great man was but could not do so because of fear. The sanyasi probably understood my thoughts and hence replied to the unasked question, ‘I am just one of the seekers trying to find the path to liberation from the pangs of this world. Don’t mistake me to be a spiritually realized person. I am an ordinary sanyasi and nothing more’.

“I mustered courage to express my wish and asked ‘Respected sir, will you please guide me?’ The sanyasi replied, ‘No, I am myself a traveler. But the power that guides you is looking after you at all times. It will present itself to you at the appropriate time. Don’t ask me when? I can only say that it will be very soon. Be assured of this and do not accept anyone as your Guru in haste.’ The sanyasi was telling something more but I am not able to recollect anything. The only words I heard last were ‘Get up and go’. When my eyes opened, I saw my father crying piteously. I got up and prostrated before him.”

His father believed that this incident happened because of narrating Bhagavat to Shriram. Many thoughts crossed his disturbed mind. Then he resigned to fate and decided –“Whatever is acceptable to the Lord will happen. God must have decided something specific for Shriram and it will happen. What can anybody do? It is better to believe that everything will be fine at the end.” Panditji’s mind was at peace for sometime and then again indulged in his son’s future. He knew for sure that his son would not go anywhere leaving his parents behind but his mind was filled with infatuation towards his son. This ‘Moha’ (attachment) is a strange emotion that does not allow the mind to focus on one thing.

Panditji decided that very moment that he would not narrate Bhagavat Katha to his son anymore; and would not tell him about sanyasis and renunciation; he would also not leave Shriram in the company of such people. After this decision, Panditji decided to stop narration of Bhagavat Shastra. Whenever a preceptor decides to stop preaching, then he arranges a purnahuti. This tradition has become almost extinct today but all those who have been initiated by a Guru to narrate Bhagavat still follow the tradition of conducting purnahuti when they finally decide to stop narration. A person renounces preaching Bhagavat Katha when either his body becomes weak with old age or when he becomes a parivrajak sanyasi (an ascetic) or when he does not find organizers who have enough resources to arrange for such programs.

Panditji decided to renounce the Pothi (book) of Bhagavat when he perceived that his lineage was seeing an untimely sanyas. For this purpose, he invited twenty one Brahmins and arranged Yagya and installed the Bhagavat Shastra in the temple of Vasudeva as Purnahuti. The day Bhagavat Shastra was installed and Panditji submitted to the Lord that he was taking rest from giving discourses on the scripture, his voice also took rest. Panditji could not speak anymore. People extolled that Panditji’s voice was only for speaking about the Lord and not for mundane things and that was the reason his voice also went away after he renounced the scripture.

The demise of father

On the day the Purnahuti Yagya was completed, Panditji’s condition deteriorated by nightfall. After his voice became mute, he stopped his physical movements also. He used to lie down on the bed and communicate with others using hand signals. His lips were continuously vibrating as though he was doing the Japa of Dvadashakshari (12-syllable) mantra. The next day, he stopped taking any food. When his family members insisted, he told them through gestures that the end had come and they should not try to give food and keep the body alive. Within 2 days, the news of Panditji’s illness and his decision to shed the body spread amongst their friends and relatives. They began to stream in to enquire about his welfare. The house was crowded with people. Panditji would look at everyone and greet him or her with folded hands. He could not say anything but from the countenance of his face, it looked as if he was seeking forgiveness for any mistakes he had done or if his behaviour had caused them any pain. After this expression of feelings, the other persons would also reply to him. On hearing their replies, Panditji’s face would light up. On the morning of Shukla Paksha Dasami, Panditji called his son Shriram. He asked him in sign language that he be put in sitting position. He then assumed Padmasan (the cross-legged posture), kept both hands in his lap, closed his eyes and sat quietly for a few moments. After sitting in Dhyan mudra for five to seven minutes, the mantra ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya’ escaped from his lips.

He asked his son to read the basic (mool) Bhagavat. Shriram began to read the four basic shlokas ‘Ahamevasamevagre nanyad yat sadasatparam│ paschadaham ------------ ││. After reading the shlokas, he began to explain the meaning for the benefit of all those present there - ‘The Lord says: I alone was there at the beginning of creation. There was no truth or untruth; or physical, subtle and causal nature. At the end of creation also, I alone will be present. The universe that is visible is also Me. That which remains after the dissolution of the universe is also Me. This has been explained as the nature of Brahma. The appearance of untruth, weakness and grief in the Jivatma is also Me. When Sat-Chit and Anand are not felt in the Jivatma, know that it is also due to my Divine Maya. Just as the five basic elements (soil, water, fire, air and space) are present in everything - big and small, I am present in those basic elements and also absent from them. The seekers of Truth should understand that whatever is present and absent everywhere is the Supreme Spirit.’

By the time the meaning was read out, Panditji’s soul separated from the body. His individual consciousness merged into the universal consciousness. In the posture that he was seated, scholars explain that such people merge into their adored deity. Panditji was sixty-seven years old then. The moment he left his body, crying and grieving began all around. However, Shriram was very serious as though lost in contemplation or trying to understand something.

This was the first time Shriram saw the snapping of bond of body and soul. The moment, crying and wailing started, Shriram sat cross-legged near his father. He was sitting in a Padmasan posture just like his father. Taiji saw her son imitating his father and must have felt that he too was leaving her and hence let out a piteous cry. She was shaking her son out of the cross-legged position instead of going through the symbolic rituals of widowhood. Shriram did not budge from his position. The family members tried to console Taiji. According to his family members, it was natural for Shriram to try to understand death in his own way. After sitting steady in dhyan mudra for about 20 minutes, Shriram got up and busied himself in the arrangements to bid farewell to his father’s body.

After Antyeshti (cremation) and maronattar sanskars (last rites), the discussion about who should be the successor of Panditji’s heirloom came up amongst the family members. Shriram cut himself out of the property affairs saying that he would only continue the tradition of Bhagavat Katha and nothing else. He said that he would keep himself for only God’s work. On hearing this, the family members realized that this was the effect of seven - day Katha that Panditji narrated to him before death. They thought that once the worldly responsibilities weigh on his shoulders, he would understand the stark realities of life. The eldest remaining member of the family, Jyoti Prasad, took over the headship of the family. As per the tradition, others also got their share of inheritance. Till the end, Shriram kept saying that he was not meant for family life or for managing the land and property. He just wanted to follow his Dharma.

Some Incidents

After the demise of his father, Shriram began to feel lonely. There were many other family members, but their interests were primarily in material possessions. They were busy in managing the farms, in collecting taxes and in the work related to the court. They had good understanding of astrology, ayurveda, governance and social service. Shriram was interested in yoga, meditation, spirituality and the basic truths of existence.

There were many incidents in Shriram’s childhood which speak of his nobility of character and trustful nature. In villages mothers took special care of feeding milk and butter to their children. One day, Shriram saw how a cow was milked. The calf was first taken to the cow. The udders of the cow would fill with milk. The calf was then taken away and the cow was milked. The cow kept looking at her calf lovingly through the entire process of milking and would try to reach out to her calf. Shriram was pained to see the helplessness of the cow and the calf. He went into the house and told his mother that he would not drink milk henceforth.

Taiji and other family members tried to explain that milk gave strength and the capacity to fight against diseases. Shriram had only one reply for everyone – ‘I do not want to strengthen my body by snatching the food of the calf.’ The process of convincing him continued for months. At last, a consensus was reached that the calf be left to suck the milk of its mother till its hunger was satisfied and after it had moved away from the cow on its own, the cow should be milked. The milk thus got would be acceptable to Shriram. The milk obtained thus was very little but it was felt that it was more important to take care of the needs of the calves too.

There is an incident about buying a lock from the market. The regular household chores were done by servants. The mother felt that Shriram should have a practical idea about worldly tasks. The lock of a suitcase needed replacement. A new lock would cost two to three quarter of a paisa. Mother gave Shriram money and asked him to get a new lock. The shopkeeper quoted the price of the lock as three paise. This was definitely four or five times the price told by his mother. Shriram told the shopkeeper that he was charging him more money. But the shopkeeper insisted that this was the actual price and he could enquire about it anywhere. Before the shopkeeper could complete his argument, Shriram took out three paise and took the lock, asking the shopkeeper to stop his lame talk. He said ‘Stop talking. I know the actual price of the lock but I am giving the price you quoted. I trust you.’ On reaching home, Taiji gave him a small lecture and the incident was forgotten. After this, Shriram went past that shop several times but never lifted his head to look at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper used to see him and expect that Shriram would halt. One day, he called out to Shriram and said, ‘I repent for what I have done. I had taken extra money from you. I don’t know why greed overwhelmed me and I took four times the actual price of the lock. Please take back the extra money I took then and forgive me.’ Shriram listened to the plea silently. When the shopkeeper continued to apologize even after returning the money, Shriram said, ‘Uncle, what is there to repent about now? I listened to you then and even today I have no complaint against you.’

This incident from his youth exhibits his tendency to trust others. Because of this habit, he had to bear losses several times but his philosophy was that only trust can transform a person. The lack of trust leads to increase in doubt and evil. It also distances people from one another.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Odyssey of The Enlightened -8

Savour the Holy Land of the Lord -2

=Pt.Shri Ram Sharma Acharya,  a Great sant of century

Raising the Anti-Hypocrisy Banner :

After completing Vedic studies under his Guru, Swami Dayanand set out for Haridwar to attend the Kumbh Parva there. During his halts on the way, he used to hold discussions with small groups of people about the Vedic Dharma, explaining to them the rationale behind the rituals and traditions and encourage people to follow them. The motive behind going to Kumbh was to meet thousands of people gathered there. After reaching Haridwar, Swamiji put up a small tent and hoisted a flag there on, which read ‘Pakhand Khandini Pataka’ (Anti-hypocrisy Banner). The banner drew instant attraction of a lot of people. Swamiji stood outside the tent and spoke about misconceptions related to idol worship, shraddh, avatars, puranas, rituals etc. He also began to speak about the discrimination based on caste, untouchability, child marriages, sati system, evils of the prevalent marriage system, blind customs, etc. There was extraordinary force in his words and his arguments were sound. He received applause as well as opposition.

Swamiji laid the foundation of an organization called ‘Arya Samaj’ with the help of supporters he found during the Kumbh and thereafter. He traveled far and wide throughout his life. He met with people in all social strata from kings to scholars. Panditji also told Shriram that many people conspired against Swamiji. His death was also a result of a conspiracy. Some people in Jodhpur lured his cook to kill Swamiji by poisoning his food. As behoves a true saint, before his death he ensured that the cook escaped. He feared that if the people got to know about the treacherous act, they would not leave the cook alive. Shriram was listening to this narration with rapt attention. But he did not express any kind of reaction.

Their return journey was spent in discussing about the malpractices of the Pandas in Mathura. This trip, in the company of his father, gave Shriram an insight into Indian philosophy and culture. Although the mission for which destiny had chosen him did not require any external help or assistance, still even a born realized soul like Shukadev had to listen to Bhagavat Katha from his father Vedavyasa.

The indications from the subtle world

The palatial haveli in which Shriram lived housed the families of three uncles and his brothers and sisters. It was a joint family of about 20 to 25 people. The people from the in-laws of the uncles also used to visit them on a regular basis. There was also a constant flow of other relatives to the house. The atmosphere was always full of fun and frolic. Whenever his father was at home, the living room echoed with spiritual discussions in which people from neighbouring villages also participated. After returning from Sahpau’s Bhagavat-Week, one day his father experienced pain in the chest. He was seated comfortably and talking to visitors when all of a sudden, he felt piercing pain in the chest. He uttered the mantra ‘Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya’ and fell down unconscious. The entire household went into a chaos. Worry and grief replaced the cheerful atmosphere. This incident occurred during the day and medical help was available instantly. Panditji regained consciousness in a little while and in 3 to 4 days he appeared to be normal. Though Panditji recovered, doctors advised him to be careful. They said that he was suffering from heart disease and hence precaution was a must. He should henceforth abstain from travel, do less work and reduce meeting people. Panditji listened to their advice. He did reduce his workload and interaction with people. He began to spend more time in worship, instead. His participation in Bhagavat Katha was also reduced.

Shriram was observing closely the changes that came in his father after his illness. He had seen many people fall ill. He had seen them recover from their illness and lead a completely normal life. They had almost resumed their regular routine life within a matter of a few days.

Drastic change in the attitude of Father

Sriram’s father was deeply satvik and inward-drawn by nature. Even then he underwent a very unique transformation after the illness. It appeared as if he was preparing to wind up all his activities. Before undertaking a journey, one busies oneself in packing up all things in a short time. The behaviour and urgency of his father was also something similar. During those days, his father spent a great deal of his time in marrying off his children, fulfilling the needs of his brothers and sisters, and in satisfying the curiosity of the seekers who came to him.

It was Vikram Samvat 1980 (AD 1923) and the beginning of the month of Ashada. One day, his father called Shriram and said – ‘Sit with me for at least two hours daily for 7 days and listen attentively to what I say’. The ritual of ‘Kshaur karma’ (shaving the head) was done a day before he was to start sitting with his father. He asked Shriram to have one meal per day and take fruits once during this seven-day period. It was also arranged for both of them to sleep on the floor.

From the next morning, his father began to narrate Bhagavat Katha. This was supposed to be a training camp for Shriram alone and others were not invited. He began to explain the story and philosophy parts of Bhagavat such that the syllabus for the day was completed in two hours. His father must have been very well aware of his objective of teaching Bhagavat to his son. But he did not disclose it even to Shriram. Possibly, the intention might have been to introduce the fundamental principles and truths of life as taught in Bhagavat.

What is the fundamental message of Bhagavat? It tells us how to adhere to righteousness even under adverse circumstances. It teaches that one should put in his best to progress in life and lead a life of glad surrender to the will of Almighty. Bhagavat Katha begins with the advent of Kaliyug or the circumstances unfavorable for soul-growth. King Parikshit sets out to overcome the ill-effects of these circumstances. According to Bhagavat, Kaliyug is synonymous with inauspiciousness and inverted order. When Parikshit restrains Kali, he agrees to free Mother Earth from his clutches. But he seeks shelter for himself. Parikshit allows him to stay in four places and later extends it to five places. The first four places where he allows Kali to live are – falsehood, lust, attachment and cruelty. On Kali’s further request, Parikshit allows him to stay where ‘Rajas’ is predominant. Rajas means greed, pomp and show, arrogance and narrow-mindedness. Wherever such evil tendencies exist, they will experience the ill- effects of Kali, namely sorrow and suffering. What should be done to save oneself from sorrow and suffering? There is only one message of Bhagavat –‘Live a life of self-surrender to the Lord ’. All other methods will only complicate the problems further. When Parikshit had only seven days to live owing to the curse of Rishi Shringi, he did not succumb to worry because he was living a life of surrender. Hence he worked out a plan to make the best use of his seven days of life. The situations developed such that all seven days were spent in spiritual discussions. At the end of Bhagavat Karma, he welcomed death as a welcome guest and celebrated the occasion like a festival.

The father and son savoured the Katha and discussions during the seven days in which both of them spent exclusive time together and, using the Bhagavat as the medium, they discussed many spiritual and philosophical topics. They were submerged in the ocean of knowledge, action and devotion. The eleventh canto of Bhagavat speaks of pure philosophy. In this canto, Bhagwan Vedavyasa explains and analyses various methods of seeking liberation in a poetical and simple language. Philosophical discussions normally become mysterious and serious. For example, scriptures like Vedant, Yog, Sankhya, Mimansa, etc were comprehensible only to highly learned people. In these scriptures, principles of philosophy have been explained like mathematical formulae. The eleventh Canto of Bhagavat explains these philosophical principles in the form of enchanting poetry.

‘I offer you to the Lord’

Even during the seven days of Bhagavat Katha, the routine of meditation of Shriram in solitude continued. A strange incident occurred on the last day, when the Bhagavat narration concluded. The father was telling Bhagavat as though one was reading a story or teaching a lesson to one’s child. No rules and procedures of ‘anushthan’ were followed. Hence there was no yagya or any other ritual on the day of purnahuti (completion). After listening to the Katha, the son asked the father - ‘Dakshina is offered after listening to Bhagavat. What shall I present to you?’ The father kept looking at the lovely face of his son. Shriram repeated the question. Panditji caught hold of his son’s shoulders and enveloped him in embrace and did not answer the question. When the question was asked the third time, the reply came thus-‘Offer yourself’. Shriram replied that he already belonged to his father. He said ‘If your intention is that I offer myself to the Lord; I am ready for that too. Please conduct the Sankalpa to that effect’.

The father made him take water in his hands and take Sankalpa (resolve). He then said - ‘You now belong to the Lord’. After taking the blessing of his father, Shriram went into solitude as usual. After the incident in the cave, he had stopped going to the jungle. Except his mother, nobody knew where he went now. That day, when he went into solitude, hours flew away. He did not return even by dusk. His mother began to worry and asked Panditji as to where he had sent their son. His father was also apprehensive. He remembered the incident in which his son had started to travel to the Himalaya. He asked in a worried tone - ‘Hope he has not gone off somewhere.’ Taiji suggested that they should first search in the Shiva Temple located in Gouri Bagh. It was possible that he was immersed in devotion there. Gouri Bagh was a small garden about a mile from the village. There were some trees of mango, guava and neem. Silence ruled the place during all the twelve months of the year. People used to visit the temple only on Mondays / full moon days and on the day of Shivaratri. Shriram had chosen this place for himself.

In a deep meditative trance

Panditji almost ran to the place mentioned by Taiji. There were two or three people along with him. When they reached there, they saw Shriram deeply in meditation under a tree. Panditji called him but there was no response. Shriram was sitting self-absorbed. He called out three more times but there was no effect. Panditji then tried to shake him up by holding his hands. The moment some pressure was applied, Shriram fell forward. His hands were joined in the posture of prostration. He looked as though he was bending forward and prostrating before someone. Shriram remained in the same posture after rolling forward. Panditji’s face was losing its colour in fear. He repeatedly called his son. He tried to shake him and make him get into a sitting position; but Shriram’s body refused to cooperate. They smelt something ominous and kept a finger in front of his nostrils to feel the breath, felt the pulse and tried to listen to his heartbeats. There were no signs of life. Before they could reach any conclusion, the father let out a shrill cry, leaving the others dumbfounded.

The shriek broke the meditative samadhi of Shriram. He himself got up and before doing anything offered his salutations to his father. This reassured Panditji that his son was safe. He told Shriram that he was terribly afraid about his life. Shriram did not venture to give any immediate reply. After reaching home, father repeated his fear and thanked the Almighty for giving his son back. At that Shriram asked ‘Why are you thanking God? You have already handed me over to Him. Bless me so that I shall always do His work’. Taiji was also present there and she was not very happy with the course of events. She said to her husband ‘What have you taught Shriram? All this scares me’.

Shriram spoke about that day’s experience to his friends after a few days. After having offered himself to the Lord, his being experienced extraordinary peace. When he sat for meditation, it was as though the world receded away from him and he was all alone. He did not have any clear idea of how long he sat for meditation but in that duration, a wonderful discourse happened. Whether that discourse was an inner experience, a dream or some divine vision, he did not reveal. The experience was like a real incident that was taking place. During that experience, he never realized that he was in meditation.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Holy Land of the Lord -1 = Pujya Gurudev

Savour the Holy Land of the Lord -1

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

(Akhand Jyoti Jan.fub.2009)

Odyssey of the Enlightened -7 Savour the Holy Land of the Lord -1 It was the first or the second month of 1924 when Shriram accompanied his father to the house of his maternal grandfather to participate in the Bhagavat - Week arranged there. The discourse on Bhagavat was to be given by another scholar. Pt. Roop Kishore was invited, as he was the son-in- law. Taiji had reached there earlier. Father and son left one day before the ceremony and reached there on time. On the way, the son raised a few philosophical questions that had already crossed his mind during the incident with Chhapko Amma. One of the questions was - ‘You give discourses on Bhagavat and based on this, you could have proved that serving Chhapko Amma was the right thing to do; yet during the discussion, you explained the matter to Kalyan Pandit on the basis of Gayatri. Why did you choose Gayatri?’

The father explained that he chose Gayatri because Bhagavat was nothing but a detailed commentary on Gayatri; not just Bhagavat but all shastras were the detailed explanations of Gayatri and that Gayatri was the seed from which all the scriptures, including Vedas, had sprouted. Sriram listened and asked again ‘I too have listened to your discourses, but never has the glory of Gayatri been described like this anywhere in that Purana’. The reply of his father gave direction to Sriram’s thought. Panditji said, “You have to investigate that glory. For now, just learn the scriptural aspect of Bhagavat. It begins with Gayatri mantra. The very first shloka of Bhagavat Purana is like a commentary on Gayatri mantra. It is resplendent with many words and meanings related to Gayatri.” The meaning of the shloka is – “That, in which the entire universe is created, maintained and dissolved; that, in which, space and other matter is present and also absent; one who is omniscient; one who is omnipotent and is in the form of supreme effulgence; who by mere resolve explained Vedas to Lord Brahma; one who enchants great and learned scholars; by whose influence this illusory universe also appears as a reality; to that effulgent form of light who creates illusion but is beyond it, we offer our prayer.” On narrating the opening sloka, the father said that the phrase ‘Janmadyasya yatah’ implies the word ‘Savituh’. Similarly, ‘svarat’ implies ‘devasya’; ‘Dhamna svena sada nirasta kuhakam’ implies ‘Varenya bharga’ and ‘Tene brahmahruda cha adikavyaye’ talks about the all-pervading power inherent in Gayatri that controls all three worlds. ‘Satyam param dhimahi’ expresses the fundamental inspiration behind Gayatri mantra. Not only that, the Bhagvat Shastra also concludes with ‘Satyam param dhimahi’.

The 19th sloka of the 13th chapter of 12th canto of Bhagavat speaks of imbibing into ourselves the truth of the Lord Almighty who is purity personified and beyond all illusions. In this way, both in terms of words and meanings, Srimat Bhagavat is nothing but a detailed commentary of Gayatri. Panditji further explained that according to Matsya and Vaman Puranas also, the presiding deity of Bhagavat is Gayatri. The Shastra begins with Gayatri and hence it is called Bhagavat. The entire journey till the house of the maternal grandfather was spent in this discussion that - Gayatri represents the knowledge of all Shastras; is the basis of the most important scripture of the era - the Bhagavat which is also the basis of Sanatana Dharma. He further explained that Valmiki wrote Ram Katha comprising of 24000 shlokas as an exposition of the 24 letters of Gayatri. If one looks into Ramayan, the first shloka in every thousand shlokas begins with one of the letters in Gayatri mantra. Panditji continued – “Few hundred years ago, Goswami Tulsidas wanted to narrate Ramakatha as folklore. He wanted to explain the nature of sanatana dharma in the language of the masses and hence sought the help of Valmiki Ramayan and Bhagavat. From Valmiki Ramayan, he picked the story of Ram- Avatar and from Bhagavat, devotion. He synthesized them both and composed ‘Ramcharit Manas’. Do you know how Goswamiji received the inspiration to write the book? Baba Venimadhav has said in ‘Gunsayi Charit’ that one day when Tulsidasji had just completed Sandhya Gayatri, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati appeared before him and directed him to write Ramcharit Manas.

In Samvat 1631, on the day of Ramnavami, after the morning Sandhya Vandan, Goswamiji began the composition of ‘Ramcharit Manas’. The sadhak may choose any deity as his favourite, but he has to begin with the japa of Gayatri.” In the playground of Lord Sri Krishna After pausing for a while, Panditji said, “Think this way - ‘Gayatri Mantra’ is the key and all the sadhanas are the treasure house. Without this key, it is not possible to acquire the wealth of devotion, knowledge and yoga.” During the course of Saptah Parayana, Panditji unraveled many aspects of Gayatri in addition to Bhagavat and religion. Shriram was extremely interested in those discussions.

On the concluding day of the Katha, both father and son began to make preparations to return home. Taiji also made up her mind to leave because it would spare the trouble of someone escorting her back home later. When it was decided that they would leave together, then Taiji expressed her desire to visit Mathura and behold Dwarakadish (Sri Krishna). Panditji began to calculate the impact on their schedule in the light of Taiji’s suggestion and was lost in thought. On seeing this, Taiji added weight to the proposal by saying that Shriram had not visited Mathura and that since he was with them, they could all go and have the Darshan of Sri Krishna and Yamunaji. Panditji smiled at the request of Taiji and agreed to return to Aanwalkheda via Mathura.

The change in programme would take two extra days. The land of Vraj lacked dense and shade-giving trees. Hence, in the initial days, travelers faced difficulties in walking or riding through the stretch of sand; but when the family of Panditji visited the place, it was the autumn season and the climate was cool. They did not face any inconvenience in walking from Sahpau to Mathura. They were just 2.5 kilometers from Mathura when they saw a temple on a hillock. They could hear bells ringing which implied that there were people visiting the temple. Shriram asked his father, ‘Whose temple is this?’ Since it was on the outskirts of the city, Panditji guessed that it must be the temple of Gram Devta (deity of the village). It was common to have such temples on the outskirts of a town or village. Shriram expressed his desire to go to the temple. They climbed the hillock. The idol of Govindji was installed in the temple.

After having the darshan of the Lord, they sat down to relax for a while. Within a few minutes, the silence of the temple was broken by a booming voice chanting ‘Jai Jai Radhe’. Panditji saw a mendicant approaching them. The person with a long beard and ruffled hair could have been about 60-65 years old. Panditji offered his salutations to the sanyasi. In reply, the Sadhu enquired if they had any food left. Taiji opened her food packet and took out 4 Puris and pickles and extended it towards Panditji. Panditji offered the food respectfully to the sadhu who in turn blessed them and left the place. Shriram, who was seated near his mother, was observing all this closely. On seeing the sadhu walk away, Shriram shouted ‘Babaji, have you seen God?’ The sadhu stopped in his tracks and replied - ‘No, but I wish to see Him. It is to realize Him that I am wandering in His land.’ Stop wandering After giving his reply, the sadhu looked at Shriram lovingly. Shriram said ‘Babaji, stop roaming from one place to another. Savour the holy land of the Lord and you will get Him here.’ Though it was a simple suggestion, it somehow touched the heart of the sadhu. Whatever meaning he attributed to the word ‘savour’, he lay down and rolled in the soil in front of Lord Govind’s temple. The touch of the soil rejuvenated and thrilled his whole being. In his reverie, he went on saying, ‘You have shown me the path, my child. My search is over. The Lord had always been here but I had shut my eyes to Him.’ Saying this, the sadhu wanted to prostrate in front of the boy; but before he could do so, Shriram ran off. Both Taiji and Panditji were listening to the conversation between their son and the sadhu. When Shriram began to run, they asked him to stop, joined him and continued their journey to Dwarakadish temple.

Nobody spoke anything on the way. After they had the darshan of Dwarakadish, Taiji expressed her reaction to the incident on the hillock temple and said ‘The Lord Himself spoke through my child. What is the need for anyone to wander way-lost in His land? Anyone who reaches here is liberated.’ After reaching Mathura, Taiji had the darshan of Dwarakadish. Shriram asked his father several questions about the temple and Mathura. The questions were full of curiosity and inquisitiveness. Dwarakadish temple was just around 200 years old. The majestic idol of Lord Sri Krishna adorns the sanctum sanctorum of the temple that was built in 1814. This dark coloured idol is worshipped in accordance with the Vallabh Sampradaya tradition. After seeing the temple, the entire family went to visit Katra Keshavdev.

It is believed that Sri Krishna was born here. Now one can see an imposing temple and Bhagavat Bhavan there, but when Shriram visited the place with his family, there was only an ordinary temple. After leaving Katra Keshadev, the family reached Vishram Ghat. It is believed that from Katra Keshavdev, where the palace of Kansa stood, Lord Krishna, after killing Kansa, had gone to the banks of the Yamuna. He and his elder brother Balram had spent sometime on the banks of the Yamuna. It is believed that whatever fatigue the Lord felt while fighting with Kansa and his cohorts was alleviated here. That is the reason why the ghat is named Vishram Ghat (river bank of relaxation). Shriram asked ‘Father! Have we also come here to remove the tiredness of visiting Keshavdev temple? This place is Vishram Ghat for us too.’

The father could not help but smile at his son’s naughty comment. Agony at Vishram Ghat The subtle vibrations permeating Mathura and Brindavan are brimming with devotion to Lord Krishna even today. A sensitive and receptive mind is immediately immersed in these soul-soothing vibrations. However the travelers and pilgrims face lot of difficulties due to purohits and pandas. The situation today is slightly better than what it was those days. The pandas were greedy and malicious which spoiled the reputation of those great pilgrimage places. Shriram’s father knew about these people quite well and hence their family did not face any difficulty. But they saw other fellow pilgrims being troubled by the pandas. A person who was surrounded by the pandas was shouting that they were bothered about nothing but the payment that they would receive and did not possess even an iota of devotion or purity. He was asking them as to why they didn’t take up any other job. On hearing the comment, a panda replied, ‘What job do you think we should take up?’ The pilgrim replied that they could take up any job.

The panda made fun of the suggestion and in a malicious tone said - “One task we can certainly do. If you die, we can throw you into river Yamuna. Then whatever belongings you have will become our hard-earned wages.” The other pandas began to laugh on hearing the reply. Shriram looked at his father in bewilderment. Panditji held the hand of his son and signaled him to move on. Shriram asked as to why no one was helping the pilgrim who was being harassed. His father said –“The pandas outnumber us. If anyone goes against that panda, all the other pandas will get united and it will be difficult to fight against them.” Shriram in his boyhood innocence asked ‘Is this the land of Lord Krishna or Kansa?’ Taiji said – “The land is certainly that of the Lord but the influence of Kansa has always remained here”. Shriram then asked again ‘Will these atrocities continue like this? Will there be no improvement in the situation?”

The father reassured him saying “It is not so. The circumstances do not remain the same for long. This will definitely change.” They were taking a turn towards Sati Tower of Vishram Ghat and Panditji pointed towards a small lane and said that there used to live a sanyasi 50-60 years ago. He was a great scholar of Vedic texts. He had seen this pitiful state of Mathura. There were many other bad practices in dharma against which the sanyasi wanted to revolt and fight; but he could not do much as he was blind. Panditji had begun to narrate the tale of Swami Virajananda, the Guru of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. One day, a celibate from Gujarat came to Swami Virajananda. The celibate said that he wanted to study all the Vedas and Shastras so that he could know the ultimate truth. The sanyasi asked what the student could give as Guru Dakshina. The celibate replied that he would give anything that the Guru wanted. The sanyasi replied – “Destroy the hypocrisy, revolt against the atrocities being committed in the name of righteousness (dharma) and uproot all evil practices.” The disciple agreed to give this Guru Dakshina. He stayed with the Guru and acquired all the Vedic knowledge. After completing his studies, the disciple traveled around the entire country. He awakened people and made them aware of all the evil practices being indulged in the name of dharma. He explained to the people the true nature of dharma. Shriram expressed his curiosity and asked how a single person could achieve all that. The father replied – “If one has courage and determination, no task is too tough to accomplish”.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Sanskrit:A Scientific Language = Pujya Gurudev

Sanskrit:

 A Scientific Language Created by Spiritual Intelligence

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

Science and Spirituality Sanskrit: A Scientific Language Created by Spiritual Intelligence Sanskrit is honored as the foremost natural language known to mankind. Since the post-Vedic times of yore, it had been the principal language of communication and literary creations and expressions for more than thousand years. All the original spiritual texts of ancient India including the Vedic Hymns, Upanishads and Bhagvat Gita available today are written in Sanskrit. Modern researchers are amazed at the Scientific Structure of this ancient language and the compact formulation of Mathematical Intricacies hidden in it. We the Indians may neglect our great cultural heritage, but several scholars of West have revived the efforts of rediscovering it. Keen interest in grasping the Vedic Indian texts and understanding the spiritual science of life and the cosmos had driven Prof. Max Muller and Sir John Woodroffe and the likes to the galactic Himalayas. They spent decades in learning Sanskrit and the Shastric Literature from the sagacious masters.

Mesmerized by the phonetic-based diversity of coded scripts of Sanskrit-Sutras, Sir John Woodroffe underlines the capacity of Sanskrit vowels and syllables as having the potential to generate all the sounds of all words or sounds spoken in any language[1]. This finding implies Sanskrit as universal source of linguistic expression and the mother of all spoken or written languages. While the Indian intellectuals and political leaders battle each other on whether Sanskrit should be included in the school curricula at least as an optional language or not, many of the top-ranking universities in USA and Europe have been producing research dissertations on Panini’s AÌÚ³dhy³yº, Mah³bh³Ìya, Kalidas’s Meghaduta's Bana Bhatta’s Kadambar's, Pingla’s Chhanda Shastra, Bhrathari’s and Patanjali’s logic, etc. Way back in 1786, Sir William Jones remarked in a research paper presented to the Royal Asiatic Society that – the wonderful structure of the Sanskrit language is more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin and more exquisitely refined than either of them. This had triggered great interest for Sanskrit among the western scholars. The occidental passion for the oriental classics is not confined to Peter Brook’s eloquent dramatic presentation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata or to romantic poetic creations of Kalidasa, or Sanskrit scriptures on Tantras or Kamastra, etc.

There has been a much more systematic tradition of Sanskrit-learning of past two centuries in the West[2]. In the present scenario, we find two prominent modes of teaching of Sanskrit in the West. One is scholastic, as a classical subject taught in the universities. The other pertains to teaching of Vedic texts and other scriptures of Indian Philosophy and religion. The classes of the latter type are run by temples and philosophical schools or societies, mostly created by Non-Resident Indians. Many of these, especially the ones dealing with Patanjali’s Yoga Treatise or with Upanishads, are quite popular among the westerners. There is a remarkable trend of increasing fascination of youths in learning these ancient texts. As far as the scholastic teaching and research is concerned, Sanskrit language is recognized by top-level universities and academic institutions the world over. This is clearly reflected in the comments and observations of some experts interviewed by Mr. AK Jha[2]. Views of Noted Academicians: The first chair-professorship in Sanskrit in England, namely the Boden Chair was founded at Oxford in 1831. It continues till today with addition of two more faculty positions. Some more chair-professorships have been set up in other prestigious institutions like the University College, London, and the Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities.

Professor Richard Gombrich who occupies the Boden Chair remarks – “The reasons for studying Sanskrit today are the same as they ever were: that the vast array of Sanskrit texts preserves for us a valuable part of cultural heritage of mankind, including much beautiful literature and many interesting, even fascinating ideas.” Oxford University offers three kinds of degrees in Sanskrit – a three-year BA, two-year M Phil (in classical Indian religion) for which Sanskrit is taught intensively, and a D Phil. Most of the undergraduates are British students.

The researchers include significant number of foreigners including Buddhist monks and nuns from South-East Asia. Experts like Prof. Gombrich are also associated with new publication ventures, on the line of Loeb classical library of Latin and Greek, of popularizing Sanskrit by bringing out series of simple translations of Sanskrit texts along with the originals on topics of wider interest. Professor John L Brockington who teaches Sanskrit at the School of Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh is a graduate of Oriental Studies from the Oxford University. He observes that Sanskrit is regarded as a classical subject among most scholars in UK. In his views – “There is a future for Sanskrit both in Britain and in Europe because of its value in studying Indian culture as a whole.” According to him the research in Sanskrit in the British universities mostly pertains to – critical editions of Sanskrit texts, studies of Sanskrit epics, studies of Hindu pilgrimage places as shown in textual sources and in contemporary practices.

Growing interest (and even craze!) for Sanskrit is most visible in the United States of America. Unlike Britain, and unlike its own past, the tradition of Sanskrit teaching and research in the USA is totally demand-driven. The Yale University was the first American University to have started teaching of Sanskrit. This initiative was taken in the late 1890, as part of the Oriental languages. Prof. Salisbury was the first Professor to teach Sanskrit. His student William Dwight Whitney is recognized as the pioneer in development of Sanskrit studies in America. Gradually the study of Sanskrit was incorporated in the curricula of the esteemed universities of Harvard, and Berkeley followed by the universities of Chicago, Michigan, Pennsylvania and several others. Today, Sanskrit is taught in several American institutions along with modern Indian languages. Dr. Madhav Deshpande, Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics at the University of Michigan, has guided Ph Ds in wide ranging topics including — comparative studies of Panini with modern linguistics; Indian Philosophy in comparison with Western Philosophy; Buddhism, thoughts and works of ancient philosophers like Nagarjuna, art-historical and literary background of Ajanta caves. The interest and demand for Sanskrit is no longer confined to researchers of oriental topics or undergraduate students of linguistic departments. Young students majoring in engineering, medicine, and business studies also choose Sanskrit as an additional elective or as part of the four-term foreign language requirement.

Campuses of Texas at Austin and some universities in California have even witnessed hunger strike by students’ unions, demanding more departments or more enrollment in the existing department. As per the records of 2001[2], the University of Chicago attracts 30 or more undergraduate students every year to study Sanskrit. There are five faculty members teaching Sanskrit. Similar is the scenario at Harvard, which has a full-fledged department of Sanskrit. In most of the other universities it is part of South-Asian departments and is very popular among the Indo-American students. However, interest in Sanskrit persists even in those campuses where there is no demand. This eye-opening fact, according to Prof. Brockington, was observed in the recent conference of the International Association of Sanskrit studies held in Turin, Italy. Several scholars from the Eastern European countries including Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and Russia attended the conference. Unlike UK or USA, these countries hardly have any NRI population. In spite of this, there is a wave of significant interest in Sanskrit. Considering these trends and scholastic remarks, Ajit Jha rightly concludes[2] — “While we in India today consider Sanskrit a ‘dead’ language, the Westerners consider it as simply a fascinating language, a language in which the genius of the human civilization was perfected to its fullest”.

Scope in Intelligent Computers and Coding Theory: Decipheration of some Sanskrit scriptures has unfolded many amazing facets of spiritual acumen of ancient India. Apart from the much-publicized ancient Indian inventions of ‘zero’, the decimal system, Vedic Mathematics, and sage Aryabhatta’s and Bhaskar’s astronomical developments, there are many more remarkable findings that have attracted the modern Mathematicians and Computer Scientists in recent decades. Most fascinating of these findings lies at the interface of Artificial Intelligence, Cryptography, Mathematics and Music. Major revolution in computer technology began in the early 1980’s with promising development of microprocessors and parallel computers on the hardware side and advent of Artificial Intelligence (science for developing self-learning computers or intelligent systems) on the software fronts. Natural Language Processing2 is prominent among the bottlenecks on way of development of Intelligent Computers. A major challenge to development of feasible algorithm for this purpose is – unambiguous representation of natural languages to make them accessible to computer processing. Other applications of computers are executed with the help of information storage and retrieval and logical processing, all of which can be carried out using schematic designs, frameworks and formal (mathematically devised) languages coded in binary forms.

However attempting a parallel for natural languages is cumbersome and ambiguous because of the syntax, grammar, semantics and context dependent implications of sentences in natural languages. This is why natural languages were considered unsuitable for computer processing and most research in the area of computer-aided natural language processing relied on formal machine-language type constructs only. These efforts have not rendered any significant success so far. Unlike other natural languages prevalent in the ancient or modern human society, Sanskrit, as investigated by Dr. Rick Briggs of NASA’s Computation Research Centre (RIACS) in California, USA, has unique structure that makes it suitable for computer processing too. In his pioneering paper[3] Briggs pointed out that Sanskrit was, for more than thousand years, a living spoken language with a monumental literature of its own. Besides works of literary value, there was a long philosophical and grammatical tradition (in ancient India) that has continued to exist with undiminished vigor until the present century.

Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit is a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form also with the advanced works in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Brigg’s paper[3] demonstrated that much of the work attempted in AI, for example semantic network designs to represent a sentence, was already used in Sanskrit millennia ago. Successive research carried out by him and others in the early 1990’s showed that Sanskrit can also serve as a formal-language. This gave new direction to successful developments in computer aided natural language processing and some other kinds of intelligent computer processing.

Modern researchers have also found important mathematical formulae of Musical Patterns and Coding Theory in Sanskrit scriptures[4]. For example the “Fibonacci Sequence of numbers” (1, 2, 3, 5, 8,…) were well known to Indian poets and drummers since 12th Century as “Hemachandra numbers”, after the name of scholar Acharya Hemachandra who, along with studies of Vedic texts, also studied poetic meter. For Indian musicians, these numbers continue to serve as a mnemonic to remember rhythm patterns. Pingala’s (300-200 BC) Chhanda Shastra presents the designs and algorithms for “Mer¿prast³ra” which was rediscovered thousands of years later by mathematicians as “Pascal Triangle”. This is a compact representation of coding of some important mathematical results. Pingala’s thesis and earlier Sanskrit scriptures also contain many short, cryptic verses, or s¿tr³s, which served as memory aids for a larger set of concepts passed on orally. These, likewise the Hemchandra Numbers and Mer¿prast³ra, offer rich background for further developments in Cryptography and Coding Theory, the mathematical and computing sciences that are used for security programs in cyberspace of internet, satellite communications, and also in wide ranging applications in computational geometry, computational musicology, crystallography, physics, statistics and economics.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

 

Amrit Chintan= Pujya Gurudev

Don’t run away from problems: Face them

= Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

Very often it is observed that people try to avoid or run away from pressing problems, instead of finding solutions to them. The amount of time that we waste in searching the modes and methods of escaping from a problem is much more than what is required in finding a solution to it. In fact, we should cultivate foresight in anticipating problems, big or small, relating to our home or job and should also search for and keep handy possible solutions. When a problem does crop up, we should develop courage to face it. If your inner-self says ‘I can overcome this problem’, you have already won half the battle.

Every person feels that his / her problem is far more severe than that of others whereas this may not be true. People are often seized by the negative thought ‘What sins have I committed that I am not getting rid of my problems?’ Thus they waste all their time in blaming circumstances or fate for their problems. Have you ever calmly thought: what could be the real cause of these problems? Accept it or not, all your problems have been generated by your own unorganized actions, lack of farsightedness in planning, dearth of practicality and wrong assessment of your own strengths.

Always remember that once you firmly resolve to find a solution to the impending problem, the whole scenario and the concerned people would change. The circumstances or God do not help a person who runs away from the problems instead of facing them boldly and wisely. Therefore, don’t run away from problems; face them.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Science and Spirituality= Pujya Gurudev

Roots and Reality of Dreams

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

We all sleep and dream. Though most of us do not remember, most of the times, whether we saw a dream or what we saw in a dream, the topic of dreams fascinates us. Dreams have also attracted the scholarly minds of ancient and modern researchers. They have attempted deciphering the process of dreaming, its psychological and spiritual aspects; precognitive and therapeutic roles of dreams, etc^[1,2].

Why Do Dreams Occur?

The origin of dreams is elucidated in the Yoga Sutras as a result of causal or incidental transition of mind from its conscious to unconscious state or from a state of cognition and retention to that of subtler impulses of mental activities. Whatever one experiences in the subconscious state of sleep, often appears as a dream; the ‘plot’ of this dream is shaped as per the natural tendencies of the dreamer’s mind and body.

The ancient science of Indian medicine (Ayurveda) classifies the natural tendencies of mind and body in three principal categories of pitta, v³ta and kapha. Frequent scenes of fire and light in the dreams are characteristics of the pitta tendencies. The people having v³ta as the major tendency often see sky and experience winds and movements in space in their dreams. The dreams of those having kapha tendency are preoccupied with varieties of scenes associated with water –– ponds, rivers, sea etc.

The views of Professor Kelvin, a reputed psychologist and expert of dream sciences in the U.S.A. largely coincide with the explanations of the Indian philosophers. He defines dreams as collective manifestation of varied imaginations and reactions of the unconscious mind during sleep. Experiments on study of dreams affirm that the activities of the inner mind continue even in the dormant state of the conscious (external) mind. The conscious activities, flow of thoughts and associated visual representations disappear in this state. Impulses of the unconscious (subliminal) mind are then reflected as dreams.

The proportion and intensity of visual reflections in dreams is more prominent than the instances of speaking and hearing. This is why dreams are usually referred as “seeing a dream” or “saw in the dream”, etc. Physical and Biological sciences do not provide definite reasons or logical elucidation of dreams. Even the existence of dreams is doubted here, as no specific neuronal activity could be attributed to the origin and nature of dreams.

It is said that the countless inscriptions in the memory –– constituted by whatever we have ever perceived, thought or felt - are inconsequentially or systematically retrieved and expressed from time to time via dreams. But the deeper depths of memory and its hidden linkage with the subtle dimensions of consciousness remain unexplained in such ‘scientific’ interpretations. Modern research in Psychology and related Neurosciences too leaves the occult nature of dreams largely unappraised. Investigations into the occult psychological aspects and the subliminal reflections of the inner mind –– are the subject matter of spirituality which allows comprehensive analysis of dreams too.

Ms. Oscho Rokheodova of Russia had become blind, deaf and dumb at the age of five. Despite losing these principal faculties, she demonstrated outstanding talents in writing. Her brilliant book “My Perceptions and Conceptions of the World” highlights her experience with dreams. In her views, one can dream and feel the different movements and happenings in a dream without seeing them through the eyes. Scientific elucidation of such possibilities indicates that a blind person may not have visual perception of the scenes appearing in a dream but the smell and sound of the associated objects and activities might enable him / her to experience the dreams.

It is said that the type and quality of dreams usually depend upon one’s intrinsic nature, tendencies and inclinations. It is also argued that by controlling his inner powers one can control the nature of his dreams too. Maharshi Ved Vyas mentions in the “Brahma Sutra” that –– dreams of a serene and intuitive mind often indicate the major events of future. By prudent analysis of these subtle indications and arousing the will-power of the inner self, one can minimize the negative consequences of the ill-omens or unfortunate events and may enhance the probability of ushering of favorable times kept in the stock of future.

The modern researchers have also begun to recognize the predominant role of the inner (unconscious) mind in the dreams of deep-sleep. Analysis of specific categories and characteristics of dreams might be used to elucidate the hidden secrets and complexities of human psychology and to help in diagnosis and treatment of psychosomatic and psychiatric problems. This would lay the scientific foundation of Dream Therapy. The ancient science of spirituality may be reinvestigated to expand the scope of this research.

Role of Subconscious and Unconscious States of Mind:

For many people, the world of dreams is a distinct world beyond the peripheries of our conscious physical state of existence. It is believed in several parts of the world that dreams are ‘seen’ by the soul when it roves outside the body in a state of deep-sleep. Yet another set of convictions affirms that dreams are expressions of –– esoteric signals, false manifestations of some dead souls or supernatural powers, glimpses of future, etc. Whatever be the myths associated with dreams, the curiosity of mankind to grasp the nature of dreams and peep into the reality of their somewhat ‘occult-like’ experiences has always been irresistible.

Modern science has also attempted investigating the facts about dreams. Elucidations and analyses in this regard fall under the fields of research in Psychology –– especially that of the unconscious mind. Twentieth century developments in this direction have given birth to a new branch of Parapsychology.

Research on the brain functions during sleep categorizes two states –– (i) deep sleep and (ii) active sleep. The state of active sleep is described as that of Rapid Eye Movement (REM). It has been found that dreams are frequently seen during REM. As the name suggests, the movements of eyeballs – beneath the closed eyelids – is very rapid in this state. Electro Encephalogram (EEG) of brain response in this state indicates some kind of restlessness of mind; perspiration glands are also stimulated during this state.

Scientific studies reveal that everybody dreams every night. Although one may not remember having seen any dream, on an average every normal person would see five to six dreams of varied duration and nature. Most frequently, the first dream (or dreamy reflections of mind) appears during the first hour of sleep. The rapidity of movements of eyeballs changes according to the speed of the activities in the dream, as it happens while the mind is engrossed in watching a movie or a play.

Modern psychoanalysts of dreams classify them as (i) active and (ii) stationary or dull dreams. The first category is attributed to the dreams in which one finds himself as engaged in some activity or as part of a dynamic scene of the dream. On the other hand, the dreamer is merely a silent onlooker of the stationary dreams; he is not a part of or an actor in such dreams. Stationary dreams may sometimes inspire a new thought or flash out a novel idea in the viewer’s mind. Dreams of this kind also allay mental tension and stress and soothe the nerves. The vital energy required for the brain functions during a dream is negligible as compared to the positive returns in terms of reducing the pressures of untoward impressions registered in the subconscious mind.

The patterns of alpha – waves in the impulses of brain, recorded in the state of dreaming confirm that this state is not different from the subconscious or active state of mind. When we are awake, it is our conscious (external) mind, which remains active. It is the subliminal activities of the unconscious mind, which take over when we are fast asleep and dreaming.

Most activities in our daily life are performed in what is called as the subconscious state of mind. Except if the conscious mind is alert and focused, we carry out most of our works absent-mindedly, in this ‘partly asleep’ state. Inferences drawn from common observations indicate that on an average, people use substantial focus of the conscious mind for only about a minute in an hour. This way, if we leave out 8 hours of sleep in general, we make best use of our conscious mind only for about 16 minutes during the 16 hours of our physically awakened state every day. The same is true of the absolute activity of the unconscious mind. It is only a negligible fraction – may be a few seconds in our dreaming state - when our unconscious mind is completely charged.

Nobel Laureate Prof. Edgar D. Adrian argues that our unconscious mind is gradually woken up and activated when we sleep. The activities of the unconscious mind start manifesting as the conscious mind falls asleep. When one goes to bed and begins to relax with closed eyes, a change in the pattern of brain waves is recorded –– reflecting gradually slower impulses of neuronal excitations. Random fluctuations are noticed after a while, followed by faster vibrations (of higher frequencies). Later on, as the subject falls in a state of deep sleep, his brain waves become uniform, consistent and appear to have lower frequencies.

It is said that the power and potentials of unconscious mind are infinite as compared to those of the conscious mind and its intellectual faculties. The conscious system of mind makes perception, focused thinking, reasoning, imagination, and conceptualization possible and enables acquisition and understanding of (external) knowledge. Efficiency of decision making, trenchancy of analysis, cleverness and sagacity largely depend upon how one trains, refines and makes use of this mental endowment. It is surprising to note that despite being the regulator of intellectual creativity and talents, the conscious mind cannot generate or control the flux and tides of thoughts and emotions on its own.

Enormous varieties of thoughts of mutually contradicting and diversified nature continue flying – like bits of dry leaves in stormy winds, in the domain of conscious mind. Infinite bubbles of emotional excitements and depressions blow and burst on the surface of sentiments almost every cognizable instance of time.

Most people do not even feel the need to control the perpetual fluctuations in the ocean of (consciousness of) mind. Their imaginations and plans too are drawn on the watery surface of mental excitations. The initial enthusiasm with which they initiate their ambitious plans begins to wane out soon after taking off. They can hardly take foresighted decisions.

Inspirations of improvement and rise do occur in everyone’s mind in some point of time or the other. But, hardly a few know how to focus and channelize the powers of mind aroused by these inner impulses. Concentration and control over the conscious mind and creative and righteous use of the intellectual faculties can be accomplished by the deeper sources of mental strength and enlightenment. The hidden forces of the piety, peace and power of the inner self seem to shape the nature of mind.

A wild lion is the king of his forest. Once caught and captured by a ringmaster, this mighty knight is made to dance to the latter’s tunes. A somewhat similar is the case of the human mind. In the physically awakened state, the unconscious mind remains suppressed under the dominance of extrovert intellect. The state of deep sleep gives it the liberty to rise and express itself at will. Dreams are expositions of the existence and activities of the unconscious in this free and empowered state.

As all the sense organs remain practically dormant during sleep, one can’t experience dreams with clear perception of the audio, visual or vocal expressions; nor can one find a logical reason for a specific type and sequence of reflections in that state. This is why dreams often appear to be a child’s game played by the unconscious mind. The latter seems to draw arbitrary sketches from the multicolored memories stored in its stock and display the ‘film’ of dreams generated at random.

A little deeper look into the reflections of the unconscious mind reveals that the types of dreams are not always so random. Hidden in these are the reflections of memory and the nature and impulses of the unconscious mind and its inner core. The root-cause of mental complexities as well as the source of mental power, sagacity and talents lies in this inner mind. Thorough analysis of dreams may therefore be as useful in treatment of psychological problems and in evaluation of one’s personality as the pathological tests are in the diagnosis and cure of a disease. Psychotherapy based on evaluation of dreams can be established on scientific platform by deeper studies of human mind. This would also open up the possibilities of refinement and evolution of the subliminal powers of the inner self.

 Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma