An

swers to

Basic

Sp

iritual Q

uestio

ns

of S

adh

aks

Sw

ami S

han

tanan

da P

uri

Publisher :Parvatham

ma C.P. Subbaraju Setty Charitable Trust

# 13/8, Pampa M

aha Kavi RoadShankarapuram

, Bangalore - 560 004. : 6523011, 6678070

1

Q.1.O

n

wh

ich

sym

bo

l o

r G

od

sh

ou

ld

Im

editate? O

r wh

ich G

od sh

ould

I choose

for worsh

ip?

A.

Ultim

ately there is only one God

who is the

Self (Atm

an) of all and is form

less. As H

ispow

ers are infinite, He can also assum

e anyform

(say of Ram

, Christ, K

rishna, Siva, etc.)on

wh

ich th

e devotee con

ceives of Him

.T

hose forms of G

od are as real as the seeker.

The G

uru is the best judge to choose w

hichG

od you should

med

itate on, based on your

condition and

your sp

iritual constitu

tioninherited

from the past. In w

hatever form (or

formless) you w

orship, consider that H

e isyour ow

n Self and is the highest unlim

itedSuprem

e being who only takes and m

anifestsin

all the oth

er forms of G

ods. A

rough

formula for choice could

be in the following

priority :

1.Self (A

tman) or the Suprem

e Conscious

Being

<

ûm«r JU

{em`

Z_•<

ûm«r

JU{e

m` Z_•

<

ûm«r JU

{em`

Z_•<

ûm«r

JU{e

m` Z_•

<

ûm«r JU

{em`

Z_•

2.A

n In

finite G

od

with

ou

t form

and

without attributes (N

IRA

KA

RA

& N

IRG

UN

A)

3.A

Sup

reme fo

rmless G

od

with

allattributes of love, kind

ness, compassion

etc. (as in Christianity) (N

IRA

KA

RA

but

SAG

UN

A)

4.A

ny P

ersonal G

od w

ith form

(SIVA

,V

ISHN

U etc.) and

all attributes, according

to one’s own preference.

An

y one of th

ese will lead

ultim

ately toG

OD

-RE

AL

ISAT

ION

.

Q.2.W

hat is th

e differen

ce betw

een S

elf-realisatio

n (A

tma S

aksh

atkara), G

od

-realisatio

n

and

M

uk

ti o

r M

ok

sha

(liberation

)?

A.

There is no d

ifference at all. These are all

different term

inologies used to d

enote oneand the sam

e experience. By knowing the Self

or God

, one pu

ts an end to the ignorance

(Av

idy

a) wh

ich is th

e cause o

f on

e’ssufferings, sorrow

s and unhappiness in this

world and finds oneself in a state of perennial

Bliss. T

his state is called M

UK

TI or M

OK

SHA.

Th

e defin

ition an

d con

cept of M

ukti is

different in d

ifferent religions and system

sof philosophy (viz. Jainisim

, Bud

dhism

etc.).

23

Q.3.W

hat is Ign

orance an

d h

ow d

oes it cause

sorrows, su

fferings, lack

of peace of m

ind

,u

nh

app

iness etc.? H

ow can

we rem

ove it?

A.

Du

e to past cond

itioning, each individ

ual

iden

tifies him

self with

his b

ody

-min

dcom

plex. E

ven th

ough

he h

imself is th

eim

mortal Su

prem

e Con

sciousn

ess of the

nature of B

liss unlim

ited by T

ime, Sp

ace,O

bjects and C

ausation and not lim

ited by a

body, he su

perim

poses on him

self all thecharacteristics and

limitations of the bod

y-m

ind

comp

lex–viz., m

ortality or death

,agein

g, un

hap

pin

ess, relationsh

ip w

ithothers etc., and

becomes unhappy. T

his stateof w

rong identification of the Self w

ith thebod

y is called ignorance. B

y knowing the

Real Self i.e. w

ho we really are, w

e dispel the

ignorance.

For examp

le, in a room

wh

ere there are

different bulbs of different voltage–zero watt,

60 watt, 200 w

att & 1000 w

att, the bulbs ared

ifferent in colour, age, cap

acity and are

vulnerable to breakage (death).

Bu

t all these bulbs are fed

with only one

electric energy coming through a single set

of wires bu

t du

e to different cond

itioning(resistance) of each bu

lb, its manifestation

beco

mes m

ore o

r less. It is on

ly o

ne

continuous electric energy which pervad

esall bulbs. If the electricity in each bulb w

hichis ind

estructible were to id

entify itself with

the bulb and consid

er each one as separatefrom

the other, the zero watt w

ill become

jealous of the 1000 watt, the bulb w

hich isold

er in age may d

islike younger bulb, all ofthem

will think that they w

ill also die on the

day the bulb breaks or fuses and

the bulbs ofind

igenous origin will d

islike the bulbs ofim

ported origin etc. T

hus as a result of theignorance of its real nature, the electricity inthe bulbs und

ergoes miseries and

sorrows.

Th

e same h

olds good

for hu

man

beings

identifying w

ith their bodies.

Meditation on the Lord is the m

ost efficaciousm

ethod for rem

oving ignorance.

45

Q.4.Is a G

uru

necessary? C

an w

e not p

roceedon

this p

ath on

our ow

n w

ith th

e help

ofb

ooks etc.?

A.

Wh

en th

is question

was p

ut to R

aman

aM

aharsh

i, he q

uip

ped

– “Is a mo

ther

necessary for a child?” H

e himself clarified

elsewhere as follow

s:

The real G

uru is God

or your own Self, w

horesides in the heart. Except aspirants in a veryhigh stage of evolution (w

ho also may have

had G

urus in their past lives), most of the

aspirants will not be able to take guid

ancefrom

the internal Guru, the Self. So G

od, in

His G

race takes pity on the loving devotee

and m

anifests Him

self as a Guru in a hum

anform

according to the d

evotees’ standard

s.Even though the external G

uru is God or Self-

incarn

ate wh

o work

s from w

ithin

, the

devotee thinks initially that he is a m

an. Each

individual has got different conditioning and

requires different hand

ling and guid

ance insad

hana suited to his constitution w

hich abook cannot give. O

n the contrary, the books,our scriptures, if not properly interpreted

inthe light of real experience could

result inchaos and

confusion.

67

Q.5.H

ow sh

all I find

a prop

er Gu

ru w

ho w

illgu

ide m

e? Can

I chan

ge my G

uru

if the first

one d

ies or if I find

a more b

rilliant an

daccep

table G

uru

sub

sequ

ently? If I fin

d th

atm

y Gu

ru is a h

ypocrite or a rogu

e ind

ulgin

gin

sex and

fraud

, can I ab

and

on h

im?

A.

When once w

e increase our longing for God

to a volcanic exten

t and

pray to G

od to

provide us w

ith a Guru, w

e will d

efinitelyget the proper G

uru. In addition we m

ay alsogo for Satsan

gs and

find

out am

ong th

eM

ahatmas w

e come across w

hether there isanybod

y who is w

ell-versed in scriptu

res,d

esireless and

selfless, lackin

g in

ego,

hum

ble, shunning m

oney, sex, name and

fame, w

ith an

equ

al visio

n an

d o

ther

qu

alification

s as describ

ed in

V

IVE

KA

CH

UD

AM

AN

I by AD

I SAN

KA

RA

. Wh

en ou

rlonging for G

od becom

es deep and

intense,the G

uru will w

alk into our life.

As the Sad

guru in external form is verily the

Self, the guidance w

ill continue to pour even

after the external Guru ceases to exist in his

body. No G

uru can be expected to live as longas w

e live.

As the G

uru chosen once is verily the God

-incarnate and

he is not the human bod

y, thequestion of aband

oning him at any stage and

for any reason whatsoever, d

oes not arise.E

ven if he turns out to be a bad person, so

long as he has given you a path or a Mantra

(sacred syllable) recognised in scriptures, youm

ay continue to go on the path directed

andall guid

ance will flow

from w

ithin. Further,it is said

that one gets the Guru one d

eserves.If the G

uru is a sinful man, he m

ay perhapsgo to h

ell but th

e discip

le need

not be

concerned about it.

89

Q.6.I h

ave some vagu

e inclin

ation tow

ards G

od.

It is all luk

ewarm

. I do n

ot feel inclin

ed to

read an

y book

s on religion

or spiritu

alityas I fin

d th

em con

fusin

g and

sometim

esm

utu

ally co

ntrad

ictory

. Ho

w sh

ou

ld I

proceed

?

A.

You have to increase your longing for G

odtill it becom

es an agony and a torture. For

that purpose you should go often for Satsang

i.e. seek the company of evolved

souls, holym

en an

d d

evotees of a high

order. T

he

Satsang could be in the form of bhajans, nam

asm

aranam (taking lou

dly the nam

e of theL

ord), d

iscourses, qu

estions and answ

ersetc., and

sometim

e the Mahatm

a may sim

plybe sitting quiet in silence, m

utely radiating

his vibrations. In case you do not get such a

holy company, you m

ay read books of non-

controversial saints (their talks and gospel

and not books originally w

ritten by theird

isciples) like Ram

akrishna Paramaham

sa,B

hagavan

Ram

ana, Y

ogi Au

robind

o, Ma

Anand

amayee etc., books containing their

biograph

ies and

autobiograp

hies, books

relating

to th

e dev

otees o

f yo

re like

Kabir D

as, Tu

lsi Das an

d M

eera; Bh

aktaV

ijayam, and

also Srimad

Bhagavatam

, Ram

Charit M

anas of Tulsi D

as etc. These w

ill alsobe consid

ered as Satsang. In your spare tim

e,you can also d

o some selfless social service

like h

elpin

g th

e blin

d, old

patien

ts inhospitals and

old age hom

es, collecting anddistributing old clothes and bread to the poorin slum

areas etc. This w

ill purify the heartso that further path w

ill become clearer to

you in due course.

1011

Q.7.W

hy d

o we n

eed G

od? W

here d

oes He

reside? H

ow can

we get H

im?

A.

Ev

eryb

od

y

wan

ts to

h

ave

un

limited

hap

pin

ess and

to elimin

ate all sorrows,

miseries, sufferings etc., from

his life. God

isthe Super Bazar w

here alone you get genuinehappiness.

As w

e have stated in an earlier answ

er, allth

ese sorrows etc., are as a resu

lt of not

knowing ou

r own Self i.e. w

ho we are in

reality. Self is the key to our happiness andthat Self is called

God

. Du

e to our w

rongid

entification with the bod

y, a comm

on man

cannot easily be convinced that he is the

Imm

ortal Infinite Self, the very existence,w

ho is all Bliss w

hile he is experiencing oldage, d

iseases, death and

sufferings in his

everyday life. So the Self is conceived

by himas a G

od external to him

residing in som

eunseen D

ivine regions, who w

ill help andrelease him

from his m

iseries. Those w

ho arenot able to conceive of and

search for theirow

n self and w

ho continue to consider the

world

as separate from their ow

n self haveto take recou

rse to the G

od w

ho is th

e

controller and p

rotector of the world

(asev

ery sy

stem w

orkin

g in

an org

anised

manner should

have a controller). As it is the

all-powerful and

all-pervading Self w

hich isim

agining itself as a separate God

, the Self iscap

able o

f takin

g th

ose fo

rms also

ascon

ceived

by th

e dev

otees. Fin

ally, by

seeking God

, the man seeks his ow

n Self andgets G

od-realisation.

The personal god

s with form

and attributes,

being the manifestations of the very Self,

should not be consid

ered as a concession to

the ignorant because they are also ultimately

as real as the form

less. Accord

ing to Sri

Ram

akrishna, they are the two sid

es of thesam

e coin.

The regions like K

ailash or Vaikunta w

herethe personal god

s are supposed to resid

e areall as real as this w

orld and

can be seen ind

ifferent planes of consciousness.

To realise God or Self, there are infinite paths.

Med

itation, P

rayers, Devotion

and

Self-en

quiry are som

e of the m

ore comm

ond

evices to get God

-realisation.

1213

Q.8.W

hat is m

editation

and

how

does it d

ifferfrom

prayers? H

ow sh

ould

I do m

editation

?

A.

Accord

ing to a Mahatm

a, when you talk to

the Lord

and H

e listens, it is prayer. When

He talks an

d you

listen in

silence, it is

Med

itation.

There are readym

ade prayers as in the ShantiM

antras of Upanishad

s and various Stotras

(hymns of p

raises) in Pu

ranas and those

comp

osed by

saints of rep

ute lik

e Ad

iSankara. O

ne could

also talk to God

andpraise H

im in one’s ow

n word

s.

Med

itation is defined

in various ways by

different m

asters. Continuously fixing the

attention of the mind

on a single thing, sayG

od,

and

holding

on to

that thought

without

breaking the

continuity is

med

itation1. It is called

Dhyana in Sanskrit.

It is the art of raising the intensity of ourinw

ard consciousness so as to m

erge with

the ultimate A

bsolute Divinity. T

here arenum

erous established

w

ays of

doing

med

itation, apart from those being d

evisednew

ly by the mod

ern masters. E

ven Japaand

sincere

prayers d

one w

ith an

emotional upsurge lead

s to med

itation andfinally

to Sam

adhi

(the Super-conscious

state). One m

ay take any symbol like ‘O

M’

and concentrate on that sound

. One m

ayim

agine the

form

of one’s

favouritepersonal G

od and

concentrate on each partof H

is body starting from

the nails and toes

of the Lord

’s feet and going up to the hairs

on His head

(known as [mXmoXH{$e

Ü`mZ§) andfinally

on H

is entire

form.

There

arem

ethods of concentrating on the L

ord in

the form of the entire universe (Sun and

the Moon being his eyes etc.) know

n asodídê$[

Ü`mZ§ (m

editation

on the

cosmic

form). It is the G

uru who should

guide you

in the type of med

itation suitable for you.

1415

1 VÌ àË``¡H$VmZVm Ü`mZ§

Q.9.W

hat is D

iksh

a or Initiation

? How

does it

help

?

A.

In the traditional w

ay, whenever a G

uru isap

proach

ed by a seeker or asp

irant, th

eform

er gives him a M

antra (sacred syllables)

relating to th

e latter’s favou

rite (Ishta)

personal G

od or im

personal (rarely). T

hisprocess is called

diksha or initiation. In this

process th

ere is a subtle tran

sference of

po

wer to

the d

isciple an

d th

e Man

trabecom

es a link th

rough

wh

ich th

e Gu

rubegins to look after his sp

iritual w

elfare.A

ctually speaking, if the disciple continues

to d

o th

e Japa (rep

eated recitatio

n o

rchanting), his ow

n dorm

ant spiritual powers

begin to be awakened

. There are also various

other kinds of D

ikshas, through the eye,

through touch etc.

Q.10.W

hat actu

ally is a Man

tra and

how

is itsJap

a to be d

one? H

ow d

oes it help

in th

esp

iritual p

rogress?

A.

Sages (Rishis) of yore, after a lot of sad

hanaand

purification of their mind

, used to get

certain sacred

syllables (say OM

NA

MA

HSIV

¡Y

A) through inspiration from G

od. They

contin

ued

to recite them

for years fromm

ornin

g to n

igh

t, keep

ing

their m

ind

concentrated on them

and consid

ering theM

antras as the very manifestation of G

od as

soun

d en

ergy and

finally got th

e direct

vision of their respective god

s, ultim

atelyleading to Self-realisation. These M

antras areconsid

ered as secret and

are contained in

texts (like MA

NT

RA

MA

HO

DA

DH

I) which form

part of Mantra Sastra (scriptures relating to

Mantras), in T

antric texts and in P

uranas

also. Each M

antra is to be accompanied

bycertain specific purificatory and

preparatoryrites called A

nganyasa, Karanyasa, C

hantingof R

ishi, Chandas, D

evata etc. These Mantras

beco

me effectiv

e on

ly w

hen

they

arecom

municated through the m

outh of a Guru

(Gurum

ukha) and not if practised by reading

1617

them from

a book or text. The continuous

Japa can lead to m

editation, cessation of the

mind

and even u

p to the Sam

adhi stage

which results in G

od-realisation.

Fo

r Jap

a p

urp

oses,

certain

sects in

Christianity use “Jesus, have m

ercy on us,”as a m

antra. Similarly, hym

ns from ‘Jap Ji’

of GU

RU

NA

NA

K D

EV

are also used by som

eas M

antras. If done w

ith Faith, these are alleffective.

From each syllable of a M

antra, a particularenergy em

anates each of which is capable of

eliminating a particular type of vasana and

pu

rifying th

e min

d. For in

stance K

leem(som

e pronounce it as Kleeng) is called K

¡M

AB

EE

JA and is capable of granting all righteousd

esires and finally d

estroying all the vasanasof d

esires including sexual passion and

lust.

In mod

ern days, m

any of the Ashram

s arein the habit of m

anufacturing new m

antrasbased

on the name of the respective G

urusw

ho founded

the Ashram

s (normally after

the d

eath of th

e Gu

ru), th

rough

wh

ichd

isciples are initiated. T

here are also Gurus

who are not aw

are of Mantra Sastras bu

tsim

ply make up som

e mantras on their ow

n(w

ith impure and

wrong pronunciation of

words) or by reading som

e way-side popular

book series giving some m

antras (existingand

non-existing) with a lot of gram

matical

mistakes.

There are a number of rules relating to the

process of doing Japa which the G

uru revealsat the tim

e of initiation.

1819

Q.11. W

hat is ‘N

AM

AS

MA

RA

NA

M’?

A.

Constant rem

embrance of G

od is the key to

God

-realisation. All p

eople irresp

ective ofcaste, creed or sex (including those w

ho havenot been initiated

by any Guru) can go on

reciting mentally or loudly the nam

e or seriesof nam

es of God

e.g.

(1)R

AM

(2)H

AR

E K

RISH

NA

HA

RE

KR

ISHN

AK

RISH

NA

KR

ISHN

A H

AR

E H

AR

E

(3)H

AR

I OM

(4)SR

I RA

M JA

I RA

M JA

I JAI R

AM

This is N

AM

A SM

AR

AN

AM

.

While Japas are governed

by a set of rulesan

d

cann

ot

be

do

ne

any

wh

ere an

deveryw

here, taking the name of the L

ord can

be don

e wh

ile travelling in

buses, w

hile

walking and even in toilet or bathroom

. Here

also from the syllables form

ing the names,

Divin

e energies em

anate w

hich

help

inelim

inating our conditioning (vasanas) and

in raising our level of consciousness. If done

with

ded

ication

and

inten

se dev

otio

nN

amasm

aranam

is consid

ered to be as

effective as Japa or m

editation. E

ven fortaking the nam

e, if it is given by a Guru, it

can be more effective.

There are also scriptural texts containing 108

or 300 or 1000 names of each G

od e.g. SIV

AA

SH

TO

TT

AR

AM

, LA

LIT

A T

RIS

HA

TI, V

ISH

NU

SAH

ASR

A N

AM

A ST

OT

RA

M etc. T

he regular

recitation of these hymns of G

od’s names can

also be categorised u

nder nam

asmaran or

prayers. In the case of certain Stotras (hymns)

like Vishnu

Sahasra Nam

a, they are alsotreated

as Japa if d

on

e with

all the

preparatory Nyasa, Sakti, K

eelakam etc.

2021

Q.12.

Wh

at are prayers?

A.

Prayers are in effect talking to God

. Prayerscan take any one of the follow

ing forms:

Praise of G

od and

His glories or seeking

material favours like prom

otion, getting ajob or a son or m

oney etc. or seeking spiritualfavours like pure d

evotion, destruction of

wron

g cond

itionin

g (vasanas) etc. H

ereagain, one m

ay recite set prayers written in

the Vedas, Bible, Puranas or Stotras (hym

ns)w

ritten by great saints like Ad

i Sankara,V

edanta D

esika, Valm

iki, etc. or talk to theL

ord sp

ontaneously in one’s ow

n word

sabout one’s ow

n problems in fam

ily, daily

life, office or in m

editation

and

other

spiritual aspects.

Sri Ram

akrishna Paramaham

sa, Paramhansa

Yogananda, etc., used to talk to G

od daily.The book “Letters from

Brother Lawrence”

or “Practising the presence of God” used to

be recomm

ended by Swam

i Vivekananda.

Prayers can be done as a separate sad

hanabu

t if they are done in com

bination with

Japa, Nam

asmaran and

Sw¢dhy¢ya (stud

y ofscriptures and

allied texts) they w

ill be more

effective.

Th

ose w

ho

are con

stitutio

nally

mo

reem

otional and those w

ho find them

selvesunable to sit in Japa or m

editation w

ill findprayers as an easy m

ethod to keep the m

inden

gag

ed

in

Go

d

and

to

d

evelo

pconcentration.

2223

Q.13. D

urin

g med

itation or Jap

a, my m

ind

never

remain

s still even for a m

omen

t. As m

any

times as I resolve to b

ring th

e min

d b

ackto G

od an

d con

centrate, it slip

s away an

dis b

usy w

ith variou

s thou

ghts relatin

g tow

orldly affairs. W

hat sh

all I do to con

trolth

e min

d so th

at it can con

centrate on

God

?

A.

This is a problem

which is com

mon to 99%

of the Sadhaks (seekers or asp

irants). InBhagavad G

ita also, this very question is putto Sri K

rishna by Arjuna.

For births and births m

ost of us have beenengaged

all our life in w

orldly affairs, in

running a family life, profession or business,

the social life, politics etc. Even in this life,

after having come to know

of the spiritualpath, out of 24 hours in a d

ay, even retiredpeople spend

barely 1 to 2 hours for God

while rest of the tim

e is spent in seeing T.V

.,in looking after the health of self and

family

mem

bers, atten

din

g so

cial fun

ction

s,read

ing newspapers, sports, politics, going

to club etc. When all our life is engaged

inw

orldly m

atters it is but natural that even

wh

en you

sit for med

itation, th

e min

dco

ntin

ues to

revo

lve aro

un

d w

orld

lym

atters.

As per G

ita, “The m

ind of those people w

hoare engaged

in continuou

s activities andw

allow

ing

or en

gag

ed in

riches an

denjoym

ent of sense objects can never bem

ade to rem

ain quiescent.”2

Accord

ing to Lord

Krishna, the only m

eansto control the m

ind are ‘repeated

practice’(A

bhyasa) and “D

ispassion” i.e. complete

detach

men

t from

all wo

rldly

ob

jects(V

airagya). There is no other short cut. W

eh

ave to d

evelop

an all-con

sum

ing an

dunsw

erving love and devotion towards G

od(for w

hich we have to pray to G

od regularly

and sincerely) and

a complete ind

ifferenceand

lack of interest or attraction toward

s allw

orldly objects viz. accumulation of m

oney,

2425

2^m{J¡œ`©àgº$mZm§ V`m[öVM{Vgm_²$&ì`dgm`mpË_H$m ]woÕ• g_mYm¡ Z odYr`V{$&&(G

ita II - 44)

name and

fame, attachm

ent to wife, son and

family, ind

ulgence in sex, interest in sports,p

olitical affairs, so

cial activities etc.

Secon

dly

, w

heth

er th

e m

ind

g

etsconcentrated

or not, one should not leave

off med

itation or Japa. Any num

ber of times

the mind

goes wand

ering, one should bring

it back to Japa, God

etc., patiently again andagain. It cou

ld take years or even births

before we cou

ld su

cceed bu

t we have to

pursue this path untiringly. One d

ay Lord

’sG

race would

descend

and Sam

adhi w

ouldresu

lt, leadin

g one to G

od-R

ealisationultim

ately.

Q.14. E

ven th

ough

I have h

ad in

itiation from

aG

uru

and

am p

ractising Jap

a, med

itationan

d V

airagya, I contin

ue to b

e assailed b

ysexu

al thou

ghts an

d im

pu

lses of passion

and

lust from

time to tim

e. Som

etimes I

have to in

du

lge in sex an

d even

otherw

iseI lik

e to b

e in th

e com

pan

y o

f yo

un

gw

omen

. How

can I get over th

is?

A.

K¡

MA

VA

SA

NA

i.e. sexual attractio

n is

extremely d

ifficult to be quelled and

evensaints and

sages have fallen a prey to it

during their Sad

hana days. It is the grace of

God

and G

uru alone which can com

pletelyan

nih

ilate this v

asana. T

he fo

llow

ing

method

s could be used

:

1.Intensify Japa and

med

itation.

2.D

aily weep before G

od in private and

pray to Him

sincerely for His grace.

3.A

vo

id

readin

g

all n

ewsp

apers,

mag

azines,

fiction

an

d

bo

ok

s o

fsensational stories relating to sex.

4.A

void the company of those people w

hoind

ulge in sexual talks.

2627

5.A

void the com

pany of the opposite sexespecially w

hen alone even if they aregood

devotees of G

od d

oing sadhana

and get out of such com

pany with som

eexcuse.

6.T

ry to go to Satsangs, particip

ate inB

hajans and cultivate the com

pany ofholy m

en who are highly evolved

.

7.T

alk to your Guru (if he is a m

ature andevolved

soul) and som

e of them could

help you

with a sp

ecial Mantra or a

Bijakshara (a single syllable) w

hich isspecific for this vasana.

8.R

ead

the

auto

bio

grap

hies

and

biographies of old and

latest saints likeT

uka Ram

, Jnaneswar, Purand

ara Das,

Nam

Dev, R

amakrishna Param

ahamsa,

Bhagavan R

amana, etc. d

aily.

9.M

any suggest that one should look at

the other sex as one’s own m

other orfather as the case m

ay be. In most cases,

in practice, this theoretical advice fails.

Continuous and

regular prayer to God

to rid one of this vasana is the best but

it should be com

bined w

ith the rest ofthe m

ethods suggested

above.

10.Accord

ing to some, the d

aily reading of

LA

LIT

A S

AH

AS

RA

NA

MA

ST

OT

RA

and

VISH

NU

SAH

ASR

AN

AM

A ST

OT

RA also (if

possible) h

as been fou

nd

extremely

beneficial.

11.As early as possible or soon after the

sexual th

ough

ts have su

bsided

eachtim

e, sit quietly and look at the mere fact

that your m

ind w

as fully engaged

insexual thoughts. Just look at the fact fora few

min

utes d

aily as a w

itness,

without any criticism

or judgem

ent asto how

bad it w

as, withou

t any self-accu

sation

o

r g

uilt

feeling

,retrospectively. If d

one regularly aftereach tim

e, this method

would

prove tobe very effective.

2829

Q.15. W

hat is P

RARABDHA

or destin

y on accou

nt

of past action

s? Is our en

tire life pre-

destin

ed in

clud

ing G

od-realisation

? Wh

atis th

e role of self effort and

free will? H

owd

oes Prarab

dh

a differ from

Vasan

as (past

latent ten

den

cies)?

A.

Even scientifically, every action m

ust havea reaction (N

ewton’s law

of motion). In the

same w

ay if we d

o any bad action in this

birth, w

e cann

ot get away w

ith it. T

he

punishment for the past bad

action or therew

ard for th

e past good

action w

ill bem

eted out by the L

ord in the next birth and

we

hav

e to

exp

erience

them

. T

he

punishment in the form

of disease, cancer,

bereavement, loss of property or reputation

etc., give us sorrows w

hile the reward

s likebeing born in an afflu

ent family, getting

unexpected fortunes etc., give us joy. T

hisprocess of reaping the result of past actionsis called

Prarabdha and

it cannot be avoided

even though its severity can be mitigated

byprayers, grace of a M

ahatma etc. In each life,

a portion is only destined

which com

es inth

e form of even

ts and

hap

pen

ings. In

respect of the balance portion, fresh and newactions are perform

ed (theoretically througha free w

ill) which becom

e the Prarabdha for

the next birth and so on so that a continuous

chain of births and d

eaths is forged.

Apart from

the reaction it creates in the formof P

rarabdha or d

estiny, every action hasanother second

ary effect. Every action (say

going to tem

ples, stealin

g somebod

y’sm

oney, going to horse-race or casino) leavesan im

pression in our sub-conscious mind

.T

his im

pressio

n is called

vasan

a or

cond

itionin

g. Th

is imp

ression creates a

tendency to rep

eat the action again andagain and

thus tries to influence our action.T

he more the num

ber of times an action (say

praying to God

) is repeated, stronger that

particular vasana becomes. T

he mind

alongw

ith all th

e vasan

as emb

edd

ed g

oes

alongwith the subtle bod

y to the body of the

subsequent births. Whenever w

e decid

e tod

o a particular action, the various vasanasin

trud

e and

try to influ

ence ou

r min

dtow

ards either d

oing it or not doing it or

doing som

e other alternative action. There

3031

will be a conflict of vasanas and

the strongerone w

hose impression is deeper due to m

orerepetition w

ill win the d

ay and w

e will act

as dictated

by that vasana. Vasanas m

ay bebad

e.g. greed, anger, lust, d

esire to murd

eror steal etc., or vasanas m

ay be good e.g.

helping others, forgiveness, giving charityetc. By succum

bing to these vasanas without

using our reason and knowledge w

e become

weak. So even though w

e have a free will,

we d

o not use it but we feel a prey to the

comp

elling v

asanas. V

asanas are m

eread

visers and theoretically w

e may use our

own free w

ill without heed

ing the advice of

the vasanas. We are like those G

overnors ofStates w

ho, in their weakness are com

pletelyg

uid

ed b

y th

eir adv

isers and

are no

tprepared

to assert their own free w

ill. These

vasanas are not unavoid

able. Unlike the

Prarabdha, the vasanas can be uprooted andself-efforts m

ade to go on the spiritual path.

An actor’s every action and

dialogue in a

dram

a or cin

ema are co

mp

letely p

re-d

estined accord

ing to the script of the storybu

t while acting on the stage as p

er thescript, he has every freed

om or free w

ill to

keep his mind

on his house and think of his

wife and

children. Sim

ilarly, even while life

is patterned on pre-d

estiny, there is nothingto prevent us from

keeping our mind on G

odand

mentally m

editate on H

im and

pray toH

im. It only requires our self effort to d

irectour m

ind to G

od.

3233

Q.16.H

ow can

we rem

ove the b

ad vasan

as?

A.

Th

eoretically it can be d

one by su

per-

imp

osing good vasanas bu

t in practice it

becomes im

possible more often.

Guru’s grace is capable of rem

oving all thebad

vasanas. Similarly prayers to G

od are

equally effective.

Each tim

e a bad vasana propels your m

indto d

o a bad action–say p

laying cards for

stakes or playing dice, fight against it. D

elayor postpone that action and

try to do som

eother action. Finally, d

espite all your efforts,you m

ay succumb to your vasanas. It d

oesnot m

atter. If you continue to fight againstyou

r bad vasan

as every time, in

spite of

successive failures, each time your free w

illgets strengthened

little by little so that a day

will ultim

ately daw

n when you w

ill be ableto

exercise yo

ur free w

ill un

imp

eded

overcoming the vasanas.

Occasional fasting, resorting to silence for a

day every w

eek or for a few hours everyd

ayand

breathing exercises called Pranayam

aare all very helpful.

The m

ethod of looking at the vasanas, soon

after succu

mbin

g to them

, imp

artiallyw

ithout judgem

ent or criticism as d

etailedin

meth

od 11 of an

swer to qu

estion 14

regarding quelling of sexual thoughts and

impulses hold

s good in this case too.

3435

Q.17. H

ow can

we k

now

wh

ether w

e have got

God

or Self-realisation

?

A.

In the case of an individ

ual w

ho is Self-realised, the lim

ited I or ego identifying with

a particular body no longer rem

ains as it hasm

erged

in

th

e Su

prem

e C

osm

icC

onsciousness covering the entire cosmos

and beyond

. He has no bod

y-sense left eventhough an onlooker looks at him

as a formw

ith a body. A

s the Self or Atm

an is selfaw

are and as it is alw

ays ever liberated(N

ITY

A M

UK

TA) and

ever enlightened (N

ITY

AB

UD

DH

A), the idea that I am

Self-realised or

I am not Self-realised

never arises in himw

ho is no longer linked to this bod

y. These

questions arise only to an ignorant m

ind.

Anyone w

ho thinks that he is Self-realisedcan

not be a realised

soul. M

any of th

esad

haks, at various stages of sadhana, fall

into a delusion that they are Self-realisied

and others also get d

eluded

by them. If you

go and ask a rope w

hich was m

istaken inthe dusk for a snake and subsequently foundto be a rope w

hether it has now realised

itsn

ature (Sw

aroopa) an

d g

ot out of th

e

delu

sion, it will only lau

gh and exclaim

“What are you talking? I had

always been a

rope. Where is the question of realisation?”

So, one h

as to go on w

ith h

is sadh

ana

indefinitely till all bod

y-sense disap

pears

com

pletely

an

d

the

Atm

an

beco

mes

manifest in its Self-aw

areness.

3637

Q.18. W

hat is E

go or ‘I’ and

how

does it h

armu

s? How

can it b

e removed

?

A.

Whenever an ind

ividual says “I have taken

my lunch” or “I gave a talk”, he id

entifiesh

imself w

ith h

is bod

y-m

ind

comp

lex.A

ctually every ind

ividu

al consists of two

units of opposite characteristics – one theso

ul o

r the Self w

hich

is un

attached

,im

mortal and

changeless and the other the

body w

hich is subject to birth and

death,

decay an

d all oth

er chan

ges. Wh

ile the

bodies are d

ifferent, the Self is only one andp

ervades all bein

gs. Du

e to the w

rong

iden

tification w

ith th

e body

, the joy

s,sorrow

s, diseases, birth and

death and

allchanges are superim

posed on the self w

hichis thus subject to all sufferings and

miseries.

The ind

ividual begins to think that he is the

doer of all actions and

that he experiencestheir results–good

or bad–lead

ing to joy orsorrow

. In a w

orkshop

wh

ere there are

different m

achines, it is the one electricityw

hich activates all the machines to d

o theirrespective jobs and

the machines have no

right to consider them

selves as the doers.

Furth

er, wh

en th

e one Self reflected

ind

ifferent bodies id

entifies itself with the

body, then it begins to consid

er each body

or things as different from

himself resulting

in likes and d

islikes and concepts of friend

sand

foes and consequent calam

ities.

If once we realise that w

e are not the doers

and it is the one God or Self w

ho is activatingall, w

e have no right to the results of actions.T

hen neither virtue (Punya) nor sin (Papa)w

ill accrue to us from these actions. T

herew

ill be no likes or dislikes, no tem

ptation orattach

men

t and

no con

flicts with

other

peo

ple. T

his is th

e stage o

f com

plete

surren

der to

Go

d, w

here th

e ego

iselim

inated. T

he ego also gets comp

letelyannihilated

by constant Self-enquiry as to“W

ho am

I?” as advocated

by Ram

ana

Maharshi.

3839

Q.19. A

ccordin

g to Bu

dd

hists, u

ltimately th

ereis n

o Self or S

oul or G

od an

d it is all a void

,a n

othin

g (Soon

ya). Wh

y can’t w

e accept

it?

A.

Only those w

ho have experienced or seen

themselves w

hether there is a God

or notand

whether it is all void

have a right toassert that fact. N

obody could

say ‘I haveseen–it is all void’ because so long as the seer(one w

ho has seen) exists how could

therebe a void

? The seer w

as there. A w

itnessonce told

a judge in a court that at the tim

eof the m

urder nobod

y was present in that

room. The judge shot back a question– “H

owd

o you know that nobod

y was there unless

you were yourself present in that place?”

The sam

e is the case here. On the contrary,

ever so many H

indu and

Christian saints

had personal experience of G

od or Self. T

hescriptures as also so m

any books are repletew

ith

such

in

stances.

Ram

akrish

na

Paramaham

sa and B

hagawan R

amana are

instances of recent past of people who have

had G

od-experience.

Even B

udd

ha is stated to have refused

toco

mm

ent

either

way

w

hen

h

e w

asspecifically asked

whether there w

as a Soulor G

od, as it is not som

ething to be takenfor granted

on the authority of somebod

y’sconfirm

ation but has to be affirmed

by one’sow

n experience after sadhana.

Even in our scriptures like ‘Devi K

alottaram’

there is m

entio

n o

f vo

id (So

on

ya o

rM

ahaso

on

ya). T

hat o

nly

represen

ts ap

articular higher stage of consciou

snessw

here all the things known to us includ

ingthe entire w

orld ceases to exist in the form

known to u

s, which has been term

ed as

‘Void

’.

4041

Q.20. S

ome p

eople say th

at merely read

ing or

reciting

blin

dly

the B

hag

avad

Gita,

Up

anish

ads, G

uru

Ban

i (of Sik

hs) etc. is

of n

o u

se, un

less we u

nd

erstand

the

mean

ing an

d ad

opt th

em in

practice.

A.

Any sad

hana done w

ith faith and d

evotionw

ill lead us to G

od ultim

ately. It is the faith(srad

dha) w

hich really counts. In all thescriptures like Srim

ad B

hagavatam, V

ishnuSahasranam

a Stotram

etc.,

it is

clearlym

entioned that all those w

ho read or hear

even a very small part of it (even a part of

a stanza) get untold benefits both in their

material and

spiritual life. If we und

erstandthe m

eaning also, no doubt its effectiveness

will be m

ore ( dr©̀dÎma§ ^doV). B

ecause of thevibrations em

anating from the w

ords, each

syllable of which is an energy capsule, the

readers and

listeners will be raised

, in due

course, to a higher level of consciousness.E

ven in the west, in the churches, all the

masses and

prayers used to be cond

uctedin

the L

atin language

which

was

notknow

n to many and

similarly, in Ind

ia,

most of the poojas (w

orship) and prayers

are conducted

in Sanskrit language.

Further, the level of consciousness and our

fitness for

higher spiritual

experiencesincrease only w

hen our body and

mind

hasa prepond

erance of satwa guna ( light,

harmony and

love). Our bod

y is mad

e upof five basic elem

ents viz. earth, water, fire

etc., which are all of either T

amo G

una orR

ajo G

una except

Space (A

kasa) w

hichalone is of Satw

a Guna. Just as earth has the

quality of smell, w

ater of taste, fire of formetc., the essential quality of space is sound(e

ãXJwUH$_mH$me

_²). Hence the m

ore the soundof such holy and

religious texts goes in andis

absorbed

by the

body,

the A

kasaconstituent in the bod

y increases resultingin increase of Satw

a Guna. So long as w

hileread

ing or hearing these texts the mind

isengaged

in thoughts of God

, one has toevolve

to higher

stages. C

onstantrem

embrance of G

od is the key to G

od-

realisation and anything w

hich helps in itis an effective sad

hana.

4243

Q.21. Is ren

oun

cing th

e family an

d w

orldly life

and

becom

ing a san

nyasi (m

onk

) essential

for God

-Realisation

?

A.

While in fam

ily and w

orldly life, if one can

do intense sad

hana under the guid

ance ofan evolved

Guru, one can d

efinitely reach avery high level of spiritual progress. T

hereare m

any such instances of hou

seholder-

saints e.g. Tuka R

am. W

hat is essential isd

oin

g all o

ur actio

ns in

life with

ou

tattach

men

t, remain

ing

establish

ed in

absolute celibacy (B

rahmacharya N

ishta)and

without any d

esires or attachment for

any world

ly object including the fam

ily. He

should be bereft of likes and

dislikes and

should have no reactions to any happenings

or events whatsoever. H

e should look upon

all beings alike as his own Self. A

bsolute

dispassion (vairagya) is a m

ust. He should

have an insatiable love for God

. When the

vairag

ya

is o

nly

lu

kew

arm

and

n

ot

complete, to aband

on the family and

otherw

orldly d

uties an

d ru

nn

ing aw

ay fromthem

can never be justified.

How

ever, at the last mature stage, according

to Ad

i Sankara, taking up formal sannyasa

is a must for attaining G

od-realisation. E

venthe C

hristians like the Catholics, B

udd

hists,Sufis, Jains etc. firm

ly believe that becoming

a monk and

doing sad

hana subject to theprescribed

discipline is essential for G

od-

Realisation or liberation (N

irvana). At that

matu

re stage w

hen

an in

div

idu

al has

reached the highest stage of vairagya to the

extent of ignoring his own bod

y needs, he

has no duties other than G

od-realisation.

4445

Q.22. C

an’t w

e attain G

od b

y Karm

a alone, i.e.

by d

oing service to th

e poor an

d th

e need

y,to

patien

ts sufferin

g fro

m d

iseases,b

uild

ing sch

ools, hosp

itals and

temp

les,look

ing after th

e anim

als etc.?

A.

The scriptures declare that liberation (onaccount of G

od-realisation) can result fromSelf-know

ledge (Jnana) alone (kmZmX{d H¡$dë§̀).

Adi Sankara has declared unilaterally that

while K

arma is useful for purification of the

mind it cannot be considered as a direct

means

for Self-realisation

even in

conjunction w

ith or

as supplem

entingJnana. A

s we are all ever realised and as our

ignorance is due to the veiling of our divinenature by the inexplicable pow

er of God

called ‘Maya’, it is only the true know

ledgeand right perception w

hich can lead to Self-realisation and no K

arma has any relation to

it. Ram

ana Maharshi also has em

phasisedand reiterated these view

s at the very start ofhis book– “U

padesa Saram”.

The sad

hana for God

-realisation has two

parts. T

he first part is p

urification of the

mind

(Chitta Sud

dhi) and

the latter part isin

vitin

g G

od

to m

anifest H

imself b

yrem

oving the veil. Med

itation, prayers andself-enquiry etc. even though they belong tothe latter part, are by them

selves capable ofd

oing the purification of mind

also.

For peop

le with p

re-pond

erance of Rajo

Guna given to a lot of d

ynamic activity like

Arjuna in Bhagavad G

ita and also for peoplew

hose faith in God

and scrip

tures is not

strong or is lacking, doing selfless service

with

hu

mility an

d com

passion

toward

sfellow

- beings is excellent for purification ofthe m

ind and

is a must. T

his is also good for

waking up people full of T

amo G

una andgiven to sloth, laziness and

slumbering. T

illsu

ch time as exclu

sive love for the Lord

,in

tense d

esire for Self-realisatio

n o

rliberation and

absolute vairagya tow

ards

world

ly objects are not awakened

in our

hearts, we have to start w

ith Karm

a Yoga.

Bu

t we sh

ould

remem

ber the w

ords of

Vivekanand

a “It is good to be born in a

church and

not to die there”. W

e should

know w

hen to get out of Karm

a yoga and

4647

move into the p

ath of devotion or Jnana.

Devotion or B

hakti automatically lead

s oneto Jnana and

vice versa. We com

e to knowfully of the one w

hom w

e love. So also we

begin to love the one whom

we know

asperfect.

4849

Q.23. M

any S

adh

aks claim

to have h

ad vision

sof G

od, of d

ivine ligh

t, of a blu

e pearl or

heard

various sou

nd

s like th

at of a flute or

a veena (a strin

ged in

strum

ent) etc. A

reth

ey signs of G

od-realisation

or at least do

they sign

ify sub

stantial p

rogress in th

esp

iritual p

ath?

A.

After d

oing some p

ersistent sadhana one

may get su

ch experiences of G

od-vision,

light, sound

etc., but they d

isapp

ear alsoafter som

e time. T

hey are all mile-stones in

ou

r sp

iritual

jou

rney

. T

hey

g

ive

us

encouragement by affirm

ing that we are on

the right path. A

s a mile-stone d

oes nottrav

el with

us, after so

me tim

e these

experiences disappear. A

s God

is the onlyreality, any other experiences arising d

uringthe sad

hana are all in the realm of unreality.

We have to ignore them

and go ahead

with

our sadhana. If w

e begin to get attached to

these visions and thu

s get involved, ou

rfu

rther progress may be im

peded

. As w

ecannot quantify as to how

much of sad

hanais required

for God

-realisation, we cannot

say that these experiences signify a specific

percentage of p

rogress. Many ad

vancedsad

haks may not have had

any of thesevisions or other experiences in their entirelifetim

e. It is not therefore essential at all thatone should

experience these visions etc. atone stage or the other of one’s sadhana. Suchexperiences d

epend on various factors like

the type of sadhana, their lu

rking desires

and

samsk

aras (cond

itionin

g) of th

eirprevious births etc.

Q.24. S

ome p

eople d

o some action

s claimin

gth

at th

ey

were

spo

ntan

eou

s an

dattrib

utab

le to insp

iration from

God

and

that th

e comm

and

had

come from

God

from in

side. Is it correct?

A.

On

ly w

hen

the m

ind

gets co

mp

letelypurified

and is rid

of likes and d

islikes (ragaand

dw

esha), desires and

attachment, the

vo

ice of G

od

can b

e heard

. Till th

atpurification process is com

plete, any claimto

insp

iration

from

Go

d m

ay n

ot b

eaccep

table. So called in

spired

ideas or

thou

ghts can

only be attribu

ted to th

evasanas (cond

itioning) of the mind

and one

may fall into the error of believing them

asG

od-insp

ired. W

hen the opp

ortunity for

going to Am

erica presented

itself first toV

ivek

anan

da, h

e was n

ot prep

ared to

believe that it was the m

ission which G

odh

ad d

esigned

for him

till he tested

itsvalid

ity in various ways and

got convinced.

5051

Q.25. Is ab

ility to

perfo

rm m

iracles like

materialisin

g objects or p

ossession of

mystic p

owers lik

e divin

ing th

e min

d,

pred

icting fu

ture even

ts, healin

g diseases

etc., a sign of R

ealised-S

ouls? H

ow can

we

develop

such

pow

ers?

A.

While d

oing sadhanas by certain m

ethods

like Pranayamas of various kind

s, Tantric

Path

, Ku

nd

alini Y

oga and

other yogic

practices, on

e develop

s certain m

ysticalp

owers. E

ven

wh

ile doin

g med

itation,

prayers etc., in

the scrip

tural w

ay, one

sometim

es develop

s certain pow

ers liked

ivin

ing

the m

ind

of o

ther p

erson

s,im

med

iate materialisation of d

esires etc.Som

e practise Trataka and

other method

sof hypnotism

and m

esmerism

in order to be

able to influence the devotees as they w

ant.C

ultivation of such powers is consid

ered in

the scriptu

res as an obstacle to spiritu

alprogress. Sad

haks are always ad

vised not

to indu

lge in their dem

onstration but to

ign

ore th

em an

d g

o ah

ead w

ith th

eirsad

han

a. Th

ese are not sig

ns of G

od-

Realisation.

There are, how

ever, some Sid

dhas (perfect

masters) w

ho inherit these powers as a result

of sadhana in their previous birth. In respect

of Realised

-souls like R

amana M

aharshi,even thou

gh they disclaim

ed to u

se anym

ystical powers, m

iracles have happenedin

their p

resence w

hen

som

e sincere

devotees had

approached them

with som

ecom

plaints or problems in their life. Som

egreat souls like Jesus C

hrist, Shirdi Sai B

abahave d

eliberately used their pow

ers to healthe blind

and the lam

e or to help people intheir d

istress, presu

mably w

ith a view to

indu

ce faith in God

in peop

le. They are

exceptions.

There are instances of people getting into

deep trouble by going to some unscrupulous

miracle-m

ongers. For a sadhak it is wiser not

to cultivate such powers and

to ignore themif they d

evelop. They shou

ld also abstain

from going to people w

ho demonstrate their

powers w

ith a selfish motive to earn m

oney,nam

e, fame, or for sexual interests.

5253

Q.26. W

hat is S

amad

hi state? H

ow to reach

it?

A.

Samad

hi state is the last stage of sup

er-consciousness w

here one gets merged

in theSuprem

e Self who is the Self of all. A

t thatstage one is not aw

are of one’s body. T

hereare various types of Sam

adhis but the m

oreim

portant ones are (1) Savikalpa Samad

hiand

(2) Nirvikalpa Sam

adhi. In the form

er,one has a vision of one’s personal G

od w

hileth

e second

is the u

nd

ifferentiated

statew

here the Supreme Self alone rem

ains andthe ind

ividuality is lost. In m

editation, the

body-sense continues to rem

ain while in the

Nirvikalpa Sam

adhi it is completely lost and

the m

ind

ceases to fun

ction. B

y bein

gestablished

in the Nirvikalpa Sam

adhi by

repetitions one reaches the natural or Sahajastate w

here one remains in one’s ow

n natureas the A

bsolute Brahm

an (or Supreme G

od)

at all times w

hile walking, talking, eating,

sleeping etc. In the Samad

hi state, there isannihilation of the m

ind w

hich ceases tow

ork. Even those w

ho reach the Savikalpastage w

ill finally reach in du

e course the

Nirvikalpa Sam

adhi autom

atically.

Q.27. H

ow can

I kn

ow w

heth

er a person

is arealised

- soul so th

at I could

adop

t him

asm

y Gu

ru?

A.

As all the characteristics of a liberated

sould

elineated in the scriptures e.g., being alike

to censure and praise, not giving offence to

anybody are all objective qualities, it is very

difficu

lt to

g

ive

an

acid

test fo

rd

istingu

ishin

g a liberated sou

l. Bu

t the

followin

g broad lin

es can be u

sed w

ithad

vantage:

He w

ill not be attached to any possessions.

He w

ill be naturally humble, shunning all

publicity and

w

ill not

be after

earningm

oney, name and

fame. H

e will not be

involved in any activities personally e.g. in

bu

ildin

g

Ash

rams,

temp

les, ru

nn

ing

schools, colleges, hospitals, acquiring landan

d

build

ings,

run

nin

g in

du

stries for

manufacturing incense sticks or ayurved

icm

edicines, running m

agazines, giving T.V

.interview

s etc. He w

ill be mostly silent like

Ram

ana Maharshi or if at all he talks he w

illtalk

of nothing

but

God

and

sp

iritual

5455

sadhana like R

amakrishna Param

ahamsa.

He w

ill never criticise anybody nor w

ill heargue on any issue. H

e will treat all w

ithequal vision irrespective of caste, creed

,status, m

oney, education etc. H

e likes tohear

from

books on

God

or

devotees,

Bhajans or N

amasankirtana (C

hanting thenam

es of God

).

Q.28. C

an m

usic (th

rough

cassettes or by sin

ging

oneself), h

earing B

hajan

s and

Dan

ce help

in G

od- realisation

?

A.

When this question relating to m

usic was

put to Bhagavan R

amana, sim

ultaneouslyp

ointin

g out to m

usician

-saints like St.

Thyagaraja, St. P

urand

ara Dasa, Su

rdas,

Meera etc., R

amana M

aharshi answered

,“T

hey all sang what they attained

in God

-realisation and

they did

not attain God

bysinging.” W

hile hearing Bhajans m

ay helpin

early stag

es, they

also come u

nd

erw

orldly objects of attraction

and

one’s

interest may be d

iverted from

God

to theparticular tune or R

aga or the mellifluent

sweetness of the m

usic or the singer. In due

course, the cassette may be singing w

hile thesadhak’s attention could be elsew

here. If onew

ere to sing Bhajans w

ith emotion keeping

his mind

continuou

sly on God

, it can behelp

ful initially in concentration. Finally

God has to be obtained in silence, in stillness.

“Be still and

know G

od.”

5657

Q.29. W

hy sh

ould

God

give sufferin

gs, miseries

and

sorrows to p

eople?

A.

God

never gives sufferings to anybody. A

llthe sorrow

s and sufferings are of our ow

nm

aking, the result of our own past actions.

For the river of life to flow, it requires tw

ob

ank

s opp

osite to each oth

er–Joy an

dSorrow

. When a M

aster was negotiating a

boat in a river, his disciple asked

him this

very question. The M

aster gave the disciple

a padd

le and d

irected him

to run the boat.T

he boat was only circling around

and d

idnot m

ove. Then the M

aster told him

“Justas this boat requires tw

o paddles, we require

both joy and sufferings to run this boat of

life.”

Every suffering is a lad

der to approach G

od.

It awaken

s a slum

bering m

an from

his

indifference to his spiritual w

eal. It is onlyin suffering that m

any people begin to thinkof G

od and

praying to Him

.

Q.30.

Ho

w lo

ng

will it tak

e a Sad

hak

toach

ieve his goal of S

elf-realisation? Is it

possib

le to assess one’s p

rogress from tim

eto tim

e?

A.

Now

here it is laid d

own that after d

oing som

uch Jap

a or so many hou

rs of sadhana

God

-realisation will take place. Further w

ed

o not know how

mu

ch of sadhana had

already been d

one in previous births. So we

should continue to d

o sadhana w

ith infinitepatience, surrendering ourselves com

pletelyin

God

’s han

ds bu

t with

such

zeal and

enthusiasm as if the goal is near at hand

. Itis G

od’s grace alon

e wh

ich is th

e most

important factor in getting G

od-realization.

As the entire progress takes place insid

e ona subtle plane, it is not possible for anybod

yto assess his ow

n progress on this path. We

have to go with the firm

faith that with every

sadhana w

e do w

e are forging ahead.

5859

iiiii

ANSWERS TO BASIC SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS OF SADHAKS -

a book Containing questions put by sincere sadhaks andenlightening replies by Revered Sri Sw

ami Shantananda Puri

Publisher :Parvatham

ma C.P. Subbaraju Setty Charitable Trust

# 13/8, Pampa M

aha Kavi RoadShankarapuram

, Bangalore - 560 004. : 6523011, 6678070

Books can be had from the Publisher

First Edition: May 2003

Cover Design : C. Krishna Setty & M

onappa

Printed at:Om

kar Offset Printers# 3/4, 1st M

ain RoadNew

TharagupetBangalore - 560 002 IndiaTelefax : 6708186, 6709026e-m

ail : omkar@

blr.vsnl.net.inw

ebsite : ww

w.omkarprinters.com

Samarpana

This B

ook is dedicated with veneration to

the Lotus Feet of my revered G

uru

Swam

i Purushottam

anandaji

of Vasishtha G

uha, Uttaranchal, H

imalayas

whose spontaneous grace and com

passion

have inebriated and inspired me to

venture into writing this book.

ivv

INT

RO

DU

CT

ION

Lord

Krishna’s injunction

1 is that one shouldapproach a w

ise person well established

in theknow

ledge

of Final

Truth

and

learn by

questioning him

thoroughly

but in

allhum

ility in all matters relating to spiritual

practice and the ultim

ate truth. The Scriptural

injunction2 to the teachers is that one should

never speak voluntarily on spiritual thingsunless questioned

specifically.

It is also a fact that there will be no end

to allthe d

oubts until and unless one gets G

od-

Realisation. 3 It cannot also be gainsaid

that in

the present

days

when

people involved

deeply in w

orldly life d

esire to do Spiritual

Sadhana they are beset w

ith so many d

oubtsand

unless such basic doubts are got clarified

to their

satisfaction they

find

themselves

unable to proceed on the spiritual path. T

hisbook could

be of some use to such seekers.

One

night, w

hen I

was

locked

inside

theM

own M

andir at A

mbaji in G

ujarat for 47d

ays, all these 30 questions mentioned

in thebook w

ere brimm

ing up in my m

ind one after

the other

in a

sequence again

and

againcom

pulsorily so that I was obliged

to get upand

note them d

own on a sheet of paper,

when only I could

go to sleep. The answ

ersw

ere then attempted

based on the know

ledge

gleaned from

my ow

n Guru, other saints and

Scriptures. Actually m

any of these questionshad

been repeated so often to m

e during m

yd

ays of wand

ering over many places.

Ideally,

a perfect

answer

to any

spiritualquestion can only be in perfect silence. A

bout

1.VoÛoÕ

àoU[mV{Z [naàý

{Z g{d`m$&C[X{ú`pÝV V{ kmZ§ kmoZZñVÎdXoe

©Z•&&(B.Gita 4-34)

2.Zm[¥ï>• H$ñ`oM

X² ]«y`mV²3.

o^ÚV{ öX`J«pÝW• oN>Ú

ÝV{ gd©g§e`m•

jr`ÝV{ M

mñ` H$_m©oU Vpñ_Z² Ñï>{ [amda{

(Mundakopanishad II - 8)

Lord

Dakshinam

urthy who is the pioneer of

the tradition of G

urus, it is told:

Jwam{ñVw _m¡Z§ ì`m»`mZ§ oeî`mñVw oN>Þg§e

`m•$&(Xoj

Um_yoV© ñVm{Ì_²)

‘The

Guru

explained

in the

eloquence of

silence and all the d

oubts of his disciples w

ereset at rest.’ In ord

er to reach that stage ofund

erstanding in silence, it is essential in

earlier stages

that one

should

get som

eguid

ance through verbal comm

unication. The

answers have been m

ade precise, com

pactand

self-sufficient to the extent possible. It ishoped

that the book will not only be of use to

many

a fresh

seeker but

also to

many

advanced

seekers too whose basic know

ledge

about God

and H

is relationship with m

anrem

ains incomplete.S

wam

i Sh

antan

and

a Pu

ri

vi