Japa and Sadhana
In a tutorial-like discourse, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba very lovingly teaches us the art and efficacy of cultivating the Divine name to see the unity of beings.
I am told that you are sadhakas (spiritual aspirants), and so I shall speak to you about sadhana (spiritual practice). Well, what is sadhana, fundamentally? It is ‘upavasam,’ and ‘upasana.’ Upa means near, aasana means sitting, and vasam means residing. We sit near a cooler so that we may feel cool. We sit near God so that we might derive some Godly qualities and get rid of ungodly characteristics. God is not an external contrivance or convenience like the air cooler. He is the antaryamin, the inner director, the inner reality, and the unseen basis on which this entire seeable world is built. He is like the fire‑principle that is latent in wood, which can be made manifest when one piece is rubbed vigorously against another. The heat that is produced consumes the wood in fire! Sat‑sang (company of the good and godly) connects you with other souls (individuals) of a similar nature and creates the contact that manifests the inner fire.
Satsang means meeting the sat [truth] that is spoken of while extolling God as sat‑chit‑ananda (truth, awareness, and bliss). Truth is the principle of existence, the basic truth of the universe. Aligned with the truth, the sat in us—the reality—should see the light.The mind imposes the false (mithya). But by dwelling in that sat, the flame is lit, light dawns, darkness flees, and the sun of realization rises.
When confronted with hard rock, you have to bore deeper for tapping the underground perennial, pure water—the softer the subterranean soil, the quicker the success. Make your heart soft; then, success is quick in sadhana. Talk soft, talk sweet, and talk only of God—that is the process of softening the subsoil. Develop compassion and sympathy; engage in service and understand the agony of poverty, disease, distress, and despair. Share others’ tears and cheers; that is the way to soften the heart, and help sadhana to succeed. Satsang is like quaffing pure crystal water. Dussang—the company of the vicious, ungodly, and impure—is like quaffing salt water from the sea; no amount of sugar added to it can make it quaffable! Instead, it increases your thirst.
Cultivate the conscious of the One
Krishna is called Yogishwara (Lord of the yogis) in the Bhagavad Gita. What does that mean? Yoga is defined by Patanjali (the yogi-writer of the treatise on yogic principles and practices) as the control of the agitations of the mind. If the mind is stilled and free from waves produced by the wind of desire, then one becomes a yogi. And the Lord is the highest Yogi for He is the ocean that is unaffected by the waves that agitate the surface. It is said that Krishna (the Divine incarnate) danced on the hood of the serpent Kaliya and forced it to throw up its poison. In other words, He forced sensual desires to divest their pernicious effects. Yoga of this type is the best means of attaining the Yogishwara, the Lord of the yogis. Control of senses, and not the control of the breath, is the prescription.
Transcend anekatwa bhava (the consciousness of the many) and cultivate ekatwa bhava (the consciousness of the One), that will end strife, grief, pain, and pride. See all as but expressions of the same God, as appearances on the same screen, and as bulbs lit by the same current despite manifold colors and wattage.
Feel that you and others are able to talk and walk, think and act because of the God within. Differences that strike you while you cast your eyes are illusory; you have not yet developed the vision that makes you apprehend the unity that is the truth of ‘I’ regardless of seeming diversity. The fault is in you and not the world. The world is One though each takes it to mean what pleases him the most. The world is One, but each sees it from his own angle and so it appears as if it has multiple faces.
Both truth & travesty exist
The japamala (rosary) teaches you unity though it has 108 beads. If it is a garland of crystal beads, you can see the string running in and through each bead, the inner reality on which all this is strung. If the beads are not transparent, you still know that the string passes through, holds together, and is the basis for the mala to exist!
Why 108 beads? 108 is the result when 12 is multiplied nine times, in which 12 is the number of adityas (luminaries) that reveal the objective world and so are symbols of the sakara aspect (the world of name and form, of manifoldness, the seeming variety, the fleeting pictures). Nine is the screen on which the pictures appear, the basis, the rope that deludes you as the snake in the dusk, the Brahman, the nameless, formless, eternal absolute. Nine is the number that represents Brahman, for it is always nine, however many times you multiply it. It is immutable, for nine multiplied by any number finally adds up to only nine. So when you turn the beads, impress upon yourself the fact that there is both truth and travesty in the world; while the travesty attracts, distracts, and delights in deceiving you, and diverts you into devious paths, the truth makes you free.
Now about the beads: before everything you must know the symbolism of the fingers. The thumb represents Brahman, the eternal Absolute, and the immanent principle. The forefinger, the index finger that indicates this and that, you and other, is the individual that feels separate and distinct. When these two are joined at the tip, held in that position, it is the jnana mudra, the gesture of wisdom, for wisdom consists in the individual becoming One with the Brahman, the mergence of that which felt that it had emerged. The other three fingers represent the objective world, which is negated when the mergence is affected. They represent the three gunas, the satwic, the rajasic, and the tamasic (qualities of purity, passion, and inertia) that create the phenomenal world through their interplay.
Make japa your life breath
Hold the rosary over the middle finger, keeping the three fingers that represent the three gunas (the sublime, aggressive, and passive attitudes) together. This means that you are now transcending the world of attributes and qualities, of name and form, of multiplicity that is the consequence of all this transformation, and proceeding toward the knowledge of the unity. The index finger that represents the individual self now slowly passes each bead toward the thumb representing the universal self, Brahman, touching the tip of the Brahman finger when the bead passes over, so that the mergence of the individual and universal selves is emphasized with every bead and every breath.
While the fingers learn and teach the lesson, the tongue, too, repeats the mantra (holy formula) or the name with the primal sound of Om. The japamala (rosary) is very useful for beginners in sadhana, but as you progress, japa must become the very breath of your life. So the rotation of beads becomes a superfluous and cumbersome exercise in which you have no more interest. ‘Sarvada sarva kaaleshu sarvatra Hari chintanam’—Always, at all times, in all places, Hari (the Lord) is meditated upon. That is the stage that the japamala should lead you to. You should not be bound to it forever; it is only a contrivance to help concentration and systematic contemplation. The belt has to be discarded when you have learnt to swim, and likewise you have to discard the crutches when you are able to walk.
Win guru’s grace by prayer
Be regular in the beginning, in the hours you devote to japa. On Sundays, when you have no worry of office or shopping, do more japam until nine‑o‑clock in the morning. Do it with love and enthusiasm. It should become natural with you to do so. Of course, the grace of the guru helps a lot. As he read more books, Vivekananda found himself sliding into atheism and agnosticism; however, a touch from the hand of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (his spiritual teacher) transformed him completely. You can also win this (divine) grace through your efforts and earnest prayer.
Before you start dhyana, your meditation session, chant soham, inhaling so and exhaling ham. Soham means ‘He is I;’ it identifies you with the Infinite and expands your consciousness. Harmonize the breath and the thought and breathe gently and naturally; do not make it artificial and labored. It must flow in and out, soft and silent; if you have some flour on your palm and hold it near the nostrils, it should not get fluttered the least; the breath has to be as soft as that! The faster the breath, the sooner you are burnt up, and the shorter becomes your life span! Slow breath quietens and calms the emotions. The mood of relaxation produced by this soham recital is a pre‑condition for a profitable session of meditation.
Other things are also needed for this relaxation: have no thorn of hate in your mind, develop prema (love) toward all. Desire is a storm; greed is a whirlpool; pride is a precipice; attachment is an avalanche; egoism is a volcano. Keep these things away, so that when you do japa or dhyana, they do not disturb the equanimity. Let love be enthroned in your heart. As a result, there will be sunshine, cool breeze, and gurgling waters of contentment feeding the roots of faith.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 9
