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Question: How to effect a balance between duty and spiritual life?
Answer: You state that your difficulty is to effect a balance between your work in the school and your spiritual life. Every one in this world, whether monastic or otherwise, will have to effect this balance between spiritual life and one’s duty outside. Every day in the morning and evening if you devote an hour for spiritual practice, like japa (telling the Lord’s name), meditation (thinking about the Lord’s form or His lilas etc) you can gain this balance. If you try to practise the attitude that all the energies of your body and mind are given to you by the Lord, and in discharging your duties, you are making an offering of your energies and works done with them to the Lord, your work becomes equal in value to meditation. There will not be any gap between the duty and spiritual practices. Your whole life will become the worship of the Lord, which is the purpose of this human life .
Answer: Concentration is the natural state of a healthy mind. We need not improve it all. A healthy mind is naturally concentrated on the subject which it likes more. The problem with us is we like many things at a time and disturb the natural concentration of the mind.
To keep in its natural state of concentration you should give a specific goal, which you like very much in your life. That can be only one. That is called “The goal” of your life.
To achieve this Main goal, you can have subsidiary goals which will help you in achieving that main goal.
In our scriptures there are 4 main goals mentioned for any human being.
1. Artha – Wealth
2. Kama – Sense Enjoyments
3. Dharma – Righteousness
4. Moksha – God Realisation.
You can choose any one of them as your main goal of life and make other goals as subsidiary ones. To achieve any goal you should pay the price accordingly. If you select the God as your life’s goal then your life will be successful along with peace and joy. If you make Dharma (Righteousness) as your Life’s goal, then you will succeed in worldly life without any sorrow. But, if you make ‘Wealth & Sense enjoyments’ as your life’s goal, then suffering is inevitable. So be thoughtful while deciding your life’s goal. After deciding the goal learn to love that goal and Struggle consistently and systematically to achieve that goal in righteous way.
However, to keep the mind healthy in general you can observe the following disciplines in day to day life.
1. Healthy food – avoid all types of food which will make you addict and weak.
2. Physical Exercise – which suits to your temperament and makes you strong physically.
3. Reading Habit – Life of teachings of Sages and Mahatmas which gives us mental clarity.
4. Proper attitude – This life is for gaining knowledge of the Facts and not for enjoyments.
5. Naama japa – Repeating the name of the Lord whom you like very much.
6. Service – Serving the poor and needy as much as possible.
7. Sadhu Sangha – Relationship with good and noble people.
Question: Is Lord Ramakrishna still initiating devotees directly through visions and dreams?
Answer: If the devotee is pure to the core and prays to Sri Ramakrishna, He may graciously grant visions or initiate him in dream, or appear before the devotee in person. It is all left to the Lord and the devotee. Even after the disappearance from the physical body, the Lord can give Darshan to the devotees. There are lots of incidents in the lives of Mahatmas, where, Lord appeared and blessed them in the form of the ‘Ishtadevata’ of the devotee. We request you to read the lives of sages and saints, who lived a life of devotion and purity, so that you also can develop the faith in the grace of the Lord and get his blessings.
Question: When sadhus come begging, how to identify whether they are true monks or frauds?
Answer: There is no fraud Sadhu at all. Sadhu means a good person whose life is dedicated to the Lord. Since, in our country people have respect and sympathy towards a sadhu, a beggar can misuse that sympathy and can come in the garb of a monk. It is very difficult to say whether a person who is coming in the garb of a monk is a Sadhu or a beggar. To know whether a person is a Sadhu or not, You have to observe him very carefully. If you have time for that you can do so.
A Sadhu has given up everything in the world for the sake of the Lord. He is not earning for his lively-hood. He does not have anybody as his own. His life is for the Lord. Therefore, Lord takes care of his physical needs. You can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord in removing the hunger of a Sadhu.
Moreover, any person who begs for food is certainly eligible for your sympathy. If it is possible for you to make Annadanam, please do it by all means. You are feeding an hungry stomach, by which you will certainly get Punya.
Therefore please give food to anybody without any discrimination as much as possible for you. You will have the blessings of the Lord, because, the Lord alone comes in the form of a beggar also .
Question: Swamiji says,’ We are the creator of our own destiny, we can do anything and everything, because ‘ We ‘ are SUPREME….’. But Ramakrishna says,’ We are the vehicle and Lord is the Driver…We do what He makes us do…We think what He makes us think and so on…’ How then we became the creator of our own destiny?
Answer: Both the statements are perfectly correct from the different standpoints. For the absolute standpoint, the meaning of ‘I / we’ is ‘Atman’ or Infinite Consciousness. Consciousness is the ‘Supreme’ and can do anything and everything by its mere wish. In dream the ‘Dreamer’ creates a separate world, and himself becomes object of the dream and enjoyer of the dream. This is fact we realise when we get up. Similarly, when we realise our true nature as the Consciousness, We create the whole world and become the objects of the world and enjoyer of the world. In this standpoint what Swamiji told is correct.
But, from the relative standpoint I/we am/are considering me as a limited individual, an individual with a limited body-mind complex. As a limited individual I am governed by Lord. I am not free totally. That is why Ramakrishna says, ‘We are the vehicle and Lord is the Driver…We do what He makes us do…We think what He makes us think and so on…’ To realise this fact we have to make best use of the little freedom which is given to us in the form of thinking and choosing. Only human being can think and choose which he likes in the life. If we choose a life of Dharma (good actions) and live the life according to Dharma – not according to our whims and fancies – we can obtain still greater freedom by grace of the Divine, we can realise this fact what we mean ‘I’ is really not the body-mind complex but, the Infinite Consciousness .
Question: I want to ask your suggestion on a very personal decision that I am running thro’ my spiritual life. I had almost decided not to get married in life & lead a spiritual life & also involve myself in doing Seva. What made me to think so was I felt the need for purity & living alone could keep me away from worldly householder troubles and get me closer to god although sometimes this was lacking total will. With this thought I was always try to think which ever female I met as my mother or sister.
Recently I have helped a girl to join my company who was referred to me by a spiritual evolved person. I’m deeply touched with the divinity she has in her and also the character & glow she has in her. First I got drawn to her I have greater respect & love towards her. I can see that even she has the same impulse. I am sure that this is not any bodily attraction, in fact she suffers from serious asthma disease.
Suddenly a thought struck me that she is an ideal companion for me in my walk in spiritual level. This has put me in confusion whether that would affect my devotion & love to the Lord. I am now confused whether it’s right on my part to think so about her, or should I live life alone & walk towards the goal supreme. But on the other hand, I feel a deep need of her company so that we can move faster & I also get a much needed companion. But I also feel God is the only real companion; all others are transitory. I am fixed between these thoughts & I don’t know a way out.
Answer: There are two types of life. One is householder and another, a monastic.
In our Sastras, the life has been divided into four stages namely, Brahmacharya (Student life), Grihasta (House holder), Vanaprastha (Recluse), and Sanyasa (Monastic). Each soul will be traveling from one stage of life to another with the ultimate goal of finding our true nature or in other words, to be united with god. There is also a scriptural sanction for a person to go to any of the higher stages, say from Brahmacharya to Sanyasa if he is mentally prepared and is imbibed with high degree of renunciation. It is just like having a double promotion. Both are good. But the choice depends upon the aspirant – the student.
However, I may add here for your information that in our order, for a person, if he is a graduate, the age limit for joining is 28 years.
When you feel that you have found a good life companion and that it will help you in your spiritual journey, I can only say “May God speed to you”. All the paths have got its own plus and minus points which vary according to the evaluator. The decision will be yours and you are the maker of your destiny.
Question: My mind is not concentrating on studies and it is diverting towards bad things. So please give me any suggestions and messages to remove my cloudiness.
Answer: Try to read some good books by some sages and saints. If you can get and read the following books: The Eternal Companion (Life and teachings of Swami Brahmananda, published by Ramakrishna Math, Chennai)
Personality Development by Swami Vivekananda
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Lectures from Colombo to Almora
Letters of Swami Vivekananda
Life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi
All these books are available in any of our centers and library.
Question: I have got some questions related to my experience during meditation as said by Vivekananda. Once I was trying to concentrate on the flame of a candle in my mind closing my eyes, after a few moments I withdrew my mind from the rest of the world and then I experienced acute silence. Then I felt as if my head and body moving in circular motion and then I felt acute silence. During this time I wasn’t able to feel anything even of myself. This was the state of bliss. I believe, but still I am a bit surprised and afraid of doing this again. I have experienced this twice for 2-hrs. Please guide me.
Answer: The fear you are having shows you are fully identified with body and the objects of the world. What you need most is purification of mind. Purify your mind and feel that you are Supreme Spirit. For the purification of the mind it is better to start meditating on your Ishta Devata in your heart level (not the eyebrow). You can keep in touch with our Mylapore Math and if you are not initiated it is advisable to have initiation (Mantra Diksha). But if you have already been initiated follow the instructions given by your Guru and discuss the matter with him. Read Swami Vivekananda’s works and his bio-graphy.
Question: All our quest is to eliminate sorrow. We are essentially dissatisfied and therefore searching for a way out of this satisfaction. We seek to improve our “concentration” in this process. But then, in deep sleep we are naturally in a state where there is no dissatisfaction. This obviously means that we need not “attain” some special capabilities to get beyond dissatisfaction, isn’t it ? since if we were to attain some capabilities, these capabilities not being in deep sleep, we should not have been able to remain without dissatisfaction.
Now, the difference between deep sleep and awake state is this ego. And it appears to me that all Sadhana is ego driven. We can clearly see the ego saying: “I will ‘attain’ Moksha”. “Attainment”, “goal”, “success”, “failure” etc. are undoubtedly languages of ego, are they not ? This ego seems to be essentially confusing me by saying that, I will have to “attain” something to remain without dissatisfaction and this is an error as I am able to remain in dissatisfaction in my deep sleep without attaining any such capabilities. Is not every kind of Sadhana a misdirection by ego? Is ego driving us from post to post in the name of Sadhana? Prahallada says that, God is everywhere around. I see all about me and I do not believe, is it ego which expects some exotic experience to note the presence of God and thus misleads us from seeing God? Is it again this same ego which makes me seek all sorts of exotic experiences, while here and now I am in the embrace of God?
Is this thinking a Sadhana too or is it all to be dismissed a mere intellectual jargon?
Please tell me, where am I heading towards? Sadhana seems unimportant to me. Some times I sit down and cry before God, some other times, I simply look at the outside world. Some times, I am carried away by my sexual instincts, some other times, I feel sexual instincts cannot even touch me – and truly so, even incidents that can provoke sexual instincts fail to touch me then.
Answer: You are right that man always wants to go beyond all sorrows. In Sushupti, we are not aware of anything; but only on waking we are able to understand that “I slept well” or “I was in joy”. It is a state where we are covered with ignorance and not aware of our true nature. Consequently when we wake up we are our own old self – with joys, sorrows, miseries, etc.
The same person after continued and long spiritual discipline attains Samadhi (super conscious state) where he is aware of his real nature in contrast to that of Sushupti. Therefore when he comes out of that super conscious state (Uttana) he becomes an enlightened person.
Therefore it has been told that if a fool enters into sushupthi he will come out as a fool only where as the same fool when he enters into super conscious state (Samadhi) he comes out as an enlightened person.
There are various types of Sadhana depending upon once temperament and the stage in which one is there because we have to start our journey from the point where we are. This has given raise to various paths or modes of Sadhana. This is certainly confusing, particularly for the beginners since their mind is in a state of vagaries. When the mind becomes pure and concentrated one will be able to know the right thing.
However this process of purification and concentration – though concentration can be attained if the mind is not pure, it can be dangerous and will be of no use Ð one can take the help of an advanced or enlightened soul. Such a person we call as Guru (spiritual teacher). He will be able to give a proper guidance and the methodology to be followed. We have to have at most faith (Shraddha) in his words and instructions and follow the same without any doubting in his instructions. When this is done for long without any break one can reach the stage where he will be beyond all sorrows by realizing once true nature which is called Atman.
The man’s desire to go beyond all sorrows is because of the innate nature of the Atman which is ever blissful (Ananda Swarupa) and where there is no misery or any such thing.
Please read the following books:
Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda,
Karma Yoga ,
Bhakti Yoga ,
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
You may also read Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda. This will clarify most of your doubts and guide you suitably.
Question: I was wondering if God created everything, then God must have created all the negative things in life for example laziness, depression, hunger, sadness. Therefore why do we have to work hard to get rid of these negative things?
Answer: If you want to remain at animal level or go down to animal level you need not struggle to get rid of negative thoughts and actions. If you want to become human or divine then only you have to work hard and become a civilized man/woman or manifest the divinity with in you. It is left to you at what level you want to remain and raise to what height.
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