HELP FROM PRANAHUTI in Practice (Sadhana)

The assistance from others can come by way of sharing information. But in spirituality when we get stuck up at certain points of progress it is necessary that some one has to give us a helping hand to come out of that condition or as Master puts it push us out of that condition. This is what is done through Pranahuti. Spiritual regeneration in this Country has started with the restoration of the process of Pranahuti by our Grand Master.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume II - - Page No.166

Significance of Heart - Human Consciousness

If we take the heart like this - heart as the place of feeling and mind as the place of processing sensory inputs we understand better. Thus the heart is the plane which takes care of the feelings concerned with the self, physiological needs, physical drives, emotional needs, social needs and this is the plane to which the energy from our mind flows. All this is due to the attachment.

Diagram No. 1

This is what the Master means by showing the heart as consisting of two parts one upper and the other lower and that our vrttis usually go to the lower portion. Instead of our feelings going to the lower level (self centered) it has to go to the upper level relating to altruism and selflessness (i.e. the para or the parahita) as per the divine order.

Living in happiness and thinking and doing good to others is the mission of life. Try to feel what we can do for others. Sacrifice our interest. Our thought process that is generally at the lower level has to progress to the higher level and this is where all our rishis have stayed. All our rishis have said the same thing - in order that happiness spreads everywhere it is necessary that one should not get obsessed with their own things. One should start thinking about something above. This is what Master means when he says that the upper portion of the heart is the landing place of rishis. It is not as though they are stay put there to be seen by us. Master says it is impossible to move into the U portion of the heart unless the lower portion L is purified. But generally people tend to move into the higher sphere with the entire load and that is impossible.

This is possible only when we utilise meaningfully the thinking process. When thinking itself is a casualty one becomes an animal. We can call ourselves human, only when we use the thought process. All 'naras' are not 'manavas'. A manava is one who uses his thought and practices satya. Satya is possible only when you think. A manava is one who practices ahimsa. This is also possible only when you think. Unless you feel that the other person is also an expression of the Divine and has, as much right to live as we have ahimsa as a principle cannot be practised. The knowledge about this is there but there is a lack of feeling. Knowledge becomes a feeling when it percolates down below to the heart from the mind. A manava is one who practices Brahmacharya. This is a word, which has been misinterpreted. Brahmacharya is not being celibate but to control ourselves in such a way so as to behave in a balanced manner. The word Brahmacharya is combination of the words Brahm and chara. The process of Brahm is manifestation. To participate with Him is to move along with Him. Many people do not differentiate between pada and charana. Pada is static where charana is movement. 'Charnaou sharanam prapadye' is stated not 'padao sharanam prapadye'. The goal of man is to move along with the Divine in the path of the Divine, in the tract of the Divine and not to become static by sitting in one corner. Brahmacharya means to move along with Divine. Abstinence as a method required for Brahmacharya has a purpose i.e. if one does not abstain, he forms attachments and as a result samskaras start developing and as a result we get away from the movement and purpose of Divine. This is what the Upanishad Isa said as stated earlier. The attachment to work has to be stopped but not the action. As the Gita says get detached from the action but not from performing the act itself. After Brahmacharya you have asteya and aparigraha. These two principles are already made clear in the mantra of the Isa through the words 'tenatyaktena' and 'bhunjitah'. Unless you follow these five principles you do not come to the status of a human or Manava. To come to this level it has been stated in tradition that it will take 82 lakhs of lives to achieve the level of man.

Practice and Efficacy of Sri Ramchandra¡¯s Rajayoga (2004) - Page No.134

Diversion of Flow from Lower portion to Upper Plane

Through the process of Pranahuti, our mental tendencies which are going to the lower portion of our heart, is enabled to move towards the upper portion.

The division U and L in the heart that is shown is not a physical division. Through this we are only trying to understand a significant part of help that we get from Pranahuti. In the heart there is an upper portion and a lower portion. We are capable of thinking low. We are also capable of thinking high. The flow of thought goes towards the lower things and our mind naturally goes to L level by itself because more than 90% of our thoughts are bestial, the remaining 10% is taken over by marketing persons to ensure that we are 100% animals. That is what is happening. All our thoughts are going here to the lower portion (L).

Through the process of Pranahuti, the first thing that happens to us is, the divine influx enable us atleast to move towards the upper plane (U), namely thinking about something more of human which we may call higher values. This solves the problem we face here. Unless this is done, this problem is not solved and that is where other systems failed.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume I - Page No. 152

Diversion of Flow from Upper Level of Heart to Atman point

As against other systems, in this system Pranahuti of Master diverts the flow of thoughts to the Atma chakra (2nd Knot) from the U level of the Heart. From there through a zigzag path we are led to the stage of Devotion (3rd knot) and then on to the stage of Surrender (4th knot) of our being to the Divine for its purposes. From there we reach this stage with relative ease and much lesser effort. No need for us to take 7 or more lives for liberation, this life period is enough. That is the promise of Master, provided one follows the path assiduously.

Beyond this we have got the concept of - Total pure and simple consciousness.

When we are talking about these things, the question arises as to how to liberate ourselves and move towards higher stages. First of all, we have to seek from the Master, Pranahuti. That enables us to move from the bestial self to human self. The second help that we get after we stabilise ourselves in the U portion of the heart, and practice the method of meditation and cleaning prescribed in the system, we are able to feel the Divine inside the heart. Then through the continuous influx of Pranahuti, the flow of consciousness which has been restricted to its down ward movement is now diverted towards, Atma chakra. What happens to us is, there is a support of the Divine that comes to us, which takes care of modifications required at this level. Traditionally these things have to be really fought out, a real war. Day in and day out we have to fight with these things. We say that "When I sit in meditation all sorts of foul thoughts come to me. What am I to do. Somebody spat on my face, what shall I to do? Somebody said something to me, what shall I do?". These are all the problems. "My teacher in spite of doing my best work has given me only low marks." That is what we feel. The feeling we cannot deny. Whether we have been pulled up from the lapse in the work genuinely by our boss or not, what we feel is he has unnecessarily pulled us up and that disturbs. These are all there at all levels. So when we talk about the goal of trying to liberate ourselves from all the bondages, we are talking about all these things and any number of lectures will not be in a position to make us understand fully what it is. But if we yield to that power of Pranahuti, then we know exactly what is happening to us.

There are three principles that are used here. One is the help that you are getting from the Divine. The other one is, since we have made a determination to cleanse ourselves from all these thoughts, and want to be as pure as possible we take the assistance of the Divine again in this cleaning process. That is the cleaning process that is talked about in this system, which again is backed by the Pranahuti power of the Master. For any sadhaka what I say should have been more than necessary to understand the enormity of assistance we are getting in this system.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume I - Page 167

Effect of Pranahuti on Moderation in all aspects of Life

If we ask ourselves when we started sadhana perhaps few will tell the exact date, month and year of starting the sadhana. However feeble the intention in the beginning of doing sadhana, we have continued sadhana of sorts for some time and later seriously. There is some thing unique in our practice of PAM that though we tend to commit lapses and are irregular yet some force pulls us back to sadhana. Again and again like a mother calling the child who is wayward we are called back to practice. The experience during meditation is such that the tranquillity however much not reckoned seriously by us it beckons us back to taste again.

If take stock of our practice over a period of time we find that imperceptibly our attitudes have undergone a sea change, our behaviour tended to be more pleasant to others, our feelings and emotions considerably controlled. The degree of change may vary amongst us individually but the change is something that is tangible, that is more perceptible to others than ourselves. We have not been asked to practice specifically any sama and dama or yama and niyama; yet due to the effect of the infusion of Pranahuti or transmission into us considerable moderation in all aspects of life seem to have seeped into us, even as the rain water finds its way to the underground water bed. We are transformed imperceptibly by an alteration of the inner most core of our being. Our beloved Master stated that under this method of training in spirituality, the method to liberate the pining soul is "to divert his soul towards the Ultimate. The result shall be that he will go on developing till, by the last moment of his life, he will finally reach the destination and attain liberation". Of course he adds that this would be for those fortunate ones alone who are actuated by an earnest longing for liberation and are really destined for it.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume II - Page No. 159

Help of Pranahuti for the stage of Surrender

Gratefulness to God/Master is a spiritual state that is attained by us very early in sadhana, provided we reflect over our condition often and record our feelings. However, if we have on the other hand tried and developed the discipline that has to accrue through the practices of yama and niyama, and other various means like, practices for development of viveka, Vairagya and Uparati before sraddha is developed we need to have spent enormous time before we developed this essential quality of gratefulness. In most of such cases where a person has gone through other methods than PAM there is the inevitable feeling that one has accomplished a disciplined way of life. However true it might be this feeling, unfortunately, is a real barrier in as much as it promotes egoism and a sense of being a doer of things. These two feelings are positive hindrance in the development of Saranagati or a state of Surrender that is a must in spiritual life. Thus, while sraddha has developed one does not proceed further to the stage of Surrender if we go alone in the path without the help of Pranahuti.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume II - Page No. 161

Developing Vairagya

Due to the influx of the will of the divine as Pranahuti we become alive to the greater call and develop an attitude of renunciation which is the real Vairagya. This is not renunciation of the Ego's agenda due to failures or dejections but a conscious decision to efface the Ego and live for the Divine, by the Divine and in the Divine.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume III - Page No.277

Overcoming the Eshanas (Basic Cravings)

The three basic cravings, called Eshanas in the Upanishads, which correspond to the psychological complexes in the form of desire for wealth, fame (with power) and progeny through legitimate sex, are overcome in the graduated educational process constituted by the stages of life. This becomes much more easy with the constant affirmation that is had about our real nature during meditation supported by the process of Pranahuti that nothing here belongs to us and also by adhering to the philosophy that is advocated by our Master to treat every one and every task of ours as those entrusted to us by the Divine as a trustee.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume III - Page No.278

Kama & Krodha Moderation

The system does not propose any austere measures to be practised to curtail Kama (Sex urge) and Krodha (Anger). He gives practical methods of meditation on certain points identified and located by him. He further makes it clear that annihilation of these basic urges will only engender life itself. He says they are God given and cannot be annihilated. He advocates certain purificatory practices in addition to the meditational practices and also advised the individuals to take help from other brothers and sisters who are capable of assisting them in this regard through the system of Pranahuti.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.142

Following Sri Ramchandra¡¯s Commandments

The practice of the Commandments given by him appear to be easy for the beginner but as he starts practicing it becomes clear to him all these are not that easy unless there is corresponding spiritual condition. An attempt is made here based on experience of the aspirants to identify the various levels of consciousness required and the meditation on 'A' and 'B' points to be practiced. It is easy to see that point A meditation involves the good of others while point B meditation takes into consideration the development of the self. Therefore, so long one is in the realm of self-oriented consciousness the meditation on point B will be highly useful and necessary. Similarly when the state of consciousness covers other than the self, meditation on point A is useful and necessary.

It should, however, be borne in mind that meditation only on these points 'A' and 'B' will not be enough. These are in addition to the regular requirement of meditation on the heart advised in the morning and the purificatory practice given for the evening. In addition regular individual training with the trainers and Satsang should be practiced.

Practice and Efficacy of Sri Ramchandra¡¯s Rajayoga (2004) - Page No.167

(First Commandment) Thus the first and foremost commandment relates to the proper observance of Sandhya. We find that in PAM, the trainer at the very outset weakens the downward tendency of the Abhyasi by the effect of his own power, so that it may get automatically diverted towards the Divine. In this process everything that comes into activity by the effect of the Divine flow tends to fly towards the Origin. Thus when downward tendency of the mind is checked the thought of reaching the Origin revives in the heart. This enables the abhyasi to develop regularity in the sadhana.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.84

(Second Commandment) The diversion of the flow of thoughts from the lower levels of physical and vital planes due to our sadhana and the help through Pranahuti offered by the trainer in this system enables us to develop an awareness of our lower level and helps us conform to the instruction given in this commandment.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.89

(Third Commandment) We shall examine the next concept introduced by Master in this Commandment. "Rest not till the ideal is achieved". Here there is an advantage for those practicing PAM, because the influx of Pranahuti is a matter of abiding experience of the aspirants, and this propels them to not take rest till the experience matures into a state of being with the Lord. By saying that we will not rest till the ideal is achieved, we are firming up our will to be with the Master till the goal is achieved and thereafter abide in His Consciousness. We have accepted Him and we can always feel that His support is there. He is ever prepared to help us. He needs no rest. Because even if we rest He will be active still, once this path is followed.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.96

Many seekers enter into this field of spirituality and express keen concern for realisation of their true nature. The rigors of practice and the experience they have make them move a considerable distance. But a state of complacency develops when the experience of meditation and the changes observed in oneself are felt as satisfactory. In the long journey through the desert, oases are there but they shall not be our resting places. The famous story of the race between rabbit and the tortoise is a standing example of taking rest forgetting the goal. Unless a Master of calibre is available one is likely to lapse into deep slumber half way in the path.

That is all about Sadhana and restlessness required of us. Once we understand our inseparable relationship with the Divine during our meditations through our progress in the path of spirituality, and this gets fomented by the constant watchful eye of the Master, clarity of the goal emerges and we implement this commandment easily.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.99

(Fourth Commandment) The diversion of thought to the source from the mess we have created for ourselves is no simple task. He advises us to attach ourselves with one of our fellow beings who has controlled his downward tendency of thoughts and is willing to assist us in become plain and simple in tune with Nature. Once we attain our original state of purity and express the sole values of Nature of sincerity and service we tend to be considered as divine by others.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.103

(Fourth Commandment) But when we want the Divinity to express itself through us totally and fully and people should see only Divinity in us, it is not miracles that help us but living in tune with nature and simplicity of existence.

For achieving this condition of purity and identicality with Nature, we must go on reducing activities shaking off all superfluities that have entered our being and arrive at a balanced condition of being. This is possible only when we associate ourselves with one of our fellow beings who has shattered his network and has journeyed far into the Infinite Ocean of Bliss. This is possible through practicing PAM where there is assistance from another person who has tread the path and knows all the vicissitudes in the journey to the Infinite. We experience our oneness with Nature and the vast expansion imperienced propels us to comply with this Commandment.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.104

(Fifth Commandment) Master in his fifth Commandment states "Be truthful. Take miseries as divine blessings for your own good and be thankful." It is necessary to know that our real condition/status is that of devotee. This call to live true to our condition of a devotee is possible only when we understand the lesson of 'nothingness' that is given to us every time we take Pranahuti. This is what we mean when we say 'imperience beckons.' When we try to live according to our status of a devotee we are faced with many problems that cause misery to us. To protest against such a serving for having practiced a value in life is immature. True it is that the pain caused by the misery mentally and physically is hard to put up with. It is only when we know and feel that inseparable oneness with the 'nothingness' that is experienced in meditation, we feel enabled to look at things in an objective manner and accept every hurdle, pain and misery in the path as a necessity to grow in spiritual life. In fact these miseries are nothing but loss or separation that is felt by us of things, persons and ideas that we thought are our own exclusively. This identification or owning of things and persons is the main illusion that we are able to appreciate when we are merged in an ocean of bliss during meditation where oneness alone is experienced without any duality. We really own nothing and that is what the great Isa Upanishad states in its mantra that, all belongs to Him and therefore relinquishing all we should enjoy and be happy. This approach to the problems enables us to acquire one of the noblest spiritual qualities called as fortitude. Fortitude and forbearance cannot be cultivated that easily without the awareness of the true nature of ourselves as essentially Void/Nothingness. These attitudes are the basics of the quality of Yielding to the Divine Will. Thus we find in our system these qualities are developed by the constant influx of Pranahuti.

Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume III - Page No.113

(Sixth Commandment) The quality of our meditations as they mature, with the support of Pranahuti enables us to move out of the particularized body consciousness along with its network of feelings and passions and we start imperiencing our true nature of oneness with the Universe. This awareness enables us to treat all as our brethren.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No.117

(Tenth Commandment) Master says offer prayer feeling the presence of God. This is essential in as much as we are conscious of our deficiencies and it is only He who can hear our problems and help us to come out of our helplessness in resisting carnality. The awareness of the greatness of God automatically brings in us a certain amount of vacuum. This enables the influx of the Divine, thanks to the introduction to the system of Pranahuti Aided Meditation where our link to the Divine Master is established at the time of introduction. The imperience we have at this time is the motivating factor for us in the coming days to pray.

Imperience Beckons (Second Edition - 2005) - Page No. 134