See Beyond Superficial Activities of Sacraments

Friends! Whatever you have learnt so far in this sadhana course amounts to following some disciplines, doing some ritualistic activities, chanting some mantras and attempting some meditative practices. But, without the prana pratistha of your sadhana, all these would be nothing more than superficial activities, mere sacraments and exercises of the mind and body. Without prana, these will only constitute a Skelton of upasana; these will only be mechanical activities but no spiritual flow.

Have you seen the toy-top? It rotates with great speed. But does that movement make it lively? Does it evolve or improve its condition? A pendulum keeps oscillating but reaches nowhere. Your attempts would also lead you nowhere without the force of your inner spirit.

Have you ever seen a game of cards? In varieties of these games people 'cut' (defeat and 'kill') the opponent's King by the 'weapon' of an Ace or a Queen, or by an attack of another King, etc. But does the opponent file a case of murder against them? Does the conquering king get any treasure or empire? No, nothing a means of time-pass or entertainment for some people. Your attempts of Sadhana should not be hollow. These should not be a new mode of time-pass, fu or activity of interest. Many people find joy in devotional practices and feel as though they have had supernatural experiences. But most often these turn out to be hallucinations. Please note, devotion is not mere fantasy or emotional tumult excited by crying or by singing a prayer before the deity.

So far you have known only the name and form or skeleton of Sadhana. Haven't you? Yes! You have been taught how to do pavitrikarana and achanmana by sprinkling or drinking few drops of water with chanting of some Vedic hymns, how to do the breathing exercise of pranayama, how to hold the rosary and move its beads, how to de japa (rhythmic enunciation) of the Gayatri Mantra, how to count the japa with the help of a rosary, how to perform the fire-ritual of yagya (havan), how to sing the devotional araties, etc. What are these? These are only external activities; only movements of the body using some sense organs.

One more thing you have been introduced to is 'names and forms'. Yeah! You have seen the image of the Divine Mother Supreme - "Gayatri" enshrined in the temple here. You know the syllables of the Gayatri Mantra, you know how to chant it, you know the word meaning of "anusthana", you also know how many japas are to be completed with what kind of disciplines of fasting, etc. So you have passed three exams! The ritualistic procedures (karmakanda) and the name and form (nama-rupa) associated with Gayatri Anusthan.

Now you may be eager to experience the astonishing results or to be blessed by divine boons and all that which you might have heard from some yogis or read in the scriptures. Yes my dear children, you can see the miracles, can attain the supernormal benefits, provided you infuse life in the skeleton of your sadhana (spiritual endeavors). How?

You may wonder, what I mean by making your karmakandas alive. Can the 'actions' be also dead or alive like a being? The ritualistic procedures of upasana-sadhana you are practicing at present are only like physical exercises. Your mind and body may soon get accustomed to do these automatically. But this means it is happening almost mechanically! This way a machine, a robot may also be trained to give oblation, offer flowers, recite (or play a pre-recorded cassette of) a mantra, sing a prayer etc. That is what I call as dead karmakandas of sadhana. Similarly your upasana (devotion) is also confined only to the worship of nama-rupa of god.

Unfortunately most devotees get trapped into only the superficial acts of upasana-sadhana. Many of you also keep asking for learning more types of rituals or methods of worship, cramming more and more mantras and prayers, etc. Many of you like to read and talk about the allegoric depictions of god forms narrated in the scriptures. However, all this lead you nowhere. It is unnecessary. If you continue to go ahead only with the dead practices, either you will dump yourself in the mire of blind-faith and superficial religion, or get frustrated and defected from upasana-sadhana because of your wrong approach. On the other extreme, some of you get attracted by the complicated terminology of philosophical text and want to master it and debate on the logics of different schools of philosophy merely for intellectual satisfaction. This way you may inflate your ego with illusory interpretations of philosophy and get engulfed in the imaginary world of words without any glimpse of the true light.

What is important now is to complete the task in hand: First you should grasp the meaning and purpose of making your efforts lively. Then adopt it in action. Whatever has been taught to you so far is sufficient for initial conditioning of the mind-body system. The real upasana-sadhana should begin now. I am going to discuss that in today's discourse.