The unstruck sound, the Anahata Naad

Oct 15, 2009, 12.00am IST
ANUP TANEJA.

The initial creative impulses arose as spandan or thought-vibration of the Pure Being. The sound that emanated from the vibration was AUM. In its transcendental aspect, it is difficult to establish contact with the Supreme Being. However, the nearest approach is Sound, also referred to as Aparam Brahmn .


Supercharged with transcendent soul-force, sound is, in all Creation, the one, powerful principle that widely influences and effectively brings under control all other manifestations.

Self-realised beings, the siddhas , discovered that there exists a definite relationship between sound and mind. The mind, in the process of being attracted towards sound, loses awareness of the external world altogether.

Through meditation, seekers following the path of Siddha Yoga endeavour to establish contact with the divine sound, the Anahata Naad that helps in subduing the turbulent mind – that keeps roving in the pleasure garden of sensual objects – and giving it a new, inward direction.

As the seeker delves deep within, he realises that his physical and astral bodies, his senses and the mind, all have sound as their basis. An analysis of one’s individual existence takes one to sound before one reaches the Eternal Self.

Anahata Naad also forms the basis in all the six chakras or plexuses located within the sushumna that extends from the base of the spine to the crown of the head – the brahmarandhra or the tenth door. Since the lower three chakras – muladhara , swadhishthana and manipura – are dominated by the tattvas earth, water and fire respectively, Naad is not clearly heard in these.


Anahata chakra , which corresponds to the cardiac plexus in the physical body, is the centre of Vayu Tattva . Anahata Sound, called the sound of the Shabda Brahmn , emanates from this centre. Significantly, Anahata Naad is the unstruck, mystic sound that occurs spontaneously and is not the result of striking or beating certain things. Depending upon the intensity of a seeker’s concentration and the level of his mental purity, Anahata Naad can be distinctly heard in deep meditation, paving the way for the seeker’s evolution to the highest level of consciousness.


Anahata Naad manifests itself in different ways ranging from the sound that is similar to the beating of the waves of the sea to the deafening peals of huge bells and the holy sound of the conch. When the seeker hears the sound of the flute, his entire being is permeated with Divine bliss and he loses body-consciousness; the sound of the kettledrum bestows the seeker with powers of clairvoyance and the ability to see distant objects. But the naad that leads the seeker to the ultimate goal of yoga, Nirvikalpa Samadhi , is the meghanaad , the sound of thunder.

Siddha Yoga masters say that constant hearing of meghanaad for some days in deep meditation enables the seeker to enter the abode of Chiti, Pure Consciousness, where he experiences the tranquility of the supra-causal state of consciousness.

The seeker then begins to understand that there are two dimensions to Chiti : one is the supremely pure transcendent aspect, which transcends the world, and the other is the immanent aspect, in which by free will, there is differentiation, attribution and the projection of the wondrous universe on the canvas of the Supreme Being.

Despite appearing as the universe with myriad diversities and impurities, Chiti retains her immaculate purity and remains absolutely untainted.

The writer is an editor with the Indian Council of Historical Research.

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Why the anvil does not strike back

Oct 14, 2009, 12.00am IST
Stephen Isaac.

Look at the anvil. It gets struck repeatedly but not once does it strike back.


ould any one of us hold up the anvil as a role model? Even so-called spiritual leaders are ready to get into a fierce argument to uphold their version of the truth, claiming it to be the only truth, the absolute truth.

Is it possible that truth can be two or three different things? I don’t believe so, because truth is so simple. My definition of the truth which will coincide with what every great master or prophet has revealed and simplified, is not to tell a lie for any reason, not to use abusive language of any kind, not to hurt or harm any of God’s creation mentally or physically. To help whenever given the opportunity, never discriminate on the basis of colour, caste, creed or position. To receive whatever is our lot – that falls to us whether good or bad as our just reward for the moment, understanding that we can change the bad to good, by thinking and doing good deeds.

Each of us has the potential to follow these simple rules, but it takes a lot of courage to implement them, because most of us are already bound in chains created by our upbringing, culture, rituals and customs, and this simple knowledge that can set us free, is scary.

This is what a great Master said: The weak are burdens to the weak, but to the strong they are a pleasant charge. Seek out the weak; their weakness is your strength.

The hungry are but hunger to the hungry, but to the ones who are full, they are an opportunity for service. Seek out the hungry; your fullness is their want.

The blind are stumbling blocks to the blind, but they are mileposts to the seeing. Seek out the blind; their darkness is your light.

I personally don’t see anything complicated in these statements. It simply says, step out of your chains and inhibitions and start helping others with whatever you possess in abundance. This is a step towards the truth, because every person – rich or poor, bad or good – has some good in them that can be used. This step in knowledge also leads to a love that doesn’t discriminate. God loves everything He has created equally, so why do we choose a particular being or item, to shower our love on, ignoring everything else which needs the same love. Love is the Law of God.


We have all heard this saying “Love is blind”, meaning it sees no fault in the beloved. This kind of blindness is the height of seeing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everybody had this kind of blindness, then they would never see any fault in anybody or anything, ever?

This kind of love neither lends or borrows, neither buys nor sells and when it gives, it gives its all, and when it takes, it takes its all. Its very taking is a giving and its very giving is a taking making it the same today, tomorrow and forever.

This kind of love is like the anvil, absorbing vibrations of all kinds all the time, yet remaining calm and steady, giving and taking constantly. Love is an active force which we should use to guide our every move and step, every wish and thought. And the byproduct of this love is peace, within and without. I wish this love on every living being on this Earth, because a love that singles out a fraction of the whole has already doomed itself to grief.

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The symbolism of the Thai spirit house

Oct 13, 2009, 12.00am IST
SOMA CHAKRAVERTTY.

On a visit to Thailand, the first thing that caught my attention was the ornamental structure that looked like a birdhouse cum oriental temple, situated at the corner of every residential and commercial complex .



The sacred corner was washed and cleaned every day, and was lit by candles and fragrant with burning incense. The sacred corner was rich with offerings of chocolates, canned and cooked food and fresh flowers, placed there by visitors and residents.

I got talking to the receptionist at the place where I was staying, and she answered my questions: “It’s a Spirit House,” she explained. “It’s a Thai concept. We believe that if the spirits are provided with such shelters and appeased with daily offerings, they will protect the house or building, and shield its inhabitants from harm.”


The overcast sky was saturated with rain clouds. I could not see the occupant of the beautiful Spirit House clearly. When the clouds parted suddenly, the dazzling sun shone on the spirit house, revealing a beautiful figurine of what must have been the representation of a divine deity.


The symbolism was interesting. Are not our bodies Spirit Houses too? In each and every one of us, deep inside, there resides a part of the universal spirit. I was reminded of this line from the Bible: “Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit whom we receive from God. We do not belong to our self.” Appearances are not more important than how we are inside. Our aura, the energy field that surrounds our physical body, is a reflection of what we are within. Our own perspective, the way we lead our lives and how we connect to each other – these are the offerings we can make to the spirit house in us.
Like the presiding deity of the Spirit House that looks after the well being of those in the area, our mind directs the way we channelise the energy available to us. The physical body that houses the spirit is dense and the mind that is meant to create the energy channel is most often restless and self-centered. It stops us from seeking out our divine nature and natural wisdom.


The lives we lead are mind-based, nay, mind-biased, for our actions and reactions is the outcome of what we think and feel. Therefore, when we learn to direct the mind with purity and love, we appease our inner spirit, which is the pure energy and true essence of our being.


Like the darkness that made Spirit of the Spirit House obscure, the materialistic mind, clouded by self-indulgence and ignorance obscures our view of the Supreme Spirit. For lack of communication, the inner spirit remains dormant. For lack of energy, it remains out of reach. What does it take to go about cleaning and accessing our own little spirit house tucked away inside? How to let in the brightness, banishing forever the dark clouds of ignorance?


Surya yoga is one way. Taking in the Sun’s energy could vitalise both body and spirit. The Sun’s energy could infuse us with the strength and perception to be able to listen to the soothing strains of Sakha , the Harmonious One, and the Universal One that resides in our own private spirit house. Making offerings of silence and meditation, with a love that transcends all barriers, could lead us to experience divine reality. To integrate harmoniously with the Universal Spirit is to experience Divine Bliss.

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Worry Is A Voluntary Form Of Suffering

Oct 8, 2009, 12.00am IST
Swami Sukhabodhananda.

What is it to be a witness, to just be?


The Buddha was once meditating. His mind started creating problems and distracted him from the path of enlightenment. It was as though hundreds of horses were galloping through his mind. But the monk remained a witness and did not identify with fear. His mind turned into thousands of elephants tempting him to identify with them, but again Buddha was just a witness... he saw through the mind's game. His mind became a loving deer but still Buddha remained a witness. He did not get tempted.

Finally, his mind turned into a loving child drowning in the ocean, seeking his attention. Buddha, out of compassion, merged with his thoughts and stretched out his hands to save the drowning child. At once, the child turned into a monster and started pulling Buddha to the ocean. Buddha realised his folly and left the monster and continued being a witness. The monster turned again into a child and started pleading for help.


Buddha continued his meditation of being not participating but being a witness. The child drowned in the ocean and emerged as an enlightened mind, reflecting Buddha's mind. This is a play narrating Buddha's effort towards enlightenment.


Is the shunning of identification an important aspect of meditation?


Learn to be a witness to your thoughts and feelings. In the witnessing consciousness, there is no identification with anything. Identification leads to misery. Worry is a form of identification. Literally, worry means twisting and tearing. Have you observed that when you worry, your moving centre gets twisted? Negative state of worry depression or fear... shows up strongly in the form of twisting one's body-moving centre.

Just be a witness and do not get identified. Relax your body, your mind and then finally just be a witness. Let not your 'I' get identified with your body and mind. This de-identification is meditation.


What about emotions in a state of worry?

Firstly, negative emotional states like that of worry and jealousy must be observed and recognised. Generally, we do not see them. Instead, we become them. While a negative emotion is happening, be an onlooker. Then the emotion will be like a cloud that comes and goes.

To stop a negative emotion that comes out, create a new will through the intellectual centre. This is not suppression as you are doing it with an understanding that if negative emotion is let loose, it will create a hurt body. In turn this hurt body will take control of you.

Worry is a form of identification. It is useless. Unfortunately, many of us think it is right to worry about someone we love. Give up this voluntary form of suffering. By worrying you exhaust yourself. Your energy gets depleted. In a depleted state, one cannot perform to the optimum level. Learn to take small steps, stop worrying. Weed out the worry as it emerges. Do not allow the other centres to support and nourish it.

What do you mean when you say we live in two worlds ?
One is visible and outer while the other is invisible and inner. The outer is your body that is visible. The inner is your psychology. The object of spiritual teaching is to lead a person from unconscious being to conscious being.

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The divine aspect of an ideal relationship

Oct 7, 2009, 12.58pm IST
YOGI ASHWINI.

Everything in the universe is in its place because of balance. A harmonious balance between two complementary forces is an integral part of nature.


As the half-female, half-male Ardhanareshwar, Shiva represents the union of Parvati as Prakriti, the energy force, and Shiva as Purusha, the two manifest aspects of the Cosmic Consciousness, Brahmn.
Both Prakriti and Purusha are two different aspects of nature and they come together to form a perfect, harmonious balance between two complementary forces. This is the concept of marriage in Vedic philosophy.

The marriage of two individuals is intended to create a harmonious balance very similar to that of the Ardhanareshwar. They come together to form a union, becoming an inseparable part of each other’s lives, subsuming their individual identities for a holistic relationship that was founded on mutual give and take. The partners take care of each other’s needs for the rest of their lives with mutual devotion, dignity and respect. The relationship might extend further to include children – if the couple had children – and to the rest of the family like parents and other close relatives.

Woman is considered as the force or Shakti in a man’s life. How long a marital relationship lasts would depend upon the evolution of that relationship – the higher the purpose, the longer the union would be. The bonds are established between two individuals at the level of chakras or energy centres. There are certain characteristics pertaining to each chakra, and the union happens at the level of these characteristics.


The lowest level is that of basic earthly desires, characteristics of the mooladhar chakra, pertaining to the satisfaction of grosser needs like sharing of wealth and belongings. There’s no higher purpose of the two partners coming together. A little above this is the connection based on sexual desires at the level of the swadhishthan chakra, at the level of physical Creation. Above this is the connection established on the plane of power, be it social, political, or economic, at the manipoorak chakra.
Most marriages exist at the level of attachment, when the partners feel that one cannot exist without the other. When this is misunderstood to be love, there are chances of a weakening of the relationship. The basic concept behind the marriage is that of ‘togetherness and oneness’, and this is found to be lacking in these relationships. People tend to get tied up, blinded by their own selfishness that they come to value individual needs more than the equitable give and take harmonious balance represented by the Ardhanareshwar symbol.


A connection formed on the basis of love is much higher and has no ties. It is established at the anahat chakra, the seat of selfless love. Love can never hold you back. It will not tie you down with emotions and conditions. It is selfless. Love sets you free because you are happy in the happiness of the person you love, unconditionally.


Even rarer are the connections established at the level of vishudhi chakra that are based on higher forms of creativity, where people come together when they have risen above their own selfish needs and can now think beyond themselves.


Then comes the highest energy centre in a being, the ajna chakra that is the seat of Shiva in the human body. The connection formed here is so subtle that in the current flow of circumstances, it might be very difficult indeed to find it. Such a union would be similar to that of Shiva and Shakti, complete in every respect.

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A Spectacular Vision Of The Universal Form

Oct 6, 2009, 12.00am IST
Jaya Row.

Arjuna has heard of Krishna's divine glories. He now wants to see for himself the One Universal Form. He asks Krishna to reveal his splendour and his wish is granted. However, He tells Arjuna that he would not be able to see this Form with normal eyes and gives him divine eyes with which the universal Form would be visible.

This is no ordinary perception. It is a visualisation. Thus, only two people Arjuna and Sanjaya see this vision in the battlefield of Kurukshetra that had thousands of warriors; this was possible because of their extraordinary powers of vision, granted to them by Krishna and Vyasa respectively.


This is one of the rare moments a sincere seeker is blessed with when the veil lifts, revealing the beauty and grandeur that lies beyond. It inspires devotion and renews one's conviction. But these flashes cannot be sustained. You need to go back to your level and work yourself up to find this magnificence in your everyday life, always.

Krishna shows Arjuna a synoptic view of the entire universe. Arjuna sees countless wonderful forms in divine robes, adorned with divine ornaments, with the effulgence and radiance of a thousand suns, all resting in the body of the God of gods. Filled with amazement, Arjuna bows with folded hands and goes on to describe this spectacular vision.

Arjuna now understands Krishna as the embodiment of the Divine Force. He is not just the dear friend he had mistaken Him for. He remembers the times he spent with Krishna as friends, unaware of His greatness. He begs forgiveness for inadvertently disrespecting Him.


Krishna comes up with a display of raw power, all-devouring and fearful. Arjuna sees the worlds getting pulverised. Flames blazing from his mouths consume the universe. Arjuna sees Dhritarashtra and all his allies including Bhisma, Drona and Karna as well as his own heroes getting destroyed.


He asks Krishna: ''Who are you? Why are you so fierce?'' Krishna answers: ''I am the destroyer of the worlds. I have already killed these warriors. You are merely an instrument. Rise therefore, kill the enemies, win fame and enjoy this vast kingdom.''

In other words, the law of karma prevails. The Kaurava forces have asked for destruction. They have to meet their end. Arjuna is not the one who kills them. He is only the instrument of law.


Overcome with fear at the sight of this terrible form Arjuna asks Krishna to go back to His gentle form. In his enthusiasm he has asked for more than he can assimilate. He now wants to see the benevolent form of Vishnu. Sanjaya sees the same vision but is not afraid. He has the strength to understand the fearful form of the Lord. He is exhilarated, inspired and speaks with reverence and adoration.


Krishna now shows His four-armed form of Vishnu, His gentle and gorgeous nature. The chapter ends with Krishna underscoring the rare privilege earned by Arjuna. Even the gods long to see this form that cannot be seen by mere spiritual practice. Krishna says He can be seen with single-pointed devotion; His essence can be known and entered. ''One who acts for Me, is devoted to Me and regards Me as Supreme obtains Me.''

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Simply elevate and see the big difference

Oct 5, 2009, 12.00am IST
MARGUERITE THEOPHIL.

"It's human nature after all!" Hearing this, we rarely stop to wonder "What does that really mean?" It is most often used in a negative sense about a spectrum of behaviour from the harmlessly quirky to the downright evil. But 'human nature' also embraces a wholesome capacity for love, compassion, service and interdependence.


What makes us, as a species, veer from time to time towards the 'dark' side of our nature? Ecologist and research psychologist John Calhoun tells of the Ik, a Ugandan mountain people forcibly relocated from their ancestral homeland to a desolate area. Cut off from their cultural roots, brought to near starvation, they slowly developed a numbing insensitivity to the suffering of others.

One day, Lo'ono, an old blind woman, fell into a deep ravine. Badly injured, her pleas for help were ignored; instead, many crowded around the edge, laughing and jeering, even throwing sticks and pebbles at her as she lay dying.

What happened to these people, Calhoun warned, can happen to any of us. His research revealed this was not an inherently violent tribe. Prior to relocation, they lived in relative harmony, extending the usual hospitality to each other and to strangers. But with a steady diet of neglect, hunger, despair and little else, they 'descended' into acting from the lowest side of their nature.

This works for individuals as well as for groups. Societies and governments today use and abuse power to subjugate or humiliate people and countries perceived in any way as being lower or less powerful. Then, as the less powerful now become more powerful, we witness increasingly inhuman instances of retaliation born from this contagious, toxic contamination. And oddly, we continue to be surprised!

There is an opposite and equally contagious 'ascending' tendency within us that some refer to as elevation that uplifting, inspiring feeling on reading, hearing of or experiencing acts of human goodness, courage, sacrifice and compassion.

What is significant here is that elevation results in making one want to also help others and to become a better person. When we encounter people behaving in a petty, selfish or vicious way, we tend to feel that we do not live in a morally inspiring world. When we see too much of this, it's easy to get to a stage when one says: "What's the use", and further to a stage when one feels: "If you can't beat them, join them."

On the other hand, when we learn of someone, especially a stranger, especially anonymously, performing an act of kindness or generosity for another, we do feel we live in a fair and just world, and want to make it fairer and even more just.

The effects of these feelings have potentially life-altering effects. A young woman i know was so surprised and moved at the prayerful and generous material support extended towards her brother going through a serious illness that she has vowed to work to reach out and help others in the same way.

If frequent bad deeds, small or large, trigger social hostility, cynicism, even violence towards others, frequent good deeds have a kind of 'undoing' effect on all this, raising the level of love, compassion and harmony around us.


What we call society is simply a manifestation of the choices we make. How our life turns out depends on the choices that individuals and groups make on a daily basis.

The writer is a Mumbai-based consultant, personal growth coach and workshop leader. E-mail: weave@vsnl.net

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Have serious fun with Pu-tai

Oct 4, 2009, 12.00am IST
NARAYANI GANESH.

Apot-bellied Laughing Buddha, reminiscent of a jolly Santa Claus, goody-bag and all, is the very antithesis of the stoic, self-denying Sakyamuni.


The Buddha as the serious one, often depicted seated in a jungle with eyes closed in deep meditation, oblivious to the vine entwining his still body, is a picture of quietude and contentment. Taking a closer look, the contrast between the jovial and serious caricatures of enlightenment might not be all that sharp, since they represent two aspects of the same insight that is suffused with kindness and compassion, selflessness and detachment.


The Laughing Buddha, also called the Celestial Buddha, is fat and jolly. He is shown carrying a rough-hewn sack that never becomes empty, from which he gives away that which promotes joy and happiness. As Pu-tai or Budai in Chinese folklore, Hotei in Japanese and Hasne Buddha in Nepali, the Fat Buddha is poor - in the material sense - but rich in knowledge and empathy. The obverse depiction of the Enlightened Buddha probably had its origins in the story of a Chinese Zen monk who lived in tenth century China, whose loving and detached nature is suffused with the wisdom of contentment . In Japan, he is also known as Shichi Fukujin, a Taoist lucky god.

Thai folklore extols the Laughing Buddha as Phra Sangkadchai, a Buddhist Arahant who was a contemporary of the Buddha who appreciated his ability to explain the sophisticated and abstract truths of the Buddha Dhamma in a simple but succinct manner, easily understood by the layperson.

The Laughing Buddha also has a Sanskrit name that indicates he was believed to be symbolic of the Buddha of the future, Maitreya, who guides people to the essence within each one that reveals the truth of the interconnectedness of all Creation. Depicted in Chinese murals as representing the tenth and most evolved stage of enlightenment, he easily shares the 'secrets' of self-liberation with humour and simplicity, as a people-friendly enlightened master. As an agent of happiness and generosity, Maitreya reveals to the seeker that heaven is not something out there but only waiting to be discovered within, even as one ekes out an earthly existence.

Budai's protruding belly signifies the expanse of his soul, and rubbing it is believed to bring luck. Like Ganesha, he has large, protruding ears that are symbols of his vast knowledge and deep understanding.


Murals and other representations of the Laughing Buddha show a wandering monk full of mirth, followed by children as he goes about distributing kindness and generosity from a bag slung over his shoulder, erasing the sadness out of the lives of people he meets on his infinite travels, spreading joy and happiness. Others show him wielding a 'wishing' fan, at the flick of which he grants the wishes of those who pray for something with great fervour. He's funny and serious, he also brings luck and prosperity. Figurines of the Laughing Buddha are given away as gifts to dear ones for luck, and he is often found welcoming visitors at entrances to temples, hotels and restaurants.

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Could there be thought without thinker?

Oct 19, 2009, 12.00am IST

Anxieties, hurts and negative patterns of thought arise from clinging to a fixed self or identity, which, by its very nature, is fluid and impermanent.


Strong attachment to a sense of ego and identity has to be diminished, even overcome completely, because there is no cohesive self and this attachment itself leads to psychological problems.

When we stop struggling with attachment and its consequent wounds and then, we realise the futility of securing and solidifying a sense of permanence, we awaken to a healthy lightness and spaciousness that liberates us from clinging. The reversal of suffering is achieved by cleansing of perception, by meditation, by ethical conduct, practice of compassion, discipline, self-restraint and above all, by changing of perspective. The wider and more expansive the perspective is, the less the suffering.

The Buddhist teaching of ‘Paticca Samuppda’ means mutual causality, dependent arising or interconnectedness. We are all part of a whole web of interrelated social and ecological relationships that are not linear but are mutually reinforcing. The desirable focus should not be attachment to different elements; it should be the process of interrelationships.

Buddhism explains that experience is made up of aggregates or what are called khandhas which consist of five interconnections: rupa or form, vedna or feeling, sanna or perception, sankhara or pre-disposition, vinnana or consciousness. Sankhara, as habits and impulses, tend to modify our cognition, burdening it with the weight of past experience and association.

With feelings of attraction or aversion the ego consciousness arises. There is a sense of something to defend, represent or enhance. Buddhism says that the so-called needs of the ego proceed to impose fabrications of the external world. But the self is nothing by itself; it is actually interplay of aggregated elements or khandhas. We need to deconstruct the imagined, secure and constructed self into its parts. Their interplay is really what is real and what matters. It is believed that there is thought but no thinker and there is movement without a mover

The art of non-attached observation of arising of experience and its corresponding ebb and flow in the consciousness is important part of Buddhist psychotherapy. We learn to let go and not hold on to experiences and their constructions as they are transient and in a way, not real. Yet it is also true that the experiences and their consciousness are not random or chaotic but signify patterns including patterns of behaviour which define our personality.

These patterns arising right from the moment of birth through the story of our life and personal history create a strong imprint on our body and mind, and in our beliefs and behaviour. We re-present ourselves through these fixed embodied patterns by defending and advancing them. Often, this leads to suffering. Being aware of the process rather than being tied to the form liberates us from the fetish of attachment.


As the western philosopher Schopenhauer concluded, life fluctuates between the pain of desire on the one hand, and the boredom caused by the satisfaction of desire on the other. The challenge for Buddhist style psychotherapy is to break this vicious cycle of painful desire and boredom by going beyond and arriving at another, higher level of changed perspective.

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