SLOKA 117 FROM DANCING WITH SIVA
\nWHAT ARE THE GOALS OF RENUNCIATE LIFE?
\nThe two fundamental objectives of sannyasa are to promote the spiritual progress of the individual, bringing him into God Realization, and to protect and perpetuate the religion through his illumined leadership. Aum.<\/p>\n
BHASHYA
\nRenunciation and asceticism have been an integral component of Vedic culture from the earliest days, the most highly esteemed path of the Hindu Dharma. Monastic life has both an individual and a universal objective. At the individual level, it is a life of selflessness in which the monastic has made the supreme sacrifice of renouncing all personal ambition, all involvement in worldly matters, that he might direct his consciousness and energies fully toward God Siva. Guided by the satguru along the sadhana marga, the initiated sannyasin unfolds through the years into deeper and deeper realizations. Ultimately, if he persists, he comes into direct knowing of Parasiva, Transcendent Reality. At the universal level, Hindu monasticism fosters the religion by preserving the truths of the Sanatana Dharma. Competent swamis are the teachers, the theologians, the exemplars of their faith, the torchbearers lighting the way for all. The ancient Vedas elucidate, ”The ascetic who wears discolored robes, whose head is shaved, who does not possess anything, who is pure and free from hatred, who lives on alms, he becomes absorbed in Brahman.” Aum Namah Sivaya.<\/p>\n
LESSON 272 FROM LIVING WITH SIVA
\nTHE EVOLUTION OF HUMANNESS<\/p>\n
Ahimsa, nonhurtfulness, is the essence of dharma, and the muladhara chakra sets the pattern of dharma. The muladhara chakra is a very interesting chakra, because it is the base center of energy and consciousness, and consciousness is energy, ever creating, preserving and absorbing. Karma is the self-perpetuating principle of cause and effect, shaping our experiences as a result of how we use our energies, mentally, verbally or physically. So, once we narrow down the individual awareness from freedom without responsibility, which is the lower nature, into the consciousness of freedom with responsibility, which is the higher nature, the individual awareness, or consciousness, must pass through the portals of the muladhara chakra and rest comfortably within the energies of its four petals. Four petals, of course, form a square. Three dimensionally, two squares put together with a space between can well be defined as a box. This box is defined as dharma.<\/p>\n
Briefly, at this point on the path to enlightenment we put our cumulative karmas into a box called dharma. Once encased within dharma, the various karmas may fight each other. As the individual progresses on the path, the box lightens and rises. The box of dharma is the base from which the aspirant must live at this point. Strictly contained, he may rise through the hole in the top of the box in consciousness, or open a hole in the bottom of the box and seek freedom without responsibility in the world of darkness. To seek freedom in the chakras above is the San Marga. To seal off the hole at the bottom of the box is his sadhana, penitent tapas, japa, bhakti and Sivathondu, all of which is eloquently explained in Merging with Siva.<\/p>\n
Who holds the lid on the box? Community, community pressures, both religious and secular. There are certain things you can do and certain things you can’t do. The stronger ahimsa becomes at the family level, the more subtle it gets, and the violence gets more subtle, too. A careless word can cut the heart of someone you love, but someone not loved may not be wounded by anything less sharp than a knife.<\/p>\n
Someone asks, ”I am trying to seal off the chakras below the muladhara, but whenever a trying situation comes up, the feelings of resentment and retaliation are paramount. What can I do?” When the feelings that come up amplify resentment, squelch reason and paralyze memory, we must assume that the box of dharma is empty and does not contain the cumulative sukarmas and kukarmas of this and past lives (the kriyamana and prarabdha karmas), and that he is not bound by dharma at all, or that it has no influence in guiding his future karmas. There are no excuses on this path. This means that the person has really not yet come to Lord Ganesha’s feet. Therefore, vrata–he must take a vow and live up to it.<\/p>\n
Ahimsa is a vrata. Rishi Patanjali called it the mahavrata, or great oath. When it is not lived up to, there are consequences. Remorse must be felt, apologies made, penance endured and reconciliation accomplished. The ego experiences embarrassment. All this and more occurs, depending on the individual’s sincerity, steadfastness and resolve never to reenter the lower nature of himsa, hurtfulness, again.<\/p>\n
Those who have found it necessary to take the mahavrata of ahimsa and are prepared to make amends if they do not live up to it are well on their way to entering the muladhara and svadhishthana consciousness. Being penitent is rising to reason and remembering the dharma. Being belligerent is lowering to selfishness and, through confusion and anger, attaining his wants. To proceed further, he has to listen to the wise, listen to the swamis, read scripture, perform bhakti and do Sivathondu, selfless service. Those who remain prone to anger should not do raja yoga or any form of intensive mantra, japa, or pranayama amplification of the energies into higher chakras–lest that collective energy plummet into the corresponding lower chakras and be vented through fear, anger and jealousy.<\/p>\n
The fourteen chakras have been described as a pole one must climb. The pole is heavily greased with ghee. It’s a slippery pole. Therefore, the helping hand of our loving Ganesha, who reaches down from the muladhara, is needed to lift up the aspirant. It’s the helping hand of Lord Murugan that reaches down from the anahata chakra, grabbing and lifting the devotee up. It is the helping hand of Siva that reaches down from the ajna chakra and lifts one up. One cannot do it alone. Total surrender to the Gods is the only way. Karma yoga, bhakti yoga, japa yoga is the way to attract their attention. The guru keeps the path in view, but he does not walk it for you.
\nSUTRA 272 OF THE NANDINATHA SUTRAS
\nSPECIAL ATTENTION TO ARDHA-HINDUS
\nMy ardent devotees reach out to seekers who, half-converted, bear a Hindu first name. Gently they assist them through a full and ethical conversion from any and all former faiths, then accept them wholeheartedly. Aum.<\/p>\n
LESSON 272 FROM MERGING WITH SIVA
\nA MESSAGE TO SANNYASINS<\/p>\n
To further delineate the nature of renunciate life, I would like to share with you a letter I wrote to the sannyasins of my Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Order. It constitutes the introduction to Holy Orders of Sannyasa, the vows and ideals they live by.<\/p>\n
”The first part of your life was lived for yourself; the second part will be lived in the service of others, for the benefit of your religion. You have been tried and tested through years of training and challenges and proved yourself worthy to wear the kavi, the orange robes, and to fulfill the illustrious Saiva sannyasin dharma.<\/p>\n
”The sannyasin harkens close to Siva and releases the past to an outer death. Remembering the past and living in memories brings it into the present. Even the distant past, once remembered and passed through in the mind, becomes the nearest past to the present. Sannyasins never recall the past. They never indulge in recollections of the forgotten person they have released. The present and the future–there is no security for the sannyasin in either. The future beckons; the present impels. Like writing upon the waters, the experiences of the sannyasin leave no mark, no samskara to generate new karmas for an unsought-for future. He walks into the future, on into the varied vrittis of the mind, letting go of the past, letting what is be and being himself in its midst, moving on into an ever more dynamic service, an ever more profound knowing. Be thou bold, sannyasin young. Be thou bold, sannyasin old. Let the past melt and merge its images into the sacred river within. Let the present be like the images written upon the water’s calm surface. The future holds no glamour. The past holds no attachment, no return to unfinished experience. Even upon the dawn of the day, walk into your destiny with the courage born of knowing that the ancient Saivite scriptures proclaim your sannyasin’s life great above all other greatness. Let your life as a sannyasin be a joyful one, strict but not restrictive, for this is not the path of martyrdom or mortification. It is the fulfillment of all prior experiential patterns, the most natural path–the straight path to God, the San Marga–for those content and ripened souls. Leave all regret behind, all guilt and guile, others will preserve all that you proudly renounce. Let even the hardships ahead be faced cheerfully.<\/p>\n
”Never fail to take refuge in your God, your guru and your Great Oath. This is the highest path you have chosen. It is the culmination of numberless lives, and perhaps the last in the ocean of samsara. Be the noble soul you came to this Earth to be, and lift humanity by your example. Know it with a certainty beyond question that this is life’s most grand and glorious path, and the singular path for those seeking God Realization, that mystic treasure reserved for the renunciate. Know, too, that renunciation is not merely an attitude, a mental posture which can be equally assumed by the householder and the renunciate. Our scriptures proclaim that a false concept. True renunciation must be complete renunciation; it must be unconditional. There is no room on the upper reaches of San Marga for mental manipulations, for play-pretend renunciation or half-measure sadhana. Let your renunciation be complete. Resolve that it will be a perfect giving-up, a thorough letting-go. Let go of the rope. Be the unencumbered soul that you are. Be the free spirit, unfettered and fearless, soaring above the clamor of dissension and difference, yet wholeheartedly and boldly supporting our Saivite principles against those who would infiltrate, dilute and destroy. All that you need will be provided. If there is any residue of attachment, sever it without mercy. Cast it off altogether. Let this be no partial renunciation, subject to future wants, to future patterns of worldliness. Give all to God Siva, and never take it back. To make this supreme renunciation requires the utmost maturity coupled with a dauntless courage. It requires, too, that the wheel of samsara has been lived through, that life hold no further fascination or charm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SLOKA 117 FROM DANCING WITH SIVA WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF RENUNCIATE LIFE? The two fundamental objectives of sannyasa are to promote the spiritual progress of the individual, bringing him into God Realization, and to protect and perpetuate the religion through his illumined leadership. Aum. BHASHYA Renunciation and asceticism have been an integral component of Vedic culture from the earliest days, the most highly esteemed path of the Hindu Dharma. Monastic life has both an individual and a universal objective. At the individual level, it is a life of selflessness in which the monastic has made the supreme sacrifice of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-lesson-with-gurudeva","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}