Saivite Virtue

Keep performing your pranayama each day during your vigil and deeply studying your lessons. Progress is being made. The path of each devotee is unique, as challenges and obstacles loom up to be faced and resolved.

The concentration of the true spiritual aspirant is attained through faith, energy, recollectedness, absorption and illumination.

THE YOGA SUTRAS, PATANJALI

Feel close to your guru and all will be well. The inner strength is beginning to build and the inner you will prevail over the instinctive/intellectual mind. When you begin to see the clear, moonlight screen as you look back into your head (as if looking through the back of your eyeballs), know that you are entering a new phase of your sadhana. This moonlight colored screen is clear and should remain clear as you look inward during meditation (with your eyes partially open). Do this by looking back into your head as if you had a second set of pupils on the other side of your eyes. This is the necessary state to attain in order to proceed onward.

VIEWING THE WITHIN AND THE WITHOUT

While viewing the white screen perpendicular to your eye level, you are simultaneously conscious of your breath and whatever you are looking at with your physical eyes. Therefore, you are seeing into two worlds simultaneously. Think over this concept carefully, for it is a key to controlling the mind and a necessary step to further inner unfoldments.

Remember, it is not wise to mentally fight with lustful, impure or antagonistic images, thoughts and feelings that you may experience while trying to attain the sight of this moonlight screen behind your eyes. It is best to simply let them pass. Should you be having experiences such as we have just described and we chance to meet, it would be well that we discuss them personally. Proceed with confidence. All will be well through the all-pervading grace of Lord Siva.

REVIEW

1. Be patient with your progress and face each challenge as it arises.

2. Learn to see the moonlight screen within.

3. Do not fight with lustful thoughts.

One must be very careful about lustful thoughts directed toward other people one sees in the First World. This also includes allowing mental and verbal argument with them to occur. When this does happen, a temporary psychic connection is made with them. Such connections, made through careless lustful thinking or mental bickerings are strong enough to recreate the image of the person in your sleep at night and continue the escapade. This is not dharma. It is creating unwanted karma which you will face in the future.

THE DEVAS ARE WELL AWARE

This kind of mental and emotional behavior may even go unnoticed by you for long periods of time. But the devas of the Devaloka observe your behavior during sleep and know that it is the result of careless management of your sadhana and awareness through the day. Your personal behavior, as one who has taken a brahmachariya vrata, does not go unnoticed by the devas, nor should it go unnoticed by you, for you are the one who has taken the vrata and who is bound by dharma to uphold it in your daily life. Should you allow this kind of loose living to persist ("girl-watching" or "boy-watching" as well as the other areas that have been mentioned), this indicates that new psychic pulls are developing toward beings within the First World.

Remain pure, true to your vrata, and proceed unhindered on the spiritual path.

My sweet one, dear as a parrot, arise awake, for 'tis dawn. With fresh flowers come to worship at the guru's feet. Adhere not to lust, anger or desire. Search not, pursue not. We are That, my dear, we are That.

SIVA YOGASWAMI

When you have gained your inner strength, you will be able to sit in meditation for at least a half hour every day and practice being the guardian of every thought and the ruler of every feeling within your body. If you do this, eventually you will realize That which is the center of your Being. You will be uplifted, elevated through the purification that you have brought to your mind.

REVIEW

1. Lustful thoughts toward others & mental argument create new psychic connections.

2. Such improper behavior during the day leads to its continuation during sleep.

3. The devas are aware of and disapprove of such behavior by the brahmachari.

If the situation described in yesterday's lesson applies to you, you will be experiencing a difficult time, depending on the degree of your involvement. Your meditations, or now feeble attempts at meditation, will suffer. And the resultant mental confusion will practically blots out the beautiful religious feelings once experienced. So rapid is this change that there will be great temptations welling up from within to "go out and have a fling." "Why not? Everyone else is doing it." Contention will rule the emotions of the day. Should this occur to you (which it probably will from time to time if your karma is rather heavy and you are not living around those who are performing the same kind of sadhana), be assured that this is only a temporary state which you are experiencing. It is a state of your own making.

It is easy for the mind to be torn by the desire to disagree with its findings out of habit. It is also easy for our awareness to be propelled by the emotional nature, thus falling into a state of confusion born of unqualified intellect.

RAJA YOGA

GETTING BACK ON TRACK

The fact that you regret that you have swerved from your chosen path shows that you have taken the first step toward correcting the difficulty. The fire of remorse helps to absolve the karma and turn you toward dharma. If you persist (and you must), the condition will pass away by your own efforts. Study the contents of this course which apply to your problem and revive your initial enthusiasm.

As you come out of this state, you will naturally feel a certain amount of suffering and self-condemnation. You will be sorry that you engaged in such sloppy mental behavior and thus became trapped in an uncomfortable strata of mind. Experiences are not without their scars, which only heal through a systematic adherence to and eternal vigilance of mental purity. Go to the temple and place your penitent thoughts at the Feet of the Deity. The God will soothe your feelings and bring clarity to your mind. If you keep striving, a great lesson will have been learned.

REVIEW

1. An improper outer life disrupts the best intentions for a successful inner life.

2. Setbacks can be reconciled through penitence, vigilance and resolve.

Another warning that would be wise to mention at this time is that quite often a brahmachari feels he is exempt from his daily disciplines just prior to sleep. He is taking mental liberties and developing sexual thoughts. But, unbeknownst to him, through this practice he is deliberately opening the channel within his mental states to the area in the lower astral plane that he will enter when he drops off to sleep.

Naturally, taking these kinds of liberties, no matter how momentary, should be strictly avoided. If such lapses do occur, they should be corrected before dropping off to sleep by sitting up for a few moments and chanting AUM. For once asleep, you would continue in the lustful or morbid state for many hours. It is prayers to the devas and the chanting of the mantram to your personal Deity that should be the last thoughts and feelings prior to sleep. This, too, will open many inner doors--obviously, different ones than those opened through sexual fantasy.

Now you see that you are not alone on this inner path. Nevertheless, it is you who must master the skills that have been clearly outlined in this study, and in doing so build a strong, knowledgeable, spiritual foundation within yourself for your future life and that of your family. This is the path that lies ahead, of course, unless you renounce the world and go on into monastic life following the ancient path of the natha swamis.

This is bliss indeed to melt in love and realize forever the Being True, to rest in the calm of felicity, bereft of grief, and live always without fear of birth or death. You are not the five elements, nor the five senses. You art not the five sensations. Thou art Anma. May your life be an endless ecstasy of Being, illumined by the Truth that Anma is inseparable from Siva. Being is harmony, with mind subdued and serene. Restrain desire, anger and arrogance on earth. Be unattached like drops of water on the lotus leaf. Thus enlightened, may you live in tremulous awareness.

SIVA YOGASWAMI

REVIEW

1. The nature of your destination during sleep in the astral plane, whether wholesome or unwholesome, depends on your thoughts prior to sleep.

2. Prayers and chanting should be your preparation for sleep.

The mind of each individual tends either toward light or toward darkness. Depending upon the self-created condition of the mind, a person lives either within the light of the higher consciousness or outside of it, in the realms of darkness. What is it like to be in the light? It is as simple as sitting in a darkened room, closing the eyes in meditation and finding the entire inside of the cranium turning to light. At first, the experience of this light may only be a dim, pale flicker, but eventually it becomes as bright and intense as the radiance of the noon-day sun. It all depends upon the makeup, or the composition, of the mind.

THE LIGHT OF UNDERSTANDING

People speak of the "light of understanding." Before the bright light of spiritual perception is experienced, the light of understanding must be laid as a foundation of philosophical training and appreciation--learning to understand life, for instance, through action rather than reaction. The purified, integrated mind, so perfected in its own understanding, lives in close communion with the soul radiance so that light becomes the constant experience of the mind. It is this to which the yoga student aspires. Living in the light, everything that formerly was hidden becomes revealed. Answers to questions that you had been pondering for many years become instantaneously unraveled in the light of the superconscious. But the mind has a way, in its instinctive, intellectual nature, of casting shadows over the natural radiance of the inner light. What are some of these shadow qualities that bring anguish & suffering?

Attachment is at the root of much suffering, for attachment to material objects or people keeps the soul bound in a limited dimension, incapable of expressing itself in full freedom. People who are deeply attached are prone to resentment, for they are not able to cognize the various experiences which upset them as they occur.

Resentment burrows deeply into the mind, undermining much of a person's creative endeavor. The reactionary conditions resentment is capable of agitating are subconscious, and cast a shadow upon the light of the soul for long periods of time.

REVIEW

1. The purified mind is naturally filled with radiant light.

2. If the inner light cannot be seen, this means the instinctive/intellectual nature is casting shadows of negative thought and feeling.

Jealousy is another shadow or character weakness which stems from inferiority, a limited view of one's real Self. With an increasing control of the mind, an expanded consciousness is born which frees the bound soul from the experience of jealousy.

Anger. When the mind is attached to static conditions, pressures of various sorts build up and the uncontrolled mind releases itself to the emotion of anger. Anger is a good example of a state of consciousness which renders one blind to the existence of light in any degree.

Fear is another quality which undermines or robs the mind of its essential sanity. Fear is the inability to face a critical moment, but fear is a protective process of the instinctive mind, since it allows a person, at least temporarily, to avoid what he must later face. We must remember that what we fear we will attract to eventually face.

Worry is primarily a subconscious state brought on by the conscious mind's irrational jumping from one subject to another, unable to centralize on any one point long enough to complete it, stimulating the imagination into the unresolved and anguished emotion of worry. Worry also provokes fear.

Doubt, another mind weakness, is the by-product of the intellect's inability to cope with light. When a person depends upon memory or reason for meaningful answers, the mind will break down in doubt. Only when the higher elucidation of the intuition is sought is doubt dispelled.

By becoming conscious of the way the mind operates, it is easy to replace the shadows with shafts of light. Then you are strong enough to be kind when you could have become angry. You are spiritual enough to be generous when you might have reacted selfishly. As you sit in meditation in a darkened room, practice directing your consciousness inward, to the center of your brain. If you are able to perceive light within your body, you are living in the light. But should darkness prevail, work diligently each day to clear out resentment, jealousy, fear, worry and doubt from your nature.

REVIEW

1. Jealousy, anger, fear, worry and doubt are shadows of the lower nature.

2. Understanding your mind will enable you to dispel dark areas.

How do we actually dispel the shadows of the mind and then keep them from being recreated? The answer lies in finding a better way to react to life. It is accomplished simply by meeting everything with understanding. If you feel that everything happening to you is a play of universal love and you are able to maintain that consciousness of universal love in yourself, then you are beyond the happenings of the world. Lifted in consciousness, you can see through and enjoy all the states of consciousness. The circumstances of your life will reflect this change.

Watch for those small incidents that gently "get under your skin" and create an eruption a few days later. Little things that do not contribute creatively to your life are an indication that there is some kind of subconscious disturbance that you have not resolved. Look your nature right in the face in meditation, without squirming, and you will discover that the little disturbance is some issue over which you are rationalizing, a small resentment or worry that is keeping a part of your mind confused, and thus, necessarily, most of your circumstances confused.

OBSERVATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Concentrate your mind when you are feeling confused and you will bring peace to its disturbed states. Peace is control, and control is freedom. Are you able to assimilate and understand everything you put into your mind? Or do you carry experiences with you for days, mulling over the past? Some of the things that you see, hear, read about or think about impress you deeply. Other things do not. Turning our backs on everything that may be unpleasant to us is not the answer, but if you observe your reactions as they are taking place and then later the same day turn a calm, detached eye to your experience, you will re-enter understanding through the controlled state of your meditation. Do not wait for muddy waters of the mind to settle down in their own good time when you feel confused. Rather, hasten your evolution by making your mind silent and composed by using a dynamic willpower to restore order when you feel least disposed to do so.

REVIEW

1. Meeting with love and understanding all that comes to us is the key to keeping the mind free of the shadows of confusion.

2. When you become confused or upset, review experience and pinpoint the disturbance. View it with love and detachment to restore order.

when completed Discipline

1. Practice the discipline, described in lesson 43, of looking inward during meditation and strive to see the moonlight- colored screen.

2. Study in your own experience the concept, described in lesson 44, that thoughts or feelings directed to other people establish temporary channels of communication with them.

3. Go to a temple. Take with you any accumulated problems that you are carrying in your mind and place them at the feet of the Deity to be dissolved in rays of light.

4. Repeat aloud the lovely verse by Siva Yogaswami in lesson 46. Meditate on its contents.

5. Check this box when you are able to see light within your mind, as described in lesson 47, even if it is just a faint glow.

6. Study the five weaknesses described in lesson 48 and determine which present the greatest challenges to you. Make a resolution to dispel them diligently as they arise.

7. When feeling confused, resentful, angry or worried, sit down and follow the instructions in the last paragraph of lesson 49 and successfully regain your natural composure.

PERSONAL QUIZ

Test your knowledge and personal experience of brahmachariya by asking these questions of yourself. You may enjoy writing down the answers and then researching through the course to see how correct you were.

1. What is brahmachariya?

2. Why are the Saivite precepts essential for a brahmachari or brahmacharini?

3. What should the brahmachari and brahmacharini avoid and why?

4. What can you as a disciple do to strengthen your relationship with your guru?

5. What can you do to strengthen your relationship with God and the Gods?

6. What benefits can one hope to attain through the practice of brahmachariya?

7. What did Siva Yogaswami mean when he described Saivism as the "Sadhana Marga?"

8. What are the yamas and niyamas?

9. What are the three pillars of Saivism?

10. Why is virtue so important for spiritual unfoldment?

11. Gurudeva says the object is not to eliminate desire, but to channel and control it. Please explain what he means.

12. What is transmutation?

13. How is brahmachariya both a goal and a practice?

14. Why are the reproductive fluids so sacred? What happens if they are dissipated?

15. How can one prevent sexual fantasies and nightly encounters?

16. What did you experience as a result of regularly performing the pranayama technique described in the course?

17. What happens on a psychic/astral level as a result of sexual intercourse?

18. How is a virgin who is practicing brahmachariya different than the brahmachari who has had encounters with the opposite sex?

19. What are some of the various ways that psychic connections are made with other people?

20. What does sanctification by marriage mean from an inner perspective?

21. How does the practice of brahmachariya help preserve Saivism on the planet?

22. Describe the practice of "walking away."

23. What can happen if the brahmachari is not honest with himself in the handling of awareness in relation to his vrata?

24. Please list from memory eight helpful practices for the brahmachari and brahmacharini.

25. What is transmutation?

26. Please explain the inner effects of creating sexual fantasies on your mental screen.

27. What practices have you adopted to protect your awareness during sleep?

28. Please describe the effect of your hatha yoga practice on your total being.

REGISTRATION FORM

You have come to the end of this course on brahmachariya and are to be congratulated. You may refer back to these lessons any time in the years to come. The teachings will serve you well throughout your life.

Perhaps you are interested in pursuing further studies. If so, here are a few questions to help us to get to know you. Please write the questions and your answers on a separate sheet of paper. Please include your name, birthdate, nakshatra and religious background.

1. What teachings within the course were the most helpful to you?

2. Did the study of this course and the practice of its disciplines improve the quality of your life? How?

3. Do you have a guru or spiritual teacher? What is his or her name?

4. Did you take the brahmachari vrata? What changes did you experience as a result?

5. Do you use the name brahmachari or brahmacharini before your name?

6. Are you planning to marry?

7. Are you interested in monastic life?

8. Would you like to be registered with Himalayan Academy as a devout brahmachari or brahmacharini?

9. Are you studying The Master Course? If not, would you like to?