Prithvi Namaskar

I met my respected Guruji Sri Shailendra Sharma recently in Govardhan.  All of us have heard of Surya Namaskar.  I was astonished to learn from my Guruji that it has never been mentioned in the ancient yogic texts like Hath Yoga Pradeepika. Surya Namaskar is a later addition from someone. He mentioned that the prolonged practice of Surya namaskar is not conducive to health. Rather, my Guru mentioned that anyone doing surya namaskar ages faster than normal. So, come to think of it - is offering of water to the Sun advisable? So many people in India do it.  It is a fact that being an astrologer, I meet so many people day in and day out. But I have almost never come across anyone offering jal abhishek to the Surya regularly lead a very healthy and happy life. The person is likely to be facing one or the other problems in life - especially in business or profession. There is an astrological reason to it.
The planet earth is responsible for the billions and trillions of human and animals lives. We pray to so many Gods. We chant planetary mantras as per astrological texts. Why doesn't any text ask us to revere this planet on which we live our entire lives. Should we not chant mantras to propitiate earth? I think we should.

Timelessness & Immortality

"Time is the biggest healer" / "Nothing is bigger or greater than Time" / "Time is God" - these are some of the sayings we read or hear often. I have been thinking over it and the more I think, the more it becomes obvious to me that in reality, time does not exist. What exists is the continuous change in our lives and measurement of this change occurring outside and within is what creates the sense of time.  So our sense of time is relative to the the action we observe. We have divided moments of our existence in a certain portion which we call a second or a minute or hour.
Imagine if the earth is still, the planets are still and so is the Sun, there is no air, no water, no movement. Or better still, there is nothing. No matter or energy - a complete void. What would we call the situation - timeless? Or beyond time?  Because there is no change. Nothing moves, nothing changes and there is no one to record change because there are no observers present.
When the scriptures say God is beyond time or above time, what do they mean? Do they mean that this force which we call God exists in a state where there is no motion? Why is it all powerful? Because it has the power to generate the first planned action, which gives rise to a series of reactions which carry on indefinitely to create a series of experiences for the observer? It creates the stimulus - the first action and it creates observers of the chain of reactions it triggers. But it itself does not change ever and is therefore called the Almighty God. Why does it do that? A causeless play? No one knows or understands.
So, what is greatest in our lives? What is almighty?  Is it the Time which is relative or is it the constant flux? I feel it is the chaos / the every second change that goes on in this universe that is the greatest. No one is bigger than this element of change and nothing will ever be greater.
The creator of this change (God) seems to be a force beyond the reach of this change. Is that the reason why all the Spiritual Forces / Godmen have described God as eternal, immortal, timeless?

What is liberation from the play of cause and effect which exists in this universe? How can one become immortal? In order to liberate oneself and immortalise oneself, logically one would have to go beyond time or the sense of motion and experience, because that which generates this change exists in an antiseptic place which is beyond the reach of this play of change. What leads us to experience the change that happens outside us? According to the Wikipedia - "The brain's judgement of time is known to be a highly distributed system, including at least the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia as its components. One particular component, the suprachiasmatic nuclei, is responsible for the circadian (or daily) rhythm, while other cell clusters appear to be capable of shorter-range (ultradian) timekeeping."
So in order for us to reach and experience the state which is "timeless" consciously (not in a brain coma state), there has to be something which would lead us to consciously supersede the brain nerve structures that are responsible for our cognition of the time. Only reaching and experiencing such a state may actually liberate our mind from this consciousness of change and chaos and give us an experience of immortality, if there is something like that at all.  
  

Sri Radha's birthplace - Barsana

I recently had the good fortune of visiting Sri Radha's birthplace in village barsana near Goverdhan / Mathura. Guruji had mentioned that Radha's birth is supposed to be a divine birth and she had been found as an infant lying in the fields by her foster father Vrishbhan. Legends have it that she was an avatar of Lord Shiva. Esoterically, she represents the "Shree" - the Maha Prakriti or the feminine / creative force with Lord Krishna who represents the divine male aspect of God / Parambrahma beyond creation. I must say, Her influence in the braj region is supreme. As the presiding deity she is even more revered than Sri Krishna I dare say and when you visit the Braj, everyone salutes you with a customary - "Radhe Radhe". Nobody says "Jai Sri Krishna". As I visited the temple situated on a hilly portion of Barsana village, there were the familiar village scenes on the way - devotees walking with offerings to the temple, a few monkeys lurking here and there and the normal atmosphere that you find in a spiritual spot - holy vibrations. The temple was not crowded, it being a normal week day. I had no problems having the darshans of the Deities - Sri Radha and Krishna. As I stood before the Deity and handed over my offerings to the priests and bowed down squatting on the floor, I could slowly sense a holy vibration becoming stronger and quietly building up within me. I looked at the Deity and prayed to her for blessings in my life. As I quietly prayed for about half a minute or so, I suddenly sensed a overwhelming feeling of love welling up from the bottom of my heart. Judging from my past experiences in temples, I could sense that the Deity had indeed responded immediately to my supplications. A strange thing happened after that. Suddenly I forgot myself and my problems and asked her to bless my family, and then I forgot my family, I found myself praying for my wife's extended family and then I forgot that and I prayed for friends and thereafter I forgot everything. The love and bliss in my heart was torrential. My heart and soul drenched with Her love, I just asked Her to bless everyone in my life and then the entire mankind. After sitting for a few minutes, I took leave of the temple pledging silently to myself - I shall return.......

Forewarning by a brother disciple at Goverdhan

I have recently returned from a trip to Goverdhan - to the place of my respected Guru. The occasion was Guru Poornima on the 7th July. I also decided to undertake a parikrama of the sacred Goverdhan Hill. The distance to be covered barefoot is about 21 kilometers. As luck would have it, I hurt my foot badly and am still limping. But they say, if you get hurt during the parikrama, it means that the Deity of Goverdhan has taken away a major part of your evil karmic consequences and let you go off lightly.
During the last day that I was there, I and a brother disciple were discussing some techniques of pranayama. After that I left for my Guru's room and he was to follow later. He told me later that he got a mental message asking him to lie down in his room. As soon as he lay down, he went into a semi trance condition and saw me sitting in my car in bangalore. The vision went as follows - I have parked the car somewhere and am waiting for someone. Suddenly a car comes behind me and stops. The lady sitting at the wheel behind me asks me to move my vehicle a little further which I do and suddenly a small girl comes running in front of my car. My vehicle is about to go over her. With this the vision ended. A voice spoke in his mind - "ask Vicaas to be careful while driving for the next 1 1/2 months or so."
As he related the above vision, jitters went down my spine. But I guess there would be some protection, because otherwise this incident would not be reported to him and informed to me.
As I return back, I am anxious that I should take all care while driving. Hopefully nothing will go wrong and divine grace will avert the situation.

The Sound of Om

Om is said to be the eternal witness in our scriptures - the beginningless and the endless sound. Yogis meditate in order to merge their consciousness with this wondrous sound. It is God itself. It is also known as Maha Prakriti - the Cosmic Nature which manifests in varied forms in the Universe. It is the alpha and the omega.
While meditating few days back in the evening - the consciousness went deep within and I heard the sound - like an ocean roar. It was not a physical sound however. It was an intiutive hearing - much different from physical hearing. I felt the intoxicating sound entered through a window in my consciousness slowly - its Siren like melting fingers calling me into itself. The sound and the feeling it generated was as if someone showered beautiful petals of light and love on me. My heart felt as if it wanted to leave everything behind and melt in the ambrosia of the sound and just wanted to lose my physical consciousness. And they say - meditation and Puja is so boring..... Is it but ?? Ask me.... :-)
Finding Om means touching the fringes of God consciousness. Merging in Om means merging into God - into Infinity and to be in touch with all power, all love, all bliss possible in the universe. This is what Yogis aim. And this is the known zenith of Yoga. They say there are further peaks to be climbed after this...but that is for immortals.....who have already merged their consciousness with Om in its deepest recesses and have become one with It.

Visit to Shirdi - at Sai Baba's Samadhi

I remember that my own spiritual search started at the age of 13 years when I saw a movie based on the life of Sai Baba. I read books on him then. However it never went beyond that and I ultimately chose a different spiritual path. Still the feeling of gratitude remained within my heart - all these years. A few weeks back I casually mentioned to Rinky (my wife), that we should visit Shirdi - the samadhi and the place of one of India's most well renowned saint - Sri Sai Baba. I forgot about it. A few days later I was meditating in the evening. As I ended, my eyes were still closed. Suddenly I saw him sitting in front of me wearing white robes. I opened and shut my eyes again. He was still there. As I got up, I had a strange feeling within me. Within two weeks or so, without doing much effort and planning, I and Rinky landed in Shirdi. Neither of us had been here before. So both of us were looking forward to it.
As we reached Shirdi and straightaway booked into a hotel nearby to the temple, we went after eating something. The queues were quite long and I was slightly exasperated. Still we edged along slowly. Finally as we reached the samadhi hall, we saw his statue on top of the samadhi from a distance. There was a rush of devotees in the queues from both the sides of the hall. As we went nearer, I found a change in the atmosphere - it was bright, cheerful and charged with positivity. The samadhi has a removable glass window on the sides and you couldn't quite touch anything. We couldnt stay for more than a couple of seconds. As we went near, a security guard motioned to me to stay on the side and then we saw him having the glass window removed. He asked me to come forward and take darshan. There was a sudden rush of people again, but both I and Rinky managed to touch the samadhi devotedly. We were both thrilled at our good fortune. I handed over some money to the guard happily for this favour.
We came out and moved towards the "Dwarkamai" - the name given to then very old and dilapidated mosque where Baba used to stay. It has been repaired now and has Baba's Dhuni (sacred fire) which has been kept burning non stop till date since his passing away. It was his dwelling place for very long and at times when he referred to it, people felt as the mosque was an actual living entity. He often said that it had its own presiding deity that blessed those who entered it and removed troubles from their lives. We went inside and bowed to his photographs, saw the place where he cooked and often rested. I felt a very strong holy vibration from the spot where he cooked meals for self and other disciples and guest. Suddenly there was a tap on my shoulder and as I turned around, I saw a lady smiling at me. She handed a coconut in my hand. Before I could understand, she said - "this is for you. It is from Dwarkamai. Keep it with you at your home, it is auspicious." Rinky joined in and asked her again. She explained how to keep it. We both came out smiling from Dwarkamai, thrilled again at our good fortune. There were lot of people inside, but I did not see anyone else getting anything. So I guessed it was a blessing from Baba again. The third place was Abdul Baba's cottage room. Abdul baba was Sai Baba's contemporary and disciple and a great saint. His cottage was nearby. He used to read out Quran daily to Sai Baba. As we entered the room in a queue and bowed down, the moulavi blessed us when our turn came. Suddenly he motioned us to stand aside from the queue. His aide asked me to sit down. I was surprised. He brought some of Abdul Baba's holy articles one by one from a chest and asked me to touch them to my forehead and worship them. The articles included his stick sudded with silver with some Quran verses on it. I and then Rinky followed his instructions. He then gave me two coins out of a mug used by Abdul Baba and motioned me to keep them. Before we went out, he gave some Udi (the ash given by Sai Baba) to us. We noted that some other people in the crowd tried to see the same articles he had given us but he refused to let anyone touch them. By this time, both of us were sure that something strange was happening and we both were being accorded a special welcome from Baba wherever we were going. The next day it was a trip to the Shinganapur Shani temple. The trip was pleasant though we got stuck in a traffic jam for some time while coming back. Rinky left for Mumbai that evening. I had one more day left so decided to go the next day to visit the Upasani Baba's ashram a few kilometers away. Upasani Baba was Sai Baba's disciple and was said to be highly advanced spiritually. I took an auto from the bus stand and reached the place in twenty minutes. The ashram had a serene look. I walked in with a basket of flowers, coconut and incense. An arti was going on with some women singing bhajans beautifully before Upasani Baba's statue. I stood in the line. Again the same thing - there must be around 50 people in the queue and around me but suddenly the temple priest came forward to me, took me out of the queue and helped me to put flowers and incense as if I was some important VIP dignitary. He took me aside and explained where all to go in the ashram. I followed his instructions and did puja wherever he had asked me to. When I came back to the hall, I was surprised to find him waiting for me. He asked me to sit in the verandah for a while and then took me to another building where a Dattatreya statue had been installed and consecrated by Upasani Baba. The place was full of strong spiritual vibrations. I paid obeisances there and later the priest gave a brief history of the place to me. All this while, there were so many visitors to the ashram temple, but he was oblivious of everyone, and only with me. By the time I returned to the auto waiting for me, I figured that Baba was giving me so much importance out of his love and probably to convey that he had invited me to his place - Shirdi. I felt happy but at the same time felt a chill go down my spine. I thought to myself "Are these things really happening to me ? Am I really experiencing all this or is it just a dream ?" I like to think it isn't, and that the Baba has actually blessed this "nobody" with his love.

A spirit in my room - March 2009 - Goverdhan visit

After about three months of grueling uncertainities at work, pressures all around, house shifting, school shifting, embroiled in controversies, visits to police station and God knows what, I finally landed back at my dear Guru Sri Shailndra Sharma's feet again. Luckily I landed on the first navaratra. Navratri consists of nine auspicious nights - especially favored highly by those who meditate on the various forms of the mother Goddess. I worship the Goddess Tripur Sundari. So I decided to spend the navratris worshipping the Goddess at my Guru's place. The place is such an ethereal presence especially during nights. A panditji was performing the pujas in a seperate room earmarked for the purpose. I too set up a small photo of the Tripur Sundari in a corner of the room and did my small worship there.
Predictably, each day of my stay was filled up with a new revelation. On the second day of my arrival I worshiped the Goverdhan Hill (called Giriraj - the powerful governing deity of the village Goverdhan) that Krishna had worshipped thousands of years back. As my brother disciple and I performed the abhishek of the rock at a particular spot with milk, water and few fresh flowers, atmosphere suddenly got charged with a tremendous blessing. We were bathed in the electrifying benediction emerging from the spot and surrounding our bodies. The very same evening, I was walking in the twilight from my room to my Guru's room. Mid way I heard footsteps behind and saw a tall man wearing black clothes a few feet away. I had heard stories of the guardian spirits of goverdhan dressed up similarly. I moved a little further and bowed down to a divine statue. I turned around again and the figure disappeared. In excitement, I went and was babbling to others and to my Guru. My brother disciple told me that its a blessing to be able to see these things and it simply means that the deity has accepted my worship. I felt so happy.
The same night another incident happened that left me somewhat amazed. I was sharing my room with the panditji who was doing the puja for the Goddess. I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor while he was sleeping on a big bed in the same room. Around midnight when I was fast asleep, a spirit materialised in the room and spoke to him. He first thought it was me, but then he saw that I was fast asleep. The spirit appeared to be that of a gentle and benign man dressed in white clothes and asked his permission to rest on the bed for a while. He agreed and the spirit lay down beside him. After about two hours the presence disappeared from the room. Though they had conversed for a short while, I did not hear anything. Why he chose to come to our room remains a mystery. But he lay down facing me and yet did not speak to me. When I woke up in the morning, my head was heavy. Again the same excited babbling to my Guru. And as usual He was nonchalent about it.
The next day my Guru agreed to initiate me in the next Yoga level - the third kriya - adding a remark laughingly to a brother disciple , " Vicaas is gone now, caught into this net for sure. He wont be able to escape out of this ever" Practise gets grueling and tougher after this and I made promises to my Guru that I would come up to his expectations.
I came back after the last navaratra -full of blessings and renewed energy to carry on my spiritual journey to the summit of yoga.