MANOLAYA AND MANONASA

THE SRI RAMANA GITA OF B. V. NARASIMHASWAMI PART VCHAPTER VI

MANOLAYA AND MANONASA 21-8-1927

Kavya Kantha: Bhagavan has said that the re-entry of the mind into the heart as effected by the Jnani and known as the manonasa of Samadhi, is radically different from the disappearance of mind in disease, etc. The disciples desire to know something more of manonasa and manolaya, and how they are to be effected.

Maharshi then continued: Men find it hard to control their minds. That is the often-heard complaint. Do you see the reason? Day in, day out, almost every hour and every minute, they spend their time gratifying their numerous desires; and they are and have been wholly engrossed in their attachment to external objects, i.e., the non-Self. Hence, this outgoing tendency is deeply rooted and binds them like an iron chain. This strong vasana, instinct or tendency, has to be overcome before they can obtain the placidity, the equilibrium on which their realization has to be based. So let them begin at once, i.e., as early as possible, to reverse their conduct and to gain incessant mind control.

Let them try to ride the mind and drive it to their goal, instead of allowing it to run away with them in any and every direction, driven by desires. They may start their endeavour with various helps.

The first help for mind control that is usually suggested to an aspirant is pranayama, breath-control or breath- regulation. The mind, like a monkey, is usually fickle, restless, fretful and unsteady. As you tie-up and restrain the monkey, or a bull, with a rope, so you may still the mind by regulating and holding the breath. When the breath is so restrained, the mind gets calm and its activities in the shape of thoughts cease. When there is no thought, the jiva’s energy runs back into the source whence all its energies issue, i.e., into the center, the heart.

Next, proceeding to consider the methods of securing the retention of breath (kumbhaka), we note these various methods suggested or employed:

The first and simplest course, the rajamarga, is simply to will the retention of the breath and rivet the attention on it. The breath then stops at once. At first, this riveting of attention and willing may involve strain and fatigue. But this must be overcome by incessant practice, till the willing and attending become habitual. Then the mind is quite relaxed when it thinks of kumbhaka; and you are at once holding the breath and the mind lies narcotised and stilled like a charmed serpent.

There are perhaps some who find that the above course does not suit them.

Let them try, if they choose, another method, that of Hatha Yoga, which also achieves kumbhaka though with enormous strain and struggle.

Ashtanga Yoga (i.e., Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) is common to all the methods. The chief characteristics of Hatha Yoga are its adoption of bandhanas, mudras, and shatkarmas. Details as to the practice of Hatha Yoga are found in special treatises devoted to it, such as Hathayoga-Pradipika.

In both, Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga, you find rechaka, pooraka, and kumbhaka.

By rechaka you expel the used- up air from the lungs through one nostril into the external air. Then you proceed to pooraka, i.e., to fill the lungs by drawing a deep breath of pure air from outside through the other nostril, and then follows the kumbhaka, the important process of holding within the pure air (in your chest) for a gradually increasing period. If the period of rechaka is taken as one unit, usually the period of pooraka is an equal unit, and that of kumbhaka is four units. This is said to promote the purity of the nadis, that is, the subtle nerves. These and the brain are perhaps rendered more efficient for Samadhi, i.e., for concentration or meditation on that which has no characteristics or attributes. The purified nadis (nerves) and the brain, in turn, help breath- retention or kumbhaka. Breath-retention is styled perfect or Suddha Kumbhaka, when breath is restrained in every way and completely.

Suddha Kumbhaka is also the name given to yet another method of pranayama. Here the abhyasi or

aspirant attends only to the kumbhaka, leaving the period of other particulars of rechaka and pooraka without any special attention.

Of other methods, one only needs mention here. It is strictly speaking not a method of breath regulation but the figurative application of it. Those who adopt the pure Jnana or Vichara Marga disdain to attend to such a trifle as mere physical breath, and declare that rechaka consists in expulsion from within themselves of that useless or poisonous “dehatmabudhi” or “I am the body” idea. Pooraka (or the filling in, or drawing in of pure air into the system) consists, according to these, in the seeking and obtaining of light when they inquire into their the Self; and kumbhaka (i.e. the holding of pure air within and absorb- ing the same) consists, in their view, in the Sahaja Sthithi, i.e., the state of realising the Self as a result of the inquiry aforesaid mentioned.

Still, others adopt the method of Mantra Japa, i.e., the incessant repetition of mantras (sacred sounds), to obtain manolaya

[Manolaya is a temporary absorption of the mind in the object of meditation. Manonasa, destruction of mind, can alone give liberation. - Editor].

As they proceed incessantly with repetition of the sacred mantras with full faith and unflinching and unbroken attention, the breath (though unattended to) gets harmonised and in due course2 is stilled in the rapt attention of the mind. The individuality of the mind is sunk in the form of the mantra. All these become one and there is Realization. The stage when prana (breath) is identified with or lost in the mantra is called dhyana (meditation), and Realization rests on the basis of dhyana that has become a firm habit.

Lastly, we may notice another method of getting manolaya. That is, association with great ones, the Yoga- rudhas, those who are themselves perfect adepts in samadhi, Self-realization, which has become easy, natural and perpetual with them. Those moving with them closely, and in sympathetic contact gradually absorb the Samadhi habit from them.http://www.arunachala.org/newsletters/pdf-pages/

THREE-BITE MEDITATION

THREE-BITE PRACTICE BY Pema Chodron

You can do this anytime you eat a meal. Before taking the first bite, just pause and think of those men and women of wisdom and mentally offer them your food. In this way, you connect with the virtue of devotion.

Before taking the second bite, pause and offer your food to all those who’ve been kind to you. This nurtures the virtues of gratitude and appreciation. The third bite is offered to those who are suffering: all the people and animals who are starving, or being tortured or neglected, without comfort or friends. Think, too, of all of us who suffer from aggression, craving, and indifference. This simple gesture awakens the virtue of compassion.

In this way—by relying on our teachers, our benefactors, and those in need—we gather the virtues of devotion, gratitude, and kindness.

Old Sweet Beggar Hafiz ♥

Old Sweet Beggar
This
Path to God
Made me such an old sweet beggar.
I was starving until one night
My love tricked God Himself
To fall into my bowl.
Now Hafiz is infinitely rich,
But all I ever want to do
Is keep emptying out
My emerald filled
Pockets
Upon
This tear stained.
World.
Hafiz ♥


Where Do You Think You Will Be?
I am sitting on a mountain.
I am casting shadows into the sky.
I did not invite it but the sun has come
And is now playing tag with my feet.
I am whispering to clouds today,
‘Watch out for my shoulders,’
For I wish no harm
To all my soft friends.
Where do you think you will Be
When God reveals Himself
Inside of you?
I was so glad to hear
That every pillow in this world
Will become stuffed with
My soul and beard.
I am sitting on a mountain range.
I am a precious body of living water
Offered to the earth
From Light’s own hands.
Why ever talk of miracles
When you are destined to become
Infinite love.
Still, the Final Grace was left:
For all of existence and Hafiz to blend
And to find that I am every pillow
Offering comfort
To each mind and
Foot.

Hafiz ♥

Carrying God
No one can keep us from carrying God
Wherever we go.
No one can rob His Name
From our heart as we try to relinquish our fears
And at last stand — Victorious.
We do not have to leave him in the mosque
Or church alone at night;
We do not have to be jealous of tales of saints
Or glorious masts, those intoxicated souls
Who can make outrageous love with the Friend.
We do not have to be envious of our spirits’ ability
Which can sometimes touch God in a dream.
Our yearning eyes, our warm-needing bodies,
Can all be drenched in contentment
And Light.
No one anywhere can keep us
From carrying the Beloved wherever we go.
No one can rob His precious Name
From the rhythm of my heart –
Steps and breath.



Hafiz ♥

In a Handful of God

Poetry reveals that there is no empty space.

When your truth forsakes its shyness,

When your fears surrender to your strengths,

You will begin to experience

That all existence

Is a teeming sea of infinite life.

In a handful of ocean water

You could not count all the finely tuned

Musicians

Who are acting stoned

For very intelligent and sane reasons

And of course are becoming extremely sweet

And wild.

In a handful of the sky and earth,

In a handful of God,

We cannot count

All the ecstatic lovers who are dancing there

Behind the mysterious veil.

True art reveals there is no void

Or darkness.

There is no loneliness to the clear-eyed mystic

In this luminous, brimming

Playful world.

Hafiz ♥

Never Say It Is Not God
I taste what you taste. I know the kind of lyrics
your Soul most likes. I know which sounds will become 
Resplendent in your mind and bring such pleasure
Your feet will jump and whirl.
When anything touches or enters your body 
Never say it is not God, for He is 
Just trying to get close.
I have no use for divine patience — my lips are always 
Burning and everywhere. I am running from every corner 
Of this world and sky wanting to kiss you;
I am every particle of dust and wheat — you and I 
Are ground from His Own Body. I am rioting at your door; 
I am spinning in midair like golden falling leaves
Trying to win your glance.
I am sweetly rolling against your walls and your shores
All night, even though you are asleep. I am singing from 
The mouths of animals and birds honoring our 
Beloved’s promise and need: to let 
you know the Truth.
My dear, when anything touches or enters your body
Never say it is not God, for He and I are 
Just trying to get close to you.
God and I are rushing
From every corner of existence, needing to say,
“We are yours.”



Hafiz ♥

The Small Table Of Time And Space

  

I am a Golden Compass – 

Watch me whirl. 

  

To the east and to the west, 

To the north and to the south, 

In all directions I will true your course 

Toward laughter and unity. 

  

To everywhere I will deliver enlightenment 

On the backs of camels, birds 

And strong pilgrims. 

  

Into every country 

I will carry the Holy Names and dance 

And dance. 

  

 I am a Golden Compass – 

Watch me sing and spin 

Illustrious strands of lyrics and truth. 

  

I am a divine Agent. 

Your passage to light, your ticket, 

May need my stamp. 

  

My feet and verse are now ecstatic 

And midair; 

Just place your self beneath our leaping arch – 

We will sweetly rain upon you. 

  

Watch me whirl into nothingness 

Your fears and darkness – 

Just keep tossing them onto my golden plate. 

  

I am a Holy Instrument always tuned by God 

I live beyond every dimension. 

  

I have been lifted drunk off the floor 

In a Magnificent Tavern. 

  

Now at my seat upon Divine Love 

I gaze at Everything with brilliant, clear eyes. 

  

I can so easily lean my cheek across this small table 

Of time and space 

  

And let you touch my beautiful laughing 

Wooly beard. 

  

Hafiz is an Emerald Compass. 

My knowledge will put manna in your purse. 

  

My only duty that now remains 

 To this world 

  

Is from every direction 

To forever serve you wine and 

Hope. 

  

Hafiz is a Golden Skirt 

The Beloved has lifted off a magnificent floor 

And has tied around His waist. 

  

Watch us whirl, whirl, 

Whirl!

Hafiz ♥

Where Do You Think You Will Be?
I am sitting on a mountain.
I am casting shadows into the sky.
I did not invite it but the sun has come
And is now playing tag with my feet.
I am whispering to clouds today,
‘Watch out for my shoulders,’
For I wish no harm
To all my soft friends.
Where do you think you will Be
When God reveals Himself
Inside of you?
I was so glad to hear
That every pillow in this world
Will become stuffed with
My soul and beard.
I am sitting on a mountain range.
I am a precious body of living water
Offered to the earth
From Light’s own hands.
Why ever talk of miracles
When you are destined to become
Infinite love.
Still, the Final Grace was left:
For all of existence and Hafiz to blend
And to find that I am every pillow
Offering comfort
To each mind and
Foot.


Hafiz ♥

Savikalpa Nirvikalpa Sahaja Samadhi

Samadhi is a spiritual state of consciousness. There are various kinds of samadhi. Among the minor samadhis, savikalpa samadhi happens to be the highest. Beyond savikalpa comes nirvikalpa samadhi, but there is a great gulf between these two: they are two radically different samadhis. Again, there is something even beyond nirvikalpa samadhi called sahaja samadhi.

In savikalpa samadhi, for a short period of time you lose all human consciousness. In this state the conception of time and space is altogether different. For an hour or two hours you are completely in another world. You see there that almost everything is done. Here in this world there are many desires still unfulfilled in yourself and in others. Millions of desires are not fulfilled, and millions of things remain to be done. But when you are in savikalpa samadhi, you see that practically everything is done; you have nothing to do. You are only an instrument. If you are used, well and good; otherwise, things are all done. But from savikalpa samadhi everybody has to return to ordinary consciousness.

Even in savikalpa samadhi there are grades. Just as there are brilliant students and poor students in the same class in school, so also in savikalpa samadhi some aspirants reach the highest grade, while less aspiring seekers reach a lower rung of the ladder, where everything is not so clear and vivid as on the highest level.

In savikalpa samadhi there are thoughts and ideas coming from various places, but they do not affect you. While you are meditating, you remain undisturbed, and your inner being functions in a dynamic and confident manner. But when you are a little higher, when you have become one with the soul in nirvikalpa samadhi, there will be no ideas or thoughts at all. I am trying to explain it in words, but the consciousness of nirvikalpa samadhi can never be adequately explained or expressed. I am trying my best to tell you about this from a very high consciousness, but still my mind is expressing it. But in nirvikalpa samadhi there is no mind; there is only infinite peace and bliss. There nature's dance stops, and the knower and the known become one. There you enjoy a supremely divine, all-pervading, self-amorous ecstasy. You become the object of enjoyment, you become the enjoyer and you become the enjoyment itself.

When you enter into nirvikalpa samadhi, the first thing you feel is that your heart is larger than the universe itself. Ordinarily you see the world around you, and the universe seems infinitely larger than you are. But this is because the world and the universe are perceived by the limited mind. When you are in nirvikalpa samadhi, you see the universe as a tiny dot inside your vast heart.

In nirvikalpa samadhi there is infinite bliss. Bliss is a vague word to most people. They hear that there is something called bliss, and some people say that they have experienced it, but most individuals have no firsthand knowledge of it. When you enter into nirvikalpa samadhi, however, you not only feel bliss, but actually grow into that bliss.

The third thing you feel in nirvikalpa samadhi is power. All the power of all the occultists put together is nothing compared with the power you have in nirvikalpa samadhi. But the power that you can take from samadhi to utilise on earth is infinitesimal compared with the entirety.

Nirvikalpa samadhi is the highest samadhi that most realised spiritual Masters attain. It lasts for a few hours or a few days, and then one has to come down. When one comes down, what happens? Very often one forgets his own name and age; one cannot speak or think properly. But through continued practice, gradually one becomes able to come down from nirvikalpa samadhi and immediately function in a normal way. Generally, when one enters into nirvikalpa samadhi, one does not want to come back into the world again. If one stays there for eighteen or twenty-one days, there is every possibility that the soul will leave the body for good. There were spiritual Masters in the hoary past who attained nirvikalpa samadhi and did not come down. They attained their highest samadhi, but found it impossible to enter into the world atmosphere again and work like human beings. One cannot operate in the world while in that state of consciousness; it is simply impossible. But there is a divine dispensation. If the Supreme wants a particular soul to work here on earth, even after twenty-one or twenty-two days, the Supreme can take that individual into was another channel of dynamic, divine consciousness and have him return to the earth-plane to act. Sahaja samadhi is by far the highest type of samadhi. In this samadhi one is in the highest consciousness but, at the same time, one is able to work in the gross physical world. One maintains the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi while simultaneously entering into earthly activities. One has become the soul and, at the same time, is utilising the body as a perfect instrument. In sahaja samadhi one does the usual things that an ordinary human being does. But in the inmost recesses of the heart one is surcharged with divine illumination. When one has this sahaja samadhi, one becomes the Lord and Master of Reality. One can go at his sweet will to the Highest and then come down to the earth-consciousness to manifest.

Even after achieving the highest type of realisation, on very rare occasions is anyone blessed with sahaja samadhi. Very few spiritual Masters have achieved this state. For sahaja samadhi, the Supreme's infinite Grace is required. Sahaja samadhi comes only when one has established inseparable oneness with the Supreme, or when one wants to show, on rare occasions, that he is the Supreme. He who has achieved sahaja samadhi and remains in this samadhi, consciously and perfectly manifests God at every second, and is thus the greatest pride of the Transcendental Supreme.

http://www.srichinmoy.org/spirituality/concentration_meditation_contemplation/samadhi/