Shuddhi is a word for purity. Talking about how to get pure, it is much more than taking a bath, though a bath also cleans the aura, that’s why dip in Gangaji is too important. But if talk about all the levels of purity it goes something like:
At physical level: clean body and clean clothes; of course clean environment too.
At emotional level: what type of emotions one carries, e..g., guilt, fear, anger, insecurity, depression, attachment, love, satisfaction, bliss and compassion, etc.
At mental level: negative thoughts, positive thoughts, neutral thoughts, dual thoughts, non-dual thoughts or with the top most no-mind buddha like thoughtlessness state.
At sensual level: i.e., smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing.
At energy level: which type of energy you carry, is it grosser or lighter? Is it leak or remain stable? Things like Pranayam or Kriya Yoga, etc., can help to maintain and increase to good energy levels.
At karmic level: what type of karma you make, does it satisfy your heart or not?
Mind you, I think the great purity, which is ultimate is to get enlightened, to come from ignorance to awareness, but for this the above work like the strong foundation.
First time when I read this book, I just read the first chapter and thought this is just another personal story, unfortunately I didn’t read other chapters, and made an insane perception about the book and left reading it. But fortunately after many months when I was looking into the other chapters, I just shouted at myself what a mistake I did! This book, divinely is so captivating, I couldn’t leave it until it was finished, beginning to end. This book states about the divine science, a seeker and his search, the divine relationship, and lot more things still rooted in my heart and soul. The book I have is 2011 reprint with 519 pages. Something from it, I would like to share:
“Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions. Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change. The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love.” He added humbly,”If ever you find me falling from a state of God-realization, please promise to put my head on your lap and help to bring me back to the Cosmic Beloved we both worship.”
The above quote is part of the conversation from the chapter “I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar.” The first quote is by Sri Yukteswar and second by Paramhansa Yogananda where he is asking divine lap of the master, in case if he goes off track. This part of conversation happened when Yogananda first met to his Gurudeva. It was something like he infallibly kept on drawing to him when he first saw him, the river met with ocean and a divine conversation began.
“Superstitious awe of astrology makes one an automaton, slavishly dependent on mechanical guidance. The wise man defeats his planets – which is to say, his past by transferring his allegiance from the creation to the creator. The more he realizes his unity with Spirits, the less he can be dominated by matter. The soul is ever free; it is deathless because birthless. It cannot be regimented by starts.”
This quote was from the chapter “Outwitting the Stars,” though Sri Yukteswar also states the fact until a man fixes his identity in the Spirit, means to say gets self-realization, he is affected by the stars, and for this the astrological bangles, stones, etc., might help; he also recommended one for Mukunda (Yogananda). But later on they aren’t needed when a man transfers his allegiance totally from the Matter to the Spirit. (The name Yogananda came to Mukunda later on, when on one auspicious day, Sri Yukteswar initiated him for the Swami order.)
“Forgot the past,” Sri Yukteswar would console him. “The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is very unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.”
”Wisdom is the great cleaner.”
“Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, when principles are at stake.”
This above was taken from the chapter “Years in my Master’s Hermitage.” See the profound depth of understanding how true it is, isn’t it?
“Do not do what you want, and then you may do what you like.”
This quote is from the chapter “Idyl in South India.” It has a story behind it, it is like once a nude master Sadasiva entered in someone’s tent, being alarmed the women screamed to his presence (as they couldn’t decide who he is), quickly a man drew his sword and severed his arm. Unconcerned with the arm the master departed, as a man felt remorse and picked the master’s arm. The master quietly inserted the arm back to its place and when he was asked for teachings, he just wrote on the sand the about quote.
“God is simple. Everything is complex. Do not seek absolute value in the relative world of nature.”
It was from the chapter “A ‘Perfume Saint’ Display his Wonders.”
“I have left a few paltry rupees, a few petty pleasures, for a cosmic empire of endless bliss. How then I denied myself anything? I know the joy of sharing the treasure. Is that a sacrifice? The shortsighted wordly folk are verily the real renunciates! They relinquish an unparalleled divine possession for a poor handful of earthy toys!”
The above quote from the chapter “The Levitating Saint.” Where the Saint tells the meaning of renunciation to Yogananda. What a luck Yogananda got! He met number of enlightened beings in India and abroad.
“Beloved’s name sounds sweet from all lips, ignorant or wise?”
The above quote from the chapter “Master Mahasaya, the Blissful Devotee,” was reply to Yogananda by Master Mahasaya when he was commenting that ‘some people undevotionally chanting the divine name in mechanical repetition.’
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
From the chapter “My University Degree,” the above quote of Sri Yukteswar to Yoganada tells the priority of life. Though Yogananda lived in Hermitage most of the time with Sri Yukteswar but he also passed the university degree with divine grace.
“O God beautiful! O God beautiful!
In the forest, Thou art green,
In the mountains, Thou art high,
In the river, Thou art restless,
In the ocean, Thou art grave!
To the serviceful, Thou art service,
To the lover, Thou art love,
To the sorrowful, Thou art sympathy,
To the Yogi, Thou art bliss!
O God beautiful! O God beautiful!
At Thy feet, O I do bow!”
The above translated Guru Nanak’s song is from the chapter “At Encinitas in California,” appreciating the glory of God.
Though not all the chapters covered here, I selected the few above. The most important thing in the book is the connection of divine relationship that flows from Mahavatar Babaji to Lahri Mahasaya to Sri Yukteswar and to Paramhansa Yogananda — and with them the connection of other enlightened beings. And the experience of Paramhansa Yogananda with ‘Saint with two bodies,’ ‘Perfume Saint,’ ‘Tiger Swami (this is thrilling story indeed),’ ‘Levitating Saint,’ ‘Jagadis Chandra Bose, ‘The Sleepless Saint,’ ‘Afzal Khan,’ ‘Luther Burbank,’ ‘Therese Neumann,’ ‘Ananda Moyi Ma,’ and ’Giri Bala (the woman who never eats). And the story ‘Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban’ is really interesting, it tells how faith in God works. All over, the book is must read book!
Early morning when one wants to get up and the body says “just sleep a bit,” anyone can feel the difference between the pull of the consciousness and the pull of the body (unconsciousness), where it is intense that wins. The lazy person often is pulled by the body.
Not only body, when a person is pulled by the senses — like some people can’t control their food habits, I’m not talking about being hungry, I’m taking about eating excessively, something like a dog which can’t stop itself when finds a piece of bone. Or, some can’t control the sex habits even they sometimes don’t leave indulging in the child abuses.
Anyway,
The thing is when one flows and goes according to the senses and the body, that person loses his consciousness (as he doesn’t use it) and he keeps on programming himself in the unconscious patterns of the mind, and later on this pulling becomes so strong, it takes lot of work to leave those habits.
The ascetic life:
It raises consciousness, as a person when isn’t pulled away by the body and senses — feels far more in awareness. In fact, he isn’t torturing himself, he is just controlling and pushing aside the unconscious aspects of the life, though he uses them but isn’t lost in them. The path of Hatha Yoga is also like that to live in the awareness without being lost in the body and mind.
As the power force of Bhakti Yoga is the emotions, the ways of relating with God are different to different people. There are no principles, no standards, no rituals, no philosophy and no mind boggling in it — it just goes and goes with the heart. As the heart feels like the devotee becomes like that. The female devotees in India consider the God in the following forms:
# Child : they treat Him like a child, they play with Him and of course they shout at Him and then they cry why did they shout … and they love and … son on, everything.
# friend: they treat Him like a friend sharing, fighting and loving for everything; it’s like the friend which ever remains with them 24 x7 holding their hand.
# lover: few devotees fall in love with the friend and a divine love starts, this is a Raas-Leela which never ends.
# husband: few devotees are so lost, they never feel any need of a life partner, they just consider the God as their husband and live in that divine relationship.
# partner: some devotees make Him partner in everything and work like that.
# owner: and few surrender everything to Him and work as His obedient servants.
Living life consciously is the ultimate dream of any spiritual person, when the awareness increases the conscious life also increases — as it transforms unconsciousness into consciousness but to maintain the awareness permanent is the main issue, hope the following could help:
The firmness of “discretion” sets the stability of awareness, a stable awareness is transformatory, e.g., of watching thoughts or of watching incoming and outgoing breath, it transforms all the unconsciousness … it transforms all the tendencies into conscious actions. And whether the discretion is firm or not is set by the intensity of “longing,” the seed comes from the longing. The discretion plants it and the awareness makes it grow.
Each day has its own significance as each day of the week is for a particular tattva (element). Purification of that tattva helps getting the refined qualities in life, as our body is nothing but the mix of the tattvas. Once the tattvas are purified, they help in getting the blissful life at physical, mental, emotional and most importantly at spiritual level.
Below are the days of the week and their respective tattvas and significance:
Monday – Earth Element – helps providing grounding in life.
Tuesday – Water Element – helps providing fluidity/flexibility in life.
Wednesday – Fire Element – helps providing zest/vigor/excitement in life.
Thursday – Air Element – helps providing freedom in life.
Friday – Space/Ether Element – helps providing limitlessness in life.
Saturday – Mahatattva (Super Element) – helps going beyond the above five elements.
Sunday – Celebration day beyond mind and body, or the realization day.
Above I just wrote as one-liner, though a big chapter could be written for each element … anyway, one can also connect the seven chakras with the seven days of the weeks and their element.
When the heart is filled with garbage: unforgiveness, attachment, jealousy, and other emotional implants. This garbage should be cleaned; otherwise what it attracts just misfortune and physical & emotional diseases.
The Ho’oponopono, an ancient Hawaiian practice, a process of forgiveness and let go. And to surrender oneself in the light of love … to the inner light of the self. And to attract mutual love and harmony with relatives, friends and with enemies too.
How it works:
Unforgiveness is a knot which we tie with our end to the other end with the people we don’t want to forgive. It cuts the rope by forgiving them and sets our energy free which we have invested in binding the rope.
Emotional implants are the seeds of jealousy, hatred, anxiety, fear and guilt. When we have let go and plenty of love, the energy which was fueling those seeds transforms itself in the light and might of the heart.
Misconception:
Some people when come to forgiveness, they are able to forgive others but not themselves. This is incorrect! Forgiveness means to forgive others as well as to oneself too.
Bliss is the fourth state after body, mind and energy; when they are healthy and in balance — bliss is bound to happen, it comes itself.
Okay, take Upanishad.
body is called annamaya kosha
mind is called manomaya kosha
energy is called pranamaya kosha
and
bliss is called anandmaya kosha
when the earlier three koshas are healthy and in good state, the fourth kosha comes itself.
Some people work on things, some work on the body, and some work on the mind — but few work on the consciousness, which drives mind, body, things and everything. If consciousness is not evolved, how can a good life be possible?
The level of our consciousness settles the quality of our lives. The difference among a demon, an angel and an ordinary person — is just of consciousness. When it starts evolving, a person starts becoming an angel and ultimately the God. And when its level starts decreasing, a person becomes a demon, and suffers in his created hell.
The people who worked on consciousness, they made their and other’s lives beautiful. And the people who work on consciousness, they are remembered, rest are not needed, I think.
It is a healthy body, a healthy mind, the healthy emotions and the balanced energy. It’s like to prepare a environment with good soil, proper watering and enough sun-light – for a seed to grow, and the seed grows itself.
Healthy body: the yoga exercises are good for the body.
Healthy mind: all the things which grow understanding, and set free from limited belief system and biased ideologies – are good for the mind.
Healthy emotions: understanding of attachment, detachment … love and hate – the opposite emotions, more exactly understanding the Kathoupanishad terms “Preya and Shreya,” helps to give healthy emotions. No doubt knowledge is the driving factor behind emotions. Emotions driven by the ignorance are the disastrous ones.
Balanced Energy: if I tell you what precisely it is, check the difference when you wake up early in the morning, you have plenty of energy in you – and in the evening when you are tired, you have lesser energy. Most of the time doing unnecessary things decay our energy, i.e., shaking legs, un-useful thinking, being in panic or uncertainty, and succumbing to chaos, etc.