by Swamiji

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

[Prabhata-rashmih 29 July 2001.  Appeared in Aug 2003 issue of the monthly journal ‘Vicharasetu – The Path of Introspection’]

Harih Om Tat Sat. Spiritual exposure and the yearning for spiritual wisdom, followed by attainment of purity and fulfillment, mark the pinnacle in human life. Spiritual pursuit is, therefore, not only desirable but is indispensable, however varied the life style may be. It is the final fulfilling pursuit. 

This being the case, the earlier one takes up the pursuit, the better. The wholesomeness with which one takes to it, to that extent it becomes rewarding. In this context, the question arises about going to the Guru and seeking initiation from him.

The initiation as well as the association with the Guru or being in Gurusannidhi is like oxygen in the matter of keeping a fire aflame. You may have firewood or other medium to make fire. But if oxygen is not present how will the flame be? As is oxygen to the blazing flame, so is Guru’s association for the spiritual aspirant. Guru is your visible guide. He is there to speak to you, to watch your progress and give you specific guidance.

The other part is the pursuit you undertake. Your saadhana should become alive. You should have sufficient inspiration and confidence in your saadhana. You must have a proper evaluation and a feeling of indispensability about your saadhana. If the saadhana is stopped, you should feel as though you have lost your nutritious food. If the saadhana is dropped, you should feel that the lungs are denied of oxygen.

When this is the case, why is it that many people keep themselves away from it or do not take to it with proper spirit? They sit in meditation and start counting the number of thoughts or go after the thoughts. De-recognize thoughts and thinking power. Simply dissolve them. This is where the devotion to deeksha counts.

If you consider the deeksha to be just one more factor in your life, it will have only that small secondary effects or benefits. If, on the other hand, you consider the deeksha and Gurusannidhi – going to the Guru, being in his association, serving and participating in whatever he does – to be the greatest opportunity and blessings, then that will have the most significant impact on your life.

Do you have this kind of a supreme and wholesome feeling about deeksha? Then the deeksha will also reciprocate and reward you with the Supreme. So, it depends upon your Guru-bhakti and fondness for Guru-sanga. It depends on how fully you have taken to the Guru-mantra and the saadhana that he has given you.

Many ask: “What are we supposed to do after deeksha?” I don’t want the initiate to do anything but to practise the saadhana in the mind sphere. Whatever transpired during the deeksha should be retained by him or her. The deeksha and the saadhana must become primary. All other things should become secondary. Can you make the pursuit the sole anchor and can you make all other worldly aspirations secondary? Like breath which never gets separated from you, the saadhana too should never become separate. You have to consider yourself always as a saadhaka.

Your mind is capable of generating whatever emotions you need. It can produce peace, comfort, delight and ecstasy. But, at present the mind depends on external objects and external situations. When you understand that the primary generating source is the mind itself, your dependence on the external circumstances will decline.

Sit in a place, close your eyes and ask the mind to deliver whatever assurance, comfort, delight and ecstasy you want. Either you understand that it can deliver or you must believe that it can. The first is discrimination, viveka, and the second is faith, sraddha. If you fail in discrimination as well as in faith, then everything is lost for you.

samshayaatmaa vinashyati -- The doubtful mind perishes.

Finally, therefore it is the question of having the fondness, the wholesomeness and the sense of supremacy about the saadhana and its goal. If you are able to cultivate them, then you will progress in your saadhana and attain Truth.

My dear children, this is the great mystery. In fact, it looks like a mystery, but there is no mystery about it. The mind is as open as air. Like air, the mind pervades everywhere and flows out engulfing the whole of existence. Mind produces thoughts but thoughts do not restrict the mind. The mind is a radiant, luminous, splendorous substance. It can become very ecstatic, it can be very delightful.

The initiation I give is primarily to expose your mind to its potential. It is to make you know about its vast depth where you can sink and delve. Sink and dissolve into its very depth. It is such an easy, such a sweet and promising pursuit.

The mind is closer to you than the body. Its essential nature, the Soul, is still closer. So you are searching yourself, your own radiance. May be that very few are fortunate in this. But the fact is that this fortune is available to one and all. If you properly culture your faith and take the saadhana in its proper light, then you will find your whole being getting soaked, basked and engulfed by its sweetness and ecstasy.