Spiritual Training, Part Three
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: Through darshan power, the guru is able to communicate with his disciples. Only the guru can bring the disciple into realization fully and permanently. Darshan catalyzes the higher chakras. Temple darshan builds in power through the years and stabilizes the spiritual unfoldment of all pilgrims being blessed by it. A temple has to be visited with a proper attitude. The home shrine is connected with the darshan of the temple and satguru. The meditator must rely only on himself, lean on his own spine and unfold spiritually. One can receive darshan through a picture of the satguru. The darshan does not really come from the picture, but from the ākāśa where the inner guru exists. The cycle of darshan: the satguru, the temple, the home shrine and back to you. The advanced yoga adept can go inside himself through the practice of mahāyoga and awaken the flame at the top of his head and experience the five vibrations inside himself, deep within the psychic centers of the head, which is the inner temple.
Transcription:
Good morning everyone. And we are continuing with "Merging with Siva" Chapter 45 entitled "Spiritual Training" drawn from "The 1972 Master Course". We're up to:
Lesson 312:
"Temple and Home Shrine (Very interesting section.)
"Through darshan power, the guru is able to communicate with his disciples. Information is passed on these rays of darshan. Unfoldment is guided on these rays of darshan. A beginning student cannot feel the darshan. That means he is not inwardly connected or 'hooked in.' He does not have that open line. That is why the satguru often puts out some sort of intellectual book or pamphlets, to hold the intellect in check until the student goes deeper within. After deep study of the guru’s works, they then begin to feel his darshan occasionally from a distance, but not all the time.
"A devotee does not have to be with his guru physically all of the time to unfold as a beautiful flower on the path. But he does have to be with the satguru’s darshan all of the time, for that waters, protects, guides the unfoldment superconsciously. The guru is within him—not the physical presence of his teacher, however holy, but the divine spheres of his guru’s superconscious being. The law is, though, that only his guru can bring him into this realization fully and permanently.
"A temple can be prepared to emanate a certain kind of darshan as strong as, if not stronger than, a guru’s. When a Hindu temple is established, a satguru who has a strong darshan is invited to come and help the priests prepare the main altar in the temple, which initiates the flow of darshan and śakti. This is done through the use of actinodic force. Certain physical elements are magnetized with actinodic power within the shrine through the chanting of mantras and by various other means. This brings the vibratory state of the physical element that holds the new vibration to a high pitch. The darshan vibration penetrates the ethers.
"In a similar way, you have magnetized your clothing without realizing it with your personal vibration. A very sensitive 'medium' could be blindfolded and by holding in his hand a piece of your clothing identify it as yours and tell something about you. That is why a temple has to be visited with the proper attitude, for a minute part of your actinodic force is left in the temple as you stand in front of the altar feeling the darshan radiating from it. The altar darshan builds up over many, many years as devotees come and go and priests chant the sacred mantras, permeating the temple with this darshan force, storing it in a great battery which takes in and emanates out.
"Darshan is extremely important in spiritual unfoldment, because it catalyzes the crown chakra. It catalyzes the refined, superconscious being of man, energizing and strengthening it, in the very same way a violent or sensuous movie and the vibrations of the people sitting within the theater catalyze the lower chakras. Darshan catalyzes the crown chakra, the all-seeing-eye chakra, the universal-love chakra and the chakra of direct cognition in a similar way. That is why once a temple has been established, it should be approached and treated in a certain sensitive way to keep its darshan flowing strongly and profoundly. It builds in power through the years and stabilizes the spiritual unfoldment of all pilgrims who know of its existence, especially those who pilgrimage to the temple to be blessed by it.
"If you get a little cloudy, a little foggy, and karma becomes heavy to the point you feel you cannot handle it yourself, then you can tune into the temple darshan if you do not have a satguru, for it works much the same way.
"Each devotee should establish a shrine in his own home which is connected in vibration with the darshan of the temple, which is again connected with the guru who helped the priests begin the flow for the temple.
"The home shrine can bring through some of the vibration by your simply using the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and ether. This would be taught by the wise elders. This, then, is the cycle of darshan: from the satguru, the temple, the home shrine and back to you. If you want to begin a little shrine yourself, you need a stone blessed at the temple, which holds the vibration of the darshan there; and you have to reserve a space, preferably a private room. It must be neatly arranged and be clean and clear of worldly vibrations, a room set apart from all others. In it you must have the five vibrations occurring: earth, air, fire, water and ether, and it must be connected into the darshan of the temple."
Lesson 312:
"'Catching' The Darshan
"The advanced yoga adept can go inside himself through the practice of mahāyoga and awaken the flame at the top of his head and experience the five vibrations inside himself, deep within the psychic centers of the head, which is the inner temple. For the beginning meditator who has not done sādhana, this is difficult, and the outer temple and its darshan is a great aid. There are many catalysts on the path that aid in making you strong, so that you can lean on your own spine and bring through your own bliss. We must remember that the satguru is a helper on the path. His renunciate sannyāsins are also sometimes helpers, too. The meditator should not lean on his guru or the other disciples who may be stronger and more advanced in their sādhana. He must rely only on himself, lean on his own spine and unfold spiritually.
"In the ākāśa, all form exists in all phases of its manifestation. A mystic sculptor can take clay or stone and bring forth an image of the satguru. As soon as he feels the darshan coming through the form, he knows he is nearly finished. Everything is in one place. It’s only the physical two eyes doing such wonderful things as to make us think things are in different places in the conscious mind of time and distance. But everything in the ākāśic plane of consciousness is in one place. So, all the mystic sculptor has to do to get the satguru darshan is to make the form of the guru in the exact same way it already exists in the ākāśa when the darshan was the strongest at the highest point in his life on Earth.
"In a similar way, one can receive darshan through a picture of the satguru. The darshan does not really come from the picture, but from the ākāśa where the inner guru exists. The picture only acts as a point of concentration, but enough of a focal point to tune the devotee into the ākāśa at the exact moment, which is 'now,' when that picture was taken or painted and the exact feeling of the darshan at that particular time and its accumulated effect up to the present moment. Then the totality of the satguru’s darshan is felt.
"In intellectually knowing how the system of darshan works in many of its various phases, it is easy then to participate in it, and by meditating on some of these principles that I have outlined, you can catch the knack of it."
Interesting material.
Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day.
[End of transcript.]