Total Surrender, Part Three
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: Description: Gurudeva explains: "Spiritual unfoldment is not a process of awakening the higher chakras, but of closing the chakras below the muladhara." The only thing that keeps the lower chakras closed is regular sadhana, japa, worship and working within oneself. The Gods are the controllers of these force centers within man. Advaita Īśvaravâda, Śaiva Siddhânta doctrine of Monistic Theism. At this time in the Kali Yuga, all states of consciousness, are out in the open. All of the fourteen chakras are manifest in one way or another on Earth. A ripe time for spiritual unfoldment. When in a state of bhakti yoga—yoked with the Divine through love—meditation is natural, and one can “soar within” with ease. There are no barriers where love is concerned. The bloom of bhakti softens the heart and relaxes the intellect.
Transcription:
Good morning everyone. We are continuing "Merging with Siva" Chapter 21 entitled "Total Surrender" from 1990. And we're starting with a commentary on last phase's lesson on the lower chakras. I'm going to read the two paragraphs from last weeks lesson [144] and then the commentary before we start today's lesson.
"We can see that coming up through the lower chakras is quite an ordeal. (That's for sure.) But once the individual goes through the fear chakra, he comes to Lord Gaṇeśa’s feet and enters the realms of memory and reason, clarity and understanding.
"It is at this point in the unfoldment through the chakras, which is a journey of consciousness, that he would begin thinking of others and seek to benefit them more than himself. From here on, the path of spiritual unfoldment is not as ominous as it was before. There are no threatening areas, except that it is possible to fall back into lower consciousness."
So commentary:
When it comes to climbing the ladder of consciousness and experiencing higher states of consciousness, modern teachers generally focus on stimulating your higher chakras, perhaps in as short a period as a weekend seminar. Gurudevas teachings differ from this approach. Instead, we focus first on closing off the seven lower chakras the seats of fear, anger, malice, etc. Gurudeva explains: "Spiritual unfoldment is not a process of awakening the higher chakras, but of closing the chakras below the muladhara. Once this happens, the aspirants consciousness slowly expands into the higher chakras, which are always there. The only thing that keeps the lower chakras closed is regular sadhana, japa, worship and working within oneself. This is demonstrated by the fact that even great yogis and rishis who have awakened into the higher chakras continue to do more and more sadhana."
(So that's an interesting, I mean it's a central point in Gurudeva's approach to the chakras).
"Spiritual unfoldment is not a process of awakening the higher chakras, but of closing the chakras below the muladhara.They are constantly working to keep the forces flowing through the higher centers so that the lower ones do not claim their awareness."
"Through sadhana, worship and working within ourself, we strengthen our refined, magnanimous soul qualities and harness our coarse, instinctive nature. As Gurudeva observed, The fact is, the higher we go, the lower we can fall. The platform of character must be built within our lifestyle to maintain the total contentment needed to persevere on the path."
And now we start the new lesson.
Friday, Lesson 145
"Stewards of Mind Realms (Interesting title.)
"The Gods are the controllers of these force centers within man. They live in the innermost areas of form. To enter the mūlādhāra chakra, the aspirant must go through Lord Gaṇeśa. And when the aspirant progresses to the maṇipūra chakra, Gaṇeśa will introduce him to Lord Murugan. Once this is accomplished, the devotee will worship Lord Murugan as the Be-All and End-of-All, just as Gaṇeśa was worshiped when consciousness was in His chakras. Lord Murugan is the controller of the maṇipūra chakra, the chakra of willpower, and the two chakras above it, direct cognition and universal love. Now we can begin to see that the aspirant has to proceed in consciousness through the three chakras that Lord Murugan controls and meet all the tests before this God will introduce him to Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva’s realm is chakras number six, seven and beyond. The aspirant still must go completely through the chakras of Lord Śiva’s realm to become Śivaness—to experience His all-pervasiveness, and on into the essence of all essences, Paraśiva. The aspirant who dearly loves Lord Śiva must finally go beyond Śiva’s personal aspect to reach the impersonal side, and this is why, when he finally emerges from Paraśiva, he is really a true bhaktar.
"He is the true monistic theist. In the world of duality, theism is in itself a duality. Theism is very compatible with the mind of man, which is duality itself. Monism, on the other hand, is beyond the mind itself. Monism is timeless, formless, and it is spaceless as well. True monism cannot be conceived by the mind. Yet, the mind does know of the existence."
So then a commentary to remind us about Monistic Theism.
Definition, Monistic Theism: Advaita Īśvaravâda.
(So, as a reminder, vâda means doctrine, Īśvara is the theism and advaita is the monism. So the doctrine of Monistic Theism.)
Monism is the doctrine that reality is a one whole or existence without independent parts. Theism is the belief that God exists as a real, conscious, personal Supreme Being. Monistic theism is the dipolar doctrine, also called panentheism, that embraces both monism and theism, two perspectives ordinarily considered contradictory or mutually exclusive, since theism implies dualism. Monistic theism simultaneously accepts that God has a personal form, that He creates, pervades and is all that exists—and that He ultimately transcends all existence and that the soul is, in essence, one with God. Advaita Siddhânta (monistic Śaiva Siddhânta, or Advaita Īśvaravâda Śaiva Siddhânta) is a specific form of monistic theism.
Back to the text:
"When the devotee has proven himself, the Gods begin to take notice. We meet a God as we go up through the chakras above the mūlādhāra. We meet an asura as we go down through the chakras below the mūlādhāra. A God appears as each higher chakra breaks open. As the mūlādhāra opens and awareness comes through it, we encounter Gaṇeśa. When we experience fear and anger, we meet and are influenced by the asuras of fear and anger. In the chakra that governs confused and selfish thinking, we meet and are influenced by the asura who rules this realm. Descending to the still lower chakras of petty theft, fraud and stealing, grand larceny, murder and violence, we would meet professionals in these areas. There are always inner Gods and outer Gods, for each chakra is a realm of consciousness with its own inner and outer hierarchy.
"A chakra is a world, a sphere of consciousness. There are astral helpers and physical-plane helpers connected to each chakra. These spheres of consciousness do interrelate. A mentally healthy individual is functional in about three chakras, or spheres of consciousness, at a time. A person with severe mental problems would be in a single sphere of consciousness and could not deal with things that happened to him outside that area of the mind, or chakra.
"When you meet the God or asura of a particular realm, it would always be a conscious meeting, but you may not always see the God or the asura. His presence would certainly be felt. Some symbol would appear, such as an image of Lord Gaṇeśa, or of Lord Śiva. A lot of people are open to Śivaness now and see Him through His images. Terrorists are seeing their asura gods in their guns, explosives and other weapons.
"At this time in the Kali Yuga, all states of consciousness are out in the open All of the fourteen chakras are manifest in one way or another on Earth. It is a very intense time on the planet, and likewise a ripe time for spiritual unfoldment."
Lesson 146
"How Bhakti Is Cultivated
"Once a person rises in consciousness out of the chakras below the mūlādhāra, and the foundation of bhakti has been laid, then going into refined states of mind through meditation becomes easy. This is because devotion has removed the barriers. Those who love each other can communicate easily. The devotee who has reverence for a temple and devotion for the Gods within it can communicate easily with those Gods. Bhakti yoga is love on all levels of consciousness—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Bhakti yoga makes us feel good. When in a state of bhakti yoga—yoked with the Divine through love—meditation is natural, and one can “soar within” with ease. There are no barriers where love is concerned.
"The greatest inhibiting factor in practicing bhakti yoga is the doubting, cynical, intellectual mind. Doubt and skepticism harden the heart and narrow the mind. People in this state cannot really become devotees until their heart softens and their tense intellect relaxes. They must fulfill the sādhana of reconciliation, which is to go before each person they know and worship that person as a God. This sādhana is done in meditation. The devotee has to meet each one by bringing up the person’s face before him and sending kind thoughts and blessings of prāṇa. This must be done time and time again until love comes into the heart for each of them. Only after this sādhana has been accomplished will bhakti begin to bloom in the heart. The bloom of bhakti softens the heart and relaxes the intellect."
Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day.
[End of transcript.]