MANTRA SADHANA
ALL MANTRA SADHANAS FALL INTO THREE CATEGORIES. THE FIRST IS CALLED NITYA KARMA. NITYA MEANS SOMETHING THAT'S DONE ROUTINELY. NITYA KARMA IS LIKE ATTENDING SCHOOK, YOU PUT ON A UNIFORM, GO THERE AND MARK YOUR PRESENCE. THOUGH IN ITSELF THIS HAS SOME RELEVANCE, IT DOESN'T MEAN MUCH PER SE. BUT YOU GO TO SCHOOL, GET FAMILIAR WITH THE LEARNING ENVIRONEMNT, SEE OTHER CHILDREN, AND SO ON.
NITYA KARMA IS WHAT A SEEKER DOES ON A REGULAR BASIS, IT IS REFRESHING YOUR MIND, PRACTICING WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW, EVERY DAY.
RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHANSA HAD THREE GURUS, ONE OF HIS GURUS WAS NAGA SAINT NAMED TOTAPURI.
RAMAKRISHNA ONCE ASKED HIM, YOU HAVE ATTAINED NIRVIKALPA SAMADHI, THAT RARE AND ARGUABLY THE HIGHEST FORM OR EMANCIPATION. WHY, THEN, DO YOU STILL MEDITATE?
YOU SEE THAT WATER POT? TOTAPURI POINTED TO HIS WATER POT, WHICH WAS MADE OF BRASS, AND SAID, IF YOU DON'T WASH IT DAILY, IT GATHERS STAINS AND SPOTS. THEREFORE, I MEDITATE A LITTLE EVERY DAY TO SUSTAIN THE PURIFICATION THAT I HAVE DONE WITH INTENSE SADHANA.
YOU SHOULD MAKE WHAT YOU DO SITTING IN FRONR OF AN ALTAR PART OF YOUR ROUTINE, MAKE IT YOUR DAILY DISCIPLINE SO THAT YOU REFRESH WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW. THAT, HOWEVER, DOES NOT USUALLY GIVE YOU THE POWER YOU MAY NEED FROM MANTRAS FOR CERTAIN ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
FOR THAT, THERE IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF A SADHANA CALLED NAIMITTIKA KARMA. AND IT IS WHAT REALLY DIFFERENTIATES AN ASCETIC, AN ADEPT FROM AN AVERAGE SEEKER.
NAIMITTIKA KARMA IS SOMETHING THAT IS DONE WITH A SPECIFIC PURPOSE IN MIND. DOING NAIMITTIKA KARMA ENTAILS DEVOTING A CERTAIN TIME FOR YOUR SADHANA. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU COULD SAY, I AM GOING TO CHANT THIS MANTRA OVER THE NEXT 40 DAYS, 1,25,000 TIMES, OR I AM GOING TO CHANT IT 2,00,000 TIMES OR 40,000 TIMES, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. IT IS LIKE A FIXED DEPOSIT IN YOUR SPIRITUAL BANK ACCOUNT. WHAT YOU DO DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME IS WHAT YOU ACCUMULATE FOR FUTURE USE.
WHEN YOU DO NAIMITTIKA KARMA, YOU WILL GAIN SOME ENERGY FROM YOUR CHANTING. ONE OF THE COMMON MISTAKE THAT PEOPLE MAKE WITH MANTRA SADHANA IS THAT THEY BECOME EAGER TO USE IT. I WILL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, I WASN'T THINKING OF CITING IT EARLIER, BUT IT IS SURELY RELEVANT.
IN 1999, I INITIATED A VERY NICE PERSON, A HOUSEHOLDER, INTO A SPECIFIC MANTRA. LET'S CALL HIM TARUN.
SOMEWHERE, I SAID TO HIM, I'M TAKING A RISK BY INITIATING YOU IN THIS MANTRA. THE ONLY THING I ASK OF YOU IS THAT PLEASE DON'T USE IT WITHOUT CONSULTING ME. THERE IS A REASON I AM TELLING YOU THIS, BECAUSE ONE DAY YOU WILL NEED IF FOR SOMETHING IN YOUR FAMILY, FOR ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN.
YES, BUT WE'LL NEED THE ENERGY OF THIS MANTRA.
ABOUT EIGHT YEARS LATER, ONE OF HIS COUSIN'S UNCLES, AN OLD MAN, FELL GRAVELY ILL. TARUN WENT TO SEE HIM AT THE HOSPITAL AND COULDN'T BEAR TO SEE HIM SUFFERING. HE ASKED ME IF HE COULD USE THE MANTRA TO HELP THE OLD MAN, SO HE COULD LEAVE THIS WORLD PEACEFULLY.
THIS SOUL'S DEPARTURE IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME, I REPLIED,SAVE THIS POWER, YOU WILL NEED IT, BUT HE COULDN'T CONTAIN HIMSELF. IN HIS NEXT VISIT, HE SAW HIS COUSIN CRYING, AND THE UNCLE IN GREAT PAIN AND HE SAT THERE AND APPLIED THE MANTRA. THIS WAS IN THE MORNING.
AT AROUND 3 PM, THE SAME DAY, HIS UNCLE LEFT HIS BODY. I AM SORRY, TARUN SAID TO ME OVER THE PHONE, BUT I COULD NOT RESIST USING THE MANTRA. SINCE I DID NOT USE IF FOR MY OWN BENEFIT- AFTER ALL, I HELPED SOMEBODY - SO I THINK IT SHOULD BE ALL RIGHT.
WHILE IT IS NOT UNTRUE THAT YOU USED THE ENERGY OF THE MANTRA FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, IT'S NOT ENTIRELY TRUE EITHER, BECAUSE YOU USED IT OUT OF SENSE OF ATTACHMENT, I CONTENDED. THERE WERE OTHER PATIENTS IN THE HOSPITAL. YOU DID NOT GO TO THEM AND SAY, I AM LIBERATING YOU. YOU HELPED SOMEBODY TO WHOM YOU WERE ATTACHED, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. SO WHILE THAT IS COMMENDABLE, IT WAS NOT ENTIRELY SELFLESS. YOUR EMOTIONS GOT THE BETTER OF YOU, AND YOU USED YOUR ENERGT JUST LIKE THAT.
FAST-FORWARD A FEW YEARS, AND A YOUNG PERSON IN HIS FAMILY WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER. FORTUNATELY, WITH THE RIGHT MEDICAL AND SPIRITUAL INTERVENTION, THIS STORM PASSED.
WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. UNCLE BEN IN SPIDERMAN SAID THAT - ONE WISE FELLOW.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO ACCUMULATE ENERGY, YOU ALSO HAVE A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY TO NOT USE IT JUST FOR YOURSELF. IT WOULD BE IDEAL ALSO SO CONFINE YOURSELF TO USING IT FOR THOSE TO WHOM YOU ARE NOT CONNECTED, OR AT LEAST USE IT FOR THOSE TO WHOM YOU ARE NOT CONNECTED, OR ATLEAST USE IT FOR SOME PEOPLE WHOM YOU DO NOT KNOW. THIS REQUIRES GREAT MINDFULLNESS, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND, EVERYBODY IS DISTURBED OR IN PAIN IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. EVERYONE IS IN NEED. HOW YOU INTERVENE MAKES A GREAT IDEAL OF DIFFERENCE TO YOURS AS WELL AS THAT PERSON'S LIFE, BECAUSE IF YOU ARE TO YOURS AS WELL AS THAT PERSON'S LIFE BECAUSE IF YOU ARE INTERFERING IN THE PLAY OF NATURE, SOMEWHERE, YOU MUST PAY THE PRICE. YOUR INTERVENTION HAS TO BE DONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH NATURE, WHICH IS PART OF NAIMITTIKA KARMA.
UNDER NAIMITTIKA KARMA IS A CONCEPT CALLED PURUSHCHARANA. PURUSHCHARANA IS INVOKING A MANTRA AND SAVING ITS ENERGY FOR FUTURE USE. IT IS ALWAYS DONE OVER A SPECIFIC PERIOD OF TIME, AND LATER IN THIS BOOK, I SHARE THE STEPS OF PURUSHCHARANA. ONCE YOU HAVE DONE THE PURUSHCHARANA, YOU HAVE ACCUMULATED THE NECESSARY SPIRITUAL WEALTH. THEN, THE THIRD STEP IS KAMYA PRAYOGA.
KAMYA MEANS DESIRED OR DESIRABLE AND PRAYOGA MEANS APPLICATION. WHEN YOU USE A MANTRA FOR A CERTAIN APPLICATION, THAT IS KAMYA PRAYOGA. OF THESE THREE ASPECTS OF MANTRA SCIENCE, THE SECOND, NAIMITTIKA KARMA, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THIS BOOK.
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