Kundalini Yoga Workshop & Swami Dhirendra
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Brahmacharya – Sri Swami Sivananda
Brahmacharya (pronounced [brʌmatʃərɪə], Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य) whose literal meaning is under the tutelage of Brahman refers to a period of spiritual education in the traditional scheme of life in Hinduism that takes place during the teenage years. This period of time in which the student becomes inculcated in the mystical doctrine contained within the Upanishads is characterised above all else by the practice of strict celibacy. As such, in non-Hindu traditions (see nastika) Brahmacharya denotes a mode of life devoted to spiritual endeavour in which sexual continence is the guiding factor. A Brahmachari therefore is a male (and brahmacharini a female) who observes sexual abstinence unless intentionally procreating. These characteristics correspond to Western notions of the religious life as practised in monastic settings. Read More: > HERE <
Just like his life and his death the origin of Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari is shrouded in mystery. Some sources say that he was born in a respected Brahmana family of Chandpura, a small village in Bihar in Northern India. Others say that he came from a village in Kashmir. There are no records of the day of his birth, and during his lifetime the public was speculating about his real age. He never talked much about his past, but when he remebered his early childhood he used to say that he was a wild and naughty boy with a great sense for adventure, which often put him in difficult and dangerous situations. When he was twelve years old he started to read the Bhagavad Gita and he was deeply impressed when Krishna says to Arjuna: “The Yogin is verily superior to the Tapasvins (those observing austerities), Jnanins (the knowledge-ables) and Karmakandins (those who perform the ceremonial rites). Therefore you should try to become a Yogin!” So he decided to become a Yogi. From this moment he pursued this arduous path with great devotion and deep interest, and he left his family to search for a true Guru. During these years of wandering he met many masters and holy men, but in spite of his ardent efforts it seemed impossible to find the one personal Guru. Many so-called masters turned out to be charlatans or they were demanding a certain hairstyle or dress from him, changes which the stubborn young man wouldn`t accept.
After years of restless search he ended up in great poverty, and he seemed to be stranded. He said about this dark period of desperation: “I had completely lost the idea of a Guru, my mind was absolutely empty. But only when life becomes dark and black like a slate, you can start to write something new. Only where there is absolute emptiness you can fill in something new. Only when his own ideas are wiped out, man is ready to perceive and accept the Absolute. It is a balance between complete devotion and the openness for the Divine or even for what you can call its opposite.” While this struggle between light and darkness was in full swing, he finally met his Guru Maharshi Kartikeya, whose Ashram stood at Gopal-Khera, about twelve miles from Lucknow. There his Guru initiated him into the untold secrets of Yoga. He practiced Pranayama in an underground cave and reached a state of perfect mental equilibrum, which made him enter the realms of higher Yoga. Now he was a Swami, a Siddha and Yoga-Master, and he was directed by Maharshiji to propagate the Yogic Kriyas.
It was in the Bengal capital Calcutta that his first work “Yogic Sukshma Vyayama” was published in Hindi in 1956. Thereafter he came to Delhi and people of all walks of life and from all over the world were attracted to him to learn the yogic practices that he demonstrated.
He taught the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and was the yogic mentor to his daughter Indira Gandhi and her family. 1970 he published his second book “Yogasana Vijnana”, doubtless the best work ever about the correct practice of Yoga-Postures. Because of his extraordinary powers and his charismatic personality he became the counsellor and trustee of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and therefore a political issue. He was running big Ashrams in Delhi, Jammu, Katra and Mantalai (J & K), and thousands of people from all over the world were eager to learn from him.
In the year 1981 he was asked by some journalists if he would leave his body as old as his own Guru Maharshi Kartikeya, who entered Maha-Samadhi 1953 in the age of 336 years, while he was meditating with his favourite Chelas. He answered: “I would gladly do that, if I shouldn`t die in a plane-crash.”
The Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye). Sanata-sujata continued: The primary Seed (of the universe), called Mahayasas, is destitute of accidents, is pure Knowledge, and blazes with effulgence. It leads the senses, and it is in consequence of that Seed that Surya (sun) shines. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye). It is in consequence of that Seed (which is Joy’s self) that Brahman becomes capable of Creation and it is through it that Brahman increases in expansion. It is that Seed that entering into luminous bodies gives light and heat. Without deriving its light and heat from any other thing it is self-luminous, and is an object of terror to all luminous bodies.
The Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The body composed of the five grosser elements, that are themselves sprung from the five subtler ones, – the latter, in their turn, originating in one homogeneous substance called Brahman – is upheld (realised) in consciousness by both the creature-Soul endued with life and Iswara. (These two, during sleep and the universal dissolution, are deprived of consciousness).
[Note: The term ‘Iswara’ is explained on Page ‘Nature of Reality’].
Brahman on the other hand, which is never bereft of consciousness and which is the sun’s Sun, upholds both these two and also the Earth and the Heaven. The Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The Seed upholds the two gods, the Earth and the Heaven, the Directions, and the whole universe. It is from that Seed that directions (points of the compass) and rivers spring, and the vast seas also have derived their origin. The Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The body is like a car destined to destruction. Its acts, however, are undying. Tied to the wheels of that car (which are represented by the acts of past lives), the senses, that as steeds (horses), lead, through the region of consciousness, the man of wisdom towards that increate and unchangeable One, that One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The form of that One cannot be displayed by any comparison. None ever beholds Him by the eye. They that know Him by the rapt faculties, the mind, and the heart, become freed from death. The Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The stream of illusion is terrible; guarded by the gods, it has twelve fruits. Drinking of its waters and beholding many sweet things in its midst, men swim along it to and fro. This stream flows from that Seed. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Destined to sojourn to and fro, the creature-Soul, having reflected enjoys (in the other world) only half of the fruits of his acts. It is that creature-Soul which is Iswara, pervading everything in the universe. It is Iswara that has ordained sacrifices. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Souls divested of accidents, resorting to Avidya, which is like unto a tree of golden foliage, assume accidents, and take births in different orders according to their propensities. That Eternal One endued with Divinity (in whom all those souls are united) is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Accidents (which coming in contact with Brahman make the latter assume many forms) raise the universe in its Fullness from that Brahman which is full. Those accidents also, in their Fullness, arise from Brahman in its Fullness. When one succeeds in dispelling all accidents from Brahman, which is ever Full, that which remains is Brahman in its Fullness.
[Note: Compare the peace invocation from Isa Upanishad: Om Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat Purnamudachyate, Purnasya Purnamaadaaya Purnamevaavashishyate. Meaning: Om, That (Supreme Brahman) is infinite, and this (conditioned Brahman) is infinite. The infinite (conditioned Brahman) proceeds from the infinite (Supreme Brahman). (Then through Knowledge), taking the infinite of the infinite (conditioned Brahman), it remains as the infinite (unconditioned Brahman) alone.]. (Translated by Swami Gambhirananda, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati).
That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
It is from that Seed that the five elements have arisen, and it is in it that the power resides for controlling them. It is from that Seed that both the consumer and the consumed (called Agni and Soma) have sprung, and it is in it that the living organism with the senses rest. Everything should be regarded to have sprung from it. That Seed called in the Vedas TATH (Tad), we are unable to describe. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The vital air called Apana is swallowed up by the Air called Prana; Prana is swallowed up by the Will, and the Will by the Intellect, and the Intellect by the Supreme Soul. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The Supreme Soul endued with four legs, called respectively Waking, Dream, profound Sleep, and Turiya [Note: see Page ‘Consciousness – the three states’], like unto a swan, treading above the unfathomable ocean of worldly affairs does not put forth one leg that is hid deep. Unto him that beholds that leg (viz., Turiya) as put forth for the purpose of guiding the other three, both death and emancipation are the same. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Of the measure of the thumb, ever Full, and different from this eternal organism, coming in contact with the Vital airs, the Will, the Intellect, and the ten Senses, it moves to and fro. That Supreme Controller, worthy of reverential hymns, capable of everything when vested with accidents and the prime cause of everything, is manifest as knowledge in creature-Souls. Fools alone do not behold Him; that Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Among individuals there are those that have obtained the mastery of their minds, and those that have not. Yet in all men the Supreme Soul may be seen equally. Indeed, it resides equally in him that is emancipate and in him that is not, with only this difference that they that are emancipate obtain honey flowing in a thick jet. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
When one makes life’s sojourn, having attained to the knowledge of Self and Not-Self, then it matters little whether his Agni-hotra (sacred fire ceremony) is performed or not. O monarch, let not such words as ‘I am thy servant’ fall from their lips.
The Supreme Soul has another name, viz., Pure Knowledge.
They only that have restrained their minds obtain Him. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Even such is He. Illustrious and Full, all living creatures are merged into Him. He that knows that embodiment of fullness attains to his object (emancipation) even here. That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye)
That which flies away stretching forth thousands of wings, yea, if endued with the speed of the mind, must yet come back to the Central Spirit within the living organism (in which the most distant things reside).
That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
His form cannot be an object of sight. They only, that are of pure hearts, can behold Him. When one seeks the good of all, succeeds in controlling his mind, and never suffers his heart to be affected by grief, then he is said to have purified his heart. Those again that can abandon the world and all its cares, become immortal. (That Supreme Soul which is undying), – that Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Like serpents concealing themselves in holes, there are persons who following the dictates of their preceptors, or by their own conduct conceal their vices from scrutiny’s gaze. They that are of little sense are deceived by these. In fact, bearing themselves outwardly without any impropriety, these deceive their victims for leading them to hell. (Him, therefore, who may be attained by companionship with persons of the very opposite class), – that Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
He that is emancipate thinks: ‘This transitory organism can never make me liable to joy and grief and the other attributes inhering to it: nor can there be, in my case, anything like death and birth: and further, when Brahman, which has no opposing force to contend against and which is alike in all times and all places, constitutes the resting-place of both realities and unrealities, how can emancipation be mine? It is I alone that am the origin and the end of all causes and effects’.
(Existing in the form of I or Self) that Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
The Brahman-knowing person, who is equal unto Brahman itself, is neither glorified by good acts nor defiled by bad ones. It is only in ordinary men that acts, good or bad, produce different results. The person that knows Brahman should be regarded as identical with Amrita or the state called Kaivalya (transcendental state of Absolute Independence) which is incapable of being affected by either virtue or vice. One should, therefore, disposing his mind in the way indicated, attain to that essence of sweetness (Brahman). That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
Slander grieves not the heart of the person that knows Brahman nor the thought ‘I have not studied (the Vedas), or, I have not performed my Agni-hotra.’ The knowledge of Brahman soon imparts to him that wisdom which they only obtain who have restrained their mind. (That Brahman which frees the Soul from grief and ignorance) That Eternal One endued with Divinity is beheld by Yogis (by their mental eye).
He, therefore, that beholds his own Self in everything, has no longer to grieve, for they have to grieve who are employed in diverse other occupations of the world. As one’s purposes (appeasing thirst etc.) may be served in a well as in a large reservoir or vast expanse, so the various purposes of the Vedas may all be derivable by him that knows the Soul. Dwelling in the heart, and of the measure of the thumb, that illustrious One – the embodiment of Fullness – is not an object of sight. Unborn He moves, awake day and night. He that knows Him, becomes both learned and full of joy. I am called the mother and father. I am again the son. Of all that was, and of all that we will be, I am the Soul, O Bharata, I am the old grandsire, I am the father, I am the son. Ye are staying in my soul, yet ye are not mine, nor am I yours! The Soul is the cause of my birth and procreation. I am the warp and woof of the universe. That upon which I rest is indestructible. Unborn I move, awake day and night. It is I knowing whom one becomes both learned and full of joy. Subtler than the subtle, of excellent eyes capable of looking into both the past and the future, Brahman is awake in every creature.
They that know Him know that Universal Father dwells in the heart of every created thing.
http://www.hinduism.co.za/sanat-su.htm#Brahmacharya
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