YOGA IN A NUTSHELL - Part 3

Sayings Of Siva

Nitya Sukha and Parama Santi can be had only in God. God is in your heart. He is in you and you are in Him. Just feel His Presence. Through Bhranti caused by the mind, pain is mistaken for pleasure. Everyone in this world runs after pleasure and tries to get rid of pain. Sensual enjoyment is attended with various defects.

Maya binds people through affection, love, tenderness, respect, present, etc. Human love is selfish and hypocritical. As everything is unreal in this world, treat love and respect as poison. Live alone and enjoy the Atmic Bliss in your heart.

Only the man who is spiritually thirsty will drink the Nectar of Immortality. In the presence of sensual pleasures, Atmic Bliss cannot be had. There is no way of overhauling the vicious, worldly persons other than the personal contact of a Guru. Work is a help for beginners and hindrance for advanced persons in meditation. Mind is only a bundle of Samskaras, ideas, habits, impulses, thoughts and emotions. Many have fallen from Yoga by the influence of subtle desires.

The most difficult thing in this world is concentration. Mental purity is of paramount importance for Self-realisation. Memory of the past retards an aspirant’s spiritual advancement. A gross mind with selfishness and lust is absolutely unfit for a spiritual life. Conversations On Yoga

Q. What will give peace of mind to those who are materially poor.

A. Peace of mind for one and all can be had only by realising God. One should not identify himself with the perishable body, but should feel that he is Atman. Then and then alone, he will have Parama Santi.

Q. What is the right way of praying to God and how far is it possible for an ordinary man to
pray like that?

A. The main thing to be looked to while praying to the Lord is one’s mental Bhava. There should be no selfish motive. Pray to God for purity, devotion, light and knowledge. You will get these things. Pray in any way you like. Become as simple as a child. Open freely the chambers of your heart. Have no cunningness. Every man can and should adopt this attitude.

Q. What is the real aim of education?

A. Education should teach the pupils to love God and man. Education should instruct the students, to be truthful, morally sound, fearless, humble, and merciful. Education should teach the students to practise right conduct, right thinking, right living, right action, self-sacrifice and to attain knowledge of the Self. The main purpose of education must be to make man a realMANwith all divine attributes.

Q. What is expected from a teacher in the Elementary School?

A. A teacher is expected to impart real education to the students, as mentioned in the answer above.

Q. Do you really believe that unless I leave my wife and children I will never obtain Mukti?

A. Celibacy is a great desideratum for the path of Yoga. Though it is in no way necessary for you to abandon home, wife and children, yet you would be well advised to reduce all carnal relationship with your partner to the minimum. Married life, if lived in a perfect ideal manner, is no bar to the attainment of Mukti. Mukti is a question of sincere, earnest Sadhana and the Grace of the Lord.

From - Yoga in Daily Life