Satyam Gyanam Anandam Society UK E-Magazine March 2006

* SGAS UK * March 2006 * ISSUE NO: 5 *

Editorial

Dear Readers,

With sheer pleasure we cherish your interest in our monthly e-magazine. We owe its existence to our venerable spiritual master His Holiness Swami Paramananda, who founded SGAS UK and who has dedicated his whole life to help all seekers of Truth.

Swami Paramananda welcomes every seeker, irrespective of cultural backgrounds, to join our meditation group. Having known the Truth, Swamiji proclaims that the transformation of human beings' flaws is through the process of meditation; because meditation anticipates awareness. In return, awareness is the purgatorial flame that has the capacity to annihilate one’s state of unconsciousness.

We cannot deny the fact that the world is shrinking into the pit of unconsciousness as time is elapsing – whose aftermath is war, crime, rape, hatred, racism, demagogy and many other societal inconveniences. Nevertheless, this whole series of problems can only reach a point of resolution if each person develops a sense of pristine consciousness devoid of any virulence. Henceforth, this is only possible through the science of meditation. Meditation transforms the mind to a higher state of consciousness by inculcating more peace, happiness, stamina, wisdom and selfless love.

The practice of meditation is not possible without an enlightened master and SGAS UK was recently blessed with the visit of Swami Paramananda from the 20^th to the 27^th of March. He spent three days at the Kent Showground in Maidstone. The three-day holistic fair had a positive outcome as people from different geographical locations and cultural identities could interact with the Master. His Holiness’ presence at the holistic fair, apart from being productive, was also a profound mystical learning experience for everyone who talked to the master. His workshop on meditation was a success as those who attended, extracted a sense of well-being and happiness from the core of the bestowed meditation techniques.

If you are interested to delve in the mysteries of knowing yourself by discovering your microcosmic entity and its relationship to the macrocosmic by drinking the nectar of bliss, please do not hesitate to contact us. We currently run group meditation classes every fortnight coupled with live video conferencing with His Holiness Swami Paramananda. Group meditation undoubtedly has tremendous vibrations and is highly recommended for seekers in their journey of inner transformation. Should you have any queries on regular group meditation sessions, you are welcome to email the master at sgas@intnet.mu

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Editing Team

Life is a Meditation

What is life and its purpose? What are human beings? What is God? What is good and what is evil? These questions are the core of philosophy. Volumes have been written to answer them. Sects, religions and many other forms of organisations have found the day to debate over the nature of the soul, creation and other such issues. It is not possible for human beings to evade such types of questions. However, it is a different matter altogether that very rarely do a few people embark in their depth to find an answer.

Amongst those who delve deeply, most of them abandon. “It’s all mystery,” they say. But there has always been a few from this very planet who have dedicated themselves absolutely to know the truth. Fortunately for us, they have come back to give a few hints that have always been of great help. What people call religion is also a hint given by those who have been enlightened in regard to the above-mentioned questions.

Is it possible to really know without first being curious, then starting to question and to seek? But where and how to seek? Study, which to my mind means to observe and to reflect deeply, is the best way to start the journey onto the real nature of life. Belief or disbelief is a barrier and should therefore be shunned. Curiosity, doubt, seeking and observation are independent tools. Whatever has been achieved till now, be it on the material or the spiritual level, is the consequence of the above virtues.

The very nature of life pulls us towards meditation. By meditation, I mean curiosity, enquiry, observation, wonder and reflection. How can one remain insensible to the glittering stars in the firmament, the laws of physics, the masterpiece of nature on the biological and other levels! Do not the exploitation of humans and atrocities perpetrated on them by their own kind create a shivering sensation in our fibres? If Mother Parvati seated on the lap of Shiva cannot resist asking questions like “What is this wonderful Universe?”, then can we remain deaf and blind to the marvel and stunning design of the cosmos? Certainly, we are not all blind, cold-hearted and insensible.

Science is born out of awe, wonder, curiosity and need. The same applies to religion too. But while science is a pilgrimage for knowledge of the external world, religion is a pilgrimage for the essence of the world via the human being himself. The result of scientific research is knowledge and technology, whereas the fruit of religion is bliss, peace, eternal life, transcendence, God-realisation and innumerable other virtues. Both are a science and both are important, but only a few undertake the inner journey. Before one is urged into taking the journey towards the Ultimate Truth, much reflection on the different aspects of life is needed. The amount of time allotted to us in one incarnation is just the amount we need for meditation and realisation of the purpose of our human life. The sages rightly say not to lose time in vain pursuits as time waits for no man. Every moment is to be used wisely. Every action conceals a great amount of knowledge that may be helpful to us for the inner journey. Even our basic instincts can be used as fuel for the mind to attain deep meditation.

Life is like a university. Here one incarnation represents one stage, the subjects of study are Man, God and Universe. Learning can be done joyously or seriously depending on a number of factors like temperament, karma and other dispositions. We always have to learn about new technologies in order to survive and to live comfortably. We have to face natural calamities like drought, famine, earthquake and so on. Thus our learning never ceases. Without a solid material background, it may not be possible to seek and experience the bliss, peace and immortality of the soul. This is the ultimate aim of human life.

Remember the adage: learning never ends. Indeed, life is a great subject of meditation. Poor are those who do not have any interest in learning the lessons of life. One is old when, though possessing a young body, has stopped learning and is not curious about the nature of life. On the other hand, one is indeed young when one is always ready to learn and is seeking to know more about life.

Thinking : Positive and Negative

Thinking is neither positive nor negative in itself, it is a mental capacity gifted to us by Mother Nature for our material and spiritual evolution. It helps us much more in the material field than in the spiritual one, where it is of no use. On the spiritual journey it is non-thinking that helps. In fact, to start the spiritual journey one has to train the mind to stop thinking, but instead to feel, to perceive and to become aware. These are different from thinking, or if you wish, it is thinking without mind as Osho puts it.

What is positive and negative thinking? Can one think positively without being positive? Being positive or negative in thinking depends on the state of our minds. What is a mental state or mental set-up? What is mind itself? Without knowing all these, it is not of much use to talk about positive and negative thinking. Today people exhort us to think positively and shun negative thinking. In fact, anyone can easily say this and even those whose thinking is negative know it, yet how many people understand what it is really and why it is so.

It is irrational and unscientific to simply tell people not to be angry or to control their anger without explaining what anger is. Similarly, it is also irrational and unscientific to tell people to be positive in their thinking without knowing the psychology of the mind. Without understanding oneself and life it is not possible to be positive. One may try to be positive mechanically simply because in human society it is not good to be negative because the religions have said so. And to fit in society, one has to appear more intelligent and holier than the other. But spontaneous positive ness is quite different from what people call positive thinking. It springs from love and awakening or understanding. It is a state of a pure mind or a grateful mind, not a complaining mind.

Human nature is such that one always complains about things that one does not have and seldom one expresses gratitude for things that one possesses. People are on the lookout to grumble about things that they are not given. The way most people live has become a source of suffering for their neighbours, society and the world at large. This is so because everyone is incredibly egocentric and by being egocentric, one simply cannot be positive either in action or in mind. Deep observation will reveal the fact that many of the so-called benefactors help others in order to obtain something in return.

Life is such a beauty, such an incredible source of power. Each human being is a universe in himself and yet see the result all-around from ignoring this ultimate truth! On the absolute plane, mind is Pure Consciousness, while on the relative plane it is a desire to grow, to expand and be itself. Desire springs from the mind because of its notion of separation from the one consciousness, which is its ultimate possibility. It is desire that has made it pass through innumerable animal and human bodies. In the human body, desire continues to draw the mind to the external world. Today man is a slave of this most powerful capacity of the mind. Desire blinds the mind; it pollutes the senses and leads to anger, greed, lust, hatred and jealousy.

Let us not forget that between our desires and the objects of our desires there is the whole world, and anyone or anything coming in between is not welcome. Then how can one become positive in this world when desire and nothing but desire is being inflamed by the sense objects constantly. The mind is constantly being exposed to objects of senses via the ten senses. In this way the mind is being fed to create more desires, thus it is said that desires are infinite.

So long as we have a mind with the notion of separation from the One, desires will not end. It is only when desires cease that the mind becomes calm and lucid, and a calm and lucid mind is boundless and blissful consciousness vibrant with infinite virtues. Only such a mind can always be positive. Cessation of desires brings creativity and creativity comes when one is bubbling with energy, not when one is bubbling with thoughts.

It is generally believed that without desire there cannot be progress, but this is a gross misunderstanding. One may transcend desires, but can we stop having needs? Our needs have to be fulfilled and when we are creative we are more intelligent. Each one of us manifests a different aspect of intelligence and creativity. One individual may be creative and intelligent in sports and another one in technology. With the dissolution of desire these different capacities of the mind do not disappear. On the contrary, they increase and become more obvious.

Let it be clear that I am not against desire, but desire is a sign that we are not fulfilled and complete, while fundamentally we are already so. When the mind is focused inside then this realisation dawns upon us and there is no need for any desire. Negative thinking emanates from unconsciousness, which reacts with the outside world to give rise to more desires, from where spring innumerable evil traits and thus negative thinking and attitude. Hence let us take care of the mind: positive thinking will happen naturally.

Thoughts are waves of energy that rise from the depth of the mind and manifest externally as actions, which become habits that form our character. These waves released by the mind travel outside our body. Like radio and other types of waves they are present everywhere in space and can be caught by any individual as the mind does not only emit but also receives thought waves. People are always receiving thought waves from outside themselves and many times they are influenced by them. Today there are much negative thought waves, which not only influence the life of people, but the whole environment. Thought waves are like a packet of energy and energy does influence matter. The first thing that is influenced by our thought wave is the brain itself and through it the whole body. Therefore the sayings ‘change your thought to change your life’ or ‘you are what you think’ are not false.