* SGAS UK * September 2006 * ISSUE NO: 11 *

  Editorial

Dear Readers,

Hope that the words of wisdom reaching you every month are already bringing an insight of what meditation is.  Meditation encompasses a pool of infinite bliss, love, silence, peace, harmony and above all supreme consciousness that leads to inner transformation.

Even though some people believe there are various forms of meditation, it can be said that there is only one meditation – one based on silence, whereby the mind stays in the present. In this moment of silence the doer is able to direct his energy to only one focal point and be “no-minded”.  The no-minded state may appear difficult but there are several techniques leading to that state and only an enlightened being can show us the path.

Henceforth, when one meditates, one becomes more focussed – leading to an expansion of one’s intelligence and perception of reality.

Its art and know-how can be acquired at SGAS UK whereby the preceptor is Swami Paramananda.  His Holiness Swami Paramananda is born in Mauritius and visits UK very often.  The SGAS UK is a meditation centre, born out of His Holiness’s pious knowledge and unconditional love.

Do not hesitate to contact us – the mystical journey towards meditation and self-discovery is possible. We have geographically expanded during the past months and meditation is being conducted in Kent, West Drayton and Barking.  By joining our meditation group, you will be stress-free, instil more mental stability, more peace, more awareness and serenity.

Meditation Sessions in the Southcote Exercise Centre Maidstone, Kent (ME 14 5ES)

22nd October 2006 @ 10:00 to 11:00 am

For more information contact us

                                                    Editing Team

Mind and the brain

The mind does not act directly on the brain, but uses the subtle bodies as medium. Before going deeper into the subject, let it be clear to the reader that the human being consists of seven layers or seven bodies, which are explained in more details in a previous volume of the "KNOW THYSELF" magazine. The seven bodies are the physical, the etheric, the astral, the mental, the spiritual or light, the cosmic and finally the Nirvanic body. In this context, we have to deal with the first four bodies and basically the mental body which is the fourth one. The mind stands as an exit between the first three bodies (physical, etheric and astral) and the last three layers, the spiritual, the cosmic and the Nirvanic. Hence this diagram or Yantra as it is called in the Eastern philosophy.

The point represents the mind through which one may go downward on the ladder to the grosser level of existence or upward to the higher rung which represents the higher level of consciousness. Each triangle represents the number three. The inverted triangle represents the downward pull of matter while the other represents the upward pull towards the Divine.

This article aims to show how stress, tension and many illnesses are formed. Let us compare the mind to a bucket of water in the depth of which there are mud and litter. When the water is calm and undisturbed, the mud and the litter remain at the bottom. There are neither ripples nor dirty water and everything seems calm, cool and clean. If a single pebble or any object is thrown into the water, ripples will be created. If the ripples are big, depending on the size of the object thrown, the deposited mud and litter will be disturbed and will emerge on the surface. The water which was cool, calm and placid no longer appears so. Similarly is the mind of man. The mind is like the bucket. The mud and litter are the unconscious layers and the evil that they conceal in their depth. Let it be noted that when I say 'evil', I am not being moralist or religious, but am simply bearing in mind the damage it causes to the body, heart and mind.

We experience the world mentally through our ten senses. The ten senses are firstly the five motor senses comprising of hands, feet, sexual organ, anus and mouth, and secondly, the five sensory organs through which we acquire knowledge, namely feeling, vision, taste, hearing and smell. Messages from the outer world have as medium these senses. Once they reach the mind, our intelligence uses its discriminative power to react. For example, if I see a beautiful car, the image goes to my mind via the sight instrument which consists of the eyes. The mind or the intellect will start reasoning using past knowledge: "This is a car, it is beautiful, it runs fast." In this way, daily events enter the mind through the senses and create impulses which in turn do not touch the brain directly, but pass through the astral nerves of the astral body to affect the astral brain, and from there to the etheric body then to the brain.

The impulse or the message that the mind sends to the physical brain is too powerful to be received directly. This could cause great damage to it.

Psychological as well as physical illnesses are created when impulses which emanate from the mind as feelings or thought-waves are not transformed or expressed. In such cases, the feelings or thought-waves, which are electrical and powerful impulses, are blocked in the nerves of the physical or subtle (etheric and astral) bodies, thereby causing much damage. Therefore, the psychic layer of the person becomes blocked or suppressed and the latter will know a very difficult evolution or none at all. Most of the problems of the world today are based on that science. Sexual obsession, schizophrenia and many other illnesses are a result of suppressed emotions and thoughts. It has been proved scientifically that if a child who is plucking a flower is prevented from doing so (and this type of foolishness is normally done by parents!), that may result in cancer at a later age. This may appear foolish and ridiculous. In fact, by performing such a simple action, the child may have deployed much energy in the form of love, enthusiasm and other feelings. If all these are suppressed, then the impulses responsible for performing the action will not return to their source, but will be blocked in the physical or the subtle bodies. Try to imagine how many feelings, thoughts, desires have been suppressed in us from birth! And mystics say that we have been carrying the burden of these blockages since many births.

This has made our body, mind and heart sensitive from one angle. If much anger has been suppressed, at the least touch or wrong words, one may go berserk. There are many people who get angry at very small things. Other people suffer from stomach diseases such as ulcer, gastric and other illnesses simply because they have not expressed or transcended, but have suppressed feelings of hate, anger or have lacked courage to reason against injustice or other things.

The mind will always be in our body. Events of the world will never stop naturally. The mind associates itself with the external events to produce electrical impulses, which in turn affect both our physical and psychical life. Logically, there are two ways to deal with the situation. Either we give full expression to our thoughts and feelings or we suppress them. The difficulty that arises is that we are not always in a position to express all our feelings and thoughts. We have many ambitions which give rise to innumerable thoughts and emotions and we are not always master of our destiny because not all our desires can be fulfilled. The result is greed, anger, lust, hatred, jealousy, stress, tension and so many damaging qualities.

Furthermore, we can choose to suppress our ambitions and feelings in which case we may become neurotic because that will definitely affect our physical nerves and psychic centres. Some people say, "I have consulted so many doctors, yet nothing has been found to be wrong. Then why do I continue to suffer?" Many people who suffer from nervous problems manifest strange symptoms which lead people to say that they are possessed by a spirit. The cause is subtle. Psychology, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy can and are helping much, but it is not enough. These types of therapy and analysis help to cure only to a certain extent. There are certain mental and physical exercises which may help a lot in curing stress, tension and the illnesses connected to the mind and body. They are yoga, catharsis, jogging, breathing exercises, gibberish and others. All these should be done under the guidance of a competent master, otherwise the result can be very bad.

Hypnosis also can be of much help, but meditation, the science of all sciences, is the ultimate remedy. This will not only cure the symptoms, but will eliminate those causes which create these ambitions and feelings produced out of the 95.5% of unconsciousness and impressions found at the depth of the subconscious mind. Meditation will lead to transcendence while expression and suppression have failed. Through transcendence, one becomes a master. Meditation, which is to live as Pure Consciousness, dissolves feelings and thoughts which are useless and come as a cascade of energy from the depth of our being. A meditative mind acts as a check for any feelings or thoughts that go in and come out. A meditative mind is an enlightened mind. An enlightened mind is free from the mud of unconsciousness.

External stimuli may stir the inner consciousness of a meditative mind, but that does not cause any damage to his physical body and psyche as pure energy is released, while in the case of a non-meditative person, waves of emotions and thoughts are released in toto. Therefore, a meditative person or a spiritual person remains completely unaffected in the midst of worldly affairs. Moreover, he knows the result of unfulfilled desires and feelings, therefore he remains awake and rests content in the bliss of his own self. This is the reason why a spiritual person is never affected by stress, tension and other illnesses created by the ignorant mind. In Hindi, Lswasthya" means good health; in fact, the word literally means to be established in oneself or in the centre. 'Swa' means self and 'stha' means to be established. Man is off his centre, he is living on the periphery of his mind which is a bundle of thoughts, emotions, and basically a very thick layer of past impressions. The centre is the soul, the state of pure mind or Pure Consciousness which is also the meditative state. This is the reason why I say that meditation means to live in one's natural state. We are said to be in good health only if we are meditative or else everybody is sick. We are like a spiral - we are off the centre. We shall have to return back to the centre, back to the soul - back to Godhead, if you prefer the expression.  

 

Religion - A Map for the Inner Adventure

A map is not the destination, a plan is not the house, a sign-post is not the town - similarly, religion is not God. A map, a symbol or a plan has to be read and understood. The plan for a building cannot be read by anyone save an expert, an architect, engineer or contractor. Religion, too, is like a map which has to be read and understood. The map of religion is read and explained by an enlightened being.

An enlightened being is one who has known the truth that man, God and the Universe are three aspects of one reality, thus he is part and parcel of the Divine. His inner nature is Pure Consciousness filled with love, silence, bliss and infinite other virtues. The enlightened being knows that his centre is immortal and free from all forms of sorrow, though it resides in a mortal body. And because he is enlightened, he knows how to read the map that is called religion and also how to make use of it. These days, an enlightened being is a rare gem.

 

Religion has two aspects: the gross and the subtle. Symbols, parables, scriptures, rites and rituals reflect the external and gross form of religion. They are concrete, while inner divine feelings, prayer, worship, devotion and other experiences constitute the abstract and subtle form of religion. Enlightenment, or the experience of Truth or God, is beyond all these. Therefore, I maintain that God is not religion. By understanding religion correctly, we can take the right direction which leads to God. A very grave situation has taken hold of man: he has mistaken the map for the destination. It is the greatest delusion that has encroached upon his mind. No wonder man himself is responsible for this state of affairs. Therefore, the solution to the problem, too, is within himself.

Buddha has rightly put it when he says, “I am pointing to the moon, but you are looking at my finger!” A sign-post points towards a destination, it is not the destination. It is only a fool who will say by looking at an arrow which points towards a particular direction, “I have found the village or the town.” To behold the moon, it is important to look beyond the finger. Similarly, it is important to go beyond religion to attain God. Use religion as a means, then transcend it. We have got stuck with the means, the end is utopia for us. The situation is so critical that even if we realise the illusion in which we are, we are not ready to make the necessary effort to get out of it. So much so that when someone who has attained tries to teach us the truth, we revolt against him. In some cases, he can even be nailed to the cross.

Nearly all religions of the world advocate pilgrimage to a sacred place. Though this is an invitation for a journey to the inner world, people go elsewhere to perform the same rites and rituals mechanically. For example, in some religions, the devotee goes seven times round the temple without even questioning the symbolism which underlies such a rite. Man has seven layers of his being. Going round the temple is, in fact, meant to remind him that now he is on the first rung of the ladder but the purpose of his life is to attain the seventh sky within him.

But man is so engrossed in his dream-world owing to his mind which is 95.5% unconscious, that he blindly performs the religious practices without understanding and awareness. This, however, does not imply that religion has to be looked down upon. Instead, we have to go deeply into it through study, reflection and learning under the guidance of an enlightened being so as to gain the key to open the inner door.

Contact Us

WEBSITE :

 http://sgas.intnet.mu 

Email The Master

sgas@intnet.mu

 

Contacts In London, UK

 v     Mrs Rajeshree

Mobile : (0044) 790 454 8573

                  Email   : existenz_ark@hotmail.com

 v     Mrs Samanta

           Mobile : (0044) 796 031 2446

                        Email   : amaterasu_mystic@yahoo.co.uk

WEBSITE :

 http://sgas.intnet.mu 

Email The Master

sgas@intnet.mu 

 

© Copyright 2006 Satyam Gyanam Anandam Society UK

Registered Charity Number : 1111821 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

DISCLAIMER: The material contained in this e-mail magazine, and any attachment thereto, is intended for personal, non-commercial, educational and informational purposes only. It is illegal to reprint the articles in any format, online or offline, without explicit written permission from the spiritual Master or SGAS UK.

The subscriber agrees, by accepting this e-magazine subscription, to indemnify SGAS UK against false accusations of Spam to include, but not limited to, payment of all damages such as loss of web services, and all fees or fines that may be imposed against us by any state, local authority or civilian business entity as a result of the false Spam accusation. If you no longer wish to receive these e-mails at any time, simply reply to the e-mail newsletters you received and ask to be unsubscribed.  Generally, you should expect about one e-mail per month, and sometimes more if there is any new information. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify us by telephone or e-mail and delete the message and all of its attachments. Thank you. 

Every effort is made to keep our network free from viruses. You should, however, review this e-mail message, as well as any attachment thereto, for viruses. We take no responsibility and have no liability for any computer virus, which may be transferred via this e-mail message.