All World
Gayatri Pariwar

   Swadhaya means study of and contemplation over the elevated thoughts of enlightened personalities. You should examine your convictions, your prejudices, blind beliefs and illusions in the light of discerning wisdom and guidance of the thoughts and works of those who have lived glorious and purposeful lives.  Many of the great personalities, saints and sages may not be living anymore in the physical bodies; many of them might be living far away. Moreover, even if some sagacious personality is staying near your place, it won’t be possible for him or her to give precious time to you, as per your convenience; he/she will have so many things to do, will have so many seekers like you who would be waiting to meet him/her. Thus, having a satsang with the great persons in their physical being is indeed a rare opportunity.   But you can always communicate with them, have their guidance and experience the benefits of their company by having proximity with their thoughts through their books, compilations of their speeches, writings on their lives and works, etc.  Reading good literature and pondering over it is essential for wholesome nurturing of human intellect.  

The intellectuals or educated ones among you must be aware of the significance of good books (reading material).  Anyone who wants to prevent mental degeneration must read and think. If reading is a problem, one may listen to what is written in a book. But, in either case, our reading should not be confined only to university texts or worldly knowledge. What is underlined in swadhyaya is pondering over good thoughts that link our minds with the radiance of the sagacious wisdom and saintly inspirations and thus illuminating and re-orientating our own thinking accordingly. In order to engage the mind in swadhyaya singing devotional songs, mental engrossment in spiritual music, listening to recordings of enlightening discourses may also be incorporated in it, along with studying the thoughts of elevated souls.    

However, adoption of the teachings of great souls is not so easy!  Swadhyaya gives you the direction and inspiration but it is only you who has to make a resolute attempt towards changing your deep rooted animal tendencies and your old habits and remold your ‘nature’ by inculcating the values inspired by swadhyaya. In short, the purpose of swadhyaya is fulfilled only by sadhana.   

(iii) Sadhana: 

The third important discipline for ascent of human self is sadhana – devout endeavor of self-refinement and improvement. It includes upasana and tapa.  Most of us understand upasana as some kind of devotional practice such as – worshiping a deity, praying before it, chanting a mantra, meditating on divine attributes, etc.  Well, these are certainly the steps or methods to attain the real purpose of upasana. But we should also know its real meaning.  Upasana of God means faith in divine values, sitting near divine realms, invocating divinity.  If we sit near fire, we feel the heat and our clothing and body parts also get warmer.  Sitting near a rock of ice similarly generates a cooling effect around us. The area surrounding a sandalwood tree is also permeated with the fragrance of sandalwood. The soothing fragrance also makes the nearby plants fragrant.  So you see the effect of proximity! Upasana is a process of mental and emotional proximity with the Almighty. With enhanced purity of our inner self, our sincerity in the devotional practices, and depth of our faith, upasana gradually connects our “individual self” with the Supreme Self. Inculcation of divine virtues, awakening of our indwelling divinity is a natural consequence of devout upasana.   

Upasana and sadhana go hand in hand. Either is incomplete without the other.  Upasana induces the inspiration and strength required for sadhana and the latter is vital for the purification and inner engrossment required for thorough upasana. The word “sadhana” means to perfect. It includes excellence of qualities, deeds and behavior, eminence of personality. Uprooting the vices, evil tendencies, bad habits, etc and cultivation of virtuous tendencies, good conduct and attitude is sadhana. The wild animals are trained in circus to perform skilled feats some of which are difficult even for humans. Sadhana is also an arduous training of the mind. It is two-folded: refinement by tapa, that is by ascetic disciplines, penance etc and improvement by encouraging, inspiring and engaging the mind in illuminating benefits of virtuous qualities and activities. Eminent transmutation of personality by sadhana is like the tedious process of clearing the wild shrubs from a field and making beautiful garden thereon; converting raw metal into shining gold by processing it in fire; or the Herculean task of ploughing a barren rocky land and harvesting healthy food grains from it.

A little pondering will make you aware that sanyam is necessary for the reforming process of sadhana and swadhyaya (+ satsang) for the transmuting phase.  It is a time-testing process that requires patience and unflinching faith together with the zeal for enlightened progress. For this, upasana lends the desired support.  You also need to be introspective and should analyze yourself everyday by a quick but sincere review of what you did wrong and what right and good during the day. Convince your mind, pledge and strive for not repeating the wrong, overcoming the shortcomings and encouraging the good the next day.  At least few minutes before sleep should be kept for daily exercise of introspection and self-analysis. A few minutes before getting up every day should be kept for self-planning. Regard every new day as a new birth by which God has given you an opportunity to rectify the past errors and make a new, better and brighter beginning.

You are taught here to practice pavitrikaraña, prañayama and dhyana (meditation) while doing upasana. During this you should also attempt to feel that you are surrounded by the radiant aura of divine protection; that you have surrendered yourself to this beatifying protection of the Almighty, which expels all negative effects, guards against their re-entry and also removes your inner blemishes and weaknesses. But, when you practice self-analysis you have to be strict and scrupulous like an esteemed judge and find out all your flaws and infirmities. Be firm and fair in scrutinizing your good and bad tendencies, your wrongs and rights. Don’t let your mind drive you away with deluding excuses.  

You are an intelligent being, a devotee of the Omniscient! Let your discerning intellect take charge of your mind. This will not be difficult if you are truly motivated for self-improvement and sincere in meditation and swadhyaya.  Infinite force of the Almighty is hidden within each one of you. If you are determined and have faith in your divine origin, you will surely reach great heights on the excelsior of life. Sadhana will illuminate you and bestow great benefits on the worldly as well as spiritual domains of your life.                         

(iv) Seva:

Man is a social being. He is indebted to the society in several ways. The food he eats, clothes he wears, house he lives in, etc - everything is available to him because several people have contributed to making them usable.  Whatever he has achieved in life is because of the direct or indirect cooperation of so many others. God has bestowed human life upon him so that he would offer his services for beautifying the world-garden, for making this world a better place to live.  You as a human being have this responsibility of offering your altruistic services to the society, to the world.  You are supposed to help maintain Nature’s ecosystem, you are supposed to contribute your level best to the healthy survival and happy growth of all its animate and inanimate components. How else can you thank Mother Nature for the enormous boons She has blessed you with? How would you be the crown prince of God if you do not discharge your duties towards His creation?

All of you should remember time and again that you are not born only to live a materialist life. We are humans. Our life should not be confined to earning and enjoying sensual pleasures. We should also be living a noble and altruistic life. Our abilities and potentials should also be used for welfare and upliftment of others.

Your tapa-sadhana is incomplete without seva. You must offer your seva – voluntary altruistic service for the welfare of others. Your wealth, your talents, your intellect, nothing is of any use if even a fraction of it cannot help uplifting someone else. Even in worldly terms, just imagine, how happy a self-centered affluent person could be if all others around him are poor, downtrodden and agonized? You cannot enjoy your success and happiness unless you share your joys with others.  You cannot expect love, cooperation and respect from anyone unless you learn to care and share.  Every religion of the world, every spiritual school enjoins giving in charity for the welfare of the needy.  You may not be rich, but just think, there must be someone in the society who is more deprived. Try to do what best you can to alleviate the pain and sufferings of others. More than material help it is your compassion, your cooperation, your time that counts more in seva.   Selfless service is said to be the noblest deed of human life.   

Seva of the world is said to be the true aradhana (devotional service) of its Creator. You may offer your alms and worldly services to the society in several ways depending upon what is needed to allay the sufferings and pains of others to some extent, or to uplift the conditions of the deprived ones around you. But one service, which is universally required and which is regarded as the supreme donation, is – the gyana yagya, dissemination of knowledge. The best service of human religion, culture, nation and society today is to give righteous direction to people’s thoughts.  Imparting positive thoughts and encouraging guidance to a depressed or depraved person is the biggest and most useful help one could offer, as it would not only save his life but would also mold him into a progressive and happier person.

Gyana – pure knowledge – is a source of power, it enlightens one’s thoughts and emotions with the pristine radiance of spirituality. That is why donation (dana) of gyana is revered in the scriptures as Brahmdana, most precious religious duty. If you could distribute it among the masses today, humanity will be grateful to you, because it will be the best means of their welfare. Gyana pulls one out of the dark den of ignorance, lifts one from slippery lane of decline, gives one the direction and courage for removing the evils, blemishes and follies and for adopting the values and directions that would make one a human being in the true sense.  

Saints and sages of all ages are revered because their lives were dedicated to attainment and dissemination of gyana.  While accelerating your endeavors of attaining gyana by sanyam, swadhyaya and sadhana, you should also donate some fraction of your time (samayadana) and resources (anïadana) for gyana-yagya. Easiest way to do this is to purchase some Vichar-Kranti (thought-revolution) books of our mission and read them.; This way you yourself will be doing  anïadana as well as swadhyaya. Devote your time to circulate the Vichar Kranti literature to as many persons as you can and motivate them to read and then continue the cycle.  This will be your ideal samayadana and seva.  Try to donate your one hour of time and 50 paise of money per day on an average towards this noble cause of gyana-yagya.

Thus, by adopting four foundational principles of self-transformation you can elevate your lives to glorious heights and also help the wellbeing and upliftment of the society as a whole.  If we reform and refine ourselves, transformation of the people worldwide will proceed gradually, like the harmonious progression of currents in a sea.  Yug Nirman (creation of an evolved era) will emerge from evolution of the individuals, families and the entire human society.  

I have initiated this epochal experiment in the tiny laboratory of our mission and I request all those who visit here and all those who are associated with our Gayatri Pariwar to help expand it.  So if you want to be a part of Yug Nirman project, start the experiment of self-transmutation on yourself by adopting sanyam, swadhyaya, sadhana and seva from today itself. Maybe at a minuscule level in the beginning, these should certainly be integral parts of your life from now on.  Wish you all the best for eminent success.