One cannot attain divinity without devotion and pure love. Real devotion gives rise to true love. But purpose-oriented devotion for the fulfillment of a desire can never lead to true love. In fact, it is wrong to term it as ‘devotion’. Every aspirant should keep away from this sort of devotion.
Evolution of true knowledge is essential for the achievement of real devotion. The knowledge derived from the study of scripture is empty purposeless knowledge. True knowledge is not acquired till the mind (Chitta) gets purified and mind purification depends on the appropriate performance of religious rites and Kriya.
One who implicitly follows the Kriya prescribed by the Guru with devotion, steadiness, regularity and faith, while keeping his conduct and character pure and above board at the same time, is bound to achieve true knowledge (Jnan). Yogis call this aforesaid action itself as yoga. As against this, to engage yourself in other types of work is not Yoga and that does not conduce to Chitta purification either. Hence if one keeps his conduct and character unblemished and applies himself wholeheartedly in the practice of Yoga, steadfastly without a break for a long time, he is bound to achieve mind-purification and self-realization. The knot in the heart gets unfastened, all doubts vanish and aggregated ill effects of Karmas of innumerable previous births get anihilated.
Some of Baba’s Teachings and Instructions
1. Perform the Kriya (religious commandment) given by the Guru regularly and implicitly according to his instructions and all shall be well. The grace of God is bound to descend on you in due time.
2. Give up self-praise and talking ill of others completely. These traits are very harmful. Never waste time in these.
3. When tragedies and ill-times overtake you, increase your mantra-japa, both in terms of time and number.
4. Never trust anybody in a hurry. Test him thoroughly first, else you will be duped.
5. Every bit and particle of this world is against your interest. You are your only friend and well-wisher. So depend on your own efforts and do not look up to others for help as they are likely to fail you in your times of need and distress.
6. During your Sadhana (spiritual endeavour) constancy and regularity in practice are of prime importance. Reading of scriptures is only dry intellectual gymnastics. Dramatised Bhakti is also not Bhakti in the real sense. True Jnan and real Bhakti are very prestigious and difficult-to-attain stages in spiritual advancement. These develop automatically one after the other, only after constant and regular austere spiritual practice over a long period.
7. To depend solely on the grace of God is not an act of wisdom. Grace is no doubt very sublime and is also being showered upon us by Mahashakti all the time. Without it there is no hope of our advancement towards salvation either. But this grace can only be attained through constant practice of Yogic Kriya which can lead to the attainment of even the unattainable.
8. Do not let anything ever worry you. ”I (your Guru) am always there with you.” After performing your Kriya properly for some time, you will yourself realize the truth of my statement. I shall see that all your legitimate wishes are fulfilled and you are never in want.
9. To bring a mood of calm repose in the mind before you start your meditation first invite the following thought: ”The world was there before I was born and it will be there even after I am gone. So, nothing really depends on me, hence why should I be in a state of tension? It is only with calm consciousness that I can help myself and help others. The Divine remains calm despite all the turmoils in the world. It is the Divine spark in me, present as my soul, that sustains me. Let me concentrate on that. Let me get a few moments of leave from the demands of my body, from the desires of my life and from the restlessness of mind and enter into my soul – my true Self. Let peace and calm sustain me.”
10. I am aware of each and every thing that you do, so never try to deceive me by telling lies.
11. Electrical energy gets accumulated particularly in the fore-finger of the right hand, which should not therefore be used for rubbing teeth or pointing out the direction, else it leads to unneccessary waste of the accumulated electrical energy.
12. Spiritual progress depends upon the loftiness of character. Never hurt anybody’s feelings. Keep your senses under control and follow the truth in body, mind and speech. Keep unswerving faith in the Guru and be patient, compassionate and forgiving.
13. Dear Son, all your happiness or suffering is a result of your earlier deeds. Do not add further to these. Give up doing bad and unholy deeds now at least, so that you do not create new sins, the consequences of which you will have to suffer in future.
14. You develop interest in the Kriya through constant practice, so much so that in due course of time you will not be able to give it up even if you will want to. In the beginning, you will have to force yourself to sit for your Kriya, but later you will start feeling greatly perturbed whenever you are not able to do so. The Guru can only advise you, explain to you and demonstrate the technique to you but the actual performance will have to be done by you and you alone. So, for your own benefit, get down to the practice of Kriya wholeheartedly and arduously; only talking will not help. Once you get firmly established in the practice of Kriya, you will not be able to leave it thereafter.
15. Through the practice of Kriya, keep meditating upon the ‘Mother’ in your heart all the time; the Mother who is the source of all Creation, directly perceptible. Mother who cannot otherwise be achieved even through Yoga and is superior even to ‘Brahma’ and is the reality behind the psychological manifestation of the Supreme Emotion. Instead of getting influenced by external emotions, always keep your mind in communion with the Mother. Once you are able to stay in that state, there is nothing further to be done.
16. While you are in the physical body, you cannot but be doing one thing or other. Then why not engage yourself in the pursuit of such an act as will absolve your all binding actions for all time. At the exact moments of sunrise and sunset, sit down for your Kriya daily without fail. Even if your mind is not steady, do not bother about it. Learn to depend solely on your Guru, then no demon will be able to do any harm to you – be certain about it.
17. My disciples will not be born again and thus will not have to undergo the sufferings in a mother’s womb again. My elder Gurudeva Shri Bhriguramji Paramahansadeva has created an abode for them where they shall all reside, after their death in this world.
18. The first requirement for spiritual advancement is character which must be kept unblemished and next come light meals and less sleep. As you progress in your Kriya the last two come by themselves. Peace and tranquility is the natural outcome of spiritual practice.
19. You acquire riches and property as a result of your past actions. What is ordained in your destiny, that much you will certainly get. But even so it is not wise to sit back aboslutely inactive. You must make all efforts to procure them.
20. Every thing is within your very self. Only it has become overladen with dirt and filth as an outcome of undesirable tendencies and associations of previous lives. Once you are able to get rid of that covering, you will be able to see and recognize your real self. Just as you cannot see your face in a mirror covered with dirt and to do so you have to clean the mirror by rubbing, wiping and washing, so also once you keep rubbing off the dirt of the mind through the constant repetition of the Guru-given-mantra, the mind will become purified in due course and then you will be able to see your real self once again. The aforesaid ‘rubbing, wiping and washing of the mind’ is really the Yogabhyas Karma viz the incessant friction between the mantra and the mind through constant repetition of the former. Get up early in the morning at about 3.30 or 4.00 a.m. and try to do your Kriya upto sunrise for two to three hours at one stretch and so also in the evening, daily. In the evening start about half an hour before sunset and continue for an hour and a half beyond it. Besides this, make it a habit to mentally repeat the mantra at all other times also while you are working with your hands etc. in the course of your job. Do not waste your time on other useless things. Your japa should co-ordinate with the rhythm of exhalation and inhalation of breath called Ajapa Jap.
21. It is not proper to tell anybody about your Kriya, or vision of any deity, or any spiritual dream. Any discussion on these subjects may inhibit further expositions of a similar healthy experiences and may even prove harmful. These indications are only precursors to coming events and stabilization of certain good atributes in a person. In such an event, you must preserve these most secretly within yourself and intensify your spiritual practices with greater vigour. By talking about such experiences their further revelation may get stopped, it may then take a very long time for their revival and even never repeat in this life.
22. Whenever you have to, speak the truth and truth only. If anybody feels dissatisfied at your speaking the truth let him feel so; if you lose a friend thereby, do not mind it; but never be afraid of speaking the truth. Tell the truth and openly. Of course, this does not mean that you should put anybody into trouble by telling the truth unasked and without any purpose. Do not tell the truth even if it is unpalatable unless compelled to do so. But if you are forced to relate, tell the truth only otherwise keep quiet.
23. Never get suddenly agitated over an issue. Seeing a wee-bit or hearing a part of an incident, to flare up suddenly is not right. First try to understand the pros and cons of a thing wholly and properly, investigate all the aspects of it, think over it intelligently, try to get to the bottom of the whole affair, before losing your temper. Otherwise many a time one has to repent and eat the humble pie.
24. Do not feel astonished at any happening in this world. Difficulties arise only when you feel flabbergasted and upset. Householders have to do and arrange for all sorts of things for the satisfaction of their relations – wife, sons, daughters and wife’s relations. You will have to behave with people differently according to the relationship you have with each one of them since you have to live and work amongst them. You need money all the time, irrespective of your field of activity. To procure this you will have to engage yourself in some type of business. But be careful not to use unfair means therein and spoil your name and fame by falling into dishonest ways. Do every thing honestly. You will have to perform some kind of work to earn a living, but you must not lose your sense of justice, honesty and fair-play during its performance. Work in an unattached manner like mercury in a vessel or water drops on a petal of lotus which stay there but do not stick and keep quite unattached. All the time that you are working with your hands, feet or other limbs of the body, you must keep your mind fixed on God and His name. Keep reciting His name and Mantra uninterruptedly with each breath, Ajapajap.
The above information is taken from the book – “Yogirajadhiraj Swami VISHUDDHANAND PARAMAHANSADEVA, Life & Philosophy” by Nand Lal Gupta, an ardent disciple of Shri Babaji for the benefit of Babaji’s devotees across the world..