Gurudev on Ishta, Mantra and Japa
James Duffy
regarding his teachings on mantra and their relationship to deities as
well as one's ishtadevata. I would especially like to point out
Gurudev's emphasis on receiving the mantra, etc directly from a
"Satguru". Gurudev's definition of abhyasa is also noteworthy in my
opinion. No further commentary from me.......Enjoy.
james
Quote from Gurudev:
"People are unhappy because they do not have a chosen deity (Ishta).
Without Ishta, people turn out to be orphans. It is only Ishta that
saves one from anishta (untoward happenings).
See your Ishta as all-pervading. That is one-pointed devotion
(ananyatha).
Of the five Deities - Shankara, Vishnu (Ram, Krishna), Surya, Ganesh
and Devi, whosoever is more adorable to you, the mantra of that Deity
should be repeated by you every day.
You must get to know the mantra of your Ishta, and the method of dhyan
(meditation) thereof, through an experienced Satguru and somehow or
other, devote some time every day in japa of the Ishta mantra and
dhyan. Through japa, Realisation (Siddha) will result. There is no
doubt about this. "JAPAT SIDDHIR JAPAT SIDDHAIR JAPAT SIDDHIR
NASAMSAYAM."
See your Ishta everywhere. There should be no place where your Ishta
is not seen.
It is absolutely difficult to get the vision of your Ishta until and
unless you get one-pointedness on your Ishta. To cure a disease, both
medicine (oushada) and dietary restriction (pathya) are necessary. To
cure the disease of restlessness of mind, abhyasa (spiritual practice)
is oushada and vairagya (non-attachment) is pathya.
To apply your mind to your Ishta is abhyasa. To constantly think of
Ishta, meditate on it, talk always about it, and think always about
it, this is abhyasa.
When the mind is engrossed in the Ishta, non-attachment automatically
comes. Therefore, we say you need to become a ragi (person having
attachment). That is to say, there is need for the mind to develop
attachment to the Ishta."
Gurudev
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati
Mike Hutchinson
of Paul Mason's website;
Dan
willytex
> The quote below from Gurudev
Mr. Duffy - There's nothing in this that would lead me to believe that
this is a quote from Guru Dev. It may be so, but you didn't list any
works cited. Lot's of misinformation gets posted here, so don't be
offended if I seem to be casting doubt on your assertion. However, it is
the usual custom on this forum to include sources, so it can be
cross-referenced, you know what I mean? Last time I checked you didn't
understand a lick of Hindi or any other common prakrit. : )
You need to get some smarts if you're going to debate on this forum;
this subject has already been covered and discussed on numerous
occasions. In fact, you've neglected to respond to at least four of my
rebuttals of your claims concerning Guru Dev's teachings. You are
supposed to read the messages here BEFORE you make your comments, Sir.
I refer you to my recent essay entitled "What Guru Dev Really Said"
posted on March 3, 2004 (See below).
By all accounts, Guru Devji wrote nothing and he knew no English. The
only known talks given by Guru Dev, to have been recorded, are included
in L.B. Shriver's forthcoming book "The Rocks Are Melting: The Everyday
Teachings of Brahmanand Saraswati." Mr. Shriver apparently travelled to
India in the early 70s and met with Guru Dev's family and together with
Mr. Tilwari, translated the speeches from Hindi into English.
> confirms everything I've posted on a.m.t. regarding his
> teachings on mantra and their relationship to deities as
> well as one's ishtadevata.
You really like to paint with a large brush don't you?
There have been no posts on a.m.t. describing Guru Dev's teachings "on
mantra and their relationships to dieties" - you made that up.
It is a matter of record that this fellow has posted the only thread
describing Guru Dev's teachings vis a vis the TM mantras. Apparently, I
am the only respondent on this forum who purports to know exactly the
mantra techniques advocated by Guru Devji; I know of no other forum
subscriber who have been forthcoming with any pertinent information on
this subject, other than a few opinions and slight conjectures.
According to my informer, a Mr. Perino, there is no evidence that Guru
Dev had anything to do with any "TM bija-mantras" and in fact, according
to Perino, "there's not a single temple in all of India that has the
slightest relationship to any TM or TM mantras, prescribed by a Mahesh
Yogi." According to Mr. Perino, a student of the Swami Prakashanand
Saraswati, a direct desciple of Guru Dev, Swami Brahmanand Saraswati was
a Bhakta who worshiped Sri Radha-Krishna and that Maharaj Shree didn't
have anything to do with any tantric baula-kama bijas from down in
Karnataka.
Certainly the Sringeri Matha was no special friend to Guru Dev; there's
no record of Guru Dev ever visiting that place, although he is recorded
to have visted Kerala and Calicut on numerous occasions. That the
Sringeri Matha didn't recognize the desciplic relationship between Guru
Dev and his appointed successor, the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, Sri
Swami Shantanand Saraswati, speaks volumes for the relationship between
Sringeri and Brhamanand.
> I would especially like to point out Gurudev's emphasis
> on receiving the mantra, etc directly from a "Satguru".
Rajaram Mishra, later to become Swami Bramhananda Saraswati, was born on
Thursday, 21 December, 1868 in village Gana, which is close to the city
of Ayodhya, in North India. Rajaram was enrolled at the Sanskrit
Institute at Kashi at the age of eight and later became a student of
Swami Krishnanand Saraswati of Utter Kashi.
Rajaram took the renounced order and became Chaitanya Brahmachari. He
was well known and often referred to as 'Guru Dev'. By the age of
twenty-five, it is said that Chaitanya had become fully established in
Unity Conciousness and had completed a full study of the Scriptures.
At the turn of the century, at age 34, at the Khumbha Mela at
Allahahabad, Chaitanya was ordained by his master into the order of
Sanyas, thus becoming Sri Swami Brahmanand Saraswati, and recieved the
insignia of the Holy Tradition of Sri Shankaracharya.
On Tuesday, 1 April 1941, at the age of 72, Swami Brahmamanda Saraswati
was invested, with traditional rites, as the Shankaracharya of
Jyotirmath, Badrikashram, Himalayas, and given the title Jagadguru Maharaj.
> Gurudev's definition of abhyasa is also noteworthy in my
> opinion. No further commentary from me.
Maybe so, but Maharishi said the same thing in his "Beacon Light of the
Himalyas", so what's your point? According to Mr. Perino, Shankaracharya
didn't even teach Awaita and lived over 500 years BEFORE the historical
Buddha. So who are you going to believe, Mr. Perino or Mr. Duffy?
It all depends on what you mean by "Ishta devata" - the Devatas
mentioned in the Puranas are deified heros such as Ramchandra, Krishna
and Balarama. In contrast, the Devas of the Vedas consist of the
supernal dieties, such as the Wind, the Sun and the Dawn, the
personified forces of nature.
In fact, Guru Dev may have advocated a doctrine similar to the teachings
of the 84 Mahasiddhas, precursors to the Buddhist Vajrayana. What you
read in speeches may be for lay practioners of Bhakti Yoga. Apparently,
Guru Dev kept his esoteric teachings reserved for intiates such as the
Mahesh Yogi - who teaches that the mantras in the Sidha lineage are
non-ideational mnemonic devices and have nothing to do with sectarian
devotionalism of the Madhva Sampradaya.
Gurudev
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati
From: willytex
Subject: What Guru Dev Really Said
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental
Date: 2004-03-03 09:50:26 PST
http://tinyurl.com/22nxj