October 2017
On a sunny day in autumn, Mohanji and his family came to Somaskanda Ashram and we all could spend time in their presence. It was a lovely day full of joy, satsang and devotion. Take a look at the pictures and read about some of the Satsang held.
What happens in the temple?
“Have you ever consciously thought about what is getting active in a temple? Why is there a temple first of all? You know it’s not just a place of worship. There is a conscious activation happening in every temple. We usually operate with five senses and one mind. When you look at the idol, the senses of the eyes are activated. You absorb the qualities of the idol and you feel the idol. Then they use incense sticks, perfumes, so many things, the nose is activated. When chanting bhajans and mantras the ears are activated. Then Chandan, Vibuthi, various things are offered and the body, the skin is activated. Through prasad the tongue is activated. A mantra activates the mind. It also contributes to the consciousness. Whatever helps concentration is mantra. So a temple is not just a place of worship. It’s a place of rejuvenation. You are not the same after you entered a temple.
How do you connect to a deity? We have a very powerful Prana Pradista here (Somaskanda Murti). Look at the idol, collect the image into your mind, close your eyes and connect to the third eye. That’s our antenna, our transmission point. Where do we keep our hands? We fold them on the centre of the chest. The thumbs point to the centre of the chest. This is the seat of the soul. There is a Prana Pradista in the centre of the chest where our personal temple is. Now we prostrate at the idol, Prana Pradista. What does that mean? In one word: Surrender. What do you surrender? How do you surrender? Head, nose and chest. So head nose chest is surrendered – you are surrendered. Head straight signifies ego. Nose signifies Kriya, existence. Heart signifies spirituality. Ego, existence and spirituality all in one line and surrendered to God. What do you have otherwise? Nothing. If you have surrendered everything you and God are one.
Can you explain more about the murtis and how people are affected by the worship?
An idol is just an idol until the energy is infused. Just like our body is just a body. If the soul is not there it is useless. There are various types of energy transmission. Saraswathi has only the veena and some books while Durga has all sorts of weapons. Various weapons represent various vices. The Prana Pradista to an idol is what you are expecting out of an idol. As a principle this is a connection from our third eye to the third eye of the idol and from its heart centre to our heart centre. Circular motion, like rotation. Partly it is surrender, partly reception. The transmission happening from our side is surrender, and when you surrender you become empty. From the idol the transmission is completion, which is grace. So when you surrender grace comes to you.
What happens in human interaction?
The fight is between gravity and levitation. Adi Shankara said in four lines:
Satsangatue Nissangatua
Nissangatue Nirmohatua
Nirmohatue Nischaladatua
Nischaladatue Jivenmokti
Satsangatue Nissangatua: Satsang means interaction with beings of higher energy, higher frequency, those who are more in a levitation plane. Nissangatua means detachment.
Nissangatue Nirmohatua: When you are detached you become desireless.
Nirmohatue Nischaladatua: When you are desireless, that doesn’t mean you are depressed, it means you are fine, whether things are available or not. It’s a detachment established. No fluctuation. Nischaladatua. Still mind.
Nischaladatue Jivenmokti: When the mind is still, liberation takes place.
These are the four lines which tell us how to live our life. Interact with people of higher frequency, that is why Satsang is very important. Be with people who elevate your awareness, make you lighter. Those who make you conscious, not unconscious. Something that will not affect your conscience. This is the recipe for liberation. What is the opposite of Satsang? Dussang. That means company of people who drag you down. Imagine that scenario: Our mind is only on material things: politics, matter, things that are gravitation. So this causes attachment.
To expand that: it’s not just the people you interact with, it’s also what you look at, what you read, what you watch, what you see, what you talk about, it’s basically where your consciousness is?
It’s on three levels. What enters through your mouth as food, what enters your mind as emotions or feelings, what enters your intellect as knowledge. These three things influence your life. In our work – giving an example – working in the hospice, you are working with volunteers. Their aspiration is a good one, but they can wear a heaviness just like we all can. You need to make that interaction and you need to engage with them in time and elevate them. At the same time are you aware that they can gravitate you. How do you protect yourself? How do you enable their elevation without getting dragged into it yourselves? The scriptures give answers to this. A market place interaction should be stabilised through Sadhana. Sadhana is orientation, Bakti Yoga, Njana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kriya, whatever Sadhana. Or at least you practise breath control. Or chanting, or meditation, whatever it is.
And second they say: Stabilize yourself through surrender. I am not doing this, it’s happening through me. So, what is surrender? Whatever I do with the organs of action, with the organs of perception, whatever I think, whatever I say, whatever I do, I surrender it to your feet, o Lord, o Lord Narayana. Mean it, also. We have no control on any type of interaction. Actually if you look at your day we can’t redo and reverse it. You have to do things as they come. Maintain objectivity, not denial. Objectivity means: ok, this is happening. Let me handle it. First of all, if you surrender you are not doing it. Secondly you are not denying, nor rejecting, nor resisting. And you’re performing as per surrender. And in objectivity. Not subjective. What you have to do, you will do, but it’s an offering to God. Your work becomes worship. Surrender again at night. What I have done today, I surrender to you. Your purity, your objectivity, your intention, everything is pure. Whatever is external will be kept external, whatever you are will be stable inside. Thus the residue will be less inside.
Then there are other ways to disperse what you have collected, such as feeding the animals. That’s all purification, Karma Yoga. If you are doing a priest’s job or if you are doing Karma Yoga like this market place work it is suggested that you speak to the idol. Say: look here, I am going to do this work on the market place, please come with me. You are doing, not me. This kind of offer is called friendship with God, maintaining a friendship with God. It’s like a puja, but it’s more like you are talking to your friend. So it’s floating through life. That way I am not doing. You are coming and doing. Like that everything is happening.”
