Sadhana Of Namasmarana
Friday, January 18th, 2013
It is indeed audacious to attempt to write on spiritual matters, along with Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. What can be written is at best the echo of the immortal message that i have at intervals culled from His Presence. We, who are devoted to Him, must ponder over the guidance that has been vouchsafed by Him and try to put it into practice in our daily lives. This is an essential task for every one of us….writes Sri K Kondala Rao, IAS (Retd.), sharing drops of Nectar He has conferred, that shows author’s deep conviction in the Sadhana of Namasmarana. Extracted from Sanathana Sarathi, February 1965.
In this Iron Age, though there are many facilities to cultivate silence and discrimination, people are without peace of mind and happiness. The reason is they are not living according to the sacred teaching of Sanathana Dharma; they have lost faith in those teaching. Holiness is the basis of way of life which will make this exalted human birth worthwhile.
There are even today, just as there were in the past, great sages who can inspire people, pointing out the heights that man can attain and the vast potentiality that is embedded in the human body. Dwelling in the Divine is the very foundation of a genuine human life. It is the fundamental right of a man. The statements, Soham (He-I), Tattwamasi (That-thou-Art), Aham Brahmasmi (I-Brahmam-am) which are unexcelled expressions of Truth do shine as mantras in the Vedas. In the all too short period of his stay on earth, these mantras can win for man Divine bliss. We must consider all acts done from dawn to dusk as worship offered to The Lord. Every single act must be saturated with devotion and love for God. Man should endeavour to cleanse his heart of all impurities through righteous, truthful discharge of his duties. It is possible to realise God by means of the purified heart, purified by pure activities. Mere scholarship is of no u se. The teachings of the Vedas, Upanishads and Sastras must be brought into the fields of action. Faith and steadfastness—without these, however intense or manifold the activity, knowledge of the Ultimate Truth cannot be won. The Name of Hari must be ever on the tongue; it should ever be in the ear. To earn His Divine grace, devotees have to be constantly engaged in Sadhana and be ever vigilant.
It is no exaggeration to say that Prasanthi Nilayam is unfolding as Heaven on Earth. We devotees must, by our Japa, Tapas and Dhyana create here an atmosphere holier than that of the hermitages of the Krita, Treta and Dwapara Yugas, extolled in our scriptures.
Through our good fortune, we have the supreme boon of being contemporaries of Bhagawan. He is, for us, the visible God. The Sun who is the manifestation of part of the glory of God is the giver of this to all creatures, a giver whom we can see and comprehend. So, every day, we must remember these two with a sincere heart. We must frame a timetable that we can follow without much difficulty. As was declared by the sages, the night can be divided into four parts. During 6-9, restrained persons: 9-12 loose-livers; 12-3 thieves and 3-6 Yogis—these will be engaged in their diverse activities. For us , devotees, 3-6 is the holy period of the night. This period must be well utilised for one’s upliftment, according to the physical condition of each. One has to rise at least at 4-30 a.m. and after attending to essential physical needs, one must repeat Sai Ram, until the splendour of the Sun illumines the eastern sky. Then, it is good to recite the Suryamantram.
The Name ‘Sai Ram’ can be repeated a hundred times each minute. O, the sweetness and the joy that can be derived from that Name are beyond my power of description. You will not be content, however long you might be engaged in repeating it. It is possible to add to this the Mahamantram ‘Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare’. There are 16 Names in this Manthram. In 3 minutes, we can repeat a thousand Names through this mantra. In one hour 20000 Names can be uttered. Sri Namabari, a Bengali devotee, who lived at the same time as Sri Chaithanya Maha Prabhu used, it is said, to recite the Name of the Lord 3 lakhs of times a day! If one does it with single-minded attention, it would take at least 15 hours to reach the total of 3 lakhs per day. But, this is not a task beyond our powers.
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