Salvation in Kali Yuga. Swami Vankhandi Maharaj: Interviews, Satsangs, Teachings, Parables
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In Tamil Nadu state lived a holy mahatma, this was a hundred years ago. In his youth, his parents arranged his marriage by contract, hardly asking his opinion or consent, as was customary in those times. But he didn’t even pay any attention to this. All his attention was directed towards sadhana practice, he devoted all his time to meditation. He lived in a separate room, hardly ever left it, and meditated by the light of an oil lamp. He had no concern for what was happening in his family. All household members respected his practice, tried not to disturb him, simply cared for and looked after him, providing everything necessary to sustain life. Thus years passed. Fifteen years went by. Once, his lamp was running out of oil, and its light began to dim. His wife noticed he was sitting almost in darkness, approached him and added oil. The light flared brightly, and the mahatma startled from surprise. He raised his eyes, stared in amazement at his wife standing before him and asked: «Devi, who are you?» After fifteen years of married life, he hadn’t even properly realized he was married or who his wife was, so absorbed was he in his dhyana practice. What control he had over his manas! Such is the power of spirit. When it is present, a person can become anything they want.
As Tulsidas wrote in a chaupai in the «Ramcharitmanas,» the jiva cannot exist without a body, but Atma is free. There are many jivas, but our God is one. The jiva has only one path to break free – to turn to Atma and realize oneself as Atma. And then the jiva will become free even while in a living body. It will become independent of the body in which it lives. It can freely change its form and live through the body of an animal, bird, plant; it’s no longer necessary to be bound only to a human body. It is already independent of the five elements of the physical world and is free to exist in any body and any form it desires. It can take the body of a child, an old person, woman or man. It’s easy for it to do this because it becomes omnipresent.
But when the jiva considers itself a jiva and relates to itself as a jiva, it is bound to the specific body with which it identifies. It cannot break free beyond this body. But Atma is omnipresent, it has no barriers. It is indivisible, boundless, beyond time and pervades the entire Universe.
The most important thing is chintan, concentration of consciousness on Atma. If you constantly practice concentration of consciousness, there comes a moment when you approach the realization that you are Atma. You separate from the sensation of the body. There is a beetle, called bhringi in Hindi. It has an interesting characteristic. It doesn’t lay larvae itself. It picks up larvae of other beetle species, seals it completely in an earthen burrow, and sits on the surface nearby buzzing. All the «attention» of this captive larva ultimately becomes focused on this buzzing. Out of fear, it can’t concentrate on anything else. Under the influence of the sounds this beetle makes, the larva as it matures becomes an exact copy of the beetle and takes on the form of its species. When it grows wings, it emerges and flies away.
A person who is completely immersed in attention to the Divine gradually merges with the Divine, changes their appearance, acquires His features. You become what you constantly think about, what your attention is focused on.
There’s another story. This happened in Meerut. About 40—50 years ago. There lived a man, without father or mother. He earned his living by herding cows in nearby villages. Local residents would feed him. Once, while with the cows, he wandered deep into the forest and saw a rich ashram. Flowers grew in the ashram, and there was complete abundance. Seeing such prosperity, the poor man asked the head: «Babaji, tell me, what’s the secret of your wellbeing?» He replied: «God gives me everything.» The shepherd asked: «And how do you achieve this? Teach me, I’ll do the same.» Baba7 replied: «Just pray and think about God. It is God who fulfills all my desires.» Then this man stayed in the ashram and began to pray and meditate diligently. One day Swami asked: «Well, how are you doing, is your meditation working?» The man replied: «Babaji, as soon as I start meditating, the image of a cow appears before my eyes.» Babaji told him: «Well, that’s fine. Then meditate on the cow.» After a few days, the head inquired again: «Well, how is your meditation going?» And the poor man answers: «Babaji, everything is wonderful.» Then Swami says: «Well, if that’s so, enough sitting, come outside.» And the man replies: «I’d love to, but how can I get out? My horns get stuck in the doorway.»
This man merged with the object of his meditation and began to identify himself with the cow he was meditating on. What you think about, you become. Therefore, it’s important everywhere and always – sitting, standing, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing – to concentrate consciousness on Atma or on God’s Name, which is the same thing. A certain time will pass and a moment will come when you won’t say a word, but you’ll hear a voice – that very Name you’ve been repeating all this time will sound in your head. The object of your concentration, what you concentrate on, whose Name you focus your consciousness on, will answer you, will enter into interaction with you. You’ll only need to listen.
On the banks of the Narmada River, there once was an ashram. Everyone in the ashram lived by a strict schedule and always woke up at four in the morning. Once, some wandering sadhu settled in this ashram. He disregarded all rules and allowed himself to sleep until late. Soon all the disciples became indignant. They approached Swami: «Look, this man sleeps as much as he wants, does nothing, doesn’t practice and doesn’t follow our rules.»
Swami took a stick, woke up the sadhu and said:
«Why are you breaking the rules? Why are you still sleeping?»
«I’m not sleeping at all. It seems you’re the one who hasn’t woken up yet.»
«What do you mean not sleeping? How should we understand this?»
«I never sleep because I continuously practice japa. Here, listen.»
And he extended his palm. Swami listened, and the palm sang to him the Divine Name: «Ram-Ram.» The sadhu threw him the blanket he was covered with, and it was saturated with the same sound – Ram-Ram. This is how the great power of repeating God’s name manifests.
The energy of what you concentrate on will begin to emanate from you and from the objects you use, from the clothes you wear, even from the blanket you cover yourself with. Everything becomes filled with effulgence of this Name.
Ram Paramahansa could change the color of roses through the power of chintan, his focus on the Name. After his touch, any rose would become white.
Siddharth: Can we say that the meaning of human existence as jiva is to rid oneself of identification with the body?
Maharaj: Yes. Ideally, jiva should merge with Atma, identify with Atma and become jivatma. A jiva that concentrates all its attention on Atma becomes Atma. It becomes jivatma while still alive. And then – whether it remains in this body or manifests in another form – it will no longer be attached to this form. This is jivanmukti – liberated while alive. Jivanmukti is not attached to anything. No desires or attachments remain in them. They experience no lack because they no longer need anything. The jiva is like quenching its thirst and becomes blissful Tripta-Atma (completely self-sufficient Atma). When you drink your fill of water after exhausting thirst, you no longer want to drink more, and you experience complete satisfaction. Similarly, the jiva becomes saturated with the power of Atma and experiences complete satisfaction. It no longer needs anything else. There are no desires. One who dedicates themselves to sadhana, concentrating consciousness on the Divine Name, begins to change and ultimately will acquire the features of the Divine Name on which they concentrate. The crawling larva spreads its wings and flies out of captivity. Completely transformed. And all thanks to chintan, concentration of consciousness.
There’s nothing impossible here. The seeing one shall see. It’s like a mirror – put it in front of yourself – you’ll see your reflection. Turn it to the back side – you won’t see yourself. So it is here: one who doesn’t see themself, sees nothing. Know yourself, and you’ll know everything else.
Second Conversation: Chintan, Seva, Shaktipat
Organizing this second interview proved to be quite challenging. Maharaj was always busy with something – either household work, or conversations with devotees who had come from Delhi for a day to see him… or with something completely unfathomable – sitting before an open fire in his room. It seemed that he had no desire at all to impart any teaching and that he considered this kind of knowledge transmission ineffective. And why? Through the very power of his presence and the precision and refinement of actions flowing from this power, this sage transmits the necessary knowledge without words to all those who are capable of receiving it. Through every movement and manifestation – through gaze, action, word (even if it concerns something completely mundane). He teaches unintentionally. (In many spiritual traditions, it is considered important not so much to talk as to simply be in the presence of saints – the mind becomes infected, saturated with their light and thus purified from accumulated «darkness». Moreover, «being in the presence of a saint» doesn’t necessarily mean «meditating in the presence of a saint.» It rather means simply being nearby, serving them, seeing how they live in every moment, even the most casual, how they manifest in various situations.)
However, it would be a mistake to claim that Vankhandi Maharaj completely denies the value of transmitting teachings through words. To the question «who is Guru?» he often replies that Guru is his Word itself (in Sanskrit – «Shabda»). Perhaps that’s why this conversation did take place.
Siddharth: Yesterday you spoke about chintan. You said it’s the concentration of consciousness on Atma. How does one do chintan? What can help with this?
Vankhandi Maharaj: Repetition of the Name. Concentration of consciousness on one Divine Name.
Siddharth: And which Name is best to repeat?
Maharaj: Any. Choose any Name and repeat it.
Siddharth: Any Name? How does one choose?
Maharaj: You must choose the one that resonates in your heart. You can choose the name Rama, or Krishna. You can repeat the name of Durga. Or Ganesha. Or Shiva. There are five main Gods, Param Devata. Surya (or Aditya), Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi (you can take the name of Durga, Bhagavati, any name of the Divine Mother). Choose what you love, what you feel a close connection with. And constantly concentrate your attention on one and only one Divine Name and repeat it. Repeat it not aloud, but internally. This Name should constantly revolve in your mental space and resonate in your heart. You don’t need to pronounce and repeat this Name loudly – tongue and lips don’t move. Everything happens internally, without effort, and then it begins to happen by itself, ajapajapa8 begins.
You don’t need to close your eyes either. Learn to live and work with this. The same applies to meditation (dhyana). When you sit to meditate, don’t start with closed eyes – eyes should be open. When you enter deep contemplation, your eyes will close by themselves. There’s no need to close them deliberately. With closed eyes, the thought process will interfere. Thoughts will dart around in consciousness. Let your eyes close by themselves when you reach a deep degree of concentration, one-pointedness of mind (ekagrata).
So repeat the Name. And it should be only one Name. Don’t scatter yourself. Concentrate only on one Name. Repeat continuously.
Siddharth: So we do this to make the mind concentrate on one thing, to achieve this ekagrata, one-pointedness?
Maharaj: The Name that you repeat and concentrate on will eventually come alive. The God behind this Name will manifest within you. You will begin to clearly see Him with your inner vision. The Divine energy corresponding to the Name will arise in your heart and gradually reveal Atma to you.
Siddharth: And will this ultimately help to rid oneself of identification with the body?
Maharaj: Undoubtedly.
Siddharth: So this is the way to begin realizing oneself as Atma, to identify with Atma rather than with body and mind?
Maharaj: Yes, of course. The Divine Name you pronounce possesses energy that will gradually pull you out from the grip of samsara and lead you to Atma. Such is the power of the Name. It is this energy of the Name that does all the work; you don’t need to make efforts for this. Your task is to concentrate attention on the Name, and the power of the Name carries you to Atma. During this process, you’ll begin to experience such happiness that will eclipse all transient joys of the samsaric world. You’ll become indifferent to all bodily pleasures. This inner experience of Realization is called anubhuti, it will happen within you by itself. Identification with the body will disappear.
But this should not be mechanical repetition of the Name; that way the Name won’t reveal itself and won’t manifest its power. This works only when you repeat the Name with complete dedication and love, putting your soul into it. Between you and the bearer of the Name you repeat, there should be a connecting thread, a string that quietly vibrates with each sound of the Name. The Name should continuously sound mentally in your head, whatever you’re doing. The mind should be constantly involved in this, even during daily activities. Initially, this will require some effort on your part, but gradually, with practice, it will become a natural process. The mind will continue repeating the Name all the time, even when you’re doing various tasks. If during cold weather you increase the intensity of fire, the cold retreats, it becomes warmer around. Similarly within you: as you, like wind fanning flames, fan the power of the Name, It burns away worldly desires, attractions (vasanas) and karmic obstacles with the heat of its energy. The Name will do all this work; you only need to fan Its heat.
Siddharth: Ramana Maharshi advised concentrating attention on the feeling of «I,» on the thought «I.» He sometimes even recommended using the word «I» as God’s Name for repetition. Repeating: «I—I-I.» Aham-Aham-Aham in Sanskrit. He said that this Aham is also God’s Name. And ideally, he recommended simply giving all one’s attention to this simple feeling of «I am,» «I,» since, essentially, this is the manifestation of the Divine in us. He called this «self-inquiry.» What do you say about this?
Maharaj: Yes, you can repeat «Aham, Aham.» This is also a path. A path to your true Self. But repeating God’s Name is simpler because the Divine power, energy standing behind this Name provides support and automatically takes you to the true Self, that is, to Atma. And this Self will already be absolute, «Aham Brahmasmi». You will in any case arrive at the same point – the true Self. It’s just that if you try to come to the true Self without God’s support, it will take you much more time, perhaps several lifetimes. After all, the mind has a tendency to wander off, to be distracted by samsaric lures, it wanders and constantly falls into samsara, while the Divine Name acts as a strong magnet that pulls the wandering mind onto the right path. Whatever you get distracted by, it won’t affect you, because Divine energy will pull you back to the Self. And when you are already absorbed in the Nature, the Self, you ultimately won’t need either God’s form or His Name. All forms will merge into the one Self, Nature, Atma. And you will automatically realize that all Names of God are just manifestations of this Self. And you will dissolve in Atma.
Siddharth: So God’s Name allows one to acquire this holy grace, God’s Mercy, through which dissolution in Atma occurs. And «Aham,» «I» – this is the root that lies at the foundation of any Name of God and any Divine manifestation. Can we say it this way?
Maharaj: All different forms of the Divine ultimately have one nature. They are all essentially one. It’s only to us they appear different. The sun is one. Sunlight is unified, wherever the sun’s rays penetrate – into your home’s room, into a temple sanctuary, or other places. Light from the sun spreads everywhere and fills everything.
Siddharth: So, your main recommendation is to repeat one of God’s Names. Or are there other techniques you can recommend to sadhakas9?
Maharaj: There are many different ways, but they all go through application of effort and long practice. You won’t achieve anything with a snap of fingers. Without long, intense abhyasa, that is practice, no method will work. Usually, for example, a person cannot sit in meditation and instantly subdue their mind, stop thoughts and enter deep concentration. All this comes with development, gradual practice. You are given a certain practice, mantra or Name, then repeat, concentrate, train, develop. And with time you’ll begin to reach Atma.
When a small child cries, it’s given a toy. Their attention focuses on this toy, and they calm down. The ordinary mind needs an object on which it can focus. It is surrounded and attracted by thousands of things, it jumps from object to object. So, one must know how to direct it to a certain point of focus. There are many focusing «toys» for manas – mantras, nama [Name] and other methods for such concentration. But to take the mind under control and begin to manage it, to achieve victory over it and conquer it, any method or technique needs abhyasa [constant practice].
Siddharth: Is there a possibility to reach Atma directly, bypassing the mind and its whims? Can we simply push the mind aside and reach Atma by a short path without abhyasa? Right now?
Maharaj: There is no such direct way. You can’t bypass the mind. You can’t jump over it. You have grain, but it won’t turn into roti by itself; there’s a certain procedure for this that cannot be bypassed. Everything requires effort. You need to achieve purification of the mind and subtle energy channels in the body. You can try different methods, check which ones suit you. Conduct research, study them. There are different yoga kriyas. For example, pranayama. You can master the path of pranayama. There are different techniques of dhyana, mind concentration. You can do chintan on fire – concentrate attention, focusing for long periods on the light of fire. It’s important to concentrate your entire mind on one thing. Choose for yourself the sadhana that suits you best. But all these kriyas will in any case be directed at subduing manas. Until you conquer it, you won’t dissolve in Atma.
Manas is like a raja, a king. It rules over the indriyas (senses and organs of perception). Try to control even one indriya. You won’t succeed. But if you achieve victory over the ruler of indriyas, conquer it, then all indriyas will naturally submit to you.
Siddharth: By our true nature, we are not mind and not senses, we are not body, and essentially we’re not even jivas. We are Atma. But to realize this, for some reason we must go through a long thorny path. It turns out to be a very slow process of realization.
Maharaj: The mind is necessary. Mind, body, and Atma are not substances separate from each other. Atma is in our body too. It is omnipresent. It is present in everything. So how can we isolate it? Manas is precisely that instrument through which you can feel and realize It. Manas is needed to find It. It’s just that while manas is fixated on samsara, it cannot independently concentrate on Atma. Manas, like a spotlight, must be directed at Atma, and then it will sense it. Through manas we reach Atma.
Ramana Maharshi managed to quickly take control of manas and reach Atma. He came to this world already prepared and had a clear vision of the goal. It’s no coincidence he was called Ramana [Fresh], he lived up to his great Name. He already had great karmic experience and development from past lives. He possessed powerful will and knew what to strive for. And he merged with Atma. That’s why he said there is nothing except «Aham» [I]. This was his direct experience. But even he had to go through practice, abhyasa. And not everyone can be like Ramana Maharshi. Any beginner needs to go through sadhana. Yes, it’s not a quick path, but an ordinary person can do this if they follow certain rules.
First of all, observe rules of proper nutrition, don’t eat just anything, give up harmful habits. Transition to a sattvic lifestyle immediately affects the way of thinking. Sattvic diet changes the mind, you begin to think differently. Changes occur in your organs of perception – indriyas. For example, spicy food affects the tongue and taste receptors. And similarly, it affects the mind. And when you eat sweet food, there are different sensations on the tongue, and similarly in the mind after sweets, corresponding effects arise. This is how you can influence the mind in order to conquer it. Eat food that doesn’t agitate the mind, but rather calms and centers it. You need to reach the root this way, to the true causes of various disturbances of your mind, and stay away from these causes. Because until you take manas under control, something will always distract you from sadhana – hunger, cold, heat, mosquitoes. And only when you conquer the mind and stop being distracted by all these irritants will you be able to fully do sadhana.
Siddharth: How many years did it take you to do practice, abhyasa?
Maharaj: It doesn’t depend on time. Time is not the criterion here. The faster manas turns away from samsara, the faster you’ll enter the state of vairagya – detachment from the world. It is in the state of detachment that Knowledge comes to you. Until you’ve entered the state of vairagya and still experience attachment to samsara, to sensual worldly pleasures, Knowledge won’t come to you.
But the state of detachment won’t come just like that. Until your desires are exhausted, while you still want to communicate with people, talk and remember about the past, travel, while some of your dreams remain unfulfilled, you won’t enter the state of vairagya. You must abandon the desires of manas. Tyaga [Renunciation] – Vairagya [Detachment, impartiality] – Jnana [Knowledge]. That’s the formula. And, of course, Bhakti [Devoted love]. Jnana and Vairagya are its children. And Bhakti rests on seva [selfless service]. Therefore, one must learn to do seva.
Seva implies love and compassion for all living beings, animals, people. Help everyone however you can, give your kindness to people, and this quality – bhakti – will begin to grow in you. With bhakti comes such a state of love that vairagya becomes an integral part of your nature. You no longer need anything because you already possess the most valuable thing – bhakti.
You won’t want to specially meet with anyone, you’ll remain indifferent to feelings of hunger and thirst, you won’t care how you’re dressed. And in such a natural state of vairagya comes true Knowledge.
Siddharth: If I pray for God to grant me the state of vairagya, will it happen?
Maharaj: Serve the Divine and do seva with the intention of receiving vairagya. Unite your seva with the feeling of serving God and with the desire to attain vairagya, and when God is pleased with you and asks you what you want, ask Him for this state. He will give it.
In the «Ramayana» there’s an episode when Rama shot an arrow from behind at Bali, Sugriva’s elder brother, and mortally wounded him. There were reasons for this. And when Bali before death began lamenting about why Rama killed him, Rama took pity and said: «You, Bali, have already received punishment from me for your sins, now I can gift you immortality.» To which Bali replied: «No, Rama. In all times, great sages-munis asked for only one thing in life – to directly behold God. This was the main goal of each of their births, and they were born again and again to receive Divine darshan10. And you, O Rama, already stand before me. The cherished goal is fulfilled, so what do I need immortality for now?»