Oct 20, 2012

Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana-4 [Sadhana Karu Pyare]

Sadhana Karu Pyare is a unique philosophical compilation set in 54 lines and arranged in the form of couplets (dohas). In these lines, Shree Maharajji has summarized the entire philosophy of the knowledge of God and Guru (Philosophy of Divine Love). Swamiji explained the complete set of 54 lines at the Puri Sadhana Shivir in 2008, which we will reproduce in this series. 

This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
tan se man se dhan se guru kī, karahu sevā pyāre
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj has explained in his self composed series "Sadhana Karu Pyare" that every individual wants to attain Divine selfless love of Shree Krishna. He says "Dear souls! Do Sadhana (devotion). By practising devotion your aim of attaining Divine Love of God will be fulfilled." We are already aware that in the spiritual realm, there is a necessity for a true saint (Guru or spiritual master). Only a Guru can take care of our self-interests. We have a lot to gain from our Guru. First of all, we have to gain knowledge -
guru binu hoy ki jñān
With our human and material intellect it is impossible to understand God. Even if the most intelligent  person tries to attain God through his intellect, it will not be possible. This is because spiritual knowledge is Divine and beyond our material senses, whereas our mind is material or Mayic in nature. With this material mind and intellect we can only understand material concepts.
Once upon a time, a swan and an owl began to argue. The Swan said "This is day time." The owl said "No, it is night now." The owl started to mock at the swan. He said "I can prove that this night." The owl took the swan to a jungle where many owls lived in a cave. The owl said to his fellow mates, "What kind of a living being is this? He says that it is day time." Listening to this, all the owls started laughing and said "This swan has gone mad. Let us beat him up."  The scared swan flew far from cave and soon left the owls behind. Later, the swan started to wonder why the owls felt it was night time. It realized that the problem was with the owl's vision and not the external environment. In reality, it was day time but the owls felt it was night time.
In the same way, our senses, mind and intellect are material in nature and can only understand material subjects. In the spiritual realm, our material intellect will not help. Therefore, we cannot understand God with our material mind. Hence, we can gain spiritual knowledge only through a Guru.
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśhnen sevaya
One should faithfully surrender to a Guru and learn the secrets of devotion from him by asking him devotional questions. One should question a Guru with keen interest, curiosity, humility and piety, not with the intention of challenging him or his intellect.
'Pranipat' means complete surrender of the mind, to have full faith in the words of a saint and to obey him. 'Pariprashnen' means to learn the secrets of devotion from him by asking him devotional questions. So the spiritual master, i.e. Guru will help you understand and impart the knowledge of God. 'Sevaya' means to serve Guru in order to please him.
upadekṣhyanti te jñānam jñāninas tatvadarśhinaḥ
Only a Guru can help you attain Divine knowledge. This is due to the fact that he has practically realized God and at the same time, possesses theoretical knowledge.
Shree Krishna says, along with gaining knowledge of God from a true Saint (Guru), we must aim to please our Guru. How to please a Guru? It can only be done by doing his seva or by serving him. Seva means to serve our Guru (and God) without any expectation of self gratification. This devotional service is done with the sole aim of pleasing God and Guru. Hence, this spiritual knowledge that we have to gain from a Guru is beyond our material intellect and grasp.
This is not comparable to the study of worldly subjects. For example, we are aware of entrance exams for the school of medicine or engineering. We seek admission in a college; pay the fees and attain full knowledge of that course or subject. This is not the case in the spiritual realm.
śhraddhāvān labhate jñānam
In the spiritual world, it is only by the grace of Guru that we will attain  knowledge, not solely by our own efforts. So, in order to receive his grace we will have to serve him. What is the meaning of seva? Seva means to continuously feel that one has no capability of serving the Lord. Secondly, doing seva with complete surrender of the mind and increasing the feeling of 'giving' and not 'receiving'. Lastly, we should not have any pride of having served him or having done a lot of seva. Now, only a God-realized Saint can perform this type of seva, whose heart has been completely purified. Those who are under the influence of Maya cannot have this kind of servitude.  So God says: "In the preliminary stages, you will not get seva of God but you will get the opportunity to serve a Guru. If you serve your Guru to the best of your capabilities, you will then receive the seva of God."
Now how will we perform this kind of Guru seva? There are various grades and classes of seva. General seva in the ashram, or personal service to Guru etc. Practically, there are three forms of seva: physical, monetary and mental. Consciousness of surrender, faithful and constant remembrance of one's Guru is called seva of the mind.
The best form of seva is done with the complete involvement of the mind. To constantly think about how to give pleasure to our Guru is true seva. This thought should be firm in our mind. How will we reach that stage? One can say, "We are not able to attach our mind." This leads us to the next (lower) level - seva done with our physical body. To give comfort to the lotus feet of our Gurudev, cleaning, cooking, washing, etc. Now one can say that "Swamiji, I work in an office so I cannot afford to spend my time at the ashram. How can I serve my Guru?" This category of devotees can do seva through wealth. Most of us have full time employment and tend to work 10-12 hours a day. We should dedicate this work to our Guru. After retaining enough to run the house, we must surrender the fruits of this labour to him. This is the third class of seva.
In the starting stages, one should start with the third class of seva and reach the top most class of seva (service with full involvement of the mind). That means when we start doing sincere seva through wealth, then we will automatically get a feeling of serving with our body.
When we start doing seva with our body, the mind will gradually be attached in God and Guru. With the attachment of mind, complete surrender (mind and intellect) will automatically follow.
A Guru will never measure how much seva you have done. He will judge you based on your seva bhavana (feeling of servitude). Supposing one does seva of wealth. The importance of his contribution depends on his capacity or ability.  One rupee of a poor man could be more valuable than 1 lakh rupees from rich person.
Here is an interesting piece of history. When the Hindu Banaras University in Kashi was being constructed, the names of the donors were displayed on a board. Amongst them was the name of a 'Rickshaw' puller who donated 75 paise. Everybody asked why his name was put on the board as he had donated such a small amount. It was told that the 75 paise were equal to 5 days of his income and hence it had a lot of significance, as it was a great sacrifice for him.
What seva we do is not a matter of importance, rather how much feeling of servitude and surrender we have towards a Guru is important. So, we have to reach the state of complete surrender one day.
Kabir ji said:
prem piyālā jo piye śhīśh dakṣhiṇā dey | 
lobhī śhīśh na de sake nām prem kā ley ||

The one who wishes to drink the sweet nectar of Divine Love will have to pay the price with his head and surrender it to a Guru. The one who is attached to the material world and is greedy will not able to do such a seva. God will not consider devotion that is done at the physical level. Even if we visit a place of worship everyday and donate some money, God will not consider it has pure devotion since the mind is hardly involved.
When Hanuman ji met Vibhishan in Lanka, Vibhishan asked "I have been chanting the name of 'Ram' for a long time, yet He has not bestowed His grace upon me." Hanuman ji replied "You chanted the name of Ram many times but never served Him. You never had feeling of servitude that is why you have not yet received His Grace." Hence, by serving our Guru with a deep feeling of servitude and by pleasing him, we can receive his grace in the form of knowledge about God, Soul and Maya.
Some people think that devotion alone is a more effective way to improve devotional experiences than seva. So, ignoring seva, they stick to devotion, but actually it is the seva which enhances devotional experiences.
Seva is synonymous with surrender. Normally every faithful disciple renders all the three types of services to his Guru according to his means and to the extent of his surrender. His amount of seva becomes the degree of grace which he receives from his Guru. This grace purifies his heart and improves his devotional experiences. Thus, seva (not devotion by itself) becomes the cause of spiritual progress.
Hence, a faithful servant is called a disciple and he receives the grace of his Guru according to the intensity of his faithfulness and the amount of his service. Selfless seva followed by devotion ensures Divine Love, and willingly following the wish or order of one's Guru is called seva.
... To be Continued

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