SPIRITUAL SOLUTION TO MONASTIC PROBLEMS II God Realization as the Goal of Life

God Realization as the Goal of Life _Swami Bhajanananda

Swami Shivananda

The order was started with the idea of God-realization as the goal of life. During the early decades of the history of our Sangha, the respected Sadhus of those days had the faith that God-realization was possible in this life. I remember, when I joined our Bangalore center I found the Brahmacharins (there were six or seven of them) discussing something.

Sri Sarada Devi

On inquiry, I found they were discussing Dahara-vidya taught in Mahanarayana Upanishad. Dahara-vidya is a unique kind meditation which states: "In the white lotus (pundarika) of the heart, there is a lit space which is free from sin and sorrows The Paramatman is to be meditated upon in that space." The Brahmacharins told me that in the previous night class Revered Yatiswaranandaji Maharaj had said that the Dahara-vidya was not mere imagination but its truth could be actually experienced. In those days Sadhus and Brahmacharins used to discuss freely spiritual matters.

The American sage Emerson said: "Hitch your wagon to a star!" what this means is, link your life to a high ideal, strive for a very high ideal. Even if we fail to realize God, the very struggle to realize such a high ideal elevates the mind and we learn many things about the spiritual life. If we don't strive for a high ideal, we will naturally seek lower ideals. Seeking lower ideals leads to competition, jealousy, misunderstanding, and quarrels. This is now commonly seen everywhere.

BANERSHAR SHIVA LINGA

Maintaining the Spiritual Power of the Sangha The Ramakrishna Order came to be founded at the behest of Sri Ramakrishna, the Avatara of the present age, for the spiritual elevation and all-round welfare of the people of the modern age. Swamiji has described Sri Ramakrishna as "the repository of the eternal truths of the spiritual world which he obtained by churning the Vedas (through his sadhanas) and as the embodiment of the power of Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, and other gods and the power of all the Avataras." This great power of Sri Ramakrishna and the spiritual

Swami Vivekananda

power generated by the Direct Disciples and other great Sadhus of our Order constitute the real power of the Ramakrishna Order. This power is flowing in the Sangha as a closed circuit. When a young man joins the Order, he gains access to this power. All that he has to do is to open himself to the spiritual power circulating in the Sangha, to 'plug into' this circuit. The power itself will then lead him along the spiritual path, overcoming obstacles. Intensifying our Sadhana while living in the holy precincts of our monastic Order is in itself a great Tapasya and blessing.

Our Sangha is expected to last many centuries for 'the good of many people for the happiness of many people.' It is the duty of all our brother-monks to strive to maintain the spiritual vigor of our Sangha so that it may last such a long time. For this, we have to always replenish the spiritual energies of the Sangha by leading a pure life and by doing intense spiritual practices. Otherwise, what the Gita describes as a te: may happen to our Sangha also. Before

Swami Shivananda

coming to the training center in 1965, when I went to Revered Swami Yatiswaranandaji Maharaj to offer params to him, he told me: "There is a powerful spiritual current flowing at Belur Math. It is not enough to take from it; you should also add to it." During our stay at the Training Centre in 1965, Belur math was full of senior Sadhus who were disciples of Raja Maharaj, Mahapurush Maharaj and Saradanandaji Maharaj, and there used to be a wonderful spiritual atmosphere in Belur Math. This spiritual atmosphere is to be brought back! now. This is to be done in our branch centers also.