DHYAN FOUNDATION

The Devs and Danavs are real and can be accessed through this body by doing sadhna under sanidhya of a Guru. A clear indication of whether you are moving deeper into the science or into dilutions is your experience.   Every moment in the life of a sadhak is a havan, an ahuti (sacrifice) made to the Devs — be it the act of eating food, sexual gratification, travel and leisure or even sadhna… even a sadhna has to be sacrificed after a stage. All these aspects are aspects of the physical — that which is temporary and unreal — it does not exist. The moment a sadhak associates himself with a physical aspect and tries to hold on to it, it is called a dilution in yog. On the other hand, if the sadhak makes an offering to the Devs with every physical aspect, it paves the way to evolution. The Devs and Danavs are real and can be accessed through this body by doing sadhna under sanidhya of a Guru. The subtler the energy, the more purity is called for in the sadhna to attain i...

The word Shiv consists of 'shav', which is a dead body and 'i', which is Shakti – the force which runs creation. This force needs a vehicle or a body to manifest into, so shav becomes Shiv and a child is born. The night of Shivratri has the power to give birth to your thoughts. It is a night of birth, a night of merger; a night of creation, a night of manifestation and a night of thought fulfilment and the one who can give you this experience of Shiv is your Guru. Being born in the land of Bharat, I have grown up hearing stories of Shiv and Shakti; I was told that Shivratri is a night of marriage of Shiv to Shakti, an auspicious and potent night. I would see elders in the family keeping a fast, making offerings, singing prayers to Shivji…for me Shivratri meant a holiday from school. I could not see the sense in celebrating an event that occurred centuries and maybe millennia ago. For me, Shiv and Shakti were protagonists of a puranic story, I was ob...

‘Don’t waste pearls before swines’ traces its origin back to the gyan of Geeta. Yog is a practice which requires a very strict discipline and a Guru. If either is missing, there can be no Yog. Let me explain why. The Gyan should not be wasted in front of people who don’t value it. It should not be imparted to those who come to listen to the discourse with the sole purpose of defying it or arguing about it or showing disrespect. These people are not searching, they are only looking to prove to the world how great they are and much they know, they are ruled by their egos. A lot of energy is lost in initiating a person on the path of Sadhna by way of shaktipath and if this energy is channelised towards initiating the disinterested or people who are bound to leave it in between, then this energy gets wasted. Today it is surprising to see how people go about introducing the Yogic practices without proper instructions and without analysing the individual’s capacity. Through t...

यह लेख संकलन लखनऊ में प्रकाशित किया गया था |

Guru, a four-lettered word, has the phenomenal potential of taking you beyond; not beyond the pains and miseries of life, but beyond yourself. In other words, beyond what you know yourself as, opening the doors to the higher worlds and taking you through experiences which turn you from a normal being to a super being. A guru-shishya relationship is beyond the ambit of maya or a commercial transaction. Guru does not charge a material fee for what he gives you, for it is said that material is maya and it binds you to the physical and someone who himself is bound with the physical cannot take you beyond. In Vedic philosophy, the highest place and regard is given to the energy called Guru. Guru’s shakti (force) is not limited, as the energy is anant (endless) and akhand (expansive). The first Guru, or Adi Guru, is Lord Ardhanarishwar, Lord Shiva Himself. He is the energy responsible for the dissolution and transformation of all forms of existence. Souls who have complet...

Guru is not a guide or teacher.

There are specific mantras to please the divine to access Swarga loka. Earth is only one level of existence, there are dimensions beyond and below. Everything in creation is either going up or it is going down, nothing is stationary. Presently we are living on earth, but if anyone thinks that he/she will continue to be here birth after birth is a mistaken notion. Like everything in Creation, a being too, moves up or down. Earth is only one level of existence, there are dimensions beyond and below. The dimension of earth or Bhuloka, is special in that, from here one can reach any dimension based on his/her desire and backed by requisite karmas. Bhuva is the loka higher than earth, reaching here is possible only through complete detachment. Next comes Swarga loka, which can be accessed through recommendations from gods and goddesses. There are specific mantras to please the divine to access Swarga loka. The loka above Swarga is called the Maha loka, it is t...

In the pyramid of evolution, there is plenty of space at the base but only a needlepoint space at the top. Only a few are entitled to reach the top. This entitlement is not decided by one’s looks or wealth or influence in the society, it is the result of the grace of guru which is earned by one’s karmas and one-pointed focus. This journey to the top of the pyramid is extremely easy and yet most difficult. Easy, because the guru shows you the door and also the path to the door, all you need to do is walk. Difficult because there is only space for a few, so there are energies at play that try to make the sadhaka take a turn. And these energies work at various levels and intensities. At a basic level, they manifest a desire for the sadhaka. A fraction of sadhakas are able to understand the temporariness of the pleasure and are able to keep themselves focused on the finality or the permanent, in the midst of all the pleasures. At the next level, sadhaka is endowed with ...

Do you want to achieve the finality or supreme reality? If yes, then read on.  Let's do a small experiment. Go to a field or any open space. Mark any one spot as A, which is your start point. A kilometre away from it mark a point B, the destination you want to reach. Now start walking from A to B keeping your mind free of thoughts. The minute you get a thought take a turn. Every thought, a turn. Write to me how long it took for you to travel the distance. Yoga is the journey from A to B. A, is where you are, B is the finality. Guru is someone, who has already walked that path and has the experience of finality. So he is able to show you the path. But to walk it or to take turns or stop, is the choice of the sadhak. Traits of a Guru by Yogi Ashwini The key to success is the path of least resistance. The various desires, thoughts, sceneries, people and pleasures that one intercepts on the path, act as resistances, that prevent the sadhak from moving ahead. This i...

Fulfilment of desires is not evolution. It is sadhana which involves changes within and leads to ultimate freedom. Ayurveda says that the body is composed of three doshas—Vat, Pitt and Kapha. The term ‘dosha’ translates as a defect or an impurity. That is, the body is inherently impure. There is no such thing as negative or positive because everything around that is physical, is bound by time. It is bound to end, and the time for it to end is decided the moment you get it, irrespective of whether that thing is good or bad.  The biggest pain is not in losing something but in getting something which is dear to you. The dearer a thing is to you, the more expensive it proves to be, as that much more pain it will cause to you when it leaves you. The day you get something, that day itself the pain that comes with it is also decided. Similarly the day you take the body, the doshas that come along with it are also determined because the meaning of the body is that which is...

There are so many things in our lives. We prioritise various things/aspects as per their relative importance. Whatever you give first preference in life, gives you first preference in return. For example, while with a group of friends, you bump into an old childhood friend and instead of greeting you first, he decides to greet the rest of the group. How would you feel? Will you still give preference to that person? No, he will no longer be your priority; instead, you will wait for the time when you can do the same to him. This holds true for everything, including the subject of yog. There are some students who stay up all night, a day before the exam to prepare for it and there are those who start months before. In fact, at times, they cut down on their television, outings, etc, and immerse themselves in studies... and it shows in their results.   Yog is the ultimate subject, there is nothing beyond it. It is the subject that will eventually not just te...

Yog begins at the feet of the guru. Guru carves out a path and to get that experience, you need to walk it. Roaming around the guru, showering him/her with compliments or trying to impress him/her with your power, looks or wealth is redundant. For if the guru has the state of these things (physical creation), how will he/she take you beyond? And if he/she has traversed the journey of yog, then to reach him/her, you have to walk that path. Only then will you have the darshan of his/her swaroop. Whether your vehicle is a broken Fiat or a Phantom or a jet-plane (the vehicle here indicates your body), if you keep admiring it in the mirror, you will stay where you are. The mirror does not traverse, nor will the body. Even a broken Fiat can reach, if it walks the path of guru. Otherwise, you can keep polishing the car, change its upholstery and tyres, put various kinds of fuel, nothing will happen. One day the car (body) will fade away, as will the mirror. Slowly the car will ...

Asans are not exercises. They are the gradual process of evolution in the body effectuated under sanidhya of a Guru. They are to be performed gently and with internal awareness. A mantra is codified form of energy in the form of sound and must be channelized by the siddha of the mantra for expanding consciousness. It is through consciousness and heightened awareness achieved through asans and mantras that the body becomes healthy. When the body is healthy, one gets an experience of the subtler world and is in bliss all the time. Dhanur Asan In this series, we have been discussing the asans and beej mantras for the various chakras and how one can activate them and strengthen the corresponding body parts. Last time we discussed the swadhishthan chakra that is present two inches above the mooladhar. Now we move to the Manipoorak chakra.  Manipoorak (Navel Chakra): Located at the point of navel, it controls at the physical level the small and large intestine, liver, ...

Yoga is not about achieving more in the physical, it is the journey of leaving the physical and achieving sidhhis to go beyond. There is pyramidal structure to Creation, your position in the pyramid is determined by your desire. Every being is born with a specific desire and matching to that desire finds a Guru. As one holds the hand of the Guru, he/she moves to that level of the pyramid and the desire manifests. The problem begins after, as then, usually the person gets caught in the desire and is unable to move further. So he/she slips and begins the downwards journey. The problem of kalyug is that our desires are embedded into the physical, physical is what the majority understands, so even when one set on a search for Guru, he/she measures him on physical yardsticks – how big is his ashram, how many factories does he own, etc. Beyond that, one is unable to comprehend, missing out on the essence of what the Guru is. In present times one would give more respect to a M...

The purpose of your life is experiencing the desire which brought you here. We take birth because of desire and for a lifetime we remain prisoners of this desire, forgetting the purpose of our life and taking the downward spiral by entangling ourselves in the various attractions of the physical world namely, relationships, career — the web of maya.  The purpose of your life is experiencing the desire which brought you here. And desire is unending, as it starts the cycle of karma until the soul decides that the purpose is over and it needs to go back home. You have to pay back for your every karma. While it’s fine to experience and enjoy the pleasures, it is also important to remember the purpose of your life and that for every pleasure you indulge in, there comes an associated pain. That maintains the balance in this creation. We are limited with our senses and the limitations of our mind cannot comprehend either our life’s purpose or the ways to ac...

There is pyramidal structure to Creation, your position in the pyramid is determined by your desire. Every being is born with a specific desire and matching to that desire finds a Guru. As one holds the hand of the Guru, he/she moves to that level of the pyramid and the desire manifests. The problem begins after, as then, usually the person gets caught in the desire and is unable to move further. So he/she slips, and begins the downwards journey. The problem of kalyug is that our desires are embedded into the physical, physical is what the majority understands, so even when one sets on a search for Guru, he/she measures him on physical yardsticks – how big is his ashram, how many factories does he own, etc. Beyond that, one is unable to comprehend, missing out on the essence of what the Guru is. In present times one would give more respect to a Math’s teacher than a Guru, for the thought pattern is – ‘At least he will teach me something which...