Why this website?
The Concept of Lokasamgraha from Sreemadbhagabad Geeta.
Yoga or any form of sadhana is something purely personal – the selection & propagation of which is expected to follow its own course, unaffected by any push or pull. It is a personal matter between the Guru & the disciple only. Therefore an important question was discussed before we started the work on website in the year 2002. Should there be a website at all as it stands out to be nothing but a form of advertisement or publicity.
The direction to solve this problem is attained from Sreemadbhagavad Geeta.
Chapter III, sloka 20 & sloka 25 of Sreemadbhagavad Geeta offers a unique word - lokasamgraham.
karmanaiva hi samsiddhimasthita janakadayah
lokasamgrahamevapi sampashyam kartumaharsi
3 - 20
saktah karmanyavidvamso yatha kurvanti bharat
karyadvidvamstathasaktashchikirshulokasamgraham
3 – 25
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THE LOKASAMGRAHA SPIRIT FOR COOPERATION
Taken from http://www.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/cst/mgmt/le/papersnp/srivastava.htm.
(This URL link is not working at present.)
The concept of lokasamgraha in the Sreemadbhagwat Gita, the great Hindu epic, symbolises a persistent striving to connect everything secular to sacred, to imbed the empirical in the transcendental, to anchor the individual in the cosmic. This is of course holism, a principle that is first expressed in verse 20 of chapter III as follows: "It was even by performance of worldly works that Janaka (A noble King & an enlightened yogi of ancient India) and his subjects attained to perfection. Thou should also do works regarding the holding together of the people."
The points to note are:
a. There is reference to a practical role model;
b. Perfection is emphasised, not success, and
c. The collective sustenance and maintenance of people is the objective.
Sreemadbhagavad Geeta is based on oneness of one's existence along with the existence of other beings. Elsewhere, Sri Aurbinda expands further on the principle of lokasamgraha, stating that it needs (initially from the Leader) an impersonal orientation for holding together the race in its cyclic evolution on the path of discovering the soul within.
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The supreme duty of every incarnate soul is God -realisation. The process of attaining this mission does not include only that period of time of a day when spiritual practices - as learnt from Sri Guruji - is performed. It has a greater ambience. Truly speaking none of us can escape from work. From birth to death we continue to do works. But for a yogi even those worldly duties can be remodeled into a part of sadhana.
How a yogi conceives of his worldly duties has to be judged first. He works without any attachment & expectation of results of an act. He prays to His Guru for giving him the strength to perform the work & he surrenders any result - good or bad - emanating out of an act as such. He is free from thinking that he is the doer of all his acts.
We all know that there is only one Supreme Truth in life - that someday we all have to leave this mortal world. The Lord of Death spares no one. On that terminal moment we will be mercilessly stripped off everything we acquire in this world. The only wealth that we can carry with us after death is the wealth gained from proper spiritual performance.
Even then we see, the continuous wish to do worldly works prevents us from sadhana. We waste so much time hankering after attaining those frail and insignificant things which we will have to shun at the ultimate time of departure from this world. And we pay so little attention towards generating the spiritual wisdom which will propel us to God realisation!
For a yogi this problem needs to be solved. The only way out is to make such a mental predicament where even worldly duties become a part of sadhana. Working without worldly attachment & without any willingness for the end result is the aim. But attaining a state of mind as such is not an easy matter. Rigorous practice & only practice for years ultimately makes a spiritual student to be steadfast in a state of mind in which he or she is able to work without any materialistic attachment or expectation for any worldly gain.
Attainment of this very state also requires a guidance. Our learning is best when an example is manifest before us. For a sadhaka who wishes to detach himself from any craving of materialistic gain while performing a particular act, also needs the presence of a guide whom he can watch performing all His duties from such a state of mind. A practical role model is a must in this mission.
This rigorous practice teaches how to consider work as a mean of sadhana (but not the only means of sadhana). Thus any work becomes a part of that continuous practice to attain that very state wherefrom no lust for resultant gain is left in mind. Failures would be there at the beginning. But the failures are not deterrent.
After initiation, as per traditional custom, a SadGuru often directs a disciple to perform any particular act or work in the Ashram or relating to Ashram. This act should be viewed as a means of practice through which self-surrender to the Guru is attained. For, strong individuality or self-importance is a hindrance in the mind of a sadhaka. It disturbs Guru-consciousness. He soon understands that his Guruji is keenly looking after each & every of his acts. Every act then turns out as an act to satisfy the GOD or Guru & performed without worldly attachment or craving for materialistic gains.
The divine drama of this cosmos is nothing but a means of self-surrender to Sri Guru. One who gets to know of this Truth becomes a loving disciple of Sri Guruji. On the other hand one who performs in this cosmic theatre considering himself to be the scripter of his character - is indeed in spiritual jeopardy. By performance of such selfless acts, a disciple develops the quality in which his mind is always in tune with the lyric - YOU, YOU & Only YOU (As Lord Sri Ramakrishna advised - to sing only tuhu tuhu) .
Thus even this website is a part of the sadhana of a few insignificant souls - supervised of course by a senior disciple of Guruji. It is a mean of attaining that state of mind where performance of worldly works do not hamper with sadhana! It is never a way of publicity. Revered Sri Ramakrishna warned every young spiritual aspirant to refrain from cherishing in the mind to do anything with a motto of mere publicity of his Guruji. Publicity is a worthless thing when done by individuals. It produces more bad effects than good. Only when it is done by a Sadguru it produces the desired effects. We individuals do not know even what is best for us! How can we even think of doing what is best for others - unless of course it is shown by a Sadguru? And a Sadguru does not propagate His words through a website! His works are in a subtle spiritual level.
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Even after completion of His sadhana, a Sadguru - under the guidance of His Guruji - continues to live & work in this mortal world. But the way He works is different from the way a common man performs his work. He is never tangled by the force of Mother Nature while performing His acts. Hence He is free from the resultant effects of the acts He performs. Unlike mere mortals like us, all His works are performed only as an example to the common folk. We work to gain & a Sadguru works to teach!
Having a practical role model as Him before us, we learn to react to different events of life in the most proper way. A disciple who has extensively studied the acts of His Sadguru, would be able to note the difference in his attitudes towards worldly events he has faced before & after initiation. This change never occurs unless one has a very inquisitive look towards a works of His Sadguru. This constant observation seeds the good qualities in the Guru in the heart & mind of the disciple.
Again, it is indeed tough to even assess Sadguru's works! For a common man works in the physical level & the Guru works in the spiritual level. Even then, by careful observation we learn a lot.
Whatever we see in Him can be shared with many. Guruji is purna (Absolute) but we are yet to reach that stage. We are incomplete till now & we will have to progress in a way He guides us with firm faith on whatever He teaches. But at the same time we should share our happiness with the rest of the world. We cannot live without His company, His directions. We can very well feel how miserable our lives were before we met Him & how beautiful it has turned out to be as we took asylum under His feet.
We find many devoted persons thriving to add the touch of divinity in their own lives. They are sincerely in search of such a Guru like Him. We have no right to conceal such a pitcher of nectar (amrita-patra) from them.
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There is no concept of producing an association or a team. As revered Lahiribaba said - 'Association develops in a muddy pond!' The same echo we hear from the words of Swami Vivekananda - 'Every association by itself is an evil.' An organisation sucks the valuable time & energy of its members only to perpetuate the cause of association!
But an Ashram founded by a sadhaka after self-realisation is a completely different agency! For every member of the Ashram works in direct supervision of the Guru. Every moment the works performed by the disciples is monitored by a supreme authority - a palpable presence of whom is felt beyond doubt. Something which gathers the faith in the mind of the sadhaka - a Sadguru is always with the disciple. This firm faith on the Guru is always necessary for practice of spiritualism. Thus the Ashram & the works related to this should be viewed as a means of sadhana for its members.
A disciple should not seek any kind of advantage for performing whatever work is advised by his Guru. The work has to be done from an impersonal objective. The obstacles while performing those works may look like insurmountable at the beginning but they can be overcome very easily through constant prayer. While working on matters related to this website, we only crave for perfection. And this is a persistent thriving. This is of course a hard task. But it teaches us the lessons which we need to master to prosper in the spiritual life.
We do not claim that this website is built to maintain the dignity & originality of Kriya Yoga etc. It is not our task after all! GOD is there to look after such a mammoth mission. We also refrain to claim that we are able to represent Guruji in totality. His presence is so vast that we need to truly expand our radars to sense His magnanimity. How can mortals like us even consider that we have known our Guruji totally? The day we can know Him in totality - the sadhana would be considered to be complete. For Guru is the Incarnation of GOD. A complete realisation of one's Guru is equivalent to realisation of GOD.
We also refrain from making any comments on any other organisations. Each & everyone of us is part of the Sad-chit-Ananda. Truly there is no concept of superiority in GOD's own territory. We all are HIS subordinates.
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The Guru-centred tradition - is present in India for thousands of years. Modern scientific era has not meant that the sacred practices of spirituality have vanished from this holy land. The holy land of this country even today has many Jivanmukta Mahapurusha (fully liberated souls while being within a physical body) - to guide the devoted souls of this country to the acme of spirituality. Such noble relationship between the Guru & the disciple do exist even today as it did thousand of years ago & will continue to be present in the sacred soil of India.
The actual journey to spirituality begins after being blessed by a Sadguru. Anything before that is just a preparatory state. It is no doubt that in future many Kriyavan sadhaka-s would reach to their final destination through these web pages - as is happening for last few years. Our role is only to facilitate them. As one day, we got help from one of our Gurubrothers or sisters to reach to this sacred Ashram of our Guruji, we also try to help those who have realised the very need of sadhana in their lives & wish to surrender themselves before the Guru.
Previously, people used to come to know of the Ashram from the books published by Ashram. Today Internet has also become a medium of sharing of such informations. But it is not the primary way for people reach to the Ashram. The best is personal interaction with senior disciples & direct knowledge of the principles that guide us.
Our aim is pure & impersonal. We have understood that without His blessings our life is of no value. We are certain that only the Guru can bring anyone to the gate of immortality. We simply wish to share it with the rest of the world.
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Guru is ONE & everywhere, there can never be my Guru & your Guru.