Lady Nada: Let the Beating of Our Hearts Echo the True Way of Freedom, Unity and Love

Lady Nada:

Dear Ones, it is the celebration of a New Year that brings me to you today. Your calendar tells you that this week, this season, is the beginning of a new year, a fresh start. It is a time for reflection and resolve; a time for reviewing your actions, accomplishments and intentions during the past year. This is an admirable way to see yourself in the Light of God and to identify new possibilities for a great leap forward in this coming year.

We encourage you now to see yourself through the eyes of your Creator, with adoration, respect and gratitude. Your loving Creator does not care if you are having a bad hair day or if you indulged in so many holiday goodies that you cannot button your clothes. In fact, in the Higher Dimensions, we are amused by the constant worrying about appearances, since we see nothing of the surface of things, but look deeply into your hearts and souls. We see your past efforts, struggles and triumphs written into the energy of today's incarnation; we feel your doubts, your insecurities and your love.

We understand the doubts because we have lived among you, tasted the pleasures of life on our beloved Terra, and we have of course known the pain of persecution. We understand the insecurity behind aggressive and dark actions, and our hearts overflow with love toward those who have taken the path of darkness, destruction and arrogance. It is an angry and hopeless endeavor, this pursuit of darkness, one that could only be followed by a being who is immersed in delusion. Yet, many have taken this path, and you who are incarnated now on Earth are seeing the effects of their folly.

I mention this now as a way of helping you to look back over the mistaken ideas of your brethren of darkness who believe they can defeat the Light by tormenting humankind, but I tell you, Beloved Ones, it has always been known in the teachings of the True Way that LIght must triumph in the end, and so it shall.

You are on the threshold of a New Year and in a much deeper sense, a New Dawn in the history of mankind. I come to you to appeal to you to open your hearts and minds and feel the power within you to persevere, for the quality of humanity for which you are admired across the Multiverse is that of tenacity, endurance, determination, steadfastness, patience, diligence, and dedication to the glorious task at hand.

Yes, all those qualities and more have defined our long march out of the dark mists into the Light. I have walked beside you all the way, my beloved Brothers and Sisters, sometimes in a body, always in spirit, as we have moved tirelessly toward the dawning of the New Golden Age. With each lifetime, each challenge met and overcome, our bonds of fellowship and trust have grown stronger. This is the way I see you all, Dear Ones, and I ask you to join me now to feel those golden ties that bind us in Love.

I will give you an image, a meditation you can do every day to ground our intention, and bind our hearts in Love and ascend as One. Together we will create a Rainbow Bridge to the new life we envision.

Picture us together, the Family of Light, all of you in your current bodies sitting in a circle as we have done for eons, surrounded by the Company of Heaven, our ancestors and friends, angels and elementals, all shining in the adoring Light of our Creator. Imagine a comfortable, large room filled with light, expansive and beautiful, welcoming and warm. We are together at last, gathering to share the joy of being together after a long and difficult journey. Our hearts are brimming over with the recognition of tried and true friendships, remembered over eons, like balm to our souls. We are loved.

Recognize within you the center points that align with Creator - the center of your brain, the center of each chakra, moving down through your body, noticing especially your heart center and then your solar plexus. Here is the center of will, determination, and fortitude we mentioned earlier. Feel the increase in strength as you connect these centers - brain, heart and solar plexus. Now open your Light channel to expand outward, filling your entire body with Light as it pours down upon you, igniting the great energy centers of your body, the chakras, and flows through you downward into the Earth.

Anchor your expanding energy deeply into the great diamond crystal in the center of Mother Terra. Now you are linked with the energy of Creator and anchored into the Earth. This gives you a sense of balance, stability and purpose, for it is you, Humankind, for whom our beloved planet was created. She has sustained us throughout the eons as we moved together toward this historic time. Feel yourself as the powerful link between Earth and sky, human and Spirit, form and Light.

Do you feel the source of your burning desire for freedom and liberty for all humankind? It is here, in the deep connection from solar plexus to heart and mind. All combines to form the Creator Race you are - Love and the powerful drive for Unity and Freedom. As I see you there in the circle, I hear our Angel Chorus humming the uplifting song you have heard on our radio show - the marching song from Les Miserable, which sings of freedom for all. It begins, "Do you hear the people sing?" Let the beating of your heart echoe the beating of the drum you will know we are now and forever One.

This marvelous song was written about a time when angry revolutionaries joined hands and hearts to give their lives for freedom. Now, you will no longer need the anger. Instead, you can convert that will and determination to the conviction that you will never be slaves again, not to anyone. Your minds are free, your hearts are filled with love, and the chains will drop away because no one can hold prisoner a human being who knows freedom in their heart.

Join hands and hearts across the room, across the dimensions and the eons, as we join in this glorious march toward the Paradise on Earth we have envisioned together.

Now, see us all rise from our chairs, joining hands as we move out into the sunshine, moving upward, onward, through the streets of villages and towns, greeting all who come out to feel our message of love and Unity. They join with us, one by one, hearts overflowing with gratitude and joy, dancing and embracing one another as we march together under the rejoicing Light of All That Is. No one will be left behind; no one can be alone because we shine our Love into every corner of the world.

This is our time, Brave Ones. Our triumph is felt throughout the Universe. Our Love is eternal.

We are One.
Your Nada

Transcribed by Kathryn E. May, January 2, 2015, with joy overflowing.

The Cycle of Crucifixion by Archangel Michael

Channelled through Natalie Glasson- 2^nd January 2015- www.omna.org

In this new cycle, which is long awaited as are all cycles of this time, we enter into a space promoting the energy of freedom. The vibration, frequency and consciousness of freedom is awakening from the very depths of your soul, like a candle newly lit casting greater light where there once was not. The dawning and awakening of the vibration and consciousness of freedom within your soul is born due to your continued acceptance of the Era of Love, it is akin to a new aspect of your soul readily available to be fully born into your embodiment. Freedom is such a powerful vibration, it fills all the senses with the questions, answers and experience of life beyond the physical reality, life which is the life force energy of the Creator, the source of the Creator. Freedom speaks of a time where the soul and spirit is free from limitation and yet still exists within a physical reality. How can this be? It is a process of being and it is the true reality of humanity upon the Earth. Remember that unlike previous Ascended Masters, your goal is not to ascend beyond the Earth; it is to ascend with your feet firmly planted within the soil of Mother Earth thus acting as an accelerating boost for all upon the Earth.

As the vibration of freedom awakens within you it is immensely important that you more fully ground yourself into the love of your being and the manifestation of the Era of Love upon the Earth. This will ensure your energy of freedom which is a true acceptance of the infinite Creator holds a power and wields a power within you which builds bonds of love and communication rather than pain and destruction. Some who are not willing to embed their energies in love may be distracted by the ego’s grasp upon their awakening freedom feeling as if they can achieve anything and everything without concerning themselves of the wellbeing of others. Be aware of these souls as they cross your pathway and give to them only your love, compassion and forgiveness for they have yet to see the true value of this sacred time of evolution upon the Earth.

The vibration of freedom awakening from within your soul as the most precious jewel of the Creator is an energy which will yield and create new pathways for each of you to walk, achieve and experience upon the Earth. We ask you to let go of what is, can be and was possible in the past, this consciousness is no longer needed and requires to be erased. You may call me forth, Archangel Michael, asking me to work with you to erase the possibilities of the past which have become embedded in your consciousness now existing as beliefs. I will support you, please ask as often as you can and use the affirmation I share with you as a reminder that the possibilities of the past are immensely different to the possibilities of your present.

‘Freedom of my Soul awakens new celestial pathways of Love for my experience.’

Love is your pathway now and it is a greater pathway than anything you have previously experienced. As a soul, as your higher aspect and Ascended Master self you understand love. Now we are all moving through and into New Dimensions of Love which have not been previously experienced. This is a great honour. As a being in a physical body you have been bestowed with the greatest honour as you are able to truly FEEL these New Dimensions of Love as a physical and spiritual being, meaning that if you choose to awaken to the possibility all dimensions of love are available for your experience and embodiment, this will be your reality. Think on this for a few moments. Even the energies you perceive as beyond your reach are available to you because your soul and energy aspects on the inner planes are also working to embody the new dimensions of love. As you connect more fully with your soul, embodying your soul consciously, which means with awareness, you allow yourself conscious access to all dimensions of love your soul has embodied and so forth, meaning you are in connection with all vibrations of love. You are love incarnate on the Earth.

Many planets are achieving the same and there will come a time when these planets such as Earth reach a percentage of love which allows them to connect together beginning a process of integration consciously. This will first manifest as heightened waves of love consciousness, understanding and wisdom flowing into your entire being, akin to being continuously recharged with love vibrations. Some vibrations will be new to you allowing further embodiment and unification of and with the Creator. These are the greater possibilities of the Era of Love; you may see why we say you are only just beginning your journey with and as the Era of Love.

Returning to the vibration of freedom awakening from your soul, which in truth is minuscule and yet is powerfully impacting your entire being and will continue to do so, the vibration of freedom is causing a new cycle and the completion of an old cycle. The time of Crucifixion is upon us. Master Jesus has demonstrated the process of Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension on the Earth. I say this without reference to any religious ideas, Master Jesus is a soul the same as yourself, many have moved through the process of Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension and yet the journey of Master Jesus is most noted. In the past individuals choose to move through Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension, now is the time for all of humanity to engage in this process bringing the cycle to an end thus changing the process and experience of Ascension upon the Earth. And so I remind you of the affirmation: ‘Freedom of my Soul awakens new celestial pathways of Love for my experience.’ With the vibration of freedom so the process of Crucifixion is activated from within you, an energy that moves through you and your life asking you to let go of that which no longer supports you and the sacred growth of your soul in embodiment. Crucifixion can manifest in numerous ways, I can reassure you it will not be as the harsh conditions of Master Jesus.

You may experience Crucifixion in your mental or emotional being, the releasing of energies to allow a new rising of your soul within your being. Please realise Crucifixion is not a punishment, it is a healing process brought forth as the part and aspect of the journey and pathway of love. Nor should my words create the belief of negative experiences in your reality, this is not the case. Crucifixion is a positive healing and empowerment. It could be likened to sacrifice, please know the Creator would not ask you to sacrifice yourself, however you may find yourself holding up energies to the light you do not wish to let go of. In these times to make your journey easy there is a need to ask yourself, ‘What is the truth of love?’ If love is born from need then it is not the true love of the Creator and simply an attachment. The Crucifixion is a process of dissolving attachment. For those willing to let go, remain in love, peacefully accept freedom from unneeded reactions while creating from within all they wish to experience, the process of Crucifixion may not be noticed. For those not wishing to let go, wishing to react and fight the process of release and healing creating drama and chaos then the time of Crucifixion may be turbulent and painful. Your experiences and reactions to your reality are your choosing. Allowing yourself to remain in and as love as much as possible will cause you to accelerate through many processes of ascension in the blink of your eye.

Moving through the process of Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension will allow for you to complete a cycle you began long ago, thus the process of ascension through pain will fall away, allowing you to enjoy the continuous process of Resurrection and Ascension on the Earth. This is a journey for all of humanity, there cannot be a time placed on the completion of this journey for all will dissolve the cycle with divine timing. If you allow yourself to consciously let go of thoughts, emotions and all you feel is not an expression of your soul, love or the Creator this will decrease dramatically their manifestation into your physical reality.

We give you our Love, Truth and Support,

We are One,

Archangel Michael

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Sivananda Daily Reading

4 January
Posted: 02 Jan 2015 10:00 PM PST
Life is Artificial
Life has become very artificial. There is physical, mental and moral degeneration. You do not find robust, stalwart, healthy people. Longevity is unknown. Everywhere you see puny, stunted creatures with dilapidated frames and sickly appearance. They cannot even walk a short distance.
Children beget children. People die like moths. They have become weaklings, effeminate, impotent.
There is wholesale devastation by earthquake. Divorce courts are increasing. One nation is afraid of another nation. Each nation is suspecting the other nation of preparing for war. Life has become a matter of uncertainty. It has become a mass of confusion, chaos and bewilderment. It has become very stormy and boisterous. It is full of under-currents, cross-currents and mixed currents!
You can escape from these troubles and difficulties if you lead a life of dispassion, self-restraint, purity and selfless service; if you develop pure cosmic love; if you develop the habit of taking the right view, right thinking, right feeling, right acting, all with the right attitude - and if you practise devotion and meditation.
Dispassion must be of that type that is born of pure viveka (nitya-anitya vastu viveka - discrimination between the real and the unreal). This is a rare commodity, a rare virtue. Seek everlasting bliss and peace in the Atman or the soul within by purifying the mind and practising meditation. This is the only remedy to get rid of the pains of samsara (worldly existence).
Be quick in taking to spiritual pursuits. Hairs are becoming grey. Teeth are falling. The senses are getting cold. Practise meditation while you are young. After retirement from service you can do nothing.
Raja Yoga, Message 5
Posted: 02 Jan 2015 10:00 PM PST
Vrittis — Modifications of the Mind
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali commence:
"Now, then, an enquiry into Yoga." (I-1)
"Yoga is the restraint of the modifications of the mind." (I-2)
"The mental modifications are five kinds, some painful and others not painful." (I-5)
If you want to restrain the modifications it is necessary for you to have a comprehensive understanding of them. The painful vrittis have to be controlled by the non-painful vrittis and these in turn have to be mastered by absolute non-attachment or dispassion or indifference to sensual enjoyments. The painful modifications are those which bring afflictions and which become the field for the growth of the vehicle of actions.
"Right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, memory and sleep are the five modifications." (I-6)
"Right knowledge is direct perception or inference or testimony." (I-7)
Right knowledge is that which is unquestionable, reliable and true. Right knowledge is right cognition. Wrong knowledge is misconception.
Right knowledge is a help or step to attain knowledge of the Self. It is of no use for one who is resting in his own native divine glory. A full-blown yogi depends on his own realisation for his knowledge. He is not in need of these proofs. An ordinary man depends on direct perception only for his knowledge. A man who has advanced a little depends on direct perception and inference. One who is a little more advanced depends on these two proofs, plus testimony.
Direct perception is that knowledge which is caused by direct contact of any of the five senses of knowledge — ear, eye, tongue, skin and nose — with the objects of knowledge. If there is no contradiction in your two perceptions, you can call it a proof or right cognition. If there is contradiction you begin to doubt at once. You see a river or mountain. You feel heat and cold. You taste an orange or mango. These are all direct cognitions. There cannot be any contradictions in these experiences.
If there is a flood in a river you infer that there must have been heavy rain on the previous day. If you see smoke, you infer that there must be fire. These are all inferences. Inference is knowledge produced by a previous knowledge of the relation between a characteristic mark and the possessor of the mark. You see a clear sign and from that you come to the thing signified. You see a table and infer that the table must have been made by a carpenter. You see the external universe and thereby infer that there must be a Creator. This is inference.
Testimony and apta vakyam are synonymous terms. A competent person is an apta. He is omniscient. He is a seer or sage who has direct knowledge. The whole book of inner knowledge or knowledge of the Self is revealed to him like a fruit in the hand. His words serve as direct authority. There can never be any mistake in his statements. His words are infallible. All his words are gospel-truths. He has derived super-intuitional knowledge beyond the senses through asamprajnata samadhi. His words will not contradict reasoning and past human experiences.
"Wrong knowledge is false perception whose real form is not of its own." (I-8)
Wrong knowledge is when the essential nature of a thing does not appear, and a false form appears in its stead. I will give you clear illustrations: Mother-of-pearl is mistaken for silver, a post is mistaken for a man, a rope is mistaken for a snake. Wrong knowledge is wrong cognition brought about by some defect either in the object itself or in the means leading to it. Doubt is also included in this.
"Imagination follows from mere words which are nothing in reality." (I-9)
As instances of imagination we have: 'horns of a hare', 'son of a barren woman', 'lotus in the sky', etc. The difference between imagination and wrong knowledge lies in the fact that imagination can hardly be removed by a careful observation of the object, as wrong knowledge is. As soon as you closely observe the notion of silver in the mother-of-pearl, or snake in the rope, it disappears.
Imaginary fears of various sorts, exaggeration, concoction, mental dramatization and building castles in the air are all due to the power of imagination. Even a perfect man full of health has some imaginary disease or other due to the power of imagination of the mind. Much energy is wasted on account of imaginary fears. A man may have a little weakness or fault. When he becomes your enemy you at once exaggerate and magnify his weakness and faults. This is due to the power of imagination.
Whenever the minds of two friends are strained by ill-feelings, these minds begin to exaggerate and concoct things. Fault-finding nature increases. It is very difficult to get at the truth of the statements of these friends with a broken friendship. Their utterances are always coloured by their inner feelings. The power of imagination plays havoc now.
I shall explain to you the nature of 'mental dramatisation'. Mark the ways of the mind. During conversation with your friends the mind sometimes imagines in vain that it has hurt the feelings of your friend. It spends much of its energy in unnecessary feelings. You think: "How can I see him tomorrow morning? He may be displeased with me." Next morning when you meet him nothing happens. Your friend starts a pleasing conversation and smiles. You are surprised. To your great astonishment, the subject of talk takes quite a different turn altogether. A family man imagines when a severe epidemic of plague ravages: "What shall I do if my wife develops plague and dies now? I have got six children." This is his vain imagination. Nothing happens. Sometimes when the train moves slowly on the Pamban Bridge over the sea near Rameshwar, the mind imagines: "If the bridge gives way now, what will become of me? I will be smashed to pieces." A touch of fear creeps in. There are a thousand and one ways of mental dramatisation like these. The power of imagination plays a vital part in mental dramatisation.
Here are other examples. There is a rumour that there is cholera in George Town, Madras; the man in Park Town falsely imagines that he will get cholera. He worries and actually gets cholera out of fear. Your friend did not talk to you as he was running in haste to catch the train; you imagine that he was offended. There was a rumour that a riot broke out in London; you falsely imagine that your son who was studying in London might have died. Eradicate these modifications through enquiry. Do not identify yourself with any modification. Identify yourself with Brahman and rest peacefully forever.
Right knowledge, wrong knowledge and imagination are enjoyed in the waking state, and the subtle desires of these are enjoyed in dream.
"Sleep is a modification of mind which has the cause of nothingness as its support." (I-10)
Sleep manifests when there is preponderance of inertia (tamas), when purity (sattva) and activity (rajas) subside and when there is no knowledge of the external world. Ordinary people think that there is complete absence of vrittis in sleep. It is not so. As there is memory in you when you wake up, and as you say when you wake up: "I slept soundly; I knew nothing," there ought to have been a particular kind of subtle wave in the mind during sleep. It should not be understood that sleep is not a transformation or vritti of the mind. If it were so, the remembrance, "I slept soundly," would not follow on waking, for you never remember what you have not experienced.
Sleep is not merely a state of inactivity or passive repose. In this state the causal body functions vigorously. The associated consciousness is also present. It has deep philosophical significance. The individual soul is almost in close contact with the Absolute. Just as a thin layer of muslin veils the face of a lady and renders it invisible to the eyes of her husband, so also a thin layer of ignorance separates the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. Vedantins study this state very deeply and carefully. It gives the clue for non-dual philosophers to trace, search and find out the hidden silent witness.
The Mother of this world takes the individual souls back to Her and Her Lord during deep sleep, hugs them to Her bosom, bestows on them refreshing peace, new vigour, vitality and strength, and makes them quite fit for the ensuing battle of life on the following day. But for this sleep, life would be absolutely impossible in this physical plane where misery, diseases, cares, worries, fears and anxieties of various kinds trouble man every second. If a man does not get sound sleep even for one night, if he loses his sleep one night for three hours by keeping watch over a sick patient or attending the cinema, how miserable, gloomy and depressed he feels the next day!
Sleep is a particular kind of vritti. This must be controlled like other vrittis if you want to enter into samadhi.
"Memory is the 'not slipping away' of the objects perceived." (I-11)
Remembrance is a function brought into being entirely by the impression left by former experience. Knowledge produced by recollecting impressions of past experiences is memory. The objects cognised do not slip away from the mind. They come back to the surface of the conscious mind through the influence of latent tendencies that are imbedded in the subconscious mind.
The above five kinds of vrittis come under the three categories of pleasure, pain and delusion.
Samskaras
"To the man of discrimination all is painful indeed, due to the consequences, anxiety and samskaras (impressions) and also to the contradictions of the functioning of the gunas (qualities of nature)." (II-15)
Every action, every desire, every enjoyment or suffering and in fact all experiences leave in the camera-plate of the subconscious mind subtle impressions or residual potencies (samskaras), which are the root cause for future births, life and the experiences of pleasure and pain.
A samskara or an experience is formed or developed in the subconscious mind the very moment when the mind is experiencing something. There is no gap between the present experience and the formation of an impression in the subconscious mind. Revival of these impressions induces memory. The sum total of these samskaras that are lodged in the subconscious mind constitutes what is called prarabdha — the portion of karma that determines one's present life.
Just as matter and energy are indestructible, so also samskaras are indestructible, but they are destroyed by the fire of wisdom and the highest state of samadhi.
The yogi dives deep inside and comes in direct contact with these samskaras. He directly perceives them through his yoga vision. By samyama (concentration, meditation and samadhi) on these samskaras he acquires knowledge of previous lives. By samyama on the samskaras of others he gets knowledge of their past lives also.
All neophytes in the spiritual path experience a sort of tug-of-war between the old sensual samskaras and the newly generated spiritual samskaras 'rising up' and then 'falling down'. When they grow purer and purer they will not be dragged down by the worldly samskaras.
A drawing notebook is nothing but paper with some pictures. When the pictures are erased by a rubber the notebook contains blank sheets of paper only. Even so, when the samskaras in the mind are erased by meditation and samadhi, mind is nothing but Brahman only. The mind of a worldly man is a bundle of samskaras; the mind of a sage is Brahman only.
The ignorant man is an instrument in the hands of his samskaras and karma. He slowly gains strength by understanding his real and essential nature, by doing spiritual practices and by renouncing desires and egoism.
Gunas
Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three gunas or qualities of the chitta (subconscious mind). Sattva is purity, light or knowledge. Rajas is passion or activity. Tamas is inertia or darkness. Sattva is the inherent quality of the chitta. Chitta is born of sattva guna, but when it mixes with rajas and tamas all the worldly taints manifest.
No guna can exist by itself. The three gunas exist in a state of combination and cannot be separated like so many particles, distinct from one another. By checking rajas and tamas you can increase sattva; and when there is a preponderance of sattva, rajas and tamas are controlled; but they lurk in the mind for the time being. When sattva increases the mind becomes steady like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. He who is sattvic can do real concentration and meditation and can enter into samadhi easily. Your important duty is to increase sattva and to control the senses and the mind. Other duties are secondary. A sensible man only can understand this point. When there is increase of sattva there is brightness and brilliance in the face, lightness in the body, joy, purity, strength, peace and illumination. When there is a preponderance of rajas, sattva and tamas are controlled. When there is a preponderance of tamas, sattva and rajas are controlled. A rajasic man loves power and objects of senses. A tamasic man does vicious actions on account of ignorance.
From your look and behaviour one can find out what sort of guna is prevailing in you. There is always a mixture; but the preponderant element can be found. You can find out the rajasic temperament in a man; he has the rajasic look, he likes gaudy rajasic dress and rajasic food, he will be ever engaged in worldly activities. He wants to lord over people. He has a domineering attitude. He wants power, prestige and position. He is much attached to wife, children and property.
You can at once spot the sattvic man who wears a japa mala around his neck, who is humble and simple in demeanour, wears simple dress and eats simple sattvic food. He will be ever God-loving, dispassionate and powerful. He has a calm, serene mind, always enquiring into the nature of the world and the nature of the Self; always immersed in a meditative mood, with a natural inclination to study books of spiritual nature and to live in solitude.
If you have a desire for onion and garlic, for meat and mutton, it shows you have a rajasic nature. It will disturb the peace of your mind and excite the lower passions. Food plays a prominent part in shaping your nature. Look at an elephant; it eats only leaves and vegetables. How calm it is, in spite of its enormous size and strength! Look at the tiger, on the other hand. In spite of its smallness, how cruel and dangerous it is! The nature is in conformity with the food.
The whole manifested universe is made up of the three gunas. Modification of these gunas constitutes all sorts of immovable and moving things. The gunas change every minute and produce the various phenomena of nature.
"The past and the future exist in their real nature due to the difference in the condition of the gunas." (IV-12)
As the effect is contained in a subtle state in the cause itself, that which is in a state of contraction attains the state of expansion, just like the tree from the seed. The substance exists always. The outer coverings change according to the changes of coverings of the gunas or qualities. As gunas change, difference in feeling also occurs. Changes take place like a continuous current. The future is a manifestation which is to be; the past is the experience which has been experienced; the present is that which is in active operation. We have these three periods of time with reference to a marked indicative point. The seeds of everything exist in a subtle state. That is the reason why samyama (concentration, meditation and samadhi) on the three transformations or changes produces knowledge of the past, present and future.
"They (the characteristics), whether manifest or subtle, are of the nature of gunas or qualities." (IV-13)
These characteristics are of the nature of the manifested when they exist in the present and are of the nature of the subtle when they are passed into the past, or are as yet unmanifested. They are all of the nature of gunas. In truth, the world is only gunas. "The reality of things is the result of the unity of modifications." (IV-14)
As one guna is prominent and the other two are subordinate there is only one effect. When the sattva guna is predominating and rajas and tamas are under subordination, the organs of knowledge are formed. When rajas is preponderating and the sattva and tamas are under subordination, the organs of action are formed. Each of these modifications is always known as one.
The strong current of modifications of the mind will be directed along the virtuous path if sattva is predominating in the mind. The man will do virtuous actions and thoughts of God will manifest. His mind will be one-pointed and the meditative mood will come by itself without exertion. If rajas and tamas predominate, the mental current and mental energy flow along a vicious path and the man will do vicious actions. The sattvic mental current will make you turn inward and take you to kaivalya or moksha, while rajasic and tamasic currents will throw you down in samsara.
In spiritual neophytes the sattvic state of mind will not last for a long time. Rajas and tamas will try to rush in. You will have to be very vigilant and watch the mind through thoughtful introspection.
Just as you squeeze out the toothpaste from the collapsible tube, you will have to squeeze out all rajas from this bodily tube and fill it with sattva. Then you will become a dhyana yogi.
The gross impurities of the mind — rajas and tamas — should be removed by heating the mind with the fire of dispassion (vairagya) and practice (abhyasa).
By increasing the sattvic modifications of the mind such as forgiveness, love, mercy, magnanimity, generosity, truthfulness and celibacy, you can destroy the rajasic and tamasic modifications.
Vrittis that emanate from rajas and tamas are all painful ones. All vrittis that proceed from sattva are not painful. Sattvic vritti or emotion is quiet. Rajasic vritti or emotion is terrible and tamasic vritti is confused. Mercy, forbearance, generosity and courage are sattvic emotions. Desire, affection, attachment and avarice are rajasic emotions. Infatuation, fear, sloth and carelessness are tamasic emotions. Rajasic and tamasic emotions are of a turbid nature. Hence, they are not capable of receiving a reflection of the blissful nature of Atman but they can receive reflection of intelligence. Fire has heat and light. Boiled water takes the heat of fire but does not take the power of giving light. Even so, rajasic and tamasic emotions present a reflection of intelligence but not of bliss. Burning wood partakes of both heat and light. Even so, sattvic emotions present a reflection of both blissfulness and intelligence.
Sattva is jnana shakti (the power of knowing), rajas is kriya shakti (the power of acting) and tamas is dravya shakti (the power of substantiality). Manas or mind and the five organs of sensation are born of sattva. Prana and the five organs of action are born of rajas. The five elements — ether, air, fire, water and earth — are born of tamas. Air is a modification of ether; fire is a modification of air; water is a modification of fire; earth is a modification of water.
Action that proceeds from the basis of sattva cannot bind a man, but the action that springs from the basis of tamas will lead to bondage. The former is no karma at all. It is burnt in the fire of wisdom. The latter is an offspring of selfishness. For instance, in the Ramayana Sri Rama fought with Ravana, but the basis was sattva. In the case of Ravana the basis was tamas, though in both the action of 'fighting' was the same.
Rajas creates oscillation of the mind. Activity proceeds when rajas is mixed either with sattva or tamas. You do noble actions and exhibit noble virtues when the basis for action is sattva. Craftiness, meanness, hypocrisy and deceit emanate when the basis for action is tamas.
In the beginning, when you are passionate, you show bitterest feelings of spite and revenge towards your enemies. As you advance in spirituality by selfless service and meditation these feelings of hatred soften down gradually to simple indifference only. Later on when you advance a step further, when your mind is filled with more sattva (purity), even this indifference vanishes. You will develop intense love for them. You will develop pure equal vision.
If anyone talks much, eats much or moves much he cannot have an inner life in Atman. He has a mind with out-going tendencies and out-going energies. His mind is filled with the quality of rajas.
Do not mistake the promptings of the lower mind for the voice of the soul. The higher mind, which tends towards virtue, is sattvic mind. This higher mind elevates man. It guides him. It acts as a true preceptor. You should try to hear the voice of the sattvic mind. If a wrong action is done the sattvic mind will prick you. This is the sign to know that the action is bad. If there is joy and elevation of the mind, the act is a righteous one. The mind which tends towards luxury and evil is the lower (rajasa-tamasic) mind. This mind is the cause for one's downfall. Annihilate rajas and tamas by increasing sattva. You will be quite safe.
Meditation is done with the help of the mind. Mind is an effect of ignorance. Through the effect the cause (Brahman) is to be known. Mind that is filled with rajas and tamas is insentient. A sattvic mind that is equipped with the four means is Brahman itself. It is a mass of effulgence. The scriptures emphatically declare: "Through the (pure) mind only, is Brahman to be seen or realised." In meditation or yoga there is an indescribable power which takes the individual soul to the Supreme Soul.
Tread the path of Truth or the path of Self-realisation, even though with faltering steps. You must have the highest ideal before you, then you are bound to succeed. All obstacles will vanish like mist before the sun. Be not troubled, be not anxious if there is a little delay in the descent of the divine light. Do not grieve, do not despair. Be regular in your meditation. Never cease to strive. You will reach the goal soon. The way to freedom or moksha is thrown open to you now. March boldly on the spiritual path.
Within you is hidden God; within you is the immortal soul; within you is the inexhaustible spiritual treasure; within you is the fount of joy and happiness; within you is the ocean of bliss. Look within for this happiness which you have sought in vain in the perishable sensual objects. Rest peacefully in your own Atman and drink the nectar of immortality.


				*1-3-15 Hearts Echo et al*