September 1, 2021 | Dattavani

Speech of HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji during Datta Kriya Yoga Camp – September 1, 2021 – Mysore

Compiled by Archana Penukonda

The Datta Kriya Yoga sadhaka-bodhakas (practitioners-teachers) have come together for this Camp. This is all Guru’s grace without which this would not be possible. We were unable to have the Kriya Yoga camp last year and we felt the void. We are all used to having this get together and camp for 3-5 days during Chaturmasya Vrata. Last year, Covid swallowed our camp. This year, Gopalakrishna garu repeatedly asked for a session and he particularly wanted these dates. These are the dates that Chaturveda Havana (Yajna) is also happening. One Veda’s Havana is big enough, but this is Chaturveda (four Vedas) Havana. If such programs were to take place outside, the planning would need to start at least one month in advance. For a simple Ganapati Homa at home, we spend at least a week catching hold of priests, shopping for the ritual etc. A bigger event like Pavamana Homa will need at least one month of preparation. Chaturveda Homa and Maharudra Yajna and such other rituals need 2-3 months of preparation at least.

But on the 27th of last month, Sri Vibeeshana Sarma, the project officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam approached the Ashrama requesting that we do a Chaturveda Havana. When asked when he would like to start, he said they would start from the 1st of this month. We had originally planned to do this Havana starting the full moon day after Devi Navaratri, so we knew we had time. But when he made the request, Pujya Swamiji granted permission. There were only five days until the 1st which was barely enough time. But we started the event a couple days early on the 30th itself. The fact that we could undertake Chaturveda Havana in just 3 days is purely Guru’s grace.

And since we had already planned Datta Kriya Yoga camp to take place on these dates, we did not want to change the dates. You would also get to see the Chaturveda Havana in person. You all gathered here at a good time. Those participating in the Kriya Yoga Camp online are also as good as being here in person. So Yāga is going on there and Yoga is going on here. Both are good. Both keep us away from diseases. If we are close to bhoga (comforts), we are close to roga (diseases). On the other hand, if we are close to yāga and yoga, we will happily be away from diseases.
You are all undertaking Seva according to your capacity. Hanuman could swim the ocean, but the smaller monkeys could not. Smaller monkeys can barely jump from one tree to another. We are all like the small monkeys. Kriya Yoga is a massive ocean. How did Anjaneya Swamy cross the ocean? With the aid of Rāma nāma. He said that if the ocean of this worldly existence can be crossed with Rāma nāma, this ocean of water is trivial. This is nothing. It is not a feat at all. Nay, it is even an insult to Rāma nāma to just cross this ocean of water with it.

prabhu mudrikā mēli mukha māhī
jaladhi lāṅghi gaē acaraja nāhī

What is the big surprise? Lord Hanuman was not surprised. If one chants Rāma nāma, one cross the ocean of worldly life, this ocean of water is not a big deal. Kriya Yoga is an ocean. Merely seeing it and touching it and bathing in it is blissful. Where in the ocean do we bathe? We bathe at the shore – may be in 3-foot-deep waters. In fact, if you just sit by the ocean shore, the ocean waves will bathe you. Kriya Yoga is like that. Just plan to do it and it will make you do it. It has got so much power. Only a few attain this good fortune. You all have attained this fortune. Do good sadhana. It is good for you.

Some people give up on mantra, Puja, Vrata and Homas in the name of Yoga. They are afraid those sadhanas will impede their Yoga practice. But Pujya Swamiji teaches us to do everything while also doing Yoga. Yāga and Yoga are both important. That is how we are getting trained. All these sadhanas are important. They are part of our tradition. We eat more of the dish we like, but that does not mean we do not eat other items. If you like yoga, do more yoga and a little less of Puja. If you like Puja, do more of that and a little less of Yoga. But do not belittle the other paths. None of these paths cause wavering of the mind. They in fact remove your fickleness. That is why Kriya Yoga practitioners should also do Anagha Vrata. Do Pranayama while you do Anagha Vratam. Normally, people do one round of Prayana during their Puja, you can do ten rounds. Find a way to do Yoga in all situations, but do not object to other paths. Many have had mantra upadesha. You are ignoring your mantra; that should not happen. You must do your mantra because you received Upadesha.

So, while doing Pranayama, you can chant Om Dram Dattaya Namaha; or chant whatever mantra the Guru has given you. After Srichakra Puja in the Ashram, we have devotees do Pranayama. So with the mantra, do anusandhana. Nada anusandhana is done with nada. Similarly, yoga anusandhana is done along with yoga. Anusandhana is connecting with God. We should do our sadhana in this manner. That is why, to let this event progress without obstacles, let us chant Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha 108 times. Veda Havana is going on. Everyone sit straight, close your eyes and do prana anusandhana – watch the breath going in and out and do mantra chanting with it. Observe the breath. When you chant the mantra aloud, you may not be able to hear the breath; place your attention on the breath. That is Shabda Shakti. Matruka Shakti is the power of letters. We need akshara (letters of the alphabets) to connect with God. Hold on to the Beejaksharas. Beeja is the seed, the source. To grow rice, you need good seeds. If the seeds are good, the crop is good. When aksharas are joined by the bindu, it becomes beejakshara. That is why, we have the letters aṃ (ं) and aḥ(ः) in our alaphabet system. That shows the greatness of our tradition. Right at a young age, the components of beejakshara – aṃ and aḥ – are taught when children learn the alphabets. Visargas (aḥ) are taught. Visargas represent vishramam and viramam – rest and relaxation. These are important. To attain that peace, we need beejaksharas. aṃ and aḥ have such a great meaning. All alphabets are good, but when joined with bindu (aṃ), they become beejaksharas. So, gaṃ is a beejakshara.

g + a = ga. When we add the bindu, it becomes gaṃ. ‘g’ represents the three states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep as well as the mobile and immobile world of creatures. ‘a’ transcends that. And further beyond is the bindu. So, when you utter the beejakshara gaṁ, you are going to earth, space, satya loka and to Paramatma who is above that. nāda’ḥ sandhānam indicates you must chant it with nada. That nourishes our soul with devotion.

sagṃhi’tā sandhiḥ You cannot break down the g, a and ṃ and chant at three different times. You must chant them together. Just as you do not eat only rice today and only dal tomorrow, but eat them together, you must say these three sounds together. You must reconcile these spiritual topics to our daily lives to understand this better So, this pervades the world, the world above us as well as Paramatman who transcends all this. That is the union represented by gaṃ.

saiṣā gaṇe’śavidyā

This is the Ganesha Vidya. He is the Lord of all gaṇās (groups/categories). Everything in this world is part of a gaṇā. You can categorize things for ease of understanding and them combine them all to know the Ganesh is the Lord of all gaṇās. If you mix 10 buckets of water in a water tank, the water stays the same, the bucket alone is different. What mixes them all together is the beeja shakti. That is the power of beejakshara. So, we invoke the respective deity and contemplate on him. Ganesha is who taught us Yoga. Ganesha is seen as Guru. ganesha gurubhyām namaḥ.

Pray mentally for removal of all obstacles before you start your yoga practice. With a good mind and with good concentration, do your practice. Concentration is key in Yoga. You must test to see whether you have concentration because you might be concentrating, but on something else. So, watch for it. Check what the mind is focused on. Like that, observe the mind with the mind. We can divide the mind into two. We are correcting one mind with the other just as we would treat one injured arm with the other. The two parts of the mind are the pure mind and the impure mind. Everyone has this division, it is just the proportion of each that varies. We need to make sure the pure portion dominates the impure portion. Whichever portion you feed is the portion that gets stronger. Feed the pure mind more so it can get stronger. Then, ultimately, it will defeat the impure mind. Guru is in the pure mind and he helps you from there. You may wonder “Where is the Guru? I have impurity in my mind”. Yes you do have impurity, but he is in the pure part of your mind because you placed your mind on it and respected it and given it value. If you did not, your mind would be of no use. So, fix one mind with the other.

Examine the pure mind and slowly nourish it and watch it grow. It will grow step by step to 99%, but will never be 100%. If it does become 100%, the body will fall off. If you become a Maharshi, it will be at 99.9%. The body functions because of that 0.1%. God is also worshiped with the names avairāgyāya namaḥ and adharmāya namaḥ alongside varigyāya namaḥ and dharmāya namaḥ. That little bit of ignorance is necessary. That bit of ignorance is gone when the body drops.

So do not worry about it. Regardless of how much you clean the house, there will be some dust hidden from sight. You may clean daily with machines even, but there will still be some dust left. They cleaners may have just swept the dust under the carpet. So, 99.9% is fine. The remaining 0.1% will not harm you. It is like a dim light bulb for the entire house. It will not interrupt your sleep. Do not worry about it. But slowly, we should keep growing and improving. Yoga is a life time’s learning and lesson. When you understand that, it will be useful to you. That is what we talk about in Yoga Vasishtham too. The very name of the scripture has the word ‘Yoga’ in it. Those who searched for Yoga in Yoga Vasishtham were surprised to find Uddalaka’s story. There is so much yoga in the story. We will learn more of Yoga in Yoga Vasishtham. We should keep listening and understanding. We should not ignore it because we feel it is at a level too high for us. You pass by Bhurj Khalifa and you wish to go up to the top of the building. In some instances, you will not be allowed into some buildings unless you know some people there. Like that, just because it is high up, we do not just give up. We should learn about the high-level topics without giving up. If you know they exist, one day, you will reach that plane. If you do not even know about it, how will you reach it? You think it is very difficult. Sure it is. A toddler does not find walking easy when it first starts. But that same child starts running later on. Even the gold medalist had to tumble and fall as a toddler. Sadhana starts slowly. Have no fear. Have respect and reverence for it. If you have fear, you will never take it on. Think about a snake and a Guru. You have fear for a snake and therefore do not approach it. But you have reverence for Guru. You will approach Swamiji and try to get as close to Him as possible whenever you see Him. So, have reverence, not fear. Never abandon that reverence.

Lord Ganesha has a big belly. The entire cosmos is his belly. He does not have a six or eight pack, it is a single pack that this entire creation is in. That is why we chant

jyeṣṭha-rājam brahmaṇāṃ brahmaṇas-pata
ā naḥ śrṇvan-nūtibhiḥ-sīda-sādanaṃ
oṃ mahā gaṇādhipataye namaḥ

Lord Ganesha is the Lord of this entire cosmos. Chant aloud until the mind is still. You can find a quiet place or the terrace to chant. Do not chant so loudly that you wake up your neighbors. Chant at a comfortable volume. Then, the sound of your chanting will create vibrations in the body and will keep your attention in. It is like the sound of the gong. Then you can sit for quietly for some time while the mind is still. We can then gradually increase that ability to chant. Over time you will be able to chant 108 times within your mind without distraction. All this is done to still the mind in concentration. A mind that has concentration is pure. The pure mind is close to God. Simple.
Like that

Mananā trāyata iti mantram.

Mananam – the more we chant it, the more it will protect us.
Many of you received Ganpati mantra. Let us chant 108 times.