Sivananda Yoga FAQ
Q 1: Is God conscious or unconscious? If He is conscious, He must have a forms for only a being who has a body can be conscious.
A: God is pure consciousness. God is omniscient, all-knowing. God is Nirakara, formless or incorporeal. This physical body we wear has limited our universal consciousness. Consciousness is of various kinds, viz., physical consciousness, mental consciousness and absolute consciousness. You will experience the highest consciousness when you transcend the three bodies through constant and intense meditation. With a physical body and limited senses you experience the physical consciousness only. There are the other consciousness to explore.
Q 2: Why is Brahmamuhurta eulogized by the Rishis?
A: 4 a.m. in the morning is termed as Brahmamuhurta. Because it is favourable for meditation on God or Brahman, it is called Brahmamuhurta. At this particular hour, the mind is very calm and serene. It is free from worldly thoughts, worries and anxieties. The mind is like a blank sheet of paper and comparatively free from worldly Samskaras. It can be very easily moulded at this time before worldly distractions enter the mind. Further, the atmosphere also is charged with more Sattva at this particular time. There is no bustle and noise outside.
Q 3: I am having spiritual practice for the last three years. I do not find any improvement. Why?
A: There is improvement. Your mental images are strong and steady now. Remember that there is no barometer or thermometer to read your spiritual progress in the spiritual realm. You are now giving only half of your mind to God. Collect the dissipated rays and give the full mind to God. I assure you, “You will realize Him this very moment”.
Love all. Be one with all. – Swami Sivananda
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| DECEMBER 2018
03 Ekadasi JANUARY 2019 01 Ekadasi |
Glossary
RISHI – a holy Hindu sage, saint, or inspired poet. A person of Self-realization. A visionary.
The outstanding quality that identifies Swami Sivananda from other beings is that he was a visionary. A visionary is known as a rishi. In the course of spiritual development and growth, people go through different stages of becoming stable in the higher consciousness. Stability of higher consciousness is perceived as the manifestation of a character. This character identifies a person, whether one is a sadhu, a mahatma, a saint, a sannyasin, a siddha, a bhakta yogi, a jnana yogi, a hatha yogi, or whatever. A visionary, a rishi, is the highest form of illumination, because in that stage of having established an identity with the higher consciousness, one is able to foresee the events of the future. What one foresees indicates how humanity is going to develop, what track it is going to follow. Visionaries are able to ease the process, to smooth the path for future generations. Rishis have the qualities of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence, Godhood.
Human beings associate and dissociate themselves just as two pieces of wood in a flowing river. When the time ripens, everything resolves itself into One. – Sri Swami Sivananda