Class X

Words and Statements highlighted in color are by the author of the Blog:

Words in GREEN= Grammar, syntax or spelling error

Words, phrases and sentences in PURPLE= Questionable and/or inaccurate statement (theology, philosophy, ethics, morality, scientific)

Statements in BLUE= Statements that SRCM (Chennai) does not seem to practice

Contents - Class X

Chapter 1 - Nature
Life of life 93

Chapter II - Who am I ?
Be what you should be – now 95

Chapter III - Body
Energy Conservation and Depletion 97

Chapter IV - Mind
a. Reaction and Response 99

Chapter V - Mind
b. Regulation of Mind 101

Chapter VI - Intellect
Success and Failure 103

Chapter VII - Life
The way of life 106

Chapter VIII - PRAYER
Prayer – for Self Realization 110

Chapter IX - Guru
Guru – The God manifest 112

Chapter X - The Creator
Religion and Spirituality 114



CHAPTER I - NATURE

LIFE OF LIFE (PRANASYA PRANA)

Objectives

* To understand the conversion of gross form of human being into Divine form
* To realize that man’s thought, action and deed become Divinised
* To learn to appreciate the conversion of energy in nature, to life force energy in man
* To know about pranahuti and pranasya prana

Thoughts for Life

* Energise yourself and feel the freshness.
* Be a complete man to proclaim oneself as human.
* When you work for nature you do not have any power but the power of nature is at your command.

Lesson Illustrated

Energy in creation can be largely classified as –

* Energy in nature

* Energy in man.
To experience the life force in the creations of God, it must receive energy from any main source. Only then their function or movement is possible. This energy can be presumed as the Divine energy or the Pranasya Prana (life of life).

* Energy in nature: This can neither be created nor destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another. The solar energy from the sun, is utilized in the form of light and heat energy and it has various uses in our day to day life (eg. for cooking, burning of bulbs, functioning of satellite etc.)

* Thermal energy – got by burning of coal, generates heat energy and is used in the form of electrical energy.

* Hydel energy : In this the force of water is utilized as electricity.

* Magnetic energy: The electronic gadgets and magnetic therapy make use of this energy, got from the magnets.

* Gravitational energy: The rotation of earth is the main cause of this energy and this makes all the earthly elements to maintain balance. This energy is always towards the earth, which is downwards.

* Atomic energy: It is got by splitting of atoms and is used to generate nuclear power, electricity and functioning of the radar. This nuclear energy is used for constructive or destructive purposes. Einstein who was the father of atomic energy, discovered this only for the welfare of humanity.
It is to be noted that various types of energies stated above i.e., heat, light, electrical, magnetic, chemical, gravitational and nuclear energy are continuously being transformed and used between elements to maintain life and life-force.

* Energy in man – Energy in man is needed to sustain his body, mind and soul. For sustenance of body energy is got from food. As you are aware for the existence of body and mind, life force is needed. That is the soul. And for the soul, to remain active from its dormant state, Pranasya Prana (Life of life or Divine energy) is needed.

* Please understand that this soul or life-force, even in the dormant state is able to function minimally by activating the body and mind. But for its evolution and to make a human being a divinised human being, Pranahuti is done by a capable guru. This is transmission of ‘Pranasya Prana’.

Pranahuti is an age old process of yogic transmission originated and widely practiced by our ancient sages. Spiritual training for the attainment of higher stages is only possible by the process of yogic transmission. A yogi by his Will force can infuse the yogic energy or Godly effulgence within anyone and remove anything unwanted in him and detrimental to his spiritual progress. Sages have often through power of transmission, changed the entire nature of man at a mere glance. The wonderful example of the great sages like Samarth Guru Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Fatehgarh and Shajahanpur, Swami Vivekananda and others offer ample proof of it. The power of pranahuti is a Divine power working through the channels of pure mind.

This Pranasya Prana transmitted by the process of pranahuti is essential for a man, when he tries to transform himself from his sub-human nature to a perfect man.
(Sub-Human Man Human Man Perfect man Divinised man)
One who draws Pranasya Prana (Divine energy) from a living guru becomes a Balanced perfect man.

Activities

* List out the uses of solar energy.
* Visit any hydro or thermal station and record the nature of the functions.
* “Positive thinking increases your energy level. Negative thinking depletes your energy level.”

Discuss.


CHAPTER II - WHO AM I ?

BE WHAT YOU SHOULD BE – NOW

Objectives

* To understand what we should be today
* To realize that we should never worry about the past. Act only in the present since we have God within
* To Learn to do your actions in time. Never postpone

Thoughts for Life

* Time is more valuable than riches.
* Yesterday is History, Today is Reality, Tomorrow is Illusion.
* Co-operate, Co-ordinate, Co-exist.
* A smile can be like a drop of water in a desert.
* If I make 'this moment' happy, it will increase my chance of having the next moment happy too.

Lesson Illustrated

To realize Self, every individual has to possess certain qualities, which elevate him from an ordinary human being to a Divine human being. This is possible only when he lives with the consciousness that life is certain only until death and life is not permanent. Hence he should be aware of the importance of the “living in the now” or the present. Once he realizes this, he will tend to decide what he should be “now”.

Read this poem for life –

We shall do much in years to come,
But what have we Done today?
We shall give our gold in princely sum,
But what did we Give Today?
We shall lift the Heart and dry the tear,
We shall plant Hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the Words of Love and Cheer,
But what did we speak Today?

We shall be so Kind after a while,
But what have we been Today?
We shall bring each lonely life a Smile,
But what have we Brought Today?

We shall give to Truth a grander birth,
And to steadfast Faith a deeper worth,
We shall Feed the hungering souls of earth,
But whom have we fed Today?

We shall reach such joys in the by-and-by,
But what have we Sown today?
We shall build mansions in the sky,
But what have we Built Today?

It is sweet in idle dreams to bask,
But here and now do we do our task,
Yes this is the thing our souls must ask,
What have we Done Today?

Trust no future, however pleasant,
Let the dead past bury its dead,
Act-act in the living present,
Heart within, and God o’erhead.

This poem makes you realize that you should be generous, loving, charitable, kind, the doer of right action and Divine itself. Don’t procrastinate or postpone, “To be what you should be. Do what you should do today.” This is the answer for “Who am I?”

Activities

* Read the poem as many times as you can and bring out the values in it.
* Do you practice these values – self introspect. If not, why?
* “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Justify.


CHAPTER III - BODY

ENERGY CONSERVATION AND DEPLETION

Objectives

* To realise the effective nature of transmission
* To understand the need for conservation of energy in body, mind and soul
* To learn the strength of the Divine energy

Thoughts for life

* Rest means change of work and not sleeping and wasting time with useless activity.
* Balance of mind is the real foundation of blissful life.
* The gross body is the instrument of action, nay, it is action itself and cannot exist without any activity.
* To rest is to rust.

Lesson Illustrated

Energy conservation and Depletion

* Body: Conservation of energy is to be done to the optimum level and any excess may lead to ill health of a person. This is normally proved by excess accumulation of fat beneath the skin and in limbs.

a. Therefore, the individual is expected to perform his normal and natural work, to spend the energy to the required minimum.

b. When he does the work with joy, interest and love, the energy spent will be rejuvenated and thus he maintains his optimum required energy forever. Eg. When a child indulges in play he never seems to feel tired. But when he is made to sit and do his homework, he complains of tiredness, aches and pains.

c. It is a misconception that when we do work continuously we spend more energy and body gets weakened, and we may feel tired even. More truly, the more we spend our energy through work, the more fresh energy gets generated and we always feel fresh to continue the work assigned. This is similar to a well, where inspite of more water being drawn, fresh water springs forth and the water level is maintained forever.

d. Regular exercise and fasting helps to throw out stagnant energy particles, activates the charkras and increases the energy level.

Depletion of energy in our body is not the result of more activities. If the body is not engaged in any activity, the energy in it becomes stagnant, stale and useless. This is like a well filled with water, which if unused for a long time, becomes unfit for consumption.
Secondly, less intake of right food may result in the depletion of energy in the body.
Thirdly, if the state of mind is negative filled with fear, worry and loneliness it saps ones energy.

* Mind: Energy conservation in mind is basically the other way round – the less you think, the more will you conserve. Moreover, one always expects only positive thinking on the part of an individual. Satwik food, external experiences based on positive thoughts, books and environment, regulate the mind and enables it to function normally. It is also felt that to keep the mind in Satwik state, we have to do meditation, and more often than not maintain silence.

This will enable the mind to be in constant contact with the divine within, which is the source of life energy itself.

Depletion of energy in mind is the result of Rajasik and Tamasik food, overloading of negative experience, places and people with negative attitudes, excessive desires and inability to forgive people.

In short, conservation of energy in mind is possible through sufficient rest, silence and Satwik food.

* Soul: The Divine energy in soul is limitless. When you want to feel the Divine energy [Pranasya Prana] you should be willing to receive and absorb the guidance and transmission given by a Spiritual Guru. This energy is available in nature, but we have lost ability to absorb and make use of it.
We may feel that there is a depletion of energy in soul, but actually it is the impressions and grossness surrounding it, that prevents us from feeling the Divine presence within. Once we remove these impressions, we experience the enlightened soul within.

Activities

* All creations emit energy (energy radiation), which indirectly influences every individual. Discuss with reference to scientific theory:
* Mutual transfer of energy can be felt within. Justify from biological and spiritual point of view.
* The best way to conserve our energy is by maintaining silence. Establish.


CHAPTER IV - MIND

A. REACTION AND RESPONSE

Objectives

* To understand the reaction of the mind in response to stimulations
* To learn the cause of reaction and response
* To know how to be proactive and not reactive

Thoughts for life

* Our life is what our thoughts make it.
* We have to condition our mind and remain calm under all circumstances.
* You cannot make a fool of the one who keeps cool.
* When one will not, two cannot quarrel.
* Boundless desires will provoke war within oneself.

Lesson Illustrated

* Action, reaction and response: Our body receives experiences from the external world and this message is taken to the Mind, resulting in an Action. In other words, the mind stimulates the organ to perform action or react based on the message received. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. E.g. In the game of tennis, when a player hits the ball hard, the opponent sends it back with the same force. The person who sends the ball again, reacts in the same manner. This can be accepted in the game of tennis, but not in the game of life. Let us take the example of an angry person. His anger may be reciprocated with anger, in the same force, resulting in antagonistic tendency forever. This is referred to as ‘reaction.’ Some times, anger may be reciprocated with a smile or exhibition of love. This is nothing but response and not reaction. The response is executed by bringing out the soft nature possessed by an individual, who is calm, cool, composed and serene. Again in the game of tennis, the final winner is identified as one, who keeping his cool, slowly comes near the net and gently places the ball in the opponent’s court. The opponent, who might be expecting the ball at the end of the court, stands helpless and loses the game and the composed player wins. The same is true in the game of Life.

* --Action and absorption: In some cases, the same emotion of anger when shown or executed by a person, his opponent may absorb it softly like a pincushion. The intention of such a person will be not to hurt others. He may stick on to the adage, that a sound is produced only when two hands are clapped, and shaking of one hand cannot produce any sound. Under such circumstances, the calm and cool action resulting in absorption, may scale down the temper of the person who is angry. It is to be noted that calmness and tolerance act like air conditioning in a room. They increase man’s efficiency.

* Action and indifferent attitude: There are circumstances when a person can show a negative response by staying indifferent. This is a Negative Response, leading to a worse condition. The person who is angry may go to the extent of attacking his opponent in such conditions. This silent indifferent attitudes is worse than reaction, as it is all bottled up.

* Proactive and reactive: It is always safe to be proactive than reactive. Such situation brings down the temperament of an angry person. The person who is proactive, ignoring the symptom looks for the cause, analyses it and finds a solution. This is the best response, to an undesirable situation.

* The following is the practical illustration: Take a glass of H2O. Dip a glass rod into the H2O. The glass rod appears bent. This is because of refraction. When you take the rod out, you will find it straight, in its normal condition. Similarly everyone is upright perfect and divine. It is the situation that makes them different. Take them out of the situation and they will be wonderful people.

Thus, we have to condition our mind and remain calm under all circumstances. This will definitely help us to understand and deal with situations effectively.
Remember that many people will want to quarrel and fight with you. Realise that the only weapon you need are a smile and a loveful attitude. Will you try that?

Activities

* Ask a pair of students to come before a class. When one talks, the other listens. Let the rest of the class observe the facial expressions and body language of the listener. Have a discussion on what they perceived and an ideal listener should be.
* Narrate an incident when you have lost your temper. Analyze the cause and how you could have regulated this negative emotion.
* “Anger is a corrective force – Love is a creative force” – Elaborate with an example.


CHAPTER V - MIND

B. REGULATION OF MIND

Objectives

* To realise the connection between thoughts and actions
* To understand the effect of meditation for regulating and refining our mind
* To know that silence is helpful for the stillness of our mind

Thoughts for life

* The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor men perfected without trials
* A room without books, is like a body without soul.
* Success springs from calmness of the mind. It is a cold iron, which cuts and bends hot iron.

Lesson Illustrated

The real spiritual training is that which makes our mind disciplined and regulated. It restores moderation in senses and faculties and creates lightness of spirit.
We have to regulate the mind in such a way that by training it, we are able to use our mind as an instrument. In other words, we have to use the mind itself to regulate the mind [using a cycle to learn cycling]. Thus, make it a perfect instrument by working upon it. By regulating the mind, we think good thoughts, influence the action process, develop concentration, take right decisions and complete our task in the shortest possible time.


How to regulate the mind?

* If there is no mental discipline, physical discipline cannot exist. That is why we meditate to achieve regulation over the mind. In this process, we bring a link between the spirit and the external world.
* We should not try to control the mind but make an attempt to regulate it. Eg. When the H2O from the dam is used for agricultural purpose, the shutters of the dam are pulled up to regulate the water flow, through canals and reach the fields. This is regulation of H2O. Instead, if the dam has no shutter, when the level increases during floods, the force of the water will break the dam, as it has no opening for its regulated flow. This is similar to the mind, not regulated but controlled, which will ultimately result in destruction, due to tension and stress.
* Minimise thoughts: You need to minimise your thoughts under all circumstances for its effective regulation. This is just like a overblown balloon which bursts due to excess pressure.
* Meditation is the ideal process for the regulation of mind. It means thinking continuously of one thing. When you think of the Divine continuously you become Divine.

Eg. water + sugar = sugar water
water + salt = salt water
Mind with Divine thoughts = Divine mind

Let positive, divine thoughts flow through your mind in a regulated manner.

The correct mode or technique of meditation is possible only after attaining the age of 18 years and under the guidance of a capable Guru. Those who are below 18 years can balance their mind by making it still and silent within. This can be termed as ‘silent prayer.’ And you can start with five minutes silent prayer initially and then gradually increase the time.
* Sthiram sukham asanam: (stable and comfortable posture) During silent prayer or meditation, this posture of Sthira sukha asanam is an ideal one. You can perform this in the early hours of the morning and at bedtime.
* To become a balanced or perfect man [Sthitha Pragnya]: Stillness of the mind and silence within, leads to a balanced Divine state. In this condition (1) body is alert and active. (2) Mind is calm and composed. (3) Spirit is open and committed.
* For a sound body and sound mind optimum sleep coupled with meditation is the only solution. Unless the mind is purified and regulated in its functioning, it cannot perform.

Activities

* By regulating the mind, we are able to think good thoughts. Discuss.
* Give an example each for using the mind, mastering the mind and applying the mind.
* How will you know that an individual you come across is a Sthitha Pragnya? Identify his qualities.
* “Be the Master of your mind”. Elaborate this statement.


CHAPTER VI - INTELLECT

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

Objectives

* To understand the meaning of success and failure in life
* To learn that behind every success there is failure
* To realize that our miseries are due to Divine Blessings

Thoughts for Life

* Success and happiness are states of mind. If you are seeking them in life, seek them within yourself.
* Success often comes to those who dare and act.
* The only measure for success is performance.
* Happiness is lost when any thought of envy or hatred creeps in. Thoughts of good wishes and Love cure sorrow.
* Spiritual Happiness is nothing but steadiness and settling within.

Lesson Illustrated

* Success at Material Level: Life is normally judged by Successes and failures. In common parlance, success means achieving the highest material gain in terms of wealth, money, power, position, degrees, etc., but does it always lead to happiness? Unfortunately No! Then what is Success and happiness, if both are not Synonyms? “ Success “ is getting what you like”. “Satisfaction” is liking what you get. Happiness is the state of mind.

* Failure at Material level:

a. They are the stepping-stones to success. If we accept them and start working towards their betterment, it will finally lead to success.
b. Worry is misdirected thought, which will lead us nowhere and drain our energy.
c. We must always remember that our miseries are nothing compared to that of others and also let us learn to accept them as Divine blessings.
d. In any competition only one participant can win. This fact should always be kept in mind.Learn to appreciate and accept.
e. Do your best but be prepared for the worst.

* Success and failures are relative terms.

a. This is based on time, place, situation, nature of activity, nationality, persons involved, climatic condition etc., For eg., a student who has always been a top notcher in his school, may be a failure when he competes with other students of much superior intelligence hailing from other schools.

b. Whenever the objectives leading to a specific goal are set on comparison with another individual goal, the success or failure will often change. Thus they prove to be relative by nature,. This also diminishes the real performance of a person. Eg. : Ranking system existing in schools. Sometimes, this may lead to unhealthy competition, rivalry, loss of values and morality.

c. It is a common knowledge that one success leads to further desire of another success. Eg. : In the study of history, Alexander the great was continuously going on conquering territories, plundering riches and wealth, from all over the world. His success never satiated him at any stage and he became venturesome from one attempt of success to another. His mind was so filled or occupied with the impact of success that he was not even able to realize about the upkeep of his health, as well as that of his soldiers. Finally, he was forced to move towards his country leaving his mission half way through. By the time he died, he understood that inspite of ever lasting success in his attempt, he carried nothing at the time of his death. This was made known to the whole world when both his hands remained outstretched out of his tomb, to show that “we carry nothing when we die”.

From the above we learn that -

a. Success or failure in an individual’s life is not stable.
b. Success normally brings in a feeling of insecurity, as we have to retain it.
c. For some people success is possible only by treading on the heads of others, thereby causing suffering and unhappiness to others.

Thus in most of our attempts to succeed, we fail to keep up our values, thereby creating a void in our life. Hence, success is not always a success and failure is not always a failure.
According to popular Russian Writer Leo Tolstoy, in spite of all the material worldly gains, we need only “6 ft. of space” for our burial, irrespective of our status. Therefore, there is no point in brooding over our success or failure at the material level. Our notion should constantly focus towards eternal happiness and bliss.

* Spiritual Level: There is no success or failure at this level. It is only progress towards perfection and merging with the ultimate, leading to eternal happiness and bliss. Happiness and bliss is from within and does not depend on external factors. At this level, it also enables us to take success and failure in the same vein. We can remain happy under all circumstances. “The Balancing of the material and Spiritual plane is the only solution for permanent happiness”. Note that this is the real success for human beings. Happiness is from within and let us not depend on external conditions/situations to be happy.

Here are the 10 commandments of success for your guidance:

The Ten Commandments of Success:

1- Speak to people There is nothing as nice as a cheerful greeting.
2- Smile It takes 72 muscles to frown. Only 14 to smile….
3- Call People by name Every one is pleased when you remember their name….
4- Be friendly and helpful And others will respond in the like manner….
5- Speak out As if everything you do were a genuine pleasure….
6- Be genuinely interested in people…. People will respond
7- Be generous With praise.
8- Be Cautious With criticism….
9- Be Considerate With the feelings of others, it will be appreciated….
10-Be thoughtful Of the opinions of others, there are 3 sides to any controversy–yours, the other persons and the right one?
11- Be Willing To give service, what counts most in life is what we do for others….

Follow the above and success and happiness will follow you!

Activities

* List out your successes and failures and how did you deal with them?
* Life is full of successes and failures- explain this concept using experiments and examples
* The goal of life is to amass wealth – justify
* Debate what will you opt for –
a. success and happiness
b. success or happiness



CHAPTER VII - LIFE

THE WAY OF LIFE

Objectives

* To learn life is a perfect balance between material and spiritual aspects
* To know, what we gain from spiritual life
* To realize that devoid of spiritual life, a man’s life is not complete

Thoughts for Life

* Enough is enough, anything more is immoral.
* Money can buy books but not knowledge. It can buy food but not health. It can buy bed but not sleep. It can buy cosmetics but not beauty. It can buy man but not God.
* It is morality and ethics, which give direction to life.
* Spirituality is all about preparing for change – changing from what we are to what we have to become.

Lesson Illustrated

* Balanced Existence: Life should be perfect balance between materialism and spiritualism. This helps a human being to become perfect, by regulating one's life and normalizing the functions of the human system. These two dimensions of life can be compared to the two wings of a bird which balances its flight.

Let us examine the analogy of the stick to establish this truth.

Material Spiritual


A X B

The stick AB may be called the 'Stick of Life'.
It has two ends A and B.

1. This symmetrical stick is balanced at the mid point X.
2. Now the two halves AX and BX are identical and balanced in nature.
3. The part AX represents materialism.
4. The part BX represents Spiritualism.

This was the balanced condition in the beginning, when creation came into existence. That was the time when man was pure, simple, happy, contented and complete in both the dimensions (Material and Spiritual life). Slowly as the materialistic tendency on the part of man increased based on wants, the stick of life moved towards imbalance.

How? Let’s analyse.

*Material life : This is temporal, changing, shortlived and wordly. This refers to the “standard of living” – i.e. leaning towards wealth, riches, power, position, status etc., beyond one's imagination. This is the “money making” dimension of a person’s life.

Let us again analyse the eg. of the 'stick of life':


1
Material Spiritual

A X B

As a person becomes more and more engrossed in material life, the material base extends into the spiritual base. Therefore Ax, has extended to form Ax1. (refer 2)

2 Material

A X X1 B

This means that the material dimension has increased corrupting the spiritual base, making it gross and petrified. Therefore, the spirit within is not allowed to guide him. Such a man amasses wealth by illegal means and corrupt ways. He maybe materially rich, but he possesses feelings of insecurity, terrors of disaster, physical misery, unhappiness, worries etc, which are self created. In this process which goes on and on, the spiritual dimension maybe almost zero, where nearly the whole stick represents the material life. A time comes, when it is well nigh impossible to hold the spiritual side of the stick with our “Thumb” and “forefinger”. Thumb represents our Will power and the forefinger represents the direction or guidance from within. Both these are lost as a person’s life slips totally into materialism. In such an extreme situation, the bird is indeed attempting to fly on one wing; such a life devoid of values ends in gross imbalance.

* Spiritual Life: It is eternal, permanent, limitless, Divine and ends in bliss. This raises the “standard of life” or Quality of life by bringing in happiness, contentment and fulfillment. This refers to the “man-making dimension of a person’s life”.

Once again let us examine the ‘stick of life’. AXB.

Material Spiritual

A X B

As we extend the spiritual existence XB without in anyway neglecting our material life AX, we find that XB can be extended to XB1.



A X X1 B B1


(AX and XB were equal initially. When the spiritual aspect increased, AX1 and X1B became equal.)

Here the midpoint X shifts to X1 which means that material life XX1 is spiritualized. Such a person gets guidance from the spirit within, thereby enabling him to lead a spiritualized material life. As the spiritual dimension increases, the mid-point keeps on shifting as nature cannot tolerate imbalance. A time comes when the individual's total material life is spiritualized – i.e. his life becomes filled with happiness, contentment, joy and enthusiasm. Though he possesses abundance of material gains he maintains balance between the two ends of the stick of life – i.e. materialism and spiritualism.

For such a person, life is complete – in other words, he has attained “Poornathwa”.

Story

The three sons and the slave: A man with three sons and a slave – writes a will by giving all his wealth to the slave and the sons were allowed to take one thing each from the slave. The first son asked for the house, and the second for the land. The third asked for the slave himself and got everything in the bargain.

Value: Likewise when you ask for God himself, it includes all His creations. When you aspire for spiritual life, your material life is also included.

Need for Balanced Existence

1. It helps to lead a full and productive life
2. The balancing should be qualitative and not quantitative i.e extension or growth in the spiritual life needs less time and effort – merely an hour or so per day.
3. Both are vital for our existence and without either of them our life is incomplete. Such a life can end in frustration and despair.
4. It leads to balancing of all the faculties.
5. It helps in personal evolution, embracing all aspects of existence.
6. It helps us to achieve the real purpose of life, i.e. merging of Jeevatma with Paramatma.

Let us remember that -
“We are not Human Beings having a Divine experiences. But Divine Beings having a Human experience.”

Activities

* Life is a platform to jump into spiritual life – Discuss.
* Standard of living is different from standard of life – Justify.
* List out your possessions in material life.
* If you were to be a businessman – What values should you possess to be happy and relaxed always?


CHAPTER VIII - PRAYER

PRAYER – FOR SELF REALIZATION

Objectives

* To realize that prayer makes a person totally surrender to God or Divine Master
* To learn that prayer is said to find the Divine Self within
* To know the meaning of the prayer

Thoughts for Life

* Prayer is a call from Nature within to Nature outside.
* By uttering the prayer mentally just once, a connection with Him is created.
* Prayer must come from the depths of the heart.
* God realization and self-realization is the same, because God is the same.

Lesson Illustrated

1. Prayer and its Purpose: Normally we pray to God in the form of an appeal or an inner cry, to satisfy our needs or those of others. We are expected to ask not for his creation, but the creator Himself. Now, the question is where is the creator? The answer is simple – Don’t search for Him outside, for He is right within you. How do you realize His presence? This is possible when you pray to Him with love and devotion, from the deepest core of your Heart. What could be the nature of your prayer? This prayer should be simple, clear in meaning, not ritualistic, not time consuming, but it should help you to connect yourself to Him within.

2. Prayer For Union:

O MASTER!
Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes,
Putting bar to our advancement
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage

Utter the above prayer silently once, with your eyes closed and absorb the meaning and the essence of the prayer. What do you feel about the nature of the prayer? Could you experience something? Realize, this prayer is the highest kind, as it does not beg for any favours, but is only a statement aiming towards Self-realization.

What is this Self-realization? This Self is the “Higher Self or Divinity” hidden within you. Your purpose of uttering this prayer is –

a. To make you realize the purpose of Life.
b. And with this awareness, to realize “Him” who dwells right within you. This is the meaning of Self-Realization.

3. Meaning of the Prayer

The prayer consists of three simple statements.

a. The first statement tells us about the real goal of human life, which is none but the “Divine Master within”.

b. The second statement exposes the barriers in achieving this goal – the barriers are the desires and attachments, which enslave us. They are dragging us downwards, preventing us from reaching Him or uniting with Him.

c. The third and final statement declares complete dependency and makes an act of surrender before the Divine Master. One also acknowledges ‘He’ is the only God and is the only power that can help. Divine is brought uppermost in the mind. This enables us to be in His remembrance, and maintain a perennial connection all through the day and night.


Activities

* Maintain a diary and write what you feel while in prayer and after the prayer.
* Collect different language versions of this prayer.
* Discuss the following after experiencing.
a. Saying the prayer mechanically and saying it with Love and Devotion.
b. Saying the prayer aloud and saying it silently.



CHAPTER IX - GURU

GURU – THE GOD MANIFEST

Objectives

* To learn that a man's life is incomplete without his approach to a Guru
* To understand that Guru is the destroyer of all unwanted things
* To realise that Guru is God in Human form

Thoughts for Life

* Guru extends true love, based on our understanding, mutual trust and respect, but not on emotions

* Guru makes us great, by guiding us to face a difficult situation with a smile

* If the doctor is the doctor of our body, a capable guru is the doctor of the soul.

* Guru is the bridge from this human life into the eternal spiritual existence.

Lesson Illustrated

* Who is a Guru?

G = Gives knowledge, wisdom and Divine energy
U = Understands our inner needs and longings even through silent language
R = Regulates our mind and life
U = Ultimately leads us to the Divine destination

* Who can function as a Guru?

a. Spiritual sadhana is a journey to the unknown. Only one who has trodden this path Himself, is capable of leading his fellow men on the right path.

b. He is also expected to be free from bondage and ignorance, because He alone can free others from them.

c. In the modern world we have teachers or Gurus who can teach all the wordly subjects under the sun. But there are only few who can lead us to spirituality

d. A Guru should be like a mother, father and an instructor, loving you, disciplining you and guiding you to the destination.

* Who is the Real Guru?

God alone is the real Guru. But there are people who function under the direct guidance of God, by using the power of God. So they function in His capacity, but they don't function " as God". Such a Guru alone can be "God Manifest". He is the –

G= Generator
O= Organizer
D= Destroyer

He generates love, kindness, mercy, understanding and Divine energy.
He organizes our life, leading to perfect living.
He destroys all our unwanted thoughts, feelings and actions.
God is present everywhere. He has no form and hence unseen. God has no mind and hence He cannot speak with us. God is Powerless Power. To tap or experience this power we need a Mediator.

The mediator should be capable of regulating this power and giving it to us in right dosage, because we are incapable of receiving it directly. This is just like the electrical energy from lighting, which cannot be received directly but needs the help of a transformer. The transformer of our life is the Guru.

“A transformer transforms electrical energy
A capable Guru transmits Divine Energy to Man
In the process the Guru transforms Human man into a Divine man”

* Types of Gurus: There are three types of Gurus

a. The first type of Guru is like the hen, which lays an egg and must sit on it to hatch it out. Such a Guru can only pass on his knowledge through his physical presence.

b. The second type of Guru possesses visual contact, like the fish, which lays its egg in the stream and goes round and round. Thus the Guru interacts with his disciples through his visual contact

c. The third and highest type of Guru is like the tortoise which lays its egg on the bank of a shallow pool, covers it up with sand, goes back into the river and mentally looks after it. Such a Guru can transmit the Divine energy (pranasya prana) mentally to anyone in any part of the world. Guru, the God manifest is capable of imparting the Divine energy through the awakened inner vision and thus helps to transform “Human man to Divine man”.

Activities

* You must have a craving to identify a suitable Guru – Discuss.
* To become a Guru you must possess Godly qualities – Justify.
* Collect stories and poems about Guru's greatness.


CHAPTER X - THE CREATOR

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

Objectives

* To understand the source of religion and its effect on humanity
* To learn the differences between religion and spirituality

Thoughts for Life

* The foundation of spiritual association with God is Love.
* Where religion ends, spirituality begins.
* Spirituality is defined as a system, which makes us exist.
* Religions divide, spirituality unites.
* It is good to be born in a religion, but not to die in it.

Lesson Illustrated

* Religion: It should be considered as a kindergarten school of spiritual life. It is where we learn some basic ideas of God – What God is? What divinity is? – things like that. Religion enforces an externalization of the mind in man’s search for God. Religion requires belief and faith. Religion speaks of seeing God, speaking with God, hearing God’s voice etc. The purpose of religion is to put a developing child into an environment where ethics, moral living, truth – all these things are taught and where in addition some idea of God is given.

Eg. Take different shaped bowls and fill them with water. Now pose the question to the class as to which bowl would they choose to quench their thirst. They will not hesitate to choose any bowl, because they are concerned only with the water and not lured by the external appearances of the bowls. This analogy reveals that the nature of different religions, their tenets, their mode of practice and religious leaders may differ, but the one essence or aim is to realize God. The word religion is derived from the Latin expression re-ligare, which means to unite or to bind or "to go back to the source" or "to reconnect us with God."

Bowls – Religions
Water – Divinity or God within

There are five very important reasons, why we should get away from religious bondage –

a. It creates division among people.
b. Every religion talks of "one God" but states that only their God is the best.
c. It promotes disharmony, violence and wars.
d. The real meaning of the tenets is forgotten and only the rituals are adhered to.
e. Religions put fear and temptations into the hearts of the people.

All religions in the world say the same thing i.e. "seek within". But do they? The answer is NO. Then what is the way? Transcend religion and move towards spirituality.

* Spirituality: The word spirituality has its birth in the word ‘Spirit’ which refers to the soul or the life force. The process of realizing this soul is spirituality.

Spirituality is not a progress or a search or travel in time. It is a travel in and into eternity. Spirituality gives us Love – Love of God, to become one with Him.

Spirituality is supposed to concern itself with the soul, just as education is with the mind, physical exercise with the body and achievement with the ego. So the whole idea in Spiritual practice / Spiritual life is to progressively refine ourselves. Spiritual practice is the only possible way of changing the heart in such a way that there is a lasting change in human character. There can be no spirituality without morality.

Do you really feel there is any difference between Religion and Spirituality? Here you are!

Religion ........................................Spirituality

Nursery Level...........................................University Level
Emphasises external cleanliness ...........Insists on internal Cleanliness
Searching Out ...........................................Searching within
It is gross ...................................................It is subtle
Rituals ........................................................Raja Yoga
Introduces the idea of God ......................Makes us realize God
Idol Worship (Stops with means) ...........Meditation (leads to the end)
Divides ........................................................Unites
Based on fear and temptation .................Based on Love and Universal Brotherhood

To sum up,

1. Religion appears to divide man from man, while spirituality “Unites all”.
2. Spirituality shapes a person to perfection and brings out the best in him.
3. Spirituality leads one towards Divinity and finally helps to merge with the Ultimate.

This is the purpose of life.

Activities

* However high a man may have reached in spirituality, if he is immoral, spirituality becomes null and void – Discuss.
* List out the tenets of any two major religions of the world and elaborate on it.
* “Religions divide humanity” – Site an example.


Mind and the Machine

Mind of a man is like a machine of a van
It needs knowledge like the oil for the machine
Mind without knowledge will blabber and shout
Like the machine without oil will squeak and creak
Men with good knowledge are quite calm and cool
Like machine with good oil works silent and smooth
So oil your mind with real knowledge it needs
And stop all the blabber it otherwise emits