Importance of Grace

There is a lower prakriti in man and Nature, which works through the automated movements of Cosmic Forces on the prana shakti of an individual, without the individual consciously realizing from where they originate. Its chief manifestation in a human being happens in the form of rage, lust, compulsive-possessiveness,  greed, vital passions ETC. For the purpose of transforming oneself, which is what all genuine spiritual paths are about, these lower, forceful and compulsive movements of ones own lower-nature need to be controlled, and eventually rejected. The vital body (scripturally the pranamaya-kosha) is pure force, constant in movement, dynamic in nature, but lacking in light and wisdom, light being synonymous to knowledge. At the higher spiritual levels perfect knowledge (Gyan-Shakti) and Ichcha-Shakit (Will) are fused together and work in harmony.  But in our plane of existence these two have become separated and distorted.   Therefore often you may have the will to achieve something but not the right knowledge needed for it.  This leads to a sense of frustrating incapacity.

Grace is product of total and complete surrender from the mind, life and body.  These three also correspond to those parts of the human consciousness working in and through the manomaya-kosha (the mental sheath), pranamaya-kosha (the vital sheath) and annamaya-kosha (the physical sheath). Until this sense of complete and total surrender is reached,  grace does not come, and even if it does, it gets perverted and distorted by lower nature. In  the Gita Sri Bhagawan calls it Apara-Prakriti, that part of nature which functions by the diktats of the three gunas – satwa, raja, and tama.It is one thing to say verbally that all sadhana being done is work of God. It is an entirely different matter to see it clearly for which one must a) surrender constantly b) reject and withdraw ones lower nature, or at least keep it clam and checked c) make a sincere call to God. Only when these three work together, grace descends. And only grace has the power to cause a thorough transformation of a sadhaka. Nothing less. But we can’t demand grace, we can’t beg for grace, we can’t plead, we can’t command, and we can’t indulge in self-pity. We have to calmly and patiently wait for it for when the time is right, it falls like a sweet rain on a parched land, and in a flash it can do more than what we can imagine in our wildest dreams. Basically, there cannot be any negotiation with God. The Higher Force demands of us nothing less than a complete, objective and honest reckoning on what we are, where we are heading, what mistakes lie in our nature is a must.

Then slowly a seeker is made to realize the working of a Higher Power, that has nothing to do with his/her little surface personality that is driven by a sort of Pavlovian responses to situations, based on conditioning incurred over lifetimes. It is this Power, once understood, that needs to be unquestioningly submitted to in a progressive manner, while rejecting everything else inside the seeker that pull him/her in a different direction and wants to hang on to the earlier flawed personality. A long road. Patience is a key.

Sri Sri Chandi and a philosophical perspective of Chandi Sadhana.

The Tantrik path is based on a very clear philosophy of sadhana. First, a seeker must generate Shakti.  To do this there are plenty of rituals prescribed. But apart from rituals what is also needed is a) visualization b) repetition c) discipline of time, place and materials d) mental focus.  Greater focus is directly proportional to greater internal purity. Purity, unlike what many believe, is all about the ability to hold (dharana) of one thought in the mind to the exclusion of everything else. External rituals of purification are merely aids to this internal process.

Once Shakti is generated, it has to be contained for Shakti by nature is dynamic and outflowing. For this, one may use idols, yantras, or the greatest container which is the human mind-body complex. To be able to hold Shakti is far more difficult than generating Shakti, for this needs restrain and discipline in every walk of life.  In a nutshell, restrain of mind, which leads to restrain of thoughts and actions is the key to holding Shakti.

Then comes channelizing this Shakti, which has been contained. This is a very subtle and complex process. Once mastered, the Shakti that was generated and contained can be channelized for whatever purpose one needs it. Lower manifestation of this channeling process are siddhis, higher manifestation is pushing the awareness to higher and rarified realms of consciousness. For without Shakti, it is IMPOSSIBLE to experience higher states of awareness.

Sri Sri Chandi, in my very humble opinion, details the esoteric and occult process involved in these three steps. These are the heart of the three Charitras.  Mahakali in the first Chapter awakens Vishnu, after being pleaded by Brahma, to fight Madhu-Kaitabha**. This starts the spiritual journey, of generating Shakti. She is the Goddess of Supreme and unstoppable Force. In the Madhyama Charitra, Durga is created out of the effulgence of all the gods and She destroys Mahisasura. With Her ten hands, she protects and restrains from provocations coming from the ten possible directions and teaches control of thoughts and mind and actions. Lastly in the Tritiya Charitra we have MahaSaraswati as that personality of the Supreme Goddess, who imbibes the necessary wisdom which is needed to navigate into this complex and subtle process of channelizing Shakti.

All three are essential, in that very sequence, for greater spiritual benefit and God-communion.

**Madhu-Kaitabha represents a behavior analogous to a honey-bee . (Madhu = honey, Kaitabha derived from the word for insect, keetah)). Typically a bee keeps collecting honey in endless circles, never pausing to think of anything wider and higher than its self created circumference of life with one singular aim of hoarding honey. This peculiar but not uncommon behavior trait is similar to those who lead a life running after sukha (happiness that is not permanent), never pausing to expand their philosophy or understand the necessity and purpose of a spiritual journey. They are happy in their own shell. To awaken them into a spiritual call is a much difficult job. Therefore Vishnu, the texts say, had to fight with Madhu-Kaitava in a near endless battle, until He successfully tricked them into giving a boon which resulted in their own destruction! Never easy to suddenly inspire a person, with a well-settled and normal life,  into a process of spiritual seeking. They will always have a 100 ready reasons why they cannot do it and do not have time out of their ‘busy’ schedule.

Uttarayana and Dakshinayana

In this world of duality, Hindu cosmology believes things happen in cycles of time. Everything must have its opposites, otherwise we will not understand the value of it. Normal human beings like us understand something, anything as a concept by comparison. Therefore day means lack of night and night means lack of day, good means that which is not bad, and bad means that which is not good. This inherent duality is in the very fabric of this manifested Universe.

Just like there is a plane of the Great Gods, similarly there is a plane of the pitris – manes – a loka whose ruler is Yama. Beyond the Great Gods is the plane of the One whose energy and power and strength is what has created this world in a way. That One is beyond time, beyond anything. But to reach that one directly for the normal human mind is impossible. It must go through progressively more advanced stages of mental evolution, pass onto the realm of the Great Gods, and THEN may enter into the realm of that One. In our physical world, the Sun is the symbol of that One, for its light pervades and creates all other lights. Conversely, every symbolism of this physical world also has corresponding spiritual significance. [Hence the necessity of rituals, for every ritual is a correspondence to another state]. During the Uttarayana, the physical sun is present in our hemisphere and thus it becomes, considering all else remaining constant, easier for a soul-spirit to pass into the higher realms after death. During Dakshinayana, the plane of the Pitris are more easily accessible. Thus it becomes easier for an average soul-spirit to pass onto the layer of Pitris after death, than the layer of Greater Gods. The Pitris are limited in their abilities, they are like us in many ways except that they do not possess a physical body.They are equally driven by desires, cravings, wants etc. They have no inherent spiritual light in them. Night symbolizes them. Dakshinayana symbolized them. Water (emotions/desires) symbolizes them. Hence we use water to perform Pitri-tarpana. Whereas fire symbolizes the Great Gods, day symbolizes the Great Gods, Uttarayan Symbolizes the Great Gods.

You may look at this from another perspective as well. The Great Gods are symbols of good qualities in us. Shiva is auspiciousness, Durga is strength, Saraswati is inspiration, Ganesha is spiritual strength/remover of obstacles, Krishna is Divine Ananda ETC. While the Pitris are those qualities in us which manifest as lust, anger, greed, unquenchable-desires, ETC. Naturally, the aim of man is to move to the higher qualities rather than these traits which make us more animal than man.

This essential spiritual knowledge was passed down to masses in the form of the idea that in Dakshinayana the Gods are sleeping. In reality, the Pitri-lokas are more awake during this time.

Of course, for a soul which has seen the inner spiritual light, it can reach the Gods in any of the ayanas easily. But for maintaining world-dharma, it is important to understand the essential difference between these two ayanas and their energies. During Uttarayana we worship the Mother Goddess in per peaceful and spiritually uplifting form, also known as Basanti Puja. During Dakshinayana we worship Her as Durga, the slayer of demons and asuras, which manifest in us a negative qualities, and in the world around in negative ideas, people, forces ETC.

And that is why in the Mahabharata, Bhisma waited till start of Uttarayana to leave his body. This is the crux of it all!