Irrespective of our personal religious faiths, whether we are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhist or belong to any other faith , there is agreement that the process of meaningful worship goes beyond ceremonial rituals, hymns and reading the spiritual texts.
What then constitutes true meaningful worship? How do we pray?
Could it be that true meaningful worship is a combination of Upasana, Sadhana and Aradhana. What exactly do we mean by these terms? In this excerpt from the book "My Life Its Legacy and Message", Shriram Sharma Acharya takes us to the true meaning of worship and how we need to incorporate these elements in our worship process. He gives us examples of how he achieved this aim for himself and gives us some starting meditation techniques to flag off the process for our ownselves.
What then constitutes true meaningful worship? How do we pray?
Could it be that true meaningful worship is a combination of Upasana, Sadhana and Aradhana. What exactly do we mean by these terms? In this excerpt from the book "My Life Its Legacy and Message", Shriram Sharma Acharya takes us to the true meaning of worship and how we need to incorporate these elements in our worship process. He gives us examples of how he achieved this aim for himself and gives us some starting meditation techniques to flag off the process for our ownselves.
Quoted Text (abbreviated and condensed for purposes of this article):
"A man needs food, clothes and shelter for sustenance. Pen, ink and paper are needed for writing a book. Seed, manure and water are needed for growing a crop. Not one, but all these three are important and none of them can be ignored. For spiritual progress also, coordination of Upasana, Sadhana,and Aradhana,is needed. All these three are equally important.
Upasana stands for worship (sitting close to God), Sadhana means (leading a correct life) and Aradhana (means service to humanity).
The aspect which is secondary and minor e.g. mechanical adoration (Pooja-Path )has been wrongly considered to be worship. Offerings of some stray materials to the deity and doing certain rituals or overt acts of worship are considered as Pooja . To eulogize, extol and chant praises of gods is known as paath . Sweets, coconut, cardamom,money etc. are presented and offered to God or the deity as if He lacked such articles and that by offering them, He will be overwhelmed with joy.
People think that just as a ruler is pleased up on hearing poetry in his praise , God will fulfill their worldly desires by following such adoration (Puja Path ). Such persons are totally ignorant about the true nature of Godhead and consider Him to be a supreme person who could be allured with small toys and sweets like a child.
They think that God can be coaxed to fulfil their desires, proper or improper, just or unjust. The common man is a victim of this illusion. The so-called (devotees) beg wealth, success, heaven, liberation, (divine powers) from God. Some other people are crazy about seeing God with physical eyes. Still others are engaged in counting beads or burning incense- sticks. Some are after a still cheaper formula. They think that simply by seeing idols in the temple or having a darshan of saints they can cajole them to fulfill their ambitions. Such naive beliefs are prevalent in society.
They think that God can be coaxed to fulfil their desires, proper or improper, just or unjust. The common man is a victim of this illusion. The so-called (devotees) beg wealth, success, heaven, liberation, (divine powers) from God. Some other people are crazy about seeing God with physical eyes. Still others are engaged in counting beads or burning incense- sticks. Some are after a still cheaper formula. They think that simply by seeing idols in the temple or having a darshan of saints they can cajole them to fulfill their ambitions. Such naive beliefs are prevalent in society.
It should be clearly understood that anything worthwhile is bound to cost more than what's mentioned above (mere rituals).
If a person wants to be included in the Central Cabinet, he has to get himself elected as a member of the Parliament. The meaning of Upasana is to sit close by.
As an example the process is not about railway passengers who jostle or push each other to get into the train somehow. It is like two bosom friends who have two bodies with one mind and one soul sitting together.
In the process of such intimacy one has to surrender to the other.The devotee ( Bhakta ) has to mold his life and surrender himself to the will of God.
If a person wants to be included in the Central Cabinet, he has to get himself elected as a member of the Parliament. The meaning of Upasana is to sit close by.
As an example the process is not about railway passengers who jostle or push each other to get into the train somehow. It is like two bosom friends who have two bodies with one mind and one soul sitting together.
In the process of such intimacy one has to surrender to the other.The devotee ( Bhakta ) has to mold his life and surrender himself to the will of God.
Understanding the importance and philosophy of Upasana, is the first essential pre-requisite for spiritual upliftment. My own Gurudev said to me - “God cannot dance to your tune. You will have to become his devotee and act according to His will. If you are able to do so, you will become identical with God. Fuel has no worth except when it embraces fire and becomes fire itself. Fire does not become fuel. It is fuel which has to be transformed into fire.
A drain meets a river and becomes as purifying and great as the river itself. But it never happens that a river flows in reverse, meets the drain and becomes dirty like it. Iron comes in contact with Paras (the mystical stone which is said to convert iron into gold by mere touch), and turns it into gold. It does not become paras. It is us who has to dance to the tune of God like a puppet. God does not fulfil the wishes of the Sadhak.
A Sadhak has to surrender himself to God and fulfil His will. A drop of water merges into and becomes one with the ocean. The ocean does not become a drop. This is the philosophy of Upasana. If a person wants to do Upasana, he has to sit near God, do His will and become His follower.”
A drain meets a river and becomes as purifying and great as the river itself. But it never happens that a river flows in reverse, meets the drain and becomes dirty like it. Iron comes in contact with Paras (the mystical stone which is said to convert iron into gold by mere touch), and turns it into gold. It does not become paras. It is us who has to dance to the tune of God like a puppet. God does not fulfil the wishes of the Sadhak.
A Sadhak has to surrender himself to God and fulfil His will. A drop of water merges into and becomes one with the ocean. The ocean does not become a drop. This is the philosophy of Upasana. If a person wants to do Upasana, he has to sit near God, do His will and become His follower.”
I did not regard Gayatri (The symbol of the origin of knowledge) as Mother, and Savita (symbolised by the Sun, the life giver to the planet) as the Father for the sake of convenience of meditation but knew throughout that they are formless, astral and all-pervading supreme consciousness. On account of this conviction I could feel that they pervaded my whole being and there was complete identity of Spirit. If I had regarded God or Gayatri Mata as specific persons, a distance between us would have been maintained and I had been deprived of that feeling of complete identification.
In the beginning of your prayers and meditation , for the sake of practice, one should regard himself as a creeper and God as a tree. The creeper embraces the tree and reaches the top. It is also convenient to regard one’s self as a flute and God as the Flute Player to enable him to make our life disciplined and inspired.
The meditation about a kite flying high up in the air with its controlling thread in the hands of a child is also helpful for this purpose.
I have followed these three types of meditation from time to time and had rich, enthusing and happy experiences. The sacrifice of the moth on the burning lamp; the physical, mental and material surrender of the wife to her husband, are instances of experiencing complete identification, unity or oneness with God.
The meditation about a kite flying high up in the air with its controlling thread in the hands of a child is also helpful for this purpose.
I have followed these three types of meditation from time to time and had rich, enthusing and happy experiences. The sacrifice of the moth on the burning lamp; the physical, mental and material surrender of the wife to her husband, are instances of experiencing complete identification, unity or oneness with God.
In my Upasana, actions, rituals were not of primary significance. It was suffused with emotional zeal, devotion and faith. I strictly followed the discipline of doing prescribed Jap (chanting with devotion). Except for some emergency, rarely was there any omission in getting up in the morning at 1 A.M. and performing the set routine. Deficiency, if any, was made up on the next day and nothing was left in arrears. Even then, I had practiced throughout to maintain an attitude full of emotional zeal during my Upasana. In the beginning the practice of arousing feelings of sacrifice, unity, identity and negation of duality was done in the form of imagination. Later it became a part of my nature and ultimately culminated in self-realization.
The power and influence of Upasana started reflecting in the form of devotion (Shraddha ) in the causal body, illumination (Pragya) in the astral body and determination (Nishtha) in the physical body. Strict self-introspection was done from time to time to ensure that this was no mere wishful thinking. I examined and analysed myself in the light of actual daily events whether or not devotion for leading an idealistic life, for the service of mankind as a whole, had increased and allurement of temptation has been overcome; and found that my feelings had fully matured like those of a Risi-Kalpa-Sadhak.
The aspect of Nishtha means firm determination, patience, courage, bravery, devout austerity (Tap ) and endurance. Just as a pot taken out from potter’s kiln is thoroughly examined by thrashing and beating it with fingers to find out whether it is half-baked, broken or fully baked and intact, in the same way, I kept on introspecting and observing myself whether there had been any wavering in my firmness in the face of temptations and fear. I found that every step was an advance forward and there was no stagnation in the progress.
The brilliance of Savita is known as Brahmavarchasya . It is also called Ojas, Tejas, Varchas .It is reflected directly in the form of piety, sharpness and brilliance. The inrush of Savita's light in the physical, astral and causal sheaths fills the body with strength, the brain with knowledge and the heart with love and courage. Later, I started experiencing that my entire self had become a field of light, a column of fire; and divine nectar was flowing through each and every cell of my body, my entire being. I felt, I was getting the joy of contentment, fulfilment and peace, as if I were drinking (nectar).
This, in brief, is my regular programme of doing Upasana for four hours daily. This period effortlessly flies without boredom, tiredness, yawning, as if only half an hour has passed. Every moment I feel heavenly joy and closeness to God. This has become a routine. I have no inclination to count, boast or think of rewards or results. Like all other tasks of daily routine, sitting near God (Upasana) is also a natural living routine for me without which I cannot live for a single day. For me doing for a fixed period daily is a process of recharging myself with spiritual energies which keep me full of divine bliss throughout the day. I spend every moment blissfully experiencing myself in God and God in me.
In such a state of inner consciousness, one takes the ups and downs of life in one’s stride. There is neither joy nor sorrow. An undulating ocean of bliss appears all around.
Wherever I look, I see God. He walks beside me wherever I go. I feel His Presence every moment like a guardian angel, like a pilot. An ocean cannot become a drop but there is no doubt about a drop becoming an ocean by merging its identity in the ocean. An attitude of being carefree develops and fearlessness spontaneously grows with the awareness of God’s constant presence.
I have cherished firm faith (Shraddha ) in the Divine throughout my life, which has helped my soul in getting united with God. It is revealing and manifesting itself in the form of actual ! (Mother aspect of Divinity). "
- By Acharya Shriram Sharma, a quote from "My Life its Legacy and Message"
Note to our readers: We would encourage you to try the meditation techniques listed in the article as millions of followers have benefitted from them greatly.
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References and Source of the above article:
If you would like to read the book my "Life Its Legacy and Message" please click the link below :
If you would like to know more about the author Shriram Sharma Acharya, please click the link below:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriram_Sharma