Salvation in Kali Yuga. Swami Vankhandi Maharaj: Interviews, Satsangs, Teachings, Parables
the value of transmitting teachings through words. To the question «who is Guru?» he often replies that Guru is his Word itself (in Sanskrit – «Shabda»). Perhaps that’s why this conversation did take place.
Siddharth: Yesterday you spoke about chintan. You said it’s the concentration of consciousness on Atma. How does one do chintan? What can help with this?
Vankhandi Maharaj: Repetition of the Name. Concentration of consciousness on one Divine Name.
Siddharth: And which Name is best to repeat?
Maharaj: Any. Choose any Name and repeat it.
Siddharth: Any Name? How does one choose?
Maharaj: You must choose the one that resonates in your heart. You can choose the name Rama, or Krishna. You can repeat the name of Durga. Or Ganesha. Or Shiva. There are five main Gods, Param Devata. Surya (or Aditya), Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi (you can take the name of Durga, Bhagavati, any name of the Divine Mother). Choose what you love, what you feel a close connection with. And constantly concentrate your attention on one and only one Divine Name and repeat it. Repeat it not aloud, but internally. This Name should constantly revolve in your mental space and resonate in your heart. You don’t need to pronounce and repeat this Name loudly – tongue and lips don’t move. Everything happens internally, without effort, and then it begins to happen by itself, ajapajapa8 begins.
You don’t need to close your eyes either. Learn to live and work with this. The same applies to meditation (dhyana). When you sit to meditate, don’t start with closed eyes – eyes should be open. When you enter deep contemplation, your eyes will close by themselves. There’s no need to close them deliberately. With closed eyes, the thought process will interfere. Thoughts will dart around in consciousness. Let your eyes close by themselves when you reach a deep degree of concentration, one-pointedness of mind (ekagrata).
So repeat the Name. And it should be only one Name. Don’t scatter yourself. Concentrate only on one Name. Repeat continuously.
Siddharth: So we do this to make the mind concentrate on one thing, to achieve this ekagrata, one-pointedness?
Maharaj: The Name that you repeat and concentrate on will eventually come alive. The God behind this Name will manifest within you. You will begin to clearly see Him with your inner vision. The Divine energy corresponding to the Name will arise in your heart and gradually reveal Atma to you.
Siddharth: And will this ultimately help to rid oneself of identification with the body?
Maharaj: Undoubtedly.
Siddharth: So this is the way to begin realizing oneself as Atma, to identify with Atma rather than with body and mind?
Maharaj: Yes, of course. The Divine Name you pronounce possesses energy that will gradually pull you out from the grip of samsara and lead you to Atma. Such is the power of the Name. It is this energy of the Name that does all the work; you don’t need to make efforts for this. Your task is to concentrate attention on the Name, and the power of the Name carries you to Atma. During this process, you’ll begin to experience such happiness that will eclipse all transient joys of the samsaric world. You’ll become indifferent to all bodily pleasures. This inner experience of Realization is called anubhuti, it will happen within you by itself. Identification with the body will disappear.
But this should not be mechanical repetition of the Name; that way the Name won’t reveal itself and won’t manifest its power. This works only when you repeat the Name with complete dedication and love, putting your soul into it. Between you and the bearer of the Name you repeat, there should be a connecting thread, a string that quietly vibrates with each sound of the Name. The Name should continuously sound mentally in your head, whatever you’re doing. The mind should be constantly involved in this, even during daily activities. Initially, this will require some effort on your part, but gradually, with practice, it will become a natural process. The mind will continue repeating the Name all the time, even when you’re doing various tasks. If during cold weather you increase the intensity of fire, the cold retreats, it becomes warmer around. Similarly within you: as you, like wind fanning flames, fan the power of the Name, It burns away worldly desires, attractions (vasanas) and karmic obstacles with the heat of its energy. The Name will do all this work; you only need to fan Its heat.
Siddharth: Ramana Maharshi advised concentrating attention on the feeling of «I,» on the thought «I.» He sometimes even recommended using the word «I» as God’s Name for repetition. Repeating: «I—I-I.» Aham-Aham-Aham in Sanskrit. He said that this Aham is also God’s Name. And ideally, he recommended simply giving all one’s attention to this simple feeling of «I am,» «I,» since, essentially, this is the manifestation of the Divine in us. He called this «self-inquiry.» What do you say about this?
Maharaj: Yes, you can repeat «Aham, Aham.» This is also a path. A path to your true Self. But repeating God’s Name is simpler because the Divine power, energy standing behind this Name provides support and automatically takes you to the true Self, that is, to Atma. And this Self will already be absolute, «Aham Brahmasmi». You will in any case arrive at the same point – the true Self. It’s just that if you try to come to the true Self without God’s support, it will take you much more time, perhaps several lifetimes. After all, the mind has a tendency to wander off, to be distracted by samsaric lures, it wanders and constantly falls into samsara, while the Divine Name acts as a strong magnet that pulls the wandering mind onto the right path. Whatever you get distracted by, it won’t affect you, because Divine energy will pull you back to the Self. And when you are already absorbed in the Nature, the Self, you ultimately won’t need either God’s form or His Name. All forms will merge into the one Self, Nature, Atma. And you will automatically realize that all Names of God are just manifestations of this Self. And you will dissolve in Atma.
Siddharth: So God’s Name allows one to acquire this holy grace, God’s Mercy, through which dissolution in Atma occurs. And «Aham,» «I» – this is the root that lies at the foundation of any Name of God and any Divine manifestation. Can we say it this way?
Maharaj: All different forms of the Divine ultimately have one nature. They are all essentially one. It’s only to us they appear different. The sun is one. Sunlight is unified, wherever the sun’s rays penetrate – into your home’s room, into a temple sanctuary, or other places. Light from the sun spreads everywhere and fills everything.
Siddharth: So, your main recommendation is to repeat one of God’s Names. Or are there other techniques you can recommend to sadhakas9?
Maharaj: There are many different ways, but they all go through application of effort and long practice. You won’t achieve anything with a snap of fingers. Without long, intense abhyasa, that is practice, no method will work. Usually, for example, a person cannot sit in meditation and instantly subdue their mind, stop thoughts and enter deep concentration. All this comes with development, gradual practice. You are given a certain practice, mantra or Name, then repeat, concentrate, train, develop. And with time you’ll begin to reach Atma.
When a small child cries, it’s given a toy. Their attention focuses on this toy, and they calm down. The ordinary mind needs an object on which it can focus. It is surrounded and attracted by thousands of things, it jumps from object to object. So, one must know how to direct it to a certain point of focus. There are many focusing «toys» for manas – mantras, nama [Name] and other methods for such concentration. But to take the mind under control and begin to manage it, to achieve