www.holybooks.com THE MYSTERIES OF MIND YUVACARYA MAHAPRAJ:F:IA Tta11s'ated into Englijh by KL. GOSWAMI Published under the auspices of JA[NA VISHVA BHARATJ, LADNUN-341306 RAJASTBAN, INDIA Today & Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers www.holybooks.com COPYRIGHTS© tODAY & TOMORROW'S PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS NEW DELHI First Published 1982 Edited by: MUNI DULAHARAJ (Hindi Edition) MUNI MAHENDRA KUMAR (English Edition) ISBN : 0-8806 5-223-3 Distributed in USA and Canada by · SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS 7310 El Cresta Drive HOUSTON, TEXAS 77083 Composed by : B.N. PRINTERS 4240, Budh Nagar, Rampura, Delhi-110035 Printed at : Mohan Printing Corporation, Padam Nagar, Delhi-110007 Published by: Shri R.K. Jain : Today & Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers, 24-B/5, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Karol B agh, New Delhi-110005 www.holybooks.com CONTENTS Page I. New Dimensions of Perception 1-81 Search for existence : Right vision 1 Development of the force of resistance-Self- discipline 16 The playground of consciousness - Freedom from self-negligence 26 Transformation of personality- Equanimity 37 Development of energy-Tapa 45 The upward flow of energy 54 Spiritual joy 63 Search for truth 73 II. Awakening of Energy 82-165 Awareness of responsibility 82 Awakening of energy-Value and purpose 88 Guidelines for arousing energy 97 Analysis of the gross and the subtle 107 Relief from mental tensions 117 Mental balance 125 Spiritual pilgrimage 133 Let us search truth ourselves 143 Struggle for freedom 152 Consummation of Sadhana 159 III. Mental Training 166-242 The third area of consciousness-Equanimity 166 Development of mental powers and their use 17 l www.holybooks.com iv Page Mental powers and Samayika 179 The bliss·giving flow of energy 186 Acquisition of a new personality 1S3 Mental health 201 Prek~a meditation and the training of the mind 209 The journey of consciousness : the unknown desti- nation 217 The secret of the life of the spirit 226 Spiritualism and ethics 234 Prek~a meditation - Five principles of mental training 238 www.holybooks.com PREFACE It takes a long time for the seed to grow into a tree. If it did not sprout, we will be deprived of the benefits we receive from the tree. We get flowers, leaves, fruits, shade and fuel only when the seed has sprouted and grown into a tree. Consciousness also has to perform a Jong journey before it can attain its hhhest development. If it remained dormant, we shall not be able to receive from it that which we expect to receive. Friendliness, peace, sympathy, good­ will, equanimity and synthesis are the consequences of aroused consciousness only. In order to arouse consciousness we have to carry our energy to the upper parts of the body. When it descends into the lower parts of the body, it excites sex-consciousness. Knowledge and consciousness can be developed only when energy is carried upwards. Meditation is an attempt to carry energy upwards. The present book deals with some of the aspects of the upward movement of energy. P, l\$ii meditation camps are being organised from time to time. These camps provide exercises in meditation as well as discussions on the subject of meditation. This book is a com­ pilation of such discussions. It includes discussion which took place in the camp; organized in October 1977, March 1978 and June 1978. The practice of meditation introduces the practitioner to his self. He establishes dired contact with what happens in him. Discussions on meditation cire much helpful in this respect. Knowledge of pl1ysiology and ana­ tomy is essential for a physician as well as for a meditator. Their purposes may differ. Knowledge of the body is essen­ tial for the meditator in order that he may be able to perceive its parts and touch and activate every cell of it with conscious­ ness. www.holybooks.com vi Knowledge of psychology is as essential for the meditator as it is for the psychologist. Unless the prek,va-meditator knows the different strata of consciousness, he cannot activate the powers of the psyche. The purpose of meditation is to arouse and develop the powers of the psyche. Knowledge of karma sastra is as essential for the medi­ tator as it is for the philosopher. The meditator cannot subdue the waves produced by the fruition of karma without a knowledge of the nervous system. Prek,va meditation makes the mind wakeful. The wakeful meditator can feel all the waves of excitements and passions arising in the nervous system and render them inactive through perception. We are a ware of the power of thoughts, but we are unacquainted with the power of perceptwn. Thinking tires knowledge-tissu~s whereas perception energises and activates them. Perceptive consciousness is natural. In whatevtr part of the body it enters, consciousness releases the current of vital energy in it. The tlow of the current of vital energy in sufficient quantity arouses the dormant centres of cons­ ciousness in the body. The pn cess of the arousing of the consciousness-centres has been briefly touched upon in this book. Acarya Tulsi was kind enough to comment upon the discussions in the camps on the closing days. These comments will be separately published. I have been highly benefitted and inspired in my discussions on meditation by the Acarya. Muni Dulaharaja took great pains in compiling the discus­ sions in the form of the manuscript copy of this book which I appreciate. On the basis of the views expressed by the readers on our books on meditation published recently, the interest evinced by them in reading them, and their efforts for imple­ mentation of the ideals contained therein, we feel that bright po5sibilities are emerging in this field. I wish that every human being may be blessed with the feelings for spiritualism. Let everybody know his 'self' and realize it. I once more bow reverentially to the Acaryasri and wish that the path of the humanity at large may be illumined through his guidance. Marwar Ranaviisa August 15, 1982 -YUVACARYA MAHAPRAJivA www.holybooks.com INTRODUCTION Practitioners come to the siidhanii camps empty-handed and return with their hands full. We may also say that they come to the siidlza11ii camps with their hands full and return empty-handed. Both the statements are correct. Practi­ tioners join the camp after having emptied themselves of all that is to be relinquished and return full of spiritual strength. Spiritual exertion is a means of emptying the mind and also of providing a lot of energy to the participant. That which is unwholesome has to be discarded and that which is wholesome bas to be preserved and enriched. Every participant in the camp for exercises in prek$ii meditation must wholeheartedly adopt the following guiding principles of prtk(fii meditation. They should recite these loudly: 1. I present myself for exercises in pr~k$ii meditation. 2. I have adopted the path prescribed for prlk$i'i. medi· tation or spiritual stidhanii. 3. I accept the merits of insight. 4. I accept the merits of spiritual experiences. Bhiiva­ kriyii., the psychic coun~erpart of material action, is the beginning of perceptive meditation. It means three things : 1. To live in the present moment. 2. To do things wakefully, and 3. To remain constantly self-watchful. Most of our life is spent m involvement in our past deeds and in worries regarding the future. Ninety percent of our lives is covered by the awareness of the past and www.holybooks.com viii of worries about the future. Only ten percent of them is spent in the present. The past is no more real and the future has not yet materialized. The past is mere memory and the future a thing of imagination. The present alone is real. We spend very little time in living in the present. Mostly we remain entangled in the memories of the past and in dreaming what is likely to happen in the future with the result that we lose our grip on the present. We cannot retain it. The fact, however, is that whatever happens in life happens in the pre­ sent only. But we are not wakeful about this fact. Bhiiva­ kriyii means living in the present. The second meaning of bhiivakriyii is to do deeds wakefully. We do things half-heartedly or with half of the mind engaged elsewhere. Work done with only half of the mind in it is never done completely. In this way we lose a lot of our energy. Things done half-heartedly do not produce tangible results. We should physically as well as mentally engage ourselves in our deeds earnestly and sincerely. While doing deeds the mind and the body should cooperate with each other. The third meaning of bhifrakriyii is to remain constantly wakeful. The practitioner should remain fully conscious of the ideal he wants to achieve. Purity of heart is the precondition of meditation which aims at arousing the dor­ mant energy in us. The practitioner should be constantly wakeful about these. The second principle cf pr't!qii meditation is not to remain inactive but to remain active. Most of our life con­ sists of reactions rather than of actions. Most of our actions are mere reactiom. Take for example the wearing of clothes. We wear clothes as a reaction against cold or as a reaction against being indecent. Eating food is a reaction against hunger. Eating, drinking, clothing etc. are not voluntary actions but reactions. What we need is to live a life of actions rather than one of reactions only. Every man has his own free aud independent life.