Pranahuti - Introductory Sittings

The system of Pranahuti aided meditation consists of two parts. One is the practicant's role and other is the master's support. In no other system that we are aware of, we have this direct support of another person in the meditation. They give perhaps a mantra or tell a particular method of practising and the role of the supporter or the master ends there. The guru disciple relationship continues for a long time, perhaps for a life time for that person but still it is only an occasional meet and no discussion what so ever is generally held on the spiritual aspect of the life. Except the external behavioral aspect no body talks about the internal things. There are some who had developed certain intimacy with the gurus and perhaps also knew certain elementary aspects of sadhana but beyond that they said guru is God and he will guide you through.

In our sadhana, because of his level of approach a person who moves on in his yatra to the level of Brahmand, (i.e. when he is not confined to his Pind Desh or selfish interests) he moves on to the level of the parahita alone is permitted to impart spiritual training.

Parahita actually means trying to do good to others all the time. This as a behavioral attitude may be possible for any person to develop. He need not develop to that level. Social service does not require a man to be at the Brahmanda level. But when a person feels his presence else where than his own body, when he goes out of his body consciousness, when the boundaries of his body consciousness expand, he is supposed to have entered into the Brahmand. A person who feels confined to his body, who is concerned about his body and its needs, he is definitely a man concerned to his Pind Desh or the physical level. He is confined to the jiva. So those of the people who are not able to go beyond the physical cannot confuse themselves thinking that they are at the higher plane of consciousness.

Some of us may be aware or perhaps all of us may be aware that during our meditations we do seem to have crossed the borders. Some of us are very conscious of a mosquito bite and some of us are not. So long as the body consciousness is there one is definitely conscious of the mosquito bite. We will also feel sultry; or feel cold as the weather may be. Because these are all the conditions of the body and our consciousness is attending to it. If our consciousness is outside this and if it expands naturally we will not feel these constraints. I am trying to explain to you what would be a Brahmanda consciousness. The person at that level naturally would help others. That natural tendency or a concern for others is something that develops in a person who has moved out of his Pinda consciousness. Such people are competent to help others.

Pranahuti is an act that is possible only for a person who has crossed the boundaries of his body. Body consciousness limitations should go. When we say this, we are not asking any person to die. But there is a spiritual growth, which is almost death to the physical body. These people are capable of putting in efforts without worrying about hunger, thirst or sleep. These are the three things that govern the jiva, a living being. These three things exist. People who have consciousness of these three can be considered as people who have not crossed the boundaries of their body. Because they are concerned with their physical bodies. Is it possible for a person who has not crossed his body consciousness totally to offer pranahuti? That's a natural question that comes to us. We find that the other person who is helping us also having all these limitations. Yes, in this system that has been developed by SriRamchandraji Maharaj, he says that 'I do not lift you out of this body consciousness totally'.

There are five sub centres, in the Pind Desh. We make sufficient progress in that and then we put the man on to the Brahmanda level by a reflected power of the Master. Such people alone are competent to transmit the power or will for the betterment of others. When a person wants some sadhaka to improve and then he says now I will give transmission to you, he means that you are aspiring for the higher stage and I am assisting you with my will also to support that. Such a will should not be vitiated by selfishness. Otherwise we will be trying to help our own relatives, our own friends. Thus we do not want to cross that border. That is also body consciousness. We definitely get linked to our own people and we think that they are the only persons about whom we can think about. No body else is important for us. The moment you think that you can help others also, the question is whether you would like to have some importance, self-importance. Here is the person whom I can catch hold of and then tell him that I am going to help him. Thereby I can express my importance to him for fame, for name also a person can cheat others with this type of thinking. Please note it. It is also a self interest. It's a body consciousness. You want your image to be worshipped in the real sense of the term. Not by putting the photos, not by keeping your photo in his house, but you want him to think in his mind. An idol or an idea is given to him and that idea is made into an idol and you get imprinted in the other person as their guru.

Just now I had an occasion to talk to some trainer who told me that somebody has written that his guru has left after his transfer. This happens, it does happen, unwittingly it happens. Because the other man is bound by the body consciousness and if you have given him the scope for him to think so, you will not be in a position to perform the Pranahuti. Such people are available among us who are capable of working from the Brahmanda level because they have been prepared to some extent, not totally. So you will see blemishes in them. But don't concentrate on the blemishes of the person. See the good in him who is trying to help you and then you will have the support. So this support that is coming to us is from an act of will of another person, which is not vitiated by his selfish interest. We must make sure then only it can be transmission. Otherwise we should cease to have any help from such people. Because they will make you a pashu. You will become a guru pashu. Don't become one. We are here seeking liberation. We are seeking freedom. We are not prepared for bondages. No yogi is offering himself for that, no man for that matter should become a beast. Beast is one, which is controlled by others. Man has to stand on his own. We have to go out of this lower level of consciousness to the higher. There is an animal in us, there is a man in us. We must move on to the higher stage. For that we are going to take the support of another person. That person should be one who is established above his body. He is the person who has got the indriyanigraha as SriRamchandraji Maharaj puts it. A person who has control over his senses. That means body, as far as we know is nothing but a structure that is governed by the sense organs. We have got to be persons who are above that. Look if a person is above that or not. Then only can we take assistance from him. Other people are not competent.

Now the question is I am not asking you to evaluate the trainers anywhere. I am asking you to make a decision for yourself, whether we are capable of getting assistance from somebody i.e. whether you are prepared to yield is the first question and the second question is whether the other person is capable of helping you. Here we can assure you with the help of the great master who has permitted people to work, you can get assistance and it is for you to feel. Many of us feel so. Some people do not feel. Whatever it is, support is required. When does one get Pranahuti? We don't get it from the heavens. We don't get it from a stone, we don't get it from a tree. We get it from another person who exercises his will for our betterment. Pranahuti is an act of will, let this be clear. That will is not vitiated by selfish interests is what I tried to explain in the beginning. In such a case what is that will? That will is just the support of the divine. When we are having our own selfish interest naturally it does not get the support of the divine. That is why when some of our trainers told me that they have worked on somebody according to them and they don't see anything of an improvement in other person, I found the person on whom he has worked is his own relative or somebody who is so close to him. He wanted to give some consideration for the other person overriding the interest of others who are seekers. It is governed by selfishness and such work never works, it fails. One cannot have motivated behaviour. A person who doesn't have selfish motivation alone is capable of doing this. Make sure you get such a person. Such person's are available. God is always kind to us. He always shows a person who can guide us. Only we should be in a position to feel. These are all certain digressions we make to start with, which started mainly because some of us have got several notions about it.

If we go to a particular trainer he will be in a position to give something. Without our aspiration no trainer can do anything. Unless we have got our goal clarity he cannot do anything and that person also cannot do anything on his own. It can be asked can we not do something to other person by transmitting to him continuously? Unless he seeks we cannot do it. These are certain wrong notions that we have got. No one can do anything. Unless the person also wants that improvement we can't bring in such an improvement. Unless we ourselves are established in a higher plane and then we go on the merits of the case rather than the persons we will not be in a position to do. Let these objective standards be maintained in our mind first and then we proceed further in our task. The meditation starts, the practice of abhyas, after getting introduced we say. During the introduction three sittings are taken. Three sittings are a must. There is a gap that is required generally of 24 hours duration. Sometimes it is relaxed to 12 hours also. But there must be a gap. Three sittings means now one must wait for half an hour after one hour, we sit for another half an hour after 2 hours again half an hour and then we say that the person is introduced. That person is not introduced. The complaints regarding the constraints of time are not acceptable here. Fine, the trainer has completed in his manner, but nothing has happened. Because it takes time to seep in. The thought has to sink to the heart. What is it that we do at the time of introduction? We establish a link with the ultimate source of consciousness which, we are capable of touching namely that of Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj. Beyond that we are not conscious of what it is. Because he is himself void. Any other concept above him maintained by some people mainly because of their information coming from books of Vedanta and other sources make them think that there must be something above. Above void there can be void and void alone. When we say that the master has merged in the void and he is null, then he is null. That's all about it. Any idea that is maintained by any person as seeking some help from the divine straight is a peculiar philosophical concept entertained by vedantin's for reasons of their own. I would not like to get digressed. There is no point in talking about things, which are not tangible. Absolute, Brahman, Divine, Ultimate, these words for me do not mean anything so far as sadhana is concerned. Because we have a master who is available to us on the one side and who is himself merged in the ultimate on the other side.

There are two portions of SriRamchandraji Maharaj that we have got to clearly understand. His personality is null. He is void that is one aspect of it. The other aspect of it is he is available to us and we can reach him. We can reach him through the connections that are going to be established. The very first sitting that we are going to have, we tell the new practicant that this person is getting introduced to God through the masters. We use the word Divine. Varadachari as a philosopher, as a scholar he used this word several times, ultimate. SriRamchandraji Maharaj uses the word BHUMA, to refer to that condition which is not the last one, which is actually the penultimate. Ultimate is ultimate only - void. The Bhuma is the one that expresses. The mother is the one that expresses. That connection, that ensures the source. The persons who are introduced, feel as vibrations as something that moves in their body, some force that enters into them. This is the first parameter that an Abhyasi can have to show that he is experiencing a consciousness of a higher type and during that time he is in an altered state of consciousness. He is not in the consciousness of his body, but something else. There is something of a change. At least temporarily an altered state of consciousness he has, that gives him the quiet, that gives him the calm, that gives him the peace. This is had in the very first sitting. In the second sitting what is done is we try to give the suggestion through the process of will that this person is moving from the animal state to the human state. Not all of us are born as humans, totally. We are human, we are also animals, it is our duty to reduce the animal and move on to the human level. That is our right. That is the only justification. Then only our existence is justified, otherwise we have wasted, squandered the opportunity. We enable the applicant, we enable the aspirant, and we enable the practicant.

When we say animal level we say that the person is governed by the instincts which enable the physiological system to survive and the fundamental principle of life is trying to get the next generation, procreation, thirst. These are the things that govern us. Any animal does it. All animals eat, all animals drink, all animals procreate. From this level we have to move on to the human level. We cannot confine ourselves only to this level. If we analyse ourselves, we will understand that majority of our culture is devoted only for these two purposes. All our activities almost appears to be concerned to these two levels. That is, we are not behaving as men. We are behaving as animals.

The first transformation that SriRamchandraji Maharaj wants or any sane man would like is to become a man first. So the suggestion that is given, the will that is given is that we move on to the human plane. That the aspirant tries to live as much as possible in the human plane and as little as possible in the animal plane. At present the twist is the other way. We are asking the people to live at the animal plane more and more thanks to all the advertisements that we have got and at human level less and less. So there is a shift that we are asking. That shift that you have to aspire, the practicant has to aspire for that and the help of the trainers is to will such a movement. Such a will can become real only when he has established himself at that level, otherwise it will be fooling yourself and fooling God apart from fooling others. Pranahuti is effective only from the persons who are able to move out of this level. That is why we will find different levels of transmission that are coming. According to the level of the trainer we will feel the intensity. Though the power is the same. The power is the same, the will of the master is the same but the quality differs. Quality differs mainly because they have not established themselves at the appropriate level for that appropriate task.

In the second sitting we divert the flow towards the Atma chakra also to some extent, so that the aspirant understands the interdependency with God. The flow has to move on. At present the man thinks that he is totally independent. Every animal thinks that it is independent. He does not understand the inter-dependency. Inter­dependency is the concept that is understood only by the man. The animals do not have the capacity. The moment we are established at the human level we will be also given information that we are interdependent. We are dependent on the Divine, the Divine is dependent on us.

There are two aspects which have to be kept in mind here. Saswaroopa jnana occurs. Real nature of man is to feel the dependence of the man and also understand that the divine depends upon him to show its greatness, the manifestation, the beauty of manifestation, the work of God is present in the world and the universe. All of us are the work of God and it is our duty to present ourselves in the best form. We cannot present a bad picture of ourself without giving a bad name to the creator. We may understand the importance of being perfect only when we know our nature is perfect and he is dependent upon us to show his greatness. If there is no world, if there are no men, then there is no question of anybody talking about the greatness of the God anywhere.

It is our duty as the expressions of divine to show that the divine is great in the respect in which he wants us to show. All of us are not given the same capacities. All of us are not born in the same way. Each one of us is capable of perfection. We should move to our perfection and say this is our perfection. If we try to imitate other persons then we are trying to be other than ourselves and therefore we fail. We should express everything that is given to us by God, without any inhibition as an offering to the divine and then say I have expressed you in the best form that is possible. That is the goal. That is the way in which we have to move. For that suggestion is given by the trainer that this man is understanding the nature of his self. These are all the three dynamic aspects of our system, which is done at the introductory sittings itself. Then a will that he progresses on the path is given and he is maintained at that level in the third sitting. These are all the procedures of introduction. This is how the Pranahuti or the support of the master is taken.

All the trainers are fully aware that we are not all that competent to do this task and we know that we would fail on our own. But we have got the confidence that the divine and the master is supporting us in our work. It is he who is doing the whole thing. Because when he tries to express, he has expressed me. He could not express himself. God has no form. God has no mind. He cannot do anything. He is dependant upon us totally to show his greatness. On his own he cannot do. What can void do. Void is void. God is void what can he do. Only when we know that we are expressions of God then we understand the value of life, meaning of life and then we express it well. Imperfections should not find place. We should know that it is animality that is making us imperfect. We should know that it is our sloth that is making us imperfect. We refuse to accept all these things. We do not accept tamasik life nor rajasik life. We move on to the satvik life. We try to be as pure as possible, as pristine purity as possible. We maintain so that the divinity is expressed. It is our duty to be rishis. We are squandering ourselves to the level of animals. We are degrading to that level. Every person here is a Rishi. That is the call. When SriRamchandraji Maharaj says that all my people are saints this is what he meant. He had the courage to say that my people are saints. Have we the courage to say so is the question. And if you have got the courage then you say, yes I have known. I have known that I am dependant upon the divine. I have known that I cannot live in any other way than expressing his greatness all the time, in our action, in our being, in our thought everything. Everything is his. We come naturally to the condition of what we call as stithapragnatva, handing over everything to him. You are not disturbed. Kartrutva, Jnatrutva, Bhoktrutva i.e. your knowing, your acting and your enjoying, if so long as we think it is ours, we will be in misery. But if we know that it is his, then we will be in bliss. Every act of ours is his. Every thought of ours is his. Every feeling of ours is his. When we accept that, we will not definitely fall low to the level of an animal. We know that if our thoughts are bad, it cannot be divine. We will not entertain that. We will not be behaving in the ways, which are considered as bestial, or asuric. We cease to do such things.

It is that awareness that we are trying to give by diverting the flow towards the Atma chakra. When the Atma chakra fully blooms that is the condition that comes to us and automatically we move to the higher plane. The thought that has been given in the beginning as a suggestion becomes a reality by two things, our sadhana and the constant influx of the divine force into us. Many of the people introduced are not told that they should take regular individual sittings and they should participate in the satsangs. In satsangs and individual sittings alone we have got the taste of Pranahuti. When we meditate on our own if we think that we are getting Pranahuti it is an illusion. Don't delude yourself by the vibrations because those vibrations are consequent to the initial introduction. Initial introduction is so powerful that it goes on. The link with the divine is permanent. That cannot be cut off. A person who has been introduced to the system in this proper way, as SriRamchandraji Maharaj says it cannot be severed. It cannot be severed even if a person drops out of the meditation and does not follow the system. When I asked him that several people go away then he said, where can they go. I am holding on. I allow them. Even if he passes away from this present life he says in the next life also the connection is there. My connection is there. That is the value of the introduction, if properly done. I am sure every one of you has been properly introduced. My assurance is mainly because you feel the vibrations when you meditate on your own. That confirms my belief or my acceptance of the concept that the link is permanently established. Otherwise you won't feel that when you meditate. But you confuse that with Pranahuti. Don't confuse it. It is your state. Vibrations are the path of the nada. Nadhopasana is actually our method. If one reads Lalaji he says nadopasana is the path and then here it is. The vibrations are the finest forms of song or the nada, we are going beyond the levels of sensory. That is why you won't feel the Omkara many times. But vibrations we feel and if we know that this is the nada perhaps we will know what is the link that we get at the first instance itself. That is the one that we get as Ajapa. Many of us ignore these vibrations as something that happens to us and assume that it is some physiological or physical phenomena. We don't equate it with Ajapa condition. Ajapa is that condition. After laborious efforts of reciting a particular Japa a person comes to that state of vibrations in the traditional path, whereas in Pranahuti Aided Meditation that is introduced in the very first sitting itself. We are linked with the ultimate through the nada. We know that after sometime the nada is felt throughout the body, not only in the heart but from top to toe. We do not have the viveka to know that it is the anahad condition that is coming to us, because we do not talk about it. Things are given to us so that we develop the discriminative intelligence to understand. That part is what is lacking.

The role of the Abhyasi is to be attentive and alert to whatever is happening to him. These are the two qualities that he should develop. We have got to be attentive and alert and these two things happen. With the first 5 months or 6 months we are already established at the anahat condition. When we talk about our system we talk about very positive aspects of it. We do not want to talk that it takes such a long time in other systems. We don't want to stress on that. All that I am asking you to understand is that you feel so and please be grateful for the influx of the Divine and more and more get tuned to that Divinity which is supporting us, to that Master who is incessantly working for our progress. Whether we are working for our progress or not I am not sure about it but he is incessantly working for our progress. It is this point that we have got to appreciate to know the role of Revered Lalaji Maharaj here. It is he who could pray to the ultimate or the ultimate source of consciousness saying that you better help these weak souls. On behalf of all of us he prayed and then he obtained that permission of the Divine. He could enable, make the Divine yawn towards the circumference as Revered SriRamchandraji Maharaj puts it. The centre is now yawning towards the circumference. That exactly is the basis of our Pranahuti. From where are we getting this prana, pranasya prana as Dr. K.C. Varadachari puts it. Yes, it is the pranasya prana alone that we are having in Pranahuti. This ultimate prana only is what we are experiencing. It is that centre only that is yawning towards us. It has yielded to us. The question is have we yielded to him and we say with confidence that we have yielded to him and say Oh Master. We yield to him occasionally, at certain moments. Most of us think that we are the persons to transmit. We do not yield to him. We resist. Revered SriRamchandraji Maharaj says don't alter the external situation. We cannot. We should modify ourselves and change our attitude. We have to yield to the Divine. So the yielding of the practicant and the Pranahuti from other side is what enables us to progress after introduction and through various stages we move on.