Mystic Mantra: Quest for salvation

In a havan we make an offering of samagri to agni deva; this samagri contains exotic ingredients like guggul and also common ingredients such as rice and sugar — representing the different aspects of creation.

Just like the havan samagri, our body, which is what we identify with and are tied to in this physical world, holds all aspects of creation. Every moment in the life of a sadhak is a havan, an ahuti, made to the devas in his every thought and action — be it the act of eating food, sexual gratification, travel, leisure or even sadhna… even a sadhna has to be sacrificed after a stage. All these are aspects of the physical — that which is temporary and unreal. The moment a sadhak associates himself with a physical aspect and tries to hold on to it, it is a dilution in yog. On the other hand, if a sadhak makes an offering to the devas — it paves the way for his salvation.

The devas and the danavs all exist within a being. The aspect that one relates to or is able to access is indicative of his state of evolution or desire. Gayatri, the ultimate force of creation, too, resides in this body and can be accessed by an individual. There are two aspects of Gayatri sadhna — Gayatri, which is internal (antarang) and Savitri, which is external (bahrang). Together, they represent completeness (poornata).

The sadhna of Gayatri is the ultimate sadhna to achieve poornata or completeness. However, to access this aspect, one also has to have a matching desire. A mismatch between desire and what one tries to access, results in a mess — within and outside. A Gayatri sadhak stands the greatest risk to lose his/her path (become paathbhrasht) because the sadhna calls for purities of the highest order. It requires the sadhak to be centred on his sadhna every moment. The slightest waver of focus or even a momentary thought/desire dampens the sadhna.

These sadhnas are not a joke, all the shaktis exist and can be accessed through our body under the sanidhya of a guru. The reason why people falter is because they do not have a guru. A guru is the one who gives you the experiences of the spiritual world. As one walks the path shown by his guru, he intercepts many flowers that are planted on the sides of the track. A shishya is the one who keeps walking on this path keeping his eyes fixed on the guru. If he pauses even momentarily to pluck a flower or admire its beauty, it is considered guru-droh, a dilution. No matter how beautiful the flower is, or how attractive, it is still physical (sthool), unreal. The person will surely get the flower but in the process, he will lose the path of the guru and guru-droh. Moving against the guru is considered a greater paap than brahm hatya.

The level of sadhna and your experiences go hand-in-hand. If your experiences are growing and your interactions with energy increasing, then no matter what you are doing in the physical world, it means you are on the right path.

Whenever you are slapped, there is a sound first and then the pain. A guru can sense that sound/dilution much earlier and warns the sadhak to be careful. A majority ignore this warning because their ego does not allow them to see their mistake. When one decides to move away from the guru, he needs to see what he is moving towards. Your acharan decides your state. Let no one else judge you. Whenever you move away from your guru, observe yourself. If after leaving the guru, you immerse yourself into silence and are able to attract those around you into the subject, then no matter what anybody says, you are on the right path. If on the other hand, you are indulging in affairs or interacting with people who are immersed in artificiality, you have diluted yourself.

A guru tries to save the shishya by trying to keep him on the right path. Prithviraj Chauhan’s guru disguised himself as Prithviraj to save him from his enemies. A guru does not shy away from putting his life at stake for a shishya because even in doing so he will seek salvation. A guru has to take the shishya on the right path, but then if the shishya changes his path mid-way, there is little that the guru can do.

Yogi Ashwini, the guiding light of Dhyan Foundation, is an authority on yoga, tantra and the Vedic sciences. His recent
book is Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension. Contact him at dhyan@dhyanfoundation.com