Let us expound on the nine-fold path of purity and devotion for enriched living. Lord Rama gave these divine directions to Ma Shabari in the Treta Yuga. It is very relevant to people from all walks of life even today.
1. Satsang: Always seek the company of the enlightened beings in whom wisdom and awareness overflow. In this dark age of materialism, both Gods and demons appear in human form and are distinguished by their thoughts, emotions, words and behaviour. When we associate with people who have demonic feelings, our own thoughts and nature become uncouth. When we are in the presence of divine beings, our thoughts are stilled and our emotions distilled. The vibrations of grace that come from the enlightened purify and transform our minds effortlessly and take us to awareness.
2. Smriti: Have complete faith in all the scriptures—the user’s manual of the body, mind and soul given to us by the sages. They contain the essence of all their experiences and give us tested formulae that lead to peace, prosperity and bliss. Instead of bludgeoning our life through trial and error, if we follow the injunctions of scriptures with faith, our lives become happy and successful. So, explore spiritual truths in your work culture, too, as much as possible.
3. Nama Sankirtan: When we involve ourselves in devotional music, love overflows from our hearts. We lose ourselves in bliss and forget all our problems, worries and preoccupations. So, rejuvenate yourself with positive vibrations through nama sankirtan.
4. Punya Purashcharana: Bask in the aura of the enlightened. The divine halo of the enlightened has great transformative power. Therefore, always carry at least a small picture of your Ishta Devata or your guru in your wallet.
5. Sadbhavana: Generate divine emotions through complete awareness of your thoughts, feelings, speech and actions. Every thought and emotion that we generate should be satvic and divine so that we don’t produce karma. While we should be aware of our own shortcomings and constantly strive to correct them, we should not be over critical or judgmental about the faults of others. Each one of us is shaped by our own karma and we are at different stages of growth and evolution. Keeping this in mind, we should be tolerant and patient with everybody.
6. Veda Parayana and Japa: Chant Vedic mantras whenever you can, as much as possible to tune and reverberate to divine frequencies. Then, all your pre-set patterns of thinking and feeling can be erased and the heart, mind and intellect can be washed clean of all its karmic residues.
7. Shruti: Listen to the Vedas, mantras and the discourses of enlightened beings. To many of us, listening is an easy way to learn. If we find it difficult to chant, we can listen to the Vedas and mantras. We should also use every opportunity to listen to the discourses of the enlightened through satsangs.
8. Deva Iccha: Receive with humility everything life brings to us as God’s blessing. We have very little control over circumstances in our lives. We aren’t aware of the kind of karma we have generated. Neither do we know how or when these karmic fruits will manifest. The only way we can eliminate apprehensions from our minds is by accepting that everything rests in the hands of God, our Creator, and we have very little say in anything.
9. Universal Prayer—Lokaha Samastaha Sukhino Bhavantu: Be a well-wisher of all and do good to others as much as you can. Consciously practise the discipline of “think good, feel good and do good” with respect to everybody, then you are actually serving God in all beings.
The above tenets are sure way to dissolve our karma perennially to achieve success, peace and develop affinity towards divinity.
ashram-india@shrinimishamba.org