Navaratri - Day 3

Gist of Pujya Guruji's Discourse on 10th October 2010

Yesterday the Divine Mother revealed a great secret to all of us. We learnt that She has enthroned Herself in our Swadishthana Chakra, which is behind our navel, as Goddess Rakini. Click here to read the previous discourse of Pujya Guruji. She has also brought Lord Vishnu with His conch, wheel and mace to correct our excesses. She showed us how our excessive use of our senses was cutting off our receptivity to Her presence within us and gave us a priceless weapon to exit this loop. When we chant 'Om Vam' which is the bija mantra or seed syllable of the Swadishthana Chakra, Devi will ask Lord Vishnu to release His Sudarshana Chakra to remove the wrong emotion triggered in our minds by our senses. He will reorient us towards our soul instantaneously. By using this weapon yesterday with great awareness, we have made ourselves eligible to be present here to receive the truths that Mother will impart to us today:

1. Mother points out that relationships play a key role in our lives. We have so many relationships in life - with our parents, children, spouse, friends, neighbours, colleagues, boss, employees etc. However, there is one relationship which is most important and this is our relationship with 'Sat' or Truth. When we don't associate ourselves with 'Sat' in the Kali Yuga, every relationship in our life becomes a sinking ship. When we attend satsangs and immerse ourselves in 'Sat' or the truth of our soul, we are not bothered by problems any more. That does not mean that we do not have problems. In the Kali Yuga, there is nobody without problems. If you think that Swamis and Gurus do not have problems, you are wrong. However, when we soak ourselves in the nectar of truth, we no longer see problems as problems. They seem as minute as mustard seeds to us. So, our mind says - "Don't worry about this. It is too trivial to bother about." The energy of 'Sat' or Truth always envelopes us and focuses our attention on our soul.
   When we are in spirituality, we get knowledge. Not just the knowledge of how to tackle a problem, but of how to overtake it. So, we calmly walk past it and continue on our way. Let us take a small example. When we sweep our house, we get dust, hair, paper etc. We don't sort all this out. We just throw it into a dustbin. So also, spirituality is a very good dustbin for all our problems. It protects us so that the pinpricks of life don't bother us. This is the first truth.
2. Today, Devi says - "My child, as you walk on the path, if you allow it, all kinds of dirt will stick to you. Due to your ignorance, basically two kinds of dirt predominate in your life - your own karma and your ego." There is no dirt as terrible as the ego. Today, if we think that we are suffering badly due to our karma, compared to that, the dirt generated by our ego is at least four times worse. This is the second truth.
3. Two days ago, we saw how all the grace we gather is used to erase our karma. If we think of God for even one minute, that much of our karma is removed from us. Since we still have plenty of karma left, we are not experiencing the full impact of Grace in our lives. However, the fact that all of you are here to participate in a satsang is itself because of Grace. This is not the fruit of your good karma. It is Devi's ever compassionate Grace. Since the component of Grace is greater than the component of karma in your lives, you are attending a satsang. In the Kali Yuga, it is relatively easy to perform charitable acts, but much more difficult to obtain the great blessing of attending a satang. There is a place earmarked in heaven for all those who immerse themselves in satsang. All this should not be taken egoistically. Devi is telling us this to show us the priceless value of a satsang. Devi says - "All the places where satsangs are held become My divine domain and I envelope them with the protective armour of My Grace." This is the third truth.
4. The Divine Mother says - "Remove both kinds of dirt in yourself by assimilating all the truths that I am imparting to you and using them for your transformation." Just as we use oil to lubricate a tight nut and bolt joint before unscrewing it, we should use the lubricant called 'Sat' or Truth to remove the dirt of our karma and ego. This is the fourth truth.
5. Yesterday we learnt that Goddess Rakini and Lord Vishnu are enthroned in our Swadishthana Chakra or energy vortice behind the navel. We have been chanting the seed syllable 'Om Vam' to invoke Lord Vishnu and make Him release His Sudarshana Chakra whenever negativity is triggered in our minds by our senses. Lord Vishnu also has a conch with Him. Why is a conch so sacred and what is its significance in our lives?
   The Divine Mother says - "On festivals, auspicious occasions as well as every morning and evening you must blow the conch at home." Why should we blow a conch? All our karma is present in the energy field around us at home as dense residue, vibrations and subtle matter. The karma that we have already experienced is consolidated as dense residue. To understand this better, we can compare it to the residue of wax left over after a candle burns out. Our Prarabdha Karma or the karma that we have to experience in our present lifetime exists as spandana or vibrations. Our Agami Karma or karma that is in store for us in our future lifetimes is present in sukshma rupa or subtle form. All this dirt in our energy field is shattered and thrown out when we blow the conch. It cleanses the atmosphere of our energy field and purifies it. 'Om Vam' is an armour that prevents the generation of fresh karma by keeping our mind focussed on our divine core through the elimination of negative thoughts and feelings. The blowing of the conch blows away the karma that we have already generated till now. So, both work complementarily with each other. That is why all of us should blow a conch in our houses at least once a fortnight. Even if it makes a small noise when we blow it, it is enough. Regardless of gender, anybody at home can blow the conch.
6. How should we keep the conch at home? When we finish blowing the conch, we should make sure that it always contains a little water when we put it away. Otherwise the etheric space or element of Akasha in the conch will also absorb the impurities of our karmic field and become impure. Then it is no longer effective. The space in the conch is the subtle component of Lord Vishnu - it is pulsating with vibrations of peace and tranquillity. That is why the blow of a conch is as powerful as a missile which can travel halfway round the world. This is the reason we blow the conch and ring the bell in temples. It purifies the whole region, town and country. This is our spiritual tradition. If we don't follow our tradition, our mind starts playing tricks on us and bombards us with doubts and suspicions. So Devi says - "Don't just think about all these truths. Meditate deeply upon them." They are so crucial and important in our lives.
7. The tradition of Sanatana Dharma is the tree of divine protection. Just as a banyan tree gives us dappled shade with exactly the right proportion of sunlight and coolness, so also our traditions have interwoven the science of vibrations to create a very pleasant environment for us. Tradition is a net of prosperity, peace and happiness and most importantly it is a secure armour of protection around us. Nobody has explained this to us scientifically before. That is why we have ignored it. Tradition is extremely necessary. It sets right all the vibrations in our house and makes them Godly. The more we try to retain something Godly, the more we will be able to contain something Godly and maintain something Godly. Since we are not retaining, containing or maintaining it, our karma is detaining us. It is anchoring us to negativity and preventing us from becoming Godly. When we do not follow tradition, we have no kavacha or armour to protect us. This is the seventh truth.
8. Blowing the conch mends all the holes in our protective net. It keeps out people with evil intentions and insulates us from all the negative and bad things of life. Earlier we learnt that Stability + Will Power = Resolution. A blow of the conch drives away our lack of stability and brings out our will power. This is the eighth truth.
9. Today, the Divine Mother wants us to focus on shravana or the important role that the faculty of listening plays in our lives. If we take just six months of our life at any point and analyse it, we will clearly understand what we have based our life on and how much we have understood it. What we hear decides the quality of our lives. If we have listened to bad things most of the time, we feel our life is bad. If we have heard good things most of the time, we feel that our life is very good. If what we have listened to has made only doubts arise in our minds, there is no doubt that we have understood doubt! When we listen only to divine things, our life becomes divine. So, what we hear is what we understand, and what we have understood is what our life is. That is why our elders coined the saying - "See good, hear good and speak good". If we do this, our life also becomes good. This is the ninth truth.
10. When we are watching a controversial talk show on TV, if we turn the volume to zero, our mind immediately becomes peaceful because we don't hear the negative statements being made there. If we watch a horror movie with the TV on mute, we don't find it scary at all. What we hear regulates the state of our mind. That is why Shakespeare said - "Sound maketh a man and sound breaketh a man." Sound has the power to make you or break you. In houses where the conch is blown, bad news is not heard. The whole neighbourhood benefits from the blowing of the conch in our house. Even if bad news comes, it is very, very rare. Most of us say - "In this Kali Yuga, we see and hear only bad things." This will never happen if we blow the conch at home regularly. This is the tenth truth.
11. Whenever we listen to bad things and allow them to perturb, anger, agitate or worry us, we are shaking God's seat within us by not having enough trust in our heart and soul. We have programmed our minds to have trust only in physical things. Why are we shaken so easily? This happens because we have no experience of Divinity. So, we have no trust or faith. How can God give us His Grace when we are shaking from top to bottom constantly? That is why the Divine Mother says - "Always be aware of what you are listening to. Don't listen to things which will shake your mind. If you do, don't believe in them. Otherwise it will completely destabilise you. Today your mind, your life and your whole world is shaking because you constantly doubt yourself. So, your personality, character and will power are constantly bombarded. If you listen to the right things all the time, your will power becomes so strong that even the Gods can't shake you." This is the eleventh truth.
12. From tonight the slaying of the buffalo headed demon Mahishasura, who is the embodiment of our ego begins. His will power is extremely strong - stronger that that of the Gods. That is why even Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara could not slay him. Devi had to vanquish him Herself. So, our Will Power is like a knife - it can be used either benevolently or malevolently. We can use it to help or harm ourselves and others. So, we should never use our will power egoistically to nurture the negativity in ourselves. Shravana plays a key role in how we use our will power. Let us close our eyes and make a sankalpa or resolution - "I will not shake my Atma Peetha or the seat of my soul. I will not listen to bad things. I will not allow doubts and suspicions to creep into my mind and shake my peace, stability and prosperity."
13. When we become aware of what to listen to and what to screen out, the seed syllable 'Om Vam' begins to resonate on its own from our Swadishthana Chakra. Just as we can hear our own heart beat through a stethoscope, we hear 'Om Vam' vibrating within us. Till now this has not been activated because of all the bad things we have heard and paid attention to. The more we fill ourselves with unwanted information which makes doubt, confusion and conflict prevail in us, the more bad decisions we take in life. Today, when we make the decision not to listen to bad things anymore, Lord Vishnu blows His conch from within. Then not only are our karma and ego removed, our doubts and confusion are also driven away. Then there is no more conflict or confusion, only divine fusion.
14. Now that we have made our resolution to listen only to good things, Goddess Rakini in our Swadishthana Chakra will begin to prod our ego with Her trident or trishula. The three prongs of Her trident symbolise devotedness, humility and humbleness [naya, vinaya and namrata]. She will make us give up our arrogance by inculcating these three qualities into our thoughts, speech and action.
15. Devi is moulding our personality in the spheres of our mind, intellect and Shakti. When we listen only to good things as Devi wants, then our personality which is now riding on our ego will seat itself on the soul instead. This is what is described in the Devi Mahatmyam as the slaying of the ego. When we listen to satsangs with bhajans, automatically our ego based personality is transformed into a principle based personality. It gets established in the Shakti or power of our soul. It changes into a divine based personality. Devi Herself has only these three qualities - devotedness, humility and humbleness or naya, vinaya and namrata. Since She is totally devoid of ego and the very embodiment of humility, She is able to tolerate all our nonsense. Otherwise She would have become utterly disgusted with us and driven us away. When we are filled with humility, Devi Herself comes to us.
16. Devi is revealing another secret to us today. She says - "My child, today you are seated on your ego. That is why you are shaking. When you listen to satsangs with bhajans, you are sitting on your Shakti peetha instead. In fact, you are sitting on your Shakti." So, when we give up all our nonsense and become established in our own divine energy, nobody can shake us. Not even the Gods. This is the great secret. Even when it is time for us to leave our body, God asks us - "Are you ready to leave now? If so, I will send Yama, the God of death to do your bidding. Otherwise let your Shakti grow as long as you wish."
17. Our heart is the abode of God, but our Swadishthana Chakra is our own abode, our Shakti Peetha. Assuming that our ego will dissolve through the assimilation and implementation of Her divine information, the Divine mother has sent Goddess Rakini and Lord Vishnu to serve us. That is why He is using His Sudarshana Chakra and conch to purify us. Again we should not take this in an egoistic sense. This information should propel us more swiftly towards transformation.

We lose most of our energy because we listen to unwanted things in life. We don't know what is necessary and what is unnecessary. From today this is going to change because we have realised that along with what we listen to, the impact it has on our lives is important. If we ignore this important truth, we will continue to live and grow older physically, but the world will not be benefitted by our existence.

May the Grace of the Divine Mother transform all of you from egoistic personalities to divine personalities from this very day. May all beings be happy.

Jai Matha. Om Tat Sat.