Spirituality

Universal Religion
A Treatise on Cosmic Consciousness
Swachid K. Rangan

Contents

Part One
Aphorisms & Exposition

Part Two
Practicing the Art of DM

Invocation
I. Practice
II. Procedure
1. Reciting the Invocation
2. Regulating the breathing
3. Concentrating on the Symbol of God.

III. Contemplating level by level
1. The Region of Libido
2. The Region of the Navel
3. The Region of the Heart
4. The Region of Life
5. The Region of Soul
6. The Region of God

IV.Conclusion

Part Three
DM Therapy

Part Four
YOGYM: Simple stretching exercises to stay fit

Part Five
Dictums for Right Living

Preface

What was intended as an essay on Cosmic Consciousness has turned out to be a treatise on the subject. The ideas expressed therein are my deductions and intuitive interpretation of the knowledge I gathered from the Scriptures of the major religions which I have read in books or listened to the discourses by learned men and masters. I have tried a scientific approach and many of the observations are arguable. I expect the reader to evaluate them by his or her own reasoning before accepting or rejecting them.

I have ventured to establish that reconciliation between Science and the Scriptures is possible and a synthesis of values of various religions can be the basis for a new Universal Religion.

In the Invocation l have placed the process in its perspective. The aphorisms listed therein are deduced from both the Scriptures and Science. The Exposition is meant to initiate the uninitiated in Spirituality without which life is not complete.

Part Two contains a simplified technique for Meditation, the emphasis of which is Contemplation. This can be supplemental to other techniques as it lays down a procedure to elevate the Mind level by level toward Cosmic Consciousness

Part Three highlights the curative benefit of Meditation and Part Four contains instructions to simple stretching exercises to stay fit.

Part Five lists 22 Dictums for Right Living, mostly derived from Gandhian Thoughts, as a guide to better quality of life with a healthy outlook on living.
If everyone is made to realize that the world is neither a battle field for
survival nor a pleasure-hunting ground, and that the purpose of being born as a human being with the God-given gift of an Intellect or sixth sense is to spiritually evolve to the level of Cosmic Consciousness, the living would be so much better. I hope my contribution will in a small way promote new thinking on these lines.

By coincidence, I finished writing this on the day of the second anniversary of the airborne terrorist attack on New York and Washington. I dedicate this to the memory of the victims of terrorism the world over and pray for a world without conflicts, Nations without borders and people committed to truth and non-violence.

September 11, 2003
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A
SWACHID

Part One

Living with Cosmic Consciousness

1. Is God a Zero?

In the beginning there was Nothing. Space was big void. Time stood still

Who or what is God? It is an eternal question to which the great religions of the world have provided different answers, but nothing definite. Variously described-- the Original Sourced, the Uncreated, the Absolute, the Almighty, the First Cause etc. God is something that remains beyond the comprehension of human mind. Barring Buddhism, different Religions have personified Him and given different names and also an abode of residence, Heaven. Buddha was not bothered about where or who God was, recognizing Him only as the Absolute. Hinduism says he exists in several levels taking different roles and different names.

All of them agree, however, there is only one God and it is the Eternal Source. That which is permanent and unchanging and that has no beginning or ending is God say the Hindu scriptures. The Upanishads, the substance of the holy Vedas, set out to probe the truth about God. Adopting the 'Doctrine of Inquiry' propounded by the Indian Sage, Yajnavalkya, they examined all the products of Creation one by one and rejected them as 'neti, neti' (this is not it, this is not it) and finally concluded that God is Truth, Knowledge, Bliss (Sat, Chit, Ananda) and much more. But all these are abstract and denote nothing in substance, just as Space and Time. Yet everything-the Cosmic matter, Life and Soul-came out of it. Then God is Nothing and the Whole at the same time.

Symbolically one can say that God is a zero and a sphere at the same time. The digit zero can be visualized as a sphere too. The sphere, viewed from any angle, looks like the digit zero. As zero it depicts nothing. As a sphere it is full. In the beginning the sphere was empty space. Time had nothing in it.

2. The Cosmic Soul and the individual Spirit

God infused Life into Space. Then he took the role of Cosmic Soul.

Energy is the life-force and it flowed from outside the sphere, that is the Space Beyond. The original Source is, therefore, a self- perpetuating and self-generating power house much like the Sun. Unlike the Sun and the stars it is self-created and inexhaustible, permanent and unchanging. If this is also a creative effort of someone, then He is God. Call Him Father in Heaven, Allah, Jehovah or Narayana, He is the only One, beyond everything including Space and Time. Therefore, awareness of God could mean only Cosmic Consciousness.

Cosmic Soul, Paramatma in the Hindu concept, is the Supreme Spirit. The individual Spirit is Jeevatma. Religions are meant to show the path to the salvation of the individual spirit or the union of jeevatma with paramatma. As Creator the Cosmic Soul is also called Brahma. God takes many other roles to adorn the pantheon of Gods in Hinduism. At the head is the Trinity: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer. Brahma lords over Brahmam the Cosmos, Vishnu lords over Space and Shiva over Time. The Cosmic Soul taking its position at the center of the energy-filled Sphere, that is to be the Universe, begins the process of Creation.

3. The Science of Quantum OM

The first manifestation of Energy was sound. Pronounced as OM it is spelt AUM
A represents the Soul, U Life and M matter.

OM, universally acknowledged as the voice of God, reverberates across the Cosmos. It also sums up the entire process of Creation, Preservation and Destruction. The holy Vedas begin with OM. The Bible also says, "In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God." Amen for Christians, Ameen for Moslems and the Jews it is one and the same.

Scientists also believe that this sacred syllable could be the key to comprehensive knowledge about the Universe. That the quantum OM vibrates across the space has been proved by what is called the 'string theory', which is a part of the much-heralded Quantum Theory.

Yoga Meditation aimed at Self-Realization lays great emphasis on this single syllable. Reciting the mantra repeatedly mind is focused on Prana, the breath of Life, and lifts it up to the highest level of Cosmic Consciousness. And therefore, OM is known as the Pranava Mantra.

A and U combining to become O has deep meaning and special significance. It depicts the inseparable bondage between the individual Soul and Life of the living being. Life clings to the Soul and the mortal body, the M, clings to Life. While the body wears out in one life span, Life, manifest as it is as the Mind-stuff, sticks with the Soul until final liberation. The Soul takes with it the Mind-stuff or the Spiritual Body of the individual to salvation, which, according to the Hindu and Buddhist belief, may take many a birth.

4. The Big Elements and the Creation process

The energized Space is Ether, the first of the five Big Elements.
Air, Fire, Water and Earth are the other four Elements.

We can see a Divine pattern unfolding on a very scientific basis; from metaphysics to physics, to chemistry to mathematics to biology and so on. The energy that filled the Space was atoms. The Cosmic Soul is provided with this basic material for the creation of the cosmic matter. Much like a potter who makes pots out of earth, water, fire and air. The mud pots cannot become living beings because the potter is not a Divine. The Cosmic Soul infuses life into the creations it makes and interestingly, all of them, barring the space debris, are spherical in shape.

The Cosmic Soul, interacting with Time, converted a mass of Energy into a gaseous globe and caused an explosion. The second and third Elements were created. Out of which galaxies of billions of stars and planets were born.

It is the Cosmic Potter's own way of creation. Time takes a role as the potter's wheel. The Cosmic Soul gathers a mass of energy, mounts it on the Time wheel and makes a huge pot of a globe and causes an explosion. A Big Bang. (Did it really happen that way? Maybe it didn't. When you try to reconcile the scriptures and science this is the picture you get).

As a result of the great explosion, Air and Fire, the second and third Elements were created. Gas is Air and the energy in the first Element, Ether, was converted into Hydrogen, the most volatile and the lightest of all gases. Billions of fireballs -galaxies of stars and planets-were strewn all over Space. In high heat hydrogen is converted to helium, then carbon and oxygen and so on, thus providing the basic life-forming ingredients as well as all organic and inorganic matter.

Science confirms this big event, disproving, as it did of many others, a fundamental assertion of the Religions that the Creation process was Earth-specific and that Earth is the center of the Universe. Cosmologists place this big event as having occurred 14.5 billion years ago. They are still grappling with the mystery of Dark Age (cosmic night) that is said to have lasted half-a-billion years after the explosion till the stars showed up and galaxies emerged. They are also trying to find answers to such questions as whether the Universe is spherical or flat like a sheet of paper, is it expanding or shrinking and is it finite or infinite. The scriptures have already said all of Universe will come to an end when everything, including the Cosmic Soul, goes back from where it came from. By reasoning we can conclude that the Universe is finite bounded by the sphere. There could be millions more Universes outside our own.

And Time never stopped rolling since, ending everything that was begun.

The Sun and the stars are still burning gaseous globes, but the Planets cooled down to liquids and then to solids.
Sun is a minor star in the vast galaxy named the Milky Way. Earth is one of its many planets and has the right mix of all the Elements to support Life.

In this mind-boggling Cosmic scenario the Earth is, indeed, a miniscule speck of dust, not to speak of the place of the human being. There could be millions of Earths supporting life and civilization that are still beyond our reach.

The Cosmic Soul spread itself in every living being. The mortal Body is made of four Elements: Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The Individual Life and Soul together, is immortal.

The Soul is the Immanence or God within. We comprehend this by the voice of Conscience that we hear so often in our errant living. This is the individual Soul, or Spirit, that along with Life outlasts the mortal Body, that is merely a product of perishable Matter. At the final level, the Life-and-Soul, the jeevatma, surrenders to the Cosmic Soul, paramatma or the Supreme Spirit.

5. Creationists vs. Evolutionists

By Evolution, over a period of several millennia, the homo sapiens emerged from the lower species.

In mid 19th century, when Charles Darwin, the Biologist, propounded his theory of Evolution of Species by Natural Selection, theologians all over the world were rattled. Darwin knocked the bottom out of a fundamental Religious assertion that God made man as man and fish as fish. He said that the immediate ancestor of man could have been a monkey. Zealots of religions were up in arms and the battle between evolutionists and creationists is still raging with the latter making every effort to disprove and debunk Darwin. They condemned his wholly materialistic approach that they said only provided grist to atheism and materialistic dogmas such as Marxism. Karl Marx embraced Darwinism to propagate his Godless theory. Marxism within a period of one-and-half century has lost its steam and discarded by its own votaries. As a viable alternative to Capitalism, Marxism failed because it went against the egoist nature of man that is acquisitive, possessive and self-centered. On the other hand, Darwinism has taken roots because of the truth inherent in it. Biology textbooks, right from public school level give the pride of place to this theory. Most youngsters believe that their ancestor was a monkey.

Our ancestor could have been a fish as well. Darwinism is flawed in one major aspect, that it ignores the Spiritual Evolution of the species. However, it has not repudiated God. In his 'Origin' Darwin says: "There is a grandeur to this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one…. from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved." He acknowledges that there must be the First Cause that cannot be verified by Science. The First Cause is another name for God. There could be, therefore, reconciliation between Darwinism and Religion if the evolutionists take into account the spiritual evolution of the species and the creationists restate religious dogmas and assertions in the light of incontrovertible scientific findings.

The theory of Evolution is indirectly endorsed by the Hindu mythological account of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. According to this He has taken nine incarnations so far, the first of which as fish. The second incarnation was as an amphibian, the tortoise. The incarnations that followed were successively as the quadruped wild boar, half-man half lion, dwarf man with the potential of scaling the skies, the fierce nomadic man, the perfect man, man close to Divine and the Divine himself. All of these 'avatar'-matsya, kurma, varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasuram, Ram, Balaram and Krishna-were for the purpose of putting down evil forces whenever they gained the upper hand on the earth. One more incarnation is yet to come, that is Kalki when the Lord descends on the earth wielding the ultimate weapon that would end all the evil forces and usher in a new age of virtue. The legend of stories accompanying the incarnations may be apocryphal, but the underlying message is that the Evolution of Species is also on the spiritual plane.

Where there is life there is soul. Even the mono-cell organism is a jeevatma and the push is upward, toward final destination, just as the river originating in the high mountains pushes toward its ultimate goal of the ocean. From algae to plant, amoeba to fish, bird, crawlers, quadrupeds to bipeds the push is forward with the senses added one by one till all the five senses are developed in the animals. When the monkey became man the intellect or the sixth sense emerged. It is the gift of God to man.

6. Six steps to reach God

Biological evolution stopped with man. What remains is his spiritual evolution

There are six steps to reach God: self-examination, purification, detachment, clarity, awakening and enlightenment. The first three steps are to be taken by the individual's own effort. When clarity of mind is attained the Soul, God within, is recognized. He gives a hand to be lifted up to the highest level of Cosmic Consciousness and dissolve into Brahmam. That is the final destination of jeevatma. If no effort is taken, jeevatma has to go through the cycle of birth and death over and over again until it is chastened by suffering and get enlightened by acquiring the right knowledge. Therefore, the only purpose of being born as man gifted with the sixth sense is to evolve spiritually, nothing else.

7. Three components of the Mind-stuff

Life force that flows from the Soul manifests as Mind activating the Brain.
The Senses, Ego and Intellect constitute the Mind-stuff.

The Life force that flows from the Soul manifests as the Mind with these three components: indriya, ahankara and buddhi. Having no substance in them, they are only clusters of Thoughts settled in the crevices of the brain. The brain functions like a computer and stores the message of every thought in memory disk. It relays them back at the command of the mind. The mind controls the biological functions of the body through the brain.

The individual Soul is like the cadmium battery inside a watch. The current flows from it to activate the mechanism. It is not the concern of the battery how the watch functions. Likewise the Soul is not concerned with how the body and mind function although it sends warning signals from time to time against pitfalls in the path of life. You ignore it at your own peril.

Senses are the receptors of feelings as perceived by the sensory organs.

Ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose are the five external sensory organs. The senses correspond to the special characteristics of the five big Elements, Ether has only one characteristic: Sound. Air has two: sound and the additional characteristic of touch. Fire has three: sound, touch and the added characteristic of sight. Water has four: sound, touch, sight and the addition of taste. Earth has five: sound, touch, sight, taste and the additional characteristic of smell.

It would appear that all the species have the faculty of senses. Ego develops only in animals and birds after all the five senses are imbedded in them. Pets show emotion of affection. Anger, passion and possessiveness are displayed by many of these creatures. Wild animals fight for territory and leadership. In man the ego and senses, including the sixth sense, exist from birth. The sixth sense is the Intellect that develops later depending on the experience and exposure to knowledge.

8. The Thought process

Mind, activated by running Thoughts is never still.

Mind is a cauldron of Thoughts-- the Senses, the Ego and the Intellect each contributing its own brew. Thoughts of feeling emanate from the Senses, emotions from the Ego and knowledge from the Intellect. They are scattered and kaleidoscopic and often run wild. Brooding or dreaming, planning or scheming Mind is always active. Thoughts of feeling bring pleasure and pain. Emotional thoughts evoke all kinds of reactions and even lead to sickness. Intellectual thoughts are both healthy and unhealthy depending on the subject it dwells in.

Where Ego dominates Mind, thoughts are pulled by the Senses in pursuit of worldly pleasures and gains. Where the Intellect dominates Mind, thoughts turn toward the Soul for inner peace and joy.

Nature is classified as having three qualities. Satvik, Rajas and Tamas that can be loosely translated as gentle, active and dull. People can be classified as the virtuous, the egoist and the ignorant.

These three qualities (guna) over ride each other and the same person can behave differently at different times. However, the virtuous have their intellectual faculty developed. Majority of the people are either egoists or ignorant. The virtuous are conscious of the God within, the Egoists recognize God without, and the ignorant do not comprehend it at all.

People of virtues are always contented and happy within. They are not driven by ambition or lured by money or power. They are truthful under all circumstances.

As a householder they do face problems imposed by outside elements. They have their share of disappointments, frustrations and losses. But they are not perturbed. Steady in mind, they are free from fear, anxiety and confusion.

They perform their duties consciously and are not concerned about the results. There are four kinds of duties to be performed by every one: toward oneself, toward the family one acquires, toward the Society and toward God.

The virtuous, ever conscious of the presence of God within, would keep their body and mind clean and healthy. They will keep away from unhealthy food, habits and company. They are not given to extreme emotions.

Moderate in their outlook, they lead a simple need-based life. They don't acquire more than what they need and they keep the needs minimal. They avoid extravagance, opulence and flamboyance. They keep away from the status-conscious elitist crowd. They don't indulge in small talk, slandering or gossiping. They do not enter into arguments or give free advice.

For the virtuous the means to a rightful end must also be right. They are always guided by their conscience, the voice of God within. From such stuff Mahatmas are made.

In the spiritual evolution toward Cosmic Consciousness, the virtuous having passed through the third level, are in the fourth level, closer to final salvation.

9. Veil of Ignorance

A veil of ignorance hides the Mind from the Soul. Knowledge gained by the Intellect lifts the veil exposing the Soul, the True Self. Until that happens, Ego pretending that it is the True Self, the 'I', keeps the Mind bogged down in worldly entanglements.

For the egoists living on the Earth is like living on the edge. It is because they are not aware or do not believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is within and as its loyal subjects they can derive peace and protection. Instead, they seek happiness and security outside landing themselves into one hell of their own creation.

Guided only by the senses, they run here and there seeking pleasure and material gains. They end up in all kinds of entanglements from which they do not know how to get out.

There are both good and bad people but the common nature of the egoist is self-interest. They believe the world is revolving around them and the people are there to serve them. They try to use others for their own purpose.

Where ego, the 'I', drives the Mind the Intellect takes a back seat. Denied the chance to acquire the right Knowledge, it becomes submissive. The existence of Soul, or God within, is not realized. They believe they make their own destiny. All the time they are concerned about the results of their labor. They gloat over success and fume over failure.

The good-natured egoists are in majority. They have their virtues. They believe in God but they think God resides somewhere beyond the clouds and that He can be summoned to help them to advance their self-interest. They visit shrines, pray and make offerings in their own interest.

Without sacrificing their self-interest they are ready to help others. They make good friends. They are hard working. They are also ambitious and possessive. They take pride in acquisitions and achievements and crave for recognition and awards. They believe the end justifies the means and therefore resort to short cut methods to get things done. They don't think lying is sin and generally project a larger-than-life image of themselves.

However, they make good administrators, successful businessmen and skilled professionals. They are the people who keep the systems going and contribute in every way to the progress of the Society, although they want to take more from the society than they contribute.

All of it is materialistic. Luxuries become comforts, comforts become necessities and people are made to live totally insulated from nature. All these cost money and people have to work harder to earn more as wants multiply.

Personally they are honest and righteous. When it comes to achieving their goal they are ready to compromise. They are often caught in clash of egos thereby get hurt or become emotional and aggressive. Rivalry builds up among colleagues. Families are broken if this trait exists in both the couple.

In their drive for achievements they sacrifice mental peace and physical health. They are always tense and worrying. They live beyond their means in an effort to impress others with their riches. But there is always someone else richer and they are consumed by envy. Pride and false prestige land them in emotional and financial crises. Their life is a continuous run with no let up. They have to run faster and faster to stay in one place.

The good-natured Egoist is in level two in the spiritual ladder and he can qualify for the third by correcting his outlook of life. He should be ready to shed his ego and commit himself to Truth under all circumstances.

10. The Egoist Mind

Ego is the source of desire. Desire unleashed, leads to over indulgence corrupting the body and Mind. An egoist Mind, obsessed by lust, anger and jealousy, is never at rest. Emotions are registered by the Ego and relayed to the Mind. Extreme emotions seize the Mind alternately.
As waves of positive and negative Thoughts whirl around, the Mind is always in a disturbed state.

The 'I' of the egoist Mind drives the Senses after pleasure, wants and achievements. Never contented, it asks for more and more. Failure results in disappointment and frustration that in turn results in anger. Pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, excitement and frustration, hope and despair, elation and depression, anxiety and fear seize the Mind alternately. It is always in a disturbed state.

With such a frame of mind, the bad egoists are a menace to the Society. Not only are they corrupt, they corrupt other people they come in contact with. They are arrogant and aggressive in nature. Even learning makes them arrogant and argumentative.

Embodiment of all vices, they respect no law and indulge in illegal activities. They lead a sinful life. Professional criminals, under-world dons, dictators of the nature of Hitler come from this stock of egomaniacs. Fanatics of religions, the Osama bin Laden kind, belong to this flock. They have no fear of God, as they believe they are God. But they live in mortal fear. Criminals fear getting caught, dons fear their rivals and the dictators fear revolt by the people they rule.

Good-natured egoists can turn into bad ones under certain circumstances. Political leaders lust for power and power makes them corrupt. Then they become ruthless and resort to suppression of dissent. They invoke patriotism and whip up collective egoism that triggers war among nations. They justify piling up of arms and weapons of mass destruction.

Where the democratic system is fragile, they subvert the constitution and adopt every means to perpetuate themselves in power. They are bad rulers and incapable of good governance. In their Court virtuous people have no place and the good-natured egoists are made submissive. This is the sorry state of most of the Nations of the world today.

Bad egoists mentally live in misery and die in distress. They have no redemption unless they shed their ego, have faith in God within and serve the people at large.

The Ignorant are neither here nor there. They cannot comprehend the Cosmos or God within. Both their Ego and Intellect are undeveloped. They are superstitious, fear and worship lesser Gods propitiating them with all kinds of sacrifices including animals.

They cannot distinguish between virtue and vice. They live in misery and their life is a continuous struggle for survival. They slave for a living. These are the dumb majority the fanatics and the powerful exploit and rule over.

The Scriptures say that they have to go through many a thousand births before they are elevated further. The egoists do not believe in rebirth. They think that there is no life after death. They want to make the best of the present life.

The ignorant could be guided and taken to the path of redemption. Some of them, if they happen to be serving the virtuous or the good-natured egoist, do rise above the common stock. Messiahs come to the earth only to redeem these poor and distressed people.

11. Mind and Meditation

Meditation helps the Mind to steady itself. A sense of balance is obtained.
The Intellect takes control and gently leads the Mind to the Soul.

"Mind full of one Thought" is Meditation. It brings clarity enabling the Intellect to assert its role. It leads to awakening and to enlightenment. Buddhists describe this state as Nirvana, the blissful awareness of the Absolute. Yogis describe this as Self-realization leading to blissful union with God.

Almost all the religions have the tradition of Meditation as part of prayer.
Only the eastern religions, Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism in particular, have adopted Meditation as the means of gaining Cosmic Consciousness and have established a theistic order for that purpose. Monks and Yogis live as celibates renouncing the materialistic world. Few of them have seen God. Those who have seen never reveal. Those who reveal have never seen.

However, reaching the level of Cosmic Consciousness itself is a blissful experience that is recorded in detail in the scriptures and in the biographies of great Masters in our own times. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda. Ramana Maharishi, Aurobindo and such great enlightened men have lived till recently. Mahatma Gandhi was one exceptional man who adopted service to people as the means of obtaining God consciousness. He is known to have practiced daily Meditation contemplating on the word Ram, the sacred name of God incarnate.

Meditation is an exercise in Spirituality and knowing the philosophy and purpose is a basic requirement. All the Religions have laid down a code of conduct for the human beings. These concern his living, knowing and thinking. Buddha's eight-fold path has these three salient aspects: Right Living, Right Knowledge and Right Thought. These correspond to the four-fold path of karma yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti and raja yoga, as enunciated by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Geetha. The first directs the aspirant for liberation to perform his duties consciously without any selfish desire and concern for the results, the second to acquire the right knowledge by reading the scriptures and learning from the Masters and the third is, by Meditation, to emotionally and intellectually relate with the inner-Self, God within, that will take him to Cosmic Consciousness.

12. Cycle of birth and rebirth

As the Mind perceives the Soul, the true Self, illusions of 'I' and 'Mine' disappear. The Individual Soul surrenders to God, the Cosmic Soul, and dissolves into blissful Nothingness.

Spiritual evolution ends the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, a concept unacceptable to the Religions of mid-east origin. Early Christianity, the Celtic Church believed in rebirth. Later Christianity ordains that after death the Spirit goes to Heaven or Hell subject to the Judgment of God. Islam has similar doctrines on the status of the individual. According to them God is unapproachable and salvation to sinners is possible only through a mediator. It is a single life chance and after it the spirit ends up in heaven or hell forever.

Eastern religions have a different view on sin. The results of sinful living are carried over from the previous life to the next. By own effort an individual can get purified and liberated. God can be realized in the present life itself as He is everywhere, inside and outside within easy reach. Life continues till that goal is achieved. Death and rebirth are like going to sleep in the night and waking up in the morning.

The jeevaatma takes a new body and resumes living from where it left in the previous birth in terms of spiritual evolution and unfinished duty. Depending on the karma (sinful or noble activities) in its previous life it will be born to suffer or enjoy in the new life.

It enters the new body at the time of birth through the first intake of prana, or breath of life. The baby in the womb has no life or mind of its own. It is sustained by the blood and life of the mother. That life comes from outside after birth is evident from the fact that the behavior pattern of different children in the same family differs in accordance with the characteristics of the jeevatma that is entrenched. The intellect retains residual memories and talent but much of the memory is obliterated during transition. There are child prodigies and persons 'born genius.' The talent and knowledge acquired in births before will blossom again as the child grows and its intellect develops. The senses are intact at birth as also the ego, full-blown, subdued or submissive, depending on the spiritual level at the time of departure from the previous station in life.

13. Universal Spirituality

Universal Spirituality, therefore, has to be based on these reasoning that

1. God is Nothing and the Whole at the same time.
2. All of the cosmic matter, life and soul came from it.
3. Realization of God means attaining Cosmic Consciousness.
4. Life and soul are inseparable till they reach the highest level
5. The journey is long over many thousand births
6. The evolution of species means not only biological but also spiritual.

A new universal religion has to be evolved on this basis that can be a blend of the high moral values of all the religions but not their outdated dogmas and rituals. Scientific approach to Spiritualism will make it more credible. Cosmic Consciousness through Meditation should be a Spiritual science that could be taught in schools and practiced by people who do not want to renounce the world but only a spiritual content in their living so that they can lead a stress-free life.

The Scriptures also recognize the need:

"The one, who adores the worldly life," says the Isha Upanishad, "let him continue with all the duties he has to perform and anticipate living for a hundred years. That is his only way to his liberation. There is no other path for him except this one in which he should accomplish his duties without any sort of attachment."

Part Two

Practicing the Art of DM

Invocation
"In the beginning there was Nothing. Space was a great void. Time stood still. God infused Life into Space. Space was filled with Energy. Creation commenced with God taking the role of Cosmic Soul.
'The first manifestation of Energy was Sound. Pronounced as OM it has three letters: A-U-M. A represents the Soul, U- Life and M- Matter.
"The energized Space is Ether, the first of the Five Big Elements. Air, Fire, Water and Earth are the other four Elements
"The Cosmic Soul, interacting with Time, converted a mass of Energy into a gaseous globe and caused an explosion. The second and third Elements were created. Out of which galaxies of billions of Stars and Planets were born.
"The Sun and the Stars are still burning gaseous globes but the Planets cooled down to liquids and then to solids. Sun is a minor Star in the vast galaxy named the Milky Way. Earth is one of its many planets and has the right mix of all the five Elements to support Life. The Cosmic Soul spread itself in every living being.
"The mortal Body is made of the Elements. The Individual Soul, the Spirit, is immortal.
"By Evolution over a period of several millennia, the homo sapiens emerged from the lower species. Biological evolution stopped with Man. What remains is his Spiritual Evolution.
Om Tat Sat Amen Ameen

Practice perfects Art. Meditation is said to be Spiritual Science. Practicing it is an Art.
As in other Arts--Music, Dance or Painting--you need practice to learn and master it. DM virtually takes no time.

Man invented the numerals to measure Time and Space. His greatest invention
was the digit zero. Plus or minus the numbers, with 0 in the middle, run to infinity.
It has no beginning or ending. It is indivisible. Having some of the attributes
of God, digit O is as good a symbol as any other, as an object of concentration.

Whatever the technique all are derived from two basic disciplines-the Buddhist Vipasana Meditation and the Hindu Kriya Yoga, prescribed by Sage Patanjali. They are meant for Monks and Yogis who live in seclution as celibates and practice rigorosly in pursuit of Absolute Awareness or Self-Realization. It is a tough full-time preoccupation.

Simplified forms of Meditation can never give the real experience of Cosmic Consciousness. But the process of self-examination, purification and elevation level by level will lift you up to the level of tranquility. DM does it.

There are six levels marked by the seven energy points in the body. Beginning from the coccyx at the base of the spinal chord it runs up to the top of the cranium. The bottom level belongs to Earth, the second to Water, the third to Fire, the fourth to Air, the fifth to Ether and the sixth level to the Space beyond.

Energy point 1 is at the base of the Spine, 2 is on the adrenal gland below the navel, 3 is at the navel, 4 is in the middle of the chest near the heart, 5 is on the thyroid in the neck, 6 is on the fore-head between the eyebrows and 7 on top of the cranium.

As you contemplate you visualize within the symbol O, that you will install between the eyebrows, your Spiritual Body, which is the Soul and Life, raised from the level of Earth to the level of Space. Seated cross-legged, you you focus your thought on the energy point, stay in each of the six levels for five minutes. As you contemplate the Spiritual Body is purified level by level and when it reaches the sixth level you experience the blissful, simulated state of Cosmic Consciousness

II. Procedure:

To get initiated yourself in DM you need only 30 minutes for the six levels of Contemplation. However, the preliminaries will take 5 minutes and at the end of the sitting you may want to continue the restful experience for a while. So an hour of quiet solitude is required. If you are practicing other techniques daily DM once a week on weekends will do.

1. Sit on a mat or hard cushion cross-legged. If that is difficult, sit in a straight-backed chair.

2. Recite the Invocation word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, absorbing the meaning. You can read the Exposition at leisure to get acquainted with the philosophy and purpose of this spiritual exercise.

3. Close your eyes and install the Digit O between the eyebrows. You visualize it as a luminous Disc, the Symbol of God.

4. Keep your hands apart, palm upward on your knees or on the armrest of the chair. Counting hundred by hundred you go from level to level. For counting you can use prayer beads or simply the calibrations in your fingers. Using your thumb, trace them clockwise from 0 on top of the index finger counting 10. Similarly, trace the calibrations in the left hand fingers anti-clockwise to the count of 10s. One round is 100 counts and should take five minutes time. Then you move up to the next level.

5. You just say OM within as you inhale and let the outward flow free. Let the prana or oxygen fill the symbol O before it flows down to the lungs. Draw your breath from energy point 4 near the heart. Exhale to the count of 1 to 7 and pause for three counts. It is like going up the elevator and coming down by stairs. The pace should be normal that is 20 times per minute.

After the first three levels the Mind will calm down. At the fifth level tranquility will set in. You can stop counting after the sixth level and enjoy the peaceful sense of well-being. As you gain experience, you will know the timing without counting 100.

III. Contemplation

DM differs from other techniques of Meditation in this crucial aspect: contemplation at six levels. As you visualize your spiritual body rising from level to level the Mind is fully focused on the object and does not allow extraneous thoughts to intrude. It is like you are watching an absorbing program on the TV. There may be distractions. Your body may feign a headache or backache, itch here and there-- ignore them. If interrupted start from the beginning at the level you entered. If thoughts go wandering pull them back to the object of contemplation. Let the senses feel the inflow and outflow of air at the nostrils.

1. Level one is between the energy points 1 at the coccyx and point 2 at the adrenal, below the navel. It is the region of the Libido and belongs to Earth. You are floating over the ground high in the air face down. You survey the scene below. The special characteristic of Earth is smell. You can smell the aroma of Nature. Virtuous people who live in tune with Nature acquire this fragrance. Others acquire a bad odor because of their unnatural life-style and sinful ways of living. They must shed the odor by correcting themselves before moving up to the second level.

2. Level two is between energy point 2 and point 3 at the navel. It is the region of Navel and belongs to Water. The special characteristic of water is taste. People who have no control over their taste, over eat, acquire unhealthy habits and indulge in cheap entertainment that corrupts their Mind. They should develop better taste and be selective in choosing before moving up to the next level.

3. Level three is between energy point 3 and point 4 at the center of the chest. It is the region of the Heart and belongs to Fire. You pass through a shaft of light. Your Ego is shrunk. Fire has the special characteristic of Sight. Ego subdued, the Intellect takes charge and turns the sense of sight inward. Search for your Soul begins as you move up to the next level.

4. Level four is between energy point 4 and point 5 at the thyroid in the neck. It is the region of Life and belongs to Air. You float over the clouds face up. The special characteristic of Air is Touch. Sensual desire could still be tormenting. You will stay at this level till you are ready to take a vow of celibacy.

5. Level five is between energy point 5 and point 6 in the forehead, right in the middle of the Symbol O. This is the region of the Cosmic Soul and belongs to Ether. You are sitting in Meditation posture. Your Soul is found. It shows up as a tiny luminous grain of rice. As it glows and expands, all the seven energy points lit up. Energy from the soul recharges them. Like a string of shining beads they join up and the entire body begins to glow. The light of the Soul fills the Symbol O. Sound is the special characteristic of Ether. You become oblivious of the surrounding as the hum of OM rises shutting out external sound. You are in ecstasy as you move up to the final level.

6. Level 6 is between point 6 and point 7 at the top of the Cranium. This is the region of God and belongs to the Space Beyond. Your Mind is all Intellect at this level. As you are observing, the glow inside the Disc between the eyebrows becomes a sphere full of dazzling light. It grows brighter and brighter and even as your spiritual body dissolves into the resplendent radiance, suddenly explodes. Flaming globes scatter all around. You are sucked through a stream of celestial bodies at tremendous speed, toward a distant Disc, thousand times brighter than the Sun. Then… Nothing.

IV. Conclusion

Meditation ends. Simulated experience can not be real. You are still rooted to the world. You go back to the mortal Body and resume your normal activities. However, the process of self-examination, purification, awakening and enlightenment, simulated though, brings out the latent powers you have not been aware. It helps you to strike a balance between materialism and spirituality. The cobwebs of accumulated memories, mostly junk, are cleared. The Mind is spruced up and finely tuned. Physical and mental health improves and all the complaints of ill health will disappear in course of time. (See Part Three: DM Therapy). You are better equipped to meet the challenges before you.

If you are keen to have the real experience of Cosmic Consciousness, you should practice Kriya Yoga under the guidance of a competent Guru. Saints and intense devotees in fervor had seen God in the image they have been worshipping Him. Yogis have seen Him as a brilliant Disc of Cosmic Light, as you have fantasized in level six.

Part Three

DM Therapy

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I. Freeing from pills:

Medical science has found cure for many serious inflictions on the mankind. Plague, cholera, smallpox, malaria and many other mass killers have been contained. Technology has made diagnosis and surgery precise and easy. Life-saving drugs are being evolved with ever increasing need for them. However, new drug-induced diseases are cropping up. Every one is under constant medication on one pretext or the other. Cancer. AIDS and several allergic illnesses are yet to find a cure in the modern medical treatment.

A survey says that 50 million Americans or nearly one-fourth of the population suffer from severe pain of one kind or the other and are taking painkillers regularly. The painkillers block the ion channels of communication to the brain. The Mind does not receive the signals properly and cannot find the real cause. It is like killing the messenger who brings bad news.

Nearly all the acute complaints, from common cold to virus fever, go away after a few days run whether you take pills or not. Generally, pills don't cure. The symptoms are suppressed. In the long run, the cause of the symptoms is shifted to other parts and shows up as a new, more serious complaint. It is called metastasis.

The fact that Meditation is a cure for many complaints including HIV and cancer has been scientifically established by recent researches. When you Meditate the energy points are activated with new energy that in turn recharges healthy cells and flushes out the dead and infected cells in the body systems. Those who practice Yoga and Meditation rarely fall sick as they are protected from any serious infection or ill health.

Unless there is serious deficiency or functional failure, where you may need surgery, most of the common illnesses can be cured by dieting and meditation. DM therapy not only gets you out of the body illness but also mental disturbance caused by it. Practice of DM tones up your body immune system and rectifies the imbalance in metabolism.

Fatigue, boredom and depression are instantly relieved in five to ten minutes of regulated breathing and contemplation. Stress and sleeplessness also have instant remedy in DM.

Sitting, reclining or lying, close your eyes. Regulate your breathing and contemplate on your body in Yoga posture in level five, for a while till the blues go away. You may go to sleep. Recharged with new energy, you will get up refreshed and ready for action. No counting is necessary and you can do this while traveling or waiting in the anterooms or at the airport.

II. Contemplating on the energy points

For specific complaints contemplation on the energy points will bring relief. There are seven energy points marked 1 to 7 (See Part Two under Practice) each corresponding to a physiological system in the body. As you draw your breath from the point specified, impurities in the system are gathered and thrown out with your outgoing breath.

Energy point 1 at the bottom end of the spine controls the nervous system. Excretory and Reproductive systems come under Energy point 2 below the navel, Digestive system under point 3 at the navel, Circulatory system point 4, at the center of the chest, Respiratory system point 5 on the thyroid, Endocrine and Immune systems under point 6 on the forehead, and the Skeletal System on top of the head under 7.

III. Treating the sick by DM Therapy

Once you master DM you can practice spiritual healing on others. This can be done even from a distance. Visualize the spiritual body of the sick person represented by the seven energy points. You turn your thoughts on these points appropriately and establish a link. By sending thought waves the patient is recharged with new energy and develops resistance to the causative factors of the affliction. DM therapy is particularly effective in trauma cases such as accident victims or persons undergoing major surgery. The recovery is fast and painless.

Part Four

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YOGYM Simple stretching exercises to stay fit

YOGYM is a combination of elements of Yoga and physical exercises and is recommended for those who practice Meditation. Here is the step-by-step procedure.

Standing:

1. Stand at ease.
2. Keep your hands on either side of the hip.
3. Feet firm on the ground, turn left and then to right without turning the head. 18 times.
4. Stretch your hands straightforward and slowly swing to left and then to right 9 times each.
5. Raise both the hands above the head and bend left and then to right 9 times.
6. Keep the hands on your knees, raise them slowly above the head and bring them down in an arc back to the knees. Repeat it 9 times.
7. Keep your hands on the hip, move your head up and down and then left and right and then slowly rotate in a circle both ways each 3 times.
8. Keep your feet closer and raise your hands above the head and stretch as far back as possible. Then slowly arc and bend forward trying to touch your toes. Do this 9 times.

Lying:

1. Lie down on a mat or hard-cushioned bed on your back. Relax legs apart and hands away from the body. Regulate your breathing and lay still for 3 minutes.
2. Lock your hands behind your neck. Raise your right leg 90 degrees up and return to position. Then raise the left leg and return to position. Do this 9 times each. Relax.
3. Keep your hands under the bottom, raise both the legs and bending knees move them back and forth in a cycle both ways, each 9 times. Relax
4. Knees up and feet close to the bottom, move the legs slowly to the left and then to the right 9 times each. Relax
5. Turn turtle fold your hands under the forehead and stay still for 2 minutes.
6. Pressing your hands to the ground raise your head and torso up to the chest and come back to position. Repeat this 9 times.
7. Raise your hip move the body back and forth resting on the hands and knees. 9 times.
8. Sit on the heels and rest your hands on the knees. Relax

Sitting:

1. Back straight, pressing the nostrils alternately with your thumb and index fingers, inhale and exhale rhythmically 18 times.
2. Raise the hands above the head. Bending your body, bring the hands slowly forward and stretch as far as possible in front.
3. Taking the hands to the back press the palms on the ground.
4. Raise your hip and torso throwing the head back.
5. Come back to the sitting posture. Raise your hands above the head and bring them to rest on the knees. Do this 9 times.

Lie down. Relax for 3 minutes.

These exercises may precede your Meditation session. YOGYM thus takes care of both the physical and mental health in a holistic manner. All your complaints disappear gradually and your body immune system os strengthened against infections. Choose your own time morning or evening half-an-hour before food.

Part Five

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Dictums for Right Living

It is a truism to say "If wealth is lost nothing is lost, if health is lost something is lost. If character is lost everything is lost." But all the three constitute a fully satisfactory living. For that purpose, you need to follow certain regulations. Here they are.

1. Be truthful. Truth begets trust. Trust begets respect, recognition and rewards. You may not always follow truth, but if you find truth stand by it. And make it your business to find Truth. Don't do anything in secret that you cannot divulge in public.'
2. Be fearless. Face threat and danger stoically.
3. Bear no grudge. Non-violence in thought, word and deed will transform your relationship with others for the better. Malice toward none is the best attitude.
4. Preserve your married life. Give more time to the family. If you don't have a family, acquire one. Marry one who loves you for your own sake not for money or status. Limit your children to two. If you don't have children adopt an orphan. Marriage is a sacred institution meant to preserve human values. Time-tested, it has survived over 5000 years on the basis of healthy man-woman relationship. Love is the binding force and husband and wife live for each other. Together they live for the sake of the children. Individuals do not make a Society, Families do. Broken marriages and orphaned children make a sick Society. Relationship based on sexual attraction palls after a time. Companionship is the key factor in lasting ties, where they have common interest in raising children and serving the Society at large. The happy people are those who go by the adage: 'Happy life is something to have, some one to love and something to hope for.' That means simply a need-based, contented family life.
5. Be health conscious. Do your exercises regularly. Watch your waist-line. And the bulges. A trim figure is not only attractive but also signifies good health.
6. Regulate your time. You need at least seven hours of sleep. Set your alarm for the time you want to get up in the morning and go to bed seven hours before that time. If you want to get up at 5 A.M. you must be in bed the previous night at 10 P.M. If you are pressed for time regulate it. Lack of time is not really an excuse. When God made Time, he made plenty of it. In 24 hours, working time will be 10 hours, sleeping time 7 hours, routine chores including eating 5 hours and the remaining two hours must be in reserve and absolutely yours. Spend more time outdoors preferably with your family. Out door sports activities will bring you close to nature and you will find your body and mind refreshed.
7. Regulate your eating time and habit. Give at least four hours gap between two meals. Depending on the nature of work you do, you need between 1200 to 2400 calories a day. Hard physical work needs more calories. The optimum is 1800 to 2000. If you exceed the calories in one, skip or reduce the next intake. Be moderate, say no to second helpings. Avoid junk food. Keep a strict schedule for eating and sleeping. These are the two basic requirements for good health.
8. Free yourself from enslaving habits. Allergies are caused by wrong food or pollution. Don't suppress them by medication. Find the cause and avoid it. Smoking is a slow killer. Not only you get polluted and sick you expose your family and others to danger making them passive smokers. Alcohol and drugs are poisons. Regular practice of DM will get the addicts out of the enslaving habits.

9. Be emotional. Show it in love not in hatred or anger. Keep the ego under leash. Ego is the seat of emotions and let it not get the better of you.
10. Forget the past. Mind has the habit of brooding over the past and dreaming about the future. Often times many rue over the painful incidents in the past: loss of money or a dear one, opportunities missed and grave mistakes committed. Try to forget them.
11. Classify your thoughts into positive and negative. Counter the negative thoughts with positive ones.
12. Live in the present working out your priorities.
13. Plan your future. Dreaming about the future is good if realizable. But dreaming out of your line will land you in despair.
14. Convert failure as a stepping-stone to success. If you want to achieve adopt the OM-T principle: Set an Objective, put in Maximum effort including equipping yourself and getting Totally involved.
15. Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. Life is a hurdle race. You win or lose does not matter. It is the effort that matters. The Japanese call it as 'kaizen principle.' Improve yourself day-by-day and there is always another chance of winning.
16. Regulate your finance. Do not live beyond means. Adopt the formula 40:30:20:10. Out of your total earnings, spend 40 per cent on necessities, 30 per cent on comforts, 20 percent reserve or debt servicing, and 10 per cent in savings. Borrow only for necessities.
17. Waste not. Conserve your energy, time and money and put them into good use.
18. Create wealth for the society. If you have surplus funds invest them in productive, job-oriented ventures. Don't hoard or make dead investments.
19. Share your burden and profits. If you have inherited wealth or running business consider yourself as a trustee and put it in productive uses. Share business profits generously among the workers. Identify truthful, trustworthy persons and reward them with responsibility and money. Do not shoulder all the responsibilities by yourself.
20. Go public: Take interest in public affairs. Set aside at least three hours of your time in a week and one per cent of your personal expenditure to support a public cause.
21. Be with God. Sit in Meditation for at least 30 minutes. Relate with your inner Self, God within. Contemplate for the blissful experience of Cosmic Consciousness and tranquility.
22. Be a Swachid.* Service to the poor and the distressed is service to God.

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* SWACHID movement was founded in Chennai, India, on August 15, 1985. An acronym for Soldiers of War Against Corruption, Hunger, Ignorance and Disease, SWACHID is meant to address these basic problems that are universal. SWACHID is not institutionalized but has motivated a large number of people, specially the youth, to launch their own initiatives to tackle these problems. You can enroll yourself as SWACHID at our e-mail address: swachid@swachid.com

(The author, Kasturi Rangan is a resident of Chennai. India. b. 1933. A journalist by profession he has been the New Delhi correspondent of The New York Times for over 20 years since 1961. He retired as Editor, Dinamani, a leading Tamil language newspaper on Tamil Nadu State He was the founder-editor of Kanaiyazhi, a renowned Tamil monthly devoted to Social science and literature. A follower of Mahatma Gandhi, he founded the Swachid Movement and has been the founder-secretary of Gandhi Mission. His interest in Spiritualism has taken him to practicing Meditation and doing extensive research in that field. )

K. Kasturi Rangan, 99 Journalists Colony, Chennai 600 041, India. Phone 044 Phone: +9144 24511846
e-mail swachid@swachid.com website: www.swachid.com