In this speech SadGurudev explained the various paths that a person follows to fulfill his desires in life. what are the basic differences between reverence, sadhana and worship and how a person can attain divinity in life.
Paramam Pavitram Poornam Paresham
Gyaanam Vartvai Bhavatam Bhavesham,
Aatmaanubhutim Bhavatam Videham,
Pashyo Upaashanaat Pramamaam Va Sindhuh
This shloka from Upanishad has completely provided the essence of worship. In other words, the Rishi has been able to successfully accomplish this daunting task. In Rishi shloka, he has given pointers towards the points one should consider while performing a sadhana or any other worship. However, it is a must to understand what a sadhana or worship is prior to discussing about those points.
There are three popular terms – reverence, sadhana and worship.
‘Reverence’ means to pay respect to a person who is praiseworthy, a person who is respected in the society. We can offer our respect in several forms to such a person. We can call him, offer him a seat, then give him a bath, offer good clothes, vermillion, rice grains, sandalwood, garland of flowers, light an incense stick and a lamp. All these things that we do comes under reverence.
We consider this fact that the person is greater than us, he or she deserves this respect in life. Offering such respect to a person is considered as reverence in life. There is no feeling in reverence, it’s just a state of our mind. There is no wish associated while offering reverence. Reverence is not shown to obtain something in life, no ritual is there in showing reverence to obtain anything in life. We can show reverence towards our father, towards our mother, towards our guests, a Brahmin or any other suitable person. Reverence is the name given to respect that we offer to anyone in life.
And where we offer respect, there is no feeling of obtaining anything in life. This is just a state of mind. There is no special ritual associated to offer our reverence. We can do it any way that we like. Gopis used to offer their reverence by playing with Krishna, Radha used to offer her reverence by means of her tears, Bhishma Pitaamaha used to offer it by bowing before Him.
We offer our reverence by offering rice grains, vermillion, clothes etc. towards Gods and Goddesses. There is no specific method, rule or ritual to offer your reverence. Any way by which we can show our gratitude is termed as reverence. Any method by which the other person happily accepts your feelings is said reverence.
There is no necessity of offering flowers, or lighting a lamp and an incense stick or to offer rice grains or vermillion. We can even offer our pious thoughts and show our reverence. We can show our reverence by laughing and creating a happy environment around a person. One can show the reverence through love. It all depends upon what sort of relationship you have with that person, what is the way by which you want to offer your gratitude towards that person. And what all thought process gets created at that time is termed as reverence.
Sadhana is completely different from this. Sadhana means that I have a desire which I want to fulfill in life. It means that I am capable of doing anything, I wish to attain something in life, and whosoever gets such a feeling in life puts his first step on the path of sadhanas. Such a person is deeply inclined to attain something in life and tries to progress quickly on this path. Then his only goal becomes to appease Goddess MahaLakshmi or Goddess Kali or Goddess Tara or Chhinamasta or Shiva or Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, or any other God or Goddess or any human being. Sadhana is the stage of life when a person strongly wishes to attain something in life.
And sadhana cannot be performed by mere thoughts, both soul and body are essential for this process. The soul swiftly travels like an arrow in the direction of the goal, and it wishes to attain it at any cost. A healthy body is required to give such a strength to the soul. A weak or diseased body can’t uplift a soul to wish to attain anything in life.
Soul needs a medium to progress in life. An arrow can reach the target with the help of bow, if there is no bow, arrow can’t reach to the destination. Even a loose stringed bow can’t give the desired speed and trajectory to the arrow. Similarly, this human body is like a bow for the soul. A healthy body can give the desired speed and power to the soul to reach to the desired destination. One needs to have full control over the body to attain success in sadhana. The process to have full control over mind and body and to maintain a proper functioning of these two aspects of life is termed as sadhana. To gain full control over this life is termed as sadhana.
What are the different types of sadhanas? What is the method to perform a sadhana? What is mantra chanting? What is God? All these are advanced topics. First and foremost important point is that we have to become a sadhak in true form and for that it is essential to have a full control over the body. “Shareeram Sadhayati Sah Sadhak” i.e. sadhak is that person who has gained full control over him. Sadhak is the person who has gained full control over his mind. To gain control over body means to sit constantly on a mat, without any movement for one hour, two hours, four hours, eight hours….without getting disturbed or frightened. The person should be able to follow the rules of the sadhana, one must chant the mantra as per the sadhana procedure, the body should not get tired within this duration, the body must not start revolting in this duration.
And if a person is able to attain this stage, then he is called as sadhak. Once the control is gained over the body, it is equally important to gain control over the mind too. It is easier to control body as compared to mind and soul. It is extremely difficult to control mind.
One who is able to control mind, one who is able to concentrate on one single thought process, one who is able to confine the mind at one place is called sadhak. When a harmony exists between mind and body, then the body follows all the commands that the mind gives it. Once a person attains this level, then whatever he performs in life, what all means he takes in life is termed as sadhana.
Prior to sadhana, it is mandatory that the sadhak must have full control over him, he must be confident, he must be fearless, he must have full control over his mind, he must hold full control over his body. Such a person is a sadhak and any task accomplished by him is sadhana.
Such a person doesn’t do anything in a hurry, such a person remains calm and composed, he becomes just like an ocean. Such a person remains confident to attain whatever he wishes for in life. He remains confident that he can’t miss the goal, he remains confident that he can’t get distracted from his path. When a person becomes that confident, then only he can be called a sadhak in true sense and then only his every activity is called as sadhana.
Vermillion, rice grains, flowers, lamp, incense stick, chanting are not Sadhana but the deep desire to obtain something in life is called as sadhana. If a lover always remains eager to meet his beloved and but every conscious effort to meet her by means of his mind and body then such a lover is sadhak and to obtain the beloved is sadhana. If a student puts his sincere efforts in studies to pass with flying colors then such a student is a sadhak and the concentration that he is putting in his studies is nothing else but sadhana.
There is no need of vermillion, rice grains in these activities. Vermillion and rice grains are not required to obtain the beloved and neither are they required to pass with good grades in examination. These are minor things, they are just means to stop the mind at a place. The essence is to obtain a harmony between the mind and body. There in no other definition of sadhana apart from this.
There is a goal in sadhana, there is dedicated path that a person follows in life. His only thought process is to attain that particular thing in life, no matter what happens. He is even ready to put his life in danger for this sake. Any person who is so much determined, who has gained full control over his body, who knows how to use his mind to attain his goal, is a sadhak and the activities that he performs to attain his goal is known as sadhana.
Such a person may wish to fulfill his materialistic desires, or to obtain abundance amount of wealth in life, or to obtain love in his life, or to win over Gods and Goddesses. In all the cases, he has a clear goal, there is no doubt of any sort. He just has one single goal and he puts all his efforts to get success in obtaining his goal and when such a person with strong desire and determination puts his efforts to obtain that goal, then that process is called as sadhana.
Worship is the next stage of sadhana. Worship is a very beautiful word, it is very sweet because it has the essence of both reverence and sadhana.
Worship means to sit adjacent to your God and then to amalgamate one’s identity into Him. In reverence, the person who shows gratitude and the one who accept the gratitude are two separate identities. Even in sadhana, the person performing the sadhana and the goal are two separate identities, however this is not true in the case of worship. There is no presence of the second personality in the case of worship.
Amalgamation of both these forms is known as worship. There is no sadhak and no sadhana at the stage of worship. The sadhana amalgamates itself into the sadhak and the sadhak amalgamates himself into the sadhana.
The stage where it becomes impossible to differentiate between the sadhak and the sadhana is known as beginning of worship. Due to this reason only, this word has been treated as one of the most beautiful words, due to this reason only it has been termed as one of the sweetest words.
There is no difference in worship, there are no distances in worship. When the sadhak himself reaches his goal, when there is no distance between the sadhak and the goal, when he remains adjacent to his goal, then at that stage worship begins. A person involved in true worship feels that the other person is no one else but me only, the other person is so close to me that not even air can pass from this closeness. When the difference ceases between the devotee and the God, then worship starts from there. Meera dances in utter joy and her lips sings out –
Mere To Girdhar Gopal Doosro Na Koi,
Jake Sir Mor Mukut Mero Pati Soi
At this level, this dance is the worship, because there was no difference between Meera and Krishna at that point of time.
When Soor used to play his iktara, when he used to feed butter to Krishna, when he used to make Him laugh, when he used to listen to Krishna, then it was his worship.
Kabir quotes that –
Laali Mere Laal Ki Jit Dekhun Tit Laal,
Laali Dekhan Main Gai, Main Bhi Ho Gayi Laal
When Kabir completely amalgamates himself in Ram, in Brahma, then he himself becomes a Brahma and it is his worship. When a drop of water loses its identity by getting mixed into ocean, then it is the worship of that drop.
When the fragrance of a blossomed flower gets mixed in the air, when it becomes the spring season, then it is the worship of that fragrance towards the air.
Due to this reason only, the word worship has been termed as the most fulfilling word of this world. It is the essence of life, it is the place much much above reverence and sadhana. When a disciple completely offers himself in the holy feet of his Guru, then his entire thought process, then his entire concentration, his feelings, all gets related to the Guru only. Then his mind just has one single desire and that is how to provide peace to my Guru, how to bring happiness in His life.
What favors can be given to Him? Any efforts that he puts in this direction is known as Worship. By doing this, he gets an opportunity to sits near to His Guru and to get closer is the means of Worship.
One can attain nothing in life by standing far apart or by chanting various hymns. Offering rice grains, flowers, incense sticks or lighting a lamp is just like the efforts of a small child puts while beginning his studies, for learning the alphabets. This is the primary stage, sadhana is ahead of this. There is no difference between the devotee and the God at the stage of worship.
A disciple can attain noting if he remains away from the Guru, he won’t be able to understand anything in life, because there is a difference between him and the Guru. This difference can be removed by a disciple only, he has to put sincere efforts in this direction by offering his favors to his Guru, by helping in completing His tasks, by making Him stress free, by doing anything which makes the Guru relieved. If a disciple does anything like this, then he is doing a very important task.
When a Guru remains free from tensions, then He can create a new knowledge, then He can deliver a new sermon, then He can write a new book. This delivery of sermon, this creation of the book, this new knowledge has not been created by the Guru but by the disciple. It is the disciple who has made the Guru free from His tensions, it is the disciple who has provided these favors towards the Guru.
And once the Guru gets free from His tensions, then the knowledge that exists within the Guru is penned down in the form of a holy book, then that knowledge gets absorbed within the heart of a disciple, then something new gets created in this Universe. The Guru has not done this creation, it is the disciple who has done this creation, it is the disciple who has made it possible.
And if something like this happens, then this means that some new consciousness gets generated in this Universe, then this means something new gets attached with this Universe. This process to make the Guru free from tensions, this process to give Him all the comforts, this process to gain knowledge from Him has been termed as worship. Any sadhak, any disciple who can understand this fact definitely gets amalgamated within the Guru.
Guru is not a personality where you have to sit with a piece of paper and a pen to gain knowledge in life. He is a great personality who can grant knowledge at any time in life, while walking, while sitting and at anytime. This is a different thing that we give Him an opportunity to grant His knowledge….a disciple can do this…a disciple who can do this, a disciple who treats his services towards Guru as sadhana, as reverence, gets one-two steps closure to the Guru.
And when his mind and soul completely gets amalgamated into the Guru, then he further gets one-two steps closure to the Guru. When a disciple becomes capable to feel Guru’s pain, when a disciple starts to consider Guru’s pain as his own pain, then the sadhana performed by the disciple becomes worship, and one can get amalgamated in Guru by means of this worship only, one can attain Guru’s knowledge by means of this worship only.
I bless you all that may all of you be able to reach the stage of this eternal bliss, may you all be able to get to the stage of worship, may you all be able to amalgamate your identity within your Guru and may you all become divine in this very life. I bless you all once again from the depth of my heart.
-SadGurudev Shri Kailash Shrimali
It is mandatory to obtain Guru Diksha from Revered Gurudev before performing any Sadhana or taking any other Diksha. Please contact Kailash Siddhashram, Jodhpur through Email , Whatsapp, Phone or Submit Request to obtain consecrated-energized and mantra-sanctified Sadhana material and further guidance,