Darshan of Swami Krishnananda in 1998

by Swami Krishnananda

29. Japa of Om

(Darshan given in September 1998)

Swamiji: ...a sound vibration. The origin of speech is a vibratory sound. There are four stages of sound, four stages. In the beginning, its root is the naval. When you chant Om, for instance [Swamiji chants Om], the vibration starts from the naval, then afterwards slowly it rises up to the heart, then to the throat. Then it becomes word, by operation of the tongue. So the sound that we are making while speaking is the grossest form of the vibration. That which vibrates inside your body and keeps you in a state of harmony, that is a pervasive sound. It is not only in the tongue, the mouth and throat, etc. They are manifesting themselves in that form when they become physical.

There is physical sound, which we are making usually. Then there is astral sound. 'Astral' means it is not audible. You can even mentally chant Om. Suppose you are very angry and you want to say something about somebody but there is no occasion to do that, so mentally you will be abusing that person. It is called mental abusing, criticising, condemning. So mentally you can achieve very great things. That is a better procedure than actually physically demonstrating it. Actually, you are the mind only. You are not a physical body. The physical body is a hardened form of mental operation.

A visitor: I found something in your book, very interesting, and I know nothing about it. You talked about the alchemy, that nature is a condensation of a vibration, of a power, and when you put two letters together, it produces an alchemy that produces a very specific effect. So it is very interesting for me to know about this.

Swamiji: When you pour a little bit of yogurt into warm milk, a chemical action takes place. Then the next day you find it is yogurt entirely. The whole milk has become yogurt. This is an example of chemical action.

Visitor: Yes, but how do I know which mantra is good for me?

Swamiji: As you are not accustomed to the Indian way of thinking, Indian scriptural interpretation, I suggested to you only Om. Don't go for some other god. A god is only an externalised conception of your superior deity. Have you got a deity whom you worship?

Visitor: Yes.

Swamiji: Who is that deity? Nobody?

Visitor: I believe there is a deity. I believe there is God.

Swamiji: Anything that is above you, greater than you and magnetising you by the sight of it, by the thought of it, is superior to you. Anything that frightens you, like an elephant, etc., anything that shocks you like a thunder from the sky – it makes a sound and you feel something, a great jerk, like an electric shock. But the greatest superior power is that which created this world. All these noises and forces and electrical action are all part of the world's action, total action. If the world has got such power that it can do anything, then how much power should be there in that which has created the world? Can you imagine? That is God.

[Later on, to another visitor]

Swamiji: Your problem is only an erroneous notion of what you want. What do you want finally?

Visitor: Unity with God.

Swamiji: Where is God? Everywhere? You are doubting that He is everywhere because it is a dangerous proposition. You must have some time to exercise your will a little bit. Even supposing that He is in the heart – He is in the heart of everybody and every thing, every tree and leaf and the sun, moon, stars, everywhere – so if that is the case, where is He actually sitting? He is in the heart of the whole universe.

The universe has no location, no particular point, and therefore, God is not sitting in any particular point of the universe. He Himself is a large expanse of the universe. Then, at that time, where are you? If you have accepted that He is everywhere and He is everything, including all things conceivable, at that time, where are you? You get merged into that everywhereness.

It is impossible to conceive such a thing unless the mind is filled with aspiration, a burning longing, and not a lukewarm aspiration. And even one little bit of desire for this earth should not be there. Just as a little finger kept over the eyes can block the whole sunlight – the sun is so big, but this little thing will obstruct the whole thing – likewise, a little mistake in the conception of God will defeat the whole purpose.

Actually, there is nothing so easy in this world as to conceive the all-pervadingness of God. It is difficult to think mortal things. They are all far away, here, there, scattered everywhere, so you have to run about to find out where a thing is; but here you need not run about. Just under your nose, on this very spot, you have got everything that you want. This you are not able to conceive. There is a fear: It may be or it may not be. Those who think it may be or it may not be will get nothing. Here your mind should be clear, and your heart should be pure. Even a little attachment... Why are you clinging to anything? Even after leaving the home, some clinging persists. A person wearing a gold ornament will not forget that the gold ornament is there. He will be always conscious of that.

It is not possible to renounce like that. You cannot renounce anything as long as you do not believe that what you want to renounce is in your mind only. It requires a lot of thinking on that. Don't run to twenty Gurus. Don't go to Gurus. They will tell different things. Some will say breathe up, some will say breathe down, and so on. This is all no good. Your problems arise from your way of thinking. The whole thing is, you cannot conceive what there can be which is everywhere. The mind will reel by such a thought. Such a thought will not occur to anybody, anywhere in the world. You ask anybody anywhere throughout the world: Can you conceive the presence of something which is everywhere and is everything, including myself? They will become giddy. Even by the very thought of it they will be giddy.

That's why when that Great Being manifested itself as an all and everything, Arjuna cried out, “Sufficient. I cannot bear it anymore. Come down!” Visvarupa darshana. Even the most glorious thing is intolerable. We cannot tolerate the most magnificent thing because it is too much for the mind. And a little straw in the world, that also we don't want. We want some petty thing, a tinsel, which looks like a diamond. A little glass piece can shine like a diamond, and we will run after the glass piece because we are deceived by our perception. What we see with our eyes is not true, and the mind thinks only what it sees with the eyes. The eye is the reporter of the facts of life, and whether it is a correct fact or not, that is a different matter. Then the mind absorbs it, and becomes upset because of the multitudinous variety of information that the sense organs give.

Have you got any desire? Put a question to yourself. Don't tell me anything. You put a question to yourself. Do you have any desire, even if it be for a pencil? Are you attached to a pencil or a wristwatch? People will die if their wristwatch is lost. People go crazy because their costly wristwatch has gone away. Then what is renunciation? Why do you possess such a valuable thing, the loss of which will make you crazy? Why do you keep such a thing? This is a double game which is played by the mind. Even a little thing can become very big. I gave a small example of a wristwatch.

There was a magic show. The magician asked the audience, “Have you got a wristwatch?” “Yes.” “Bring.” It was a very costly, jewelled watch. The magician took it, brought a hammer and crushed it into pieces. That man said, “You have crushed that valuable watch into pieces.” He was very upset. “What is happening? Am I alive or dead?” He couldn't make out. Then after that the magician said, “Do you see a wooden box there far off? Open it.” And he found his watch there. This is how God plays tricks. He will make you crazy.

If you want a thing, you should want it wholly, 100%. If you want a thing only 99%, it won't come because the 1% you have put aside will pull you. 100%, can you ask for something? Then you will not live in the world. You want only some percentage. Therefore, nothing comes. Suppose you go and tell somebody, “My dear friend, I like you 40%.” Will he like it? Will anybody tolerate it? “You like me only 40%?” Like that you are telling to everybody. Nobody can be your friend unless you want that friend 100%. Even so is the case of God Himself. If you say, “50% I like God, 50% my property,” it won't cut ice. You cannot make jokes with God. He is not a baby.

You have a duty towards everything, but you cannot have attachment to anything. There is a difference between attachment and duty, even with husband and wife. Husband and wife should serve each other as part of their duty in life, but neither of them can get attached. There is a great difference between attachment and duty. In a hundred books Swami Sivanandaji has written this.

You chant Om every day, Om mantra, in a sonorous voice. Don't go for intricate things. You should not do any complicated exercise, which the mind will reject. You should not displease the mind, nor indulge in what it asks for. Like a child which is crawling, the mother gives it some freedom. It goes on crawling, crawling, crawling, and it reaches a large precipice. Immediately the mother goes and pulls it back, and it will cry. Then she will satisfy it by some other way, like a homeopathic dose. That which you have to be rid of, that itself is the curative factor. In the homeopathic system, they use for curing an illness a potency of that very same thing which caused the illness. Vaccinations and so on, they have the same purpose. That which will cause illness is itself the thing which will cure that very same illness.

The world is not to be rejected; it will kick you out in anger. Nor should you be attached to it. A via media, a harmonious and uniform method should be applied. You follow this method, chanting Om.