Guruji's teachings
Guruji explains that the Sri Chakra is seen in deep stillness, and that worshipping it means knowing your own Self.
From the book Understanding Sri Chakra Puja (1998) by Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Shared on Guruji's blog by Vira Chandra. Originally published at amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com on 19 April 2016.
Darśana is any direct revelation from God which you see in your meditation. Geometrical diagrams called Yantras are seen in your deep state of tranquillity. The best of Yantras is the renowned Śrī Cakra (or Śrī Yantra). Such Yantras are called apauruṣeya — not created by people. The meditator has spent no effort at all in creating them.
How do you distinguish whether what you experience in your mind’s eye is coming from your mind or from outside?
You can distinguish in the following way: how much effort did you spend trying to create that object? If you have spent no effort at all, then it is a creation of God.
I open my eyes and the world miraculously appears. What effort did I do to create it? Nothing. That is God’s creation, and I am just happening to see it.
Do not think that revelation is something you see only with your eyes closed. The whole world that you see is your revelation.
The world is God.
The world is yourself.You must understand that your mind is a mirror in which you are seeing yourself. The mind is such a pure mirror that we do not even suspect its existence. You are only seeing yourself, but you are not realizing that you are seeing yourself. That is where you get the notion of the “other.”
Out of the notion of the other come fear and all the rest of these things — kāma, krodha, moha, etc. (lust, anger, delusion, etc.) — which flow one out of the other.
Worship of the Śrī Cakra
What do we mean by worship of the Śrī Cakra?
It means worship of yourself, loving yourself, understanding yourself, understanding the process by which you have become differentiated from others, and trying to retrace the steps and then merge with your true Self.
You define for yourself a role model and then live that. That is what you are.
You have to understand that this life is like a drama in which you have to make a role for yourself and learn how to play that role. You can take up a different role. It is your choice what role you want to play.
“I want to be a goldsmith.” That is fine.
“I want to be a mother.” That is fine.But remember that you are playing a game, and that these are only rules for the game that you have defined for yourself.
One who can hire a person can fire the person. Those who make the rules can also break the rules. So do not be afraid to break rules if you feel the need to outgrow them.
The whole trouble comes with teaching because when a person comes to a guru, the guru is accepted as a guru as long as the disciple hears what he wants to hear from the guru. The moment the guru says something not liked by the disciple, the guruship is done for — gone. The guru is no more a guru.
You may go and say to the guru, “Oh, I will give my life to you. You only have to ask for it. I will give you even my life.”
But if the guru says after a little while, “I have to get my daughter married. Can you give me a loan of $10,000?” — then he is no more a guru.
You were prepared to give your life, not the money. Money has a higher value than life!
That is an illusion — a value accepted by you as true.
The Śrī Cakra symbolizes reality.
The center point is reality.
The outer enclosures are reality.
The path is reality.They are all aspects of the same reality.
The same reality is seen from different perspectives. There are different hills and different views from different peaks, but the same scene is there below.
In the same way, if you are seeing the world from the perspective of the world, being the world, from all possible perspectives, then you are God.
If you see from the perspective of the individual, then you see individual people with many life forms.
That is just your viewpoint.
The thing to realize is this:
You do not stop being God when you are an individual.
From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Original post: "USCP (1998): Origins and Worship of the Śrī Cakra", posted by Vira Chandra on 19 April 2016, https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/04/uscp-origins-and-worship-of-sri-chakra.html. From Guruji's book, shared on his blog.
In Kaula practice, worship starts with the self. Guruji says worshipping the Sri Chakra means understanding how you became separate and finding your way back to who you are.
The world, the body and the mind are all part of this one reality. Seeing the world as yourself is close to how Kaula practice treats nature and the senses.
Outer worship with a yantra has its place, but Guruji keeps pointing inward. This page explains the ideas only. Puja to the Sri Chakra is learned from a teacher in the lineage.
Guruji says it is any direct revelation from God that you see in meditation, such as the geometric diagrams called yantras.
It means not created by people. Guruji uses it for yantras like the Sri Chakra, which the meditator sees without any effort of making them.
Guruji says it means worship of yourself: loving and understanding yourself, and retracing the steps by which you became separate, to merge with your true Self.
Guruji says it symbolizes reality. The centre point, the outer enclosures and the path are all aspects of the same reality.
Read the original: USCP (1998): Origins and Worship of the Śrī Cakra, on Guruji's blog. Guruji left his body in October 2015. This post was shared on his blog in 2016.
If something in this teaching landed for you, the best next step is a short private conversation.
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