Mumukshu is a Sanskrit term for one who is focused on attaining liberation, and a
seeker of knowledge and truth. This article was adapted as part of ‘’Some Practical
Suggestions for Daily Life’’, which appeared in Theosophical Siftings Vol. 3
and later became part of a popular little booklet with Blavatsky’s ‘’Practical
Occultism’’.
T H E following are some of the hints given me by one whom, of all
human beings, I revere most, about the rules which should guide an
aspirant after truth in his daily life. By this I do not mean to back these
rules by his authority, but I request my brothers to take them for w hat they
are w orth. My object in writing this is the same as that expressed in the
following lines:
If I am right, thy grace
impart,
Still in the right to stay ;
If I am wrong, O teach my
heart,
To find the better way.
“Rise at four in the morning. Rise as soon as you awake, without lying
idly in bed, rolling about, half waking and half dreaming. Then earnestly pray
that all mankind may be spiritually regenerated; that those who are struggling
on the path of truth may be encouraged by your prayers and work more
earnestly and successfully; and that you may be strengthened and not yield
to the seduction of the senses. Choose a clean spot somewhat distant from your
house, and having answered the calls of nature, cleanse your teeth. Then retire
to a quiet place in your house, and having saluted Ganesa and your master, do
as follows.
If you are a Raja yogi, picture before your mind’s eye the form of your master
as engaged in Samadhi; or of some god whose image you have seen frequently. Fix
it before you, fill in all the details, circle him thrice and prostrate
yourself before him; then worship him as you would your household god;
having prostrated again, pray that all mistakes of omission and
commission might be forgiven (all this mentally, of course). This will greatly
facilitate concentration, purify your heart and do much more. Or reflect upon
the defects of your character; thoroughly realise their evils and the transient
pleasures they give you, and firmly will that you should try your best not to
yield to them the next time. This self-analysis and bringing yourself
before the bar of your own conscience facilitates in a degree hitherto
undreamt of your spiritual progress.
Or if you practice Yoga, do so, but in practising restraint of breath,
do not allow your mind to wander on any other subject, but fix it on any p art
of your body, as for example on one of the lotuses. This concentration can
also be practised without restraint of breath. Bathe afterwards, exercising
during the whole time your will, that your moral impurities should be
washed away with those of your body. This is effected in the case of Brahmins
by the sprinkling of the magnetised water over them before bathing, and by the
Purusha Sukta and other mantras pronounced while bathing; but they should do
this with a knowledge of their meaning and their effects. Then wearing a silk cloth
or one that was not touched by others since it was dried, perform your
Sandyavandanam . Many do not know the immense spiritual truths contained in it
and the incalculable good it would do them. Perform it properly and with a
knowledge of its esoteric significance, and it forms a yogic practice in
itself. You may then enter upon your daily avocations.
In your relations with others observe the following rules :
1. Never do anything which you are not bound to do as your duty, that
is, any unnecessary thing. Before you do a thing, think whether it is your duty
to do it.
2. Never speak an unnecessary word. Think of the effects which your
words would produce, before you give utterance to them. Never allow yourself to
violate your principles by the force of your company.
3. Never allow any unnecessary or vain thought to occupy your mind. This
is easier said than done. You cannot make your mind a blank all at once. So in
the beginning try to prevent evil or idle thoughts, by occupying your mind with
the analysis of your own faults or the contemplation of the perfect ones.
4. During meals, exercise your will that the food which you take should
be properly digested and build for you a body consonant to your spiritual
aspirations, and not create evil passion and wicked thoughts. The five
oblations to the five Pranas which are offered before eating, the rule enjoined
that we should not speak during our meals and that every mouthful should be
taken after pronouncing one of the sacred names of Vishnu, effect this in the
case of the Brahmins.
Eat only when you are hungry and drink when you are
thirsty and never otherwise. If some particular preparation attracts your
palate, do not allow yourself to be seduced into taking it simply to gratify
that craving. Think that the pleasure which you derive from it had no existence
some seconds before, and it will cease to exist some seconds afterwards;
that it is a transient pleasure ; that that which is a pleasure now, will
turn into pain if you take it in large quantities; that it gives pleasure only
to your tongue ; that if you are put to a great trouble to get at that
thing ; that, if you allow yourself to be seduced by it, you will not be
ashamed at anything to get it ; that while there is another object that
can give you eternal bliss, this centering your affections on a transient
thing is sheer folly; that you are neither the body nor the sense, and as
such, the pleasures or the pains which these enjoy can never affect you really,
and so on. Practise the same train of reasoning in the case of every other
temptation, and though you will fall often, you will effect a surer success.
Do not read much. If you read ten minutes, reflect for as m any hours. Habituate
yourself to solitude, and to remain alone with your thoughts. Accustom yourself
to the thought that no one beside yourself can assist you and wean away your
affections from al things gradually. Bathe in the evening after you come
home from your labours (this is said only of those whose health would allow them
— I. N .). Before you sleep pray as you did in the morning. Review the
actions of the day, see wherein you have failed, and resolve that you will not
fail in them to-morrow.”
Iswar Nisna , B. A ., F. T. S
(The Theosophist v.10, n. 119,pp.
647-649)
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