Sadhana for Week 22
Speech Level: Chant Geeta
Chant chapter 15 of the Geeta daily. Preferably before lunch and/or dinner. Read commentary of 3 verses daily. Chant. Study. Know. Live.
Quote:
Not only is the Lord imminent enlivening your BMI but the lord is transcendent also. The whole world is the Lord alone.
Narayana Heat, Narayana Fertility, Narayana Plant, Narayana Fruit, cut with Narayana Knife, cooked by Narayana fire, eaten by Narayana’s grace, swallowed in His presence, digested by HIM, distributed and nourishing every part of your body. You are Narayana in another form.
Anecdote 1:
A young man went upto Poojya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda and said that he had gone through the entire Geeta thrice but nothing happened.
Poojya Gururdev said, “You have gone through the Geeta thrice. Now, let the Geeta go through you once”
Anecdote 2:
To another devotee who was a doctor, Poojya Gurudev autographed in the Geeta at the end of the Gnana yagna: Read 2 verses daily for 1 year. If symptoms persist, repeat the dosage.
Geeta Chanting
Chanting is a beautiful sadhana to purify our speech and also integrate our body, mind, speech and intellect. In the Bhaja Govindam Sri Adi Shankaracharya says – one must chant the Geeta and Vishnusahasranama daily. (Geyam Geeta-naama-sahasram). Chanting of the Geeta has many benefits:
1. Chant. Study. Know. Live. This is the scheme given by Poojya Gurudev for us to evolve. When one chants, it makes one curious to know the meaning and so one studies. As one studies, one come to gain the knowledge which one can live and transform oneself.
2. Geeta Mahatmyam from Varaha Purana mentions the following as the benefits of Geeta Chanting & study:
a. Though engaged in the performance of worldly duties, one who is regular in the study of the Gita, becomes free. He is the happy man in this world. He is not bound by Karma.
b. Just as the water stains not the lotus-leaf, even so, sins do not taint him who is regular in the recitation of the Gita.
c. All the sacred places of pilgrimage like Prayaga and others, dwell in that place where the book, the Gita, is kept, and where the Gita is read.
d. The Lord dwells at all times where the Gita is read, heard, taught and contemplated upon.
e. The Lord says – I reside in the Gita and the Gita is My best abode. I protect the three worlds with the knowledge of the Gita.
f. The Gita is My highest science, which is, without doubt, of the form of Brahman, the eternal, the Ardhamatra (of the Pranava Om), the ineffable splendour of the Self.
g. It contains the essence of the Vedas, the knowledge of the Reality. It is full of supreme bliss.
h. In this world, taking refuge in the Gita many kings like Janaka and others have reached the highest state or goal, purified of all sins. It is so sung.
i. He who recites the eighteen chapters of the Gita daily, with a pure, unshaken mind, attains perfection in knowledge and reaches the highest state or supreme goal.
j. If a complete reading is not possible, even if only half of it is read, he attains great merit. There is no doubt about this.
k. He who recites one-third part of it achieves the merit of a bath in the sacred Ganga.
l. If one reads a chapter or even a part of a verse daily, one keeps attaining human body till the end of the Manvantara.
m. He who meditates on the meaning of the Gita, having performed a great number of good actions, attains the supreme Goal of Fulfillment. Such a man should be known as a Jivanmukta (a person liberated while living).
3. Chanting Geeta also helps to enhance pronunciation, memory, concentration, phonetics etc.
Why chant Chapter 15 of the Geeta?
1. One of the shortest chapters of the Geeta
2. Contains the essence of the Geeta
3. What is Samsaar? How to live here? How to free oneself from karma & cycle of birth & death is indicated.
4. The nature of the Lord as immanent in the universe and yet transcendent is also indicated.
5. Indicates the Essential oneness of the creature with the creator & the creation.
6. The Goal of life and the means to achieve it are indicated in the chapter.
Why chant before meals?
1. The chapter speaks about how the Lord alone manifests as everything in this universe. The food also is the Lord alone, the capacity to eat, digest, assimilate etc. also comes from Him alone.
2. The four types of food and how the Lord balances the prana and apana and carries out the metabolism is also pointed out in verse 14 of this chapter.
3. Before meals, we invoke Gratitude, thank the Lord for the food, ability to assimilate it and make ourselves strong. It also calms our minds and aids in mindful eating.
How to?
1. Wash the hands and sit.
2. Take the food in your plate or as the food is being served, begin chanting chapter 15. You can learn the chanting from the following link: http://www.chinmayamissioncleveland.org/chap15gitachanting
3. You can refer to the Geeta and chant.
4. Feel grateful to the Lord for the food and resolve to complete whatever food is taken without wasting anything. Upanishads says – Annam na nindyaat. Do not waste food. Annam Brahma iti vyajaanaat. Consider food as the manifestation of the Supreme Reality.
5. Take some water in your hand, offer it around the plate and sip the rest.
6. Eat the food slowly and steadily.
Beginners and Advanced:
Beginners:
1. As mentioned above.
Advanced seeker:
1. As mentioned above.
2. Memorize Chapter 15 and chant with eyes closed.
3. Everyday read the commentary of 3 verses of Chapter 15 by Swami Chinmayananda and think about it. http://www.thegita.net/thegitagyan/TheGita%20-%20Holy%20Geeta%20by%20Swami%20Chinmayananda.pdf
4. As you become familiar with the meaning, chant with eyes closed and remember the meaning of the verses.
5. You may buy the DVD set of Swami Chinmayananda’s Holy Geeta talks on 18 chapters and daily listen to 20 minutes of his talks on Chapter 15.
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