By Guruji Shree Rishi Prabhakar
There are two types of sadhana: one involves action, the other involves inaction. One is completely letting go and the other is holding on and both are beautiful.
When we meditate we completely let go, only a few minutes are enough to get deep rest. Another meditation is also very beautiful: when you fully concentrate on what you are doing, you forget yourself. When you have immersed yourself in the object, that too is very beautiful. Both are different kinds of Samadhi.
You don’t enjoy yourself when you do things half heartedly, 50% or 80%. There are two other ways of doing things, when you do them willingly, you are happy. When you do them unwillingly, you are unhappy.
The shift is moving from doing things unwillingly to doing them willingly.
To start enjoying this, one needs to shift from doing things from ‘expectations’ to ‘being in this moment’.
When you expect something to happen and it does not happen, you are under pressure. Hoping to get the fruit of your action, you do versus doing what you are doing willingly and be totally present.
Karma is doing things with effort, whereas Akarma is doing things willingly. When you are absolutely dissolved in whatever you are doing, it is Akarma.
(Karma builds binding, and Akarma takes you to freedom naturally.)
All problems start when you do things 50% or 80% or your expectation of the result is more important than your doing it.
When you come to a place like this: Mantralayam, you are free. You come here to do Seva, to serve. Nobody forces you. You do what you want to do and you are in Samadhi. Then you don’t need special time to meditate: Just realizing, “I have come here on my own and I am doing whatever I am doing willingly” is enough.
When you become a total, willing servant, you are in Akarma. To arrive in a place where you can do ‘Seva’ is itself a very great thing. Two years ago this whole area was flooded and everybody was doing seva.
Those who receive seva are very happy and those who do it are also very happy. We are fortunate to have such meditation happening here.
Sri Rajgopala Acharya, the chief sevak of Raghvendra Swami, looks after administration here. Big major changes have happened here since he took over and Raghvendra Swami’s anugraha (grace) began. He is very devoted and offers 100% seva. Panditji, a highly recognised scholar, said everything happens here because of him. Here, there are very good arrangements for pooja, there are new offices and everything is happening rapidly.
We are very fortunate to get this opportunity to do Seva. We did not invite anyone, they came on their own. After this experience, they took a vrata to do their sadhana every two months.
Raghvendra Swami’s anugraha (grace) is with us. Through him, Swamiji gets his work done and because of him, great things happen for all of us. We are more than honoured to come here and get a chance to do seva, even just a small seva like serving food. So many teachers and meditators did lots of sadhana in preparing people, like you, to do this work. We are doing very little here but are receiving a lot.
We need to do lot more sadhana. Swamiji is sharing the power of seva.
Next year we will do three times what we are doing now. VHS will happen here, before we used to go here and there. Now every year during the aradhana festival, do come and do seva. We receive so many blessings. He will take away your paap (misdeeds) and give punya – (blessings).
Ever since I started coming here, inner growth has increased. There is no place where we can do such wonderful seva. This place attracts everybody to do seva!