In a havan, we make an offering of samagri to agni deva; this samagri contains within it, exotic ingredients like guggul and also common ingredients like rice and sugar, representing in totality the different aspects of creation.

Just like the havan samagri, our body, which is what we identify ourself to be since we are tied to the physical world, holds within it, all aspects of creation, and they belong to no specific individual. They keep on changing and exist to aid the forces that run creation. Every moment in the life of a sadhak is a havan, an ahuti made to the devas in his every thought and action – be it the act of eating food, sexual gratification, travel and leisure or even sadhna…even a sadhna has to be sacrificed after a stage. All these aspects are aspects of the physical, that which is temporary and unreal, it does not exist. The moment a sadhak associates himself with a physical aspect and tries to hold on to it, it is called a dilution in yog. On the other hand, if the sadhak makes an offering to the devas with every physical aspect, it paves way to evolution.

The devs and the danavs all exist within a being. The aspect that one relates to or is able to access is indicative of his state of evolution or desire. Gayatri, the ultimate force of creation, too resides in this body and can be accessed by an individual. There are two aspects of Gayatri sadhna – Gayatri, which is internal (antarang) and Savitri, which is external (bahrang). Together, they represent completeness (poornata). The sadhna of Gayatri is the ultimate sadhna, done to achieve poornata or completeness. However to access this aspect, one also has to have the matching desire. A mismatch between desire and what one tries to access, results in a mess – within and outside. A Gayatri sadhak stands the greatest risk to lose his/her path (become pathbhrasht) because the sadhna calls for purities of the highest order. It requires the sadhak to be centred on his sadhya every moment. The slightest waiver of focus or even a momentary thought/desire for something else is enough to make one spiral down.

These sadhnas are not a joke, all the shaktis exist and can be accessed through this body under the sanidhya of a Guru. The reason why people falter is because they do not have a Guru. A Guru is the one who gives you the experiences of the spiritual world. As one walks the path shown by his Guru, he intercepts many flowers that are planted on the sides of the track. A shishya is one who keeps walking the path keeping his eyes fixed on the Guru. If he pauses even momentarily to pluck a flower or even admire its beauty, it is considered Guru-droh, a dilution. No matter how beautiful the flower is, how high its attraction is, it is still physical (sthool), unreal. Then the person will surely get the flower but in the process, he will lose the path of the Guru and Guru-droh or moving against your Guru is considered a greater paap than brahm hatya.

A clear indication of whether you are moving deeper into the science or into dilutions is your experience. The level of sadhna and your experiences go hand-in-hand. If your experiences are growing and your interactions with the energy world are increasing, then no matter what you are doing in the physical, it means you are on the path. And if your experiences are not growing, then no matter how many pujas and paths you are doing, you have drifted from your path. Here one needs to be careful of the mind playing tricks. Mind is a powerful entity and can lead you to believe anything that you want. A simple way to check this is to monitor the amount of time you spend in sadhna and in physical pursuits like work and relationships. If you are spending less time in sadhna and more in physical pursuits, then no matter what experiences you are having or how much you think you have progressed, you have actually regressed, for it is the mind playing tricks for sure. If the time in sadhna and with Guru is going up, then your experiences are real and you are on target.

Whenever you are slapped, first there is a sound and then the pain is felt. A Guru can sense that sound/dilution much earlier and warns the sadhak to be careful. Majority ignore this warning because their ego does not allow them to see the mistake and move away from the Guru, and understand only once the damage is done.  At the time when one decides to move away from the Guru, he needs to see what he is moving towards while moving away from the Guru. Your acharan decides your state. Let no one else judge you. Whenever you move away from your Guru, just observe yourself. If after leaving the Guru, you immerse yourself into silence and are able to attract those around you into the subject and the practices, then no matter what anybody says, you are walking the right path. If on the other hand, you are busy setting up shops or having affairs or interacting with people who are immersed in artificiality, be rest assured that you have diluted yourself.

A Guru tries till the last to somehow save the shishya, to keep him on the path. Prithviraj Chauhan’s Guru feigned being Prithviraj in front of the enemies so that Prithviraj could escape. That is what a Guru does, he does not even shy away from putting his life at stake for a shishya, because even in doing that he will get salvation. A Guru has to carry the shishya on the path, but then if the shishya refuses to be carried further or changes his path mid-way, there is little that the Guru can do…