“Both anusthanas and purashcharanas require you to follow what we call in Sanskrit the path of the Five S’s: sthana, samaya, sankhya, samagri, and samyama. The purpose of these rules is to achieve the sa-guna or mr anifested form of the deity. You know Sanskrit; translate these words.”
“‘Sthana’ means location.”
“So first you must stay in one location throughout the duration of your penance and not travel about. Moreover, you must sit in the same place each day, face in the same direction, and if possible sit in the same posi tion.”
“Samaya’ means time.”
“Fix a time limit for your programeleven days or forty days or what ever–and stick to it. Also, you must sit at the same time every day. Five minutes variation here or there is permissible, but no more. If you miss the
time, you cannot count the repetitions you do that day in your total.”
“Sankhya’ means number.”
“You must decide the total number of repetitions you will do, and then divide that number by the number of days to determine how many you will do each day. And don’t decide to do five hundred and then one day become busy and do only one hundred, and hope to make up for it by doing a thou sand the next day. You must do the same minimum number every day; you can do more but you cannot do less, or you cannot count that day.”
““Samagri’ means the materials used for worship.”
“These must be the same every day; no substitutions permitted. And ‘samyama?”
[ 1471
AGHORA II: Kundalini
“I’m not exactly sure, probably related to niyama?”
“Yes. Here samyama means complete control of the sexual organ; that means abstinence! Also, a woman cannot count the repetitions she does while she is menstruating. She should not even sit at her normal place of japa. In fact she should not even visualize intently, since that could imbal ance the Prana and Apana in her body. Menstruation is a time for the body to purify itself; once it is over she can resume her previous routine.
“Only if all five of these S’s are fulfilled can the performance give results. A sadhaka must be rigid about this. Also, you must concentrate on what you’re doing when you do your japa. You cannot do a few repetitions and then start to worry about where your son is or whether your wife is cooking dinner or not. You must throw out all external attention and concentrate on interiority. And, you must be careful of your temper. While you are doing your japa your mind approaches God; if you become angry afterward all that you achieved in that department is immediately lost.
“There may be other restrictions too. For instance, a specific diet may be indicated. Whatever the diet you should not do japa for up to two hours after having a full meal. You should never even discuss mantras, astrology or any related subject for two hours after a meal. Why? Because your mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time, and if there is food in your stomach your mind will have to concentrate on that food in order to digest it.”
“What about fruit or milk?” I asked, since that was my diet at the time.
“At least an hour after eating fruit, and at least half an hour after drinking milk or juice. You should even wait for fifteen minutes or more after you have drunk some water. Once you no longer need your mind in order to digest your food this restriction will no longer apply; but you have to be able to die while still alive in order to do that.”
Ever the showman, he paused dramatically, but it was only a feint, for he then broke into a smile and said, “Now let us stop here and eat!” We went in to lunch.