The system of Pranahuti Aided Meditation broadly consists of two aspects a) Practicant's Role and b) Master's Support through the process of Pranahuti. The Practicant's role in the sadhana is to do morning meditation preceded by Point 'B' meditation then to do evening cleaning practice after finishing day's work followed by 9.00 P.M prayer for the development of universal brotherhood / Fraternity and the day ends with point 'A' meditation for checking the indulgences of the mind followed by bed time prayer. All the above mentioned practices have a definite purpose and goal and that all of them are logically interrelated with one another. Each method has to be understood clearly so that the sadhana becomes effective, dynamic and meaningful. In addition there is a dire necessity to develop proper attitudes towards the sadhana.

In this article the cleaning method or purification process is discussed to bring out the scientific basis of the essential features for better clarity to the sadhaka. The traditional concept that one has to undergo the effects of ones' action or resort to austere measures of fasting, performing penance as purificatory measures are too tough to be followed by ordinary persons. That is the reason why it was held by many that Realisation is not for the ordinary persons and one has to be content doing rituals etc., Certain religions and sects have got the idea that some person usually the originator of the religion or sect has done all the sacrifice that it covers our sins also and all that one has to do is to accept him as the saviour. In contrast to these approaches Rev. Babuji Maharaj has given certain cleaning techniques which purify our being in all levels and make us eligible for the highest approaches that any human being can aspire for. That is the reason why Dr.K.C.Varadachari said there is no other system which has got Cleaning Technique.

Pujya Babuji Maharaj in one of His messages given at Madurai says that; "By Meditation, we go from outside noise to outside silence. By cleaning, we go from outside silence to inside silence. By prayer, we come nearer to our goal because we come in contact with the Being". In this system we are asked to do meditation before sunrise after ensuring the purity of mind and body and during meditation we try not to give any inputs to our senses and try to go from outside noise to outside silence. But our experience during meditation tells us that very many thoughts, ideas etc distract us and they do not allow us to settle on the thought of Divine Light without Luminosity - the object of meditation. Morning meditation is essentially oriented towards the outward noise. At morning 5 or 6 if you are going start your meditation, the particular cry of a street vendor selling flowers- a problem faced in India - is not likely to heard by you. It is relatively calm at that time. No noise of external surroundings, occasional bird chirping will be heard. The external noise is reduced by choosing that hour apart from its value as a sandhya about which you must have heard. The practical utility for me is it doesn't allow other noises to come at that time. It is relatively a calm period when the outward noise is reduced and the outward noise is also sought to be reduced by withdrawing your limbs and not allowing the sense organs to receive the inputs. While as in the evening what we are attending to is our samskaras. If one analyses the various thoughts that disturb us, we understand the need to get cleansed of these to maintain our natural purity. In essence, we are going from outside silence to inside silence by cleaning.

The various thoughts that come to us during meditation are all coming from our inside and they are all ours. That is, we acquire them by our own intentional consciousness i.e., our consciousness applied to an event or thing etc. It is our creation and we have to show our intention to get rid off them. It is and it will be difficult to remember all our acts of commission and omission. Nothing wrong. It is a great boon of God that we have forgotten to remember all the past-lest it is the greatest load and oppressive fact that we can ever bargain for. Though we have forgotten, their effects are there and they come to our view as our imperfections.

Those who practice this method naturally seek clarification on many of their doubts regarding the 'cleaning' or purification process that is to be done by both the aspirants and the Trainers/ Preceptors. There is a feeling that the aspirants feel that it is the responsibility of the Trainer alone to clean the system of the aspirant and make him deserve the grace of Master.

It is necessary that the Ten Commandments given by Master should be clearly understood first for fully understanding the concept of cleaning that is essential in the purification process of oneself. The Tenth Commandment says, "At bed time feeling the presence of God, repent for the wrongs committed. Beg forgiveness in a supplicant mood resolving not to allow repetition of the same."

Every aspirant, therefore, has to introspect and analyze his own follies. Though we strive to be on the path of good and righteousness, engaged as we are in the worldly activities it is found by us to be not possible always and we are conscious of our swerving away from the path of Good/ God. The awareness of our own failing is a basic necessity; without this the question of repentance does not arise. Master commands that we take note of our failings and become conscious of our impurities every day and pray to God for help. One has to review one's whole day's thoughts and talks and actions and discern the imperfect manner of having done them. The keeping of a diary is helpful not merely for the purpose of noting our spiritual experiences but also of our wrongdoings, doings done on our own initiative and without feeling of God's and Master's presence and direction. It is necessary to review these and note them so that the mere entry of it in our diary will automatically draw the attention of the Master and speed up the process of rectification and purification. Repentance is for the loss of practice of Nothingness of our self and of presence of the Master. Confession in religion has this same purpose but being made into a technique it is likely to lead to abuses. Confession in private or in public has no basic value unless one follows it up to the logical conclusion and takes the same up to rectification or seek God's power and help to lead him to that stage when he will never go wrong. This is perfection.

Every samskara good or bad is still a blemish, still a impurity because it is different from that blemishless non Samskaric Bramhan or the Ultimate. The internal consciousness must be brought to a state where we will not have oppression of those thoughts. Oppression of the thoughts should be the main aspect that an aspirant should be worried about, they dictate terms to us. Many thoughts will come to you during Meditation but do they oppress you? Do they make you move away from the job of cleaning? Or do they insist that they should be attended to. In relative quiet that you are likely to have in the internal consciousness what happens is these thoughts do come. But do they insist on your attention is a question that you have got to put to yourself only then will you know whether you are just having a passing thoughts or pressing thoughts. If the thoughts are fleeting in nature then it can be said that you are getting cleaned. If the thoughts are not fleeting then the aspirant can be said to be troubled by Chitta Vritti. This is a circular thing that commands our attention, that demands our attention and finally makes one feel so bad about it that we would leave the cleaning process and get away. There are occasions when we feel compelled to get away from cleaning because we are afraid of facing it further. So the thoughts that you get in the evening are essentially your samskaras.

It is natural for us to be calm. God has given that status at the time of our birth it is we who have added all the blemishes that make us disturbed. Disturbed in the sense that we have applied our mind to other sensory inputs instead of applying to the particular consciousness of quiet sensory inputs. Occasional disturbances of a noise outside will not form an impression. Only when there is an intention for you to own that particular experience or a feeling you form a samskara. This is what is known as intentional consciousness. So the internal consciousness is enormously influenced by the content of the intentional consciousness. These intentions are our own. We have willed it, if we have not willed for such an attachment or an intention to hold it as our own, which is not our own, which is in nature of things, we started owning up and once we own it, it becomes a part of our samskara. The intentional consciousness gets itself into a state of samskara. These samskaras are what we are trying to get rid off during the cleaning process so that the mind comes to a state of calmness or steadiness which is its true nature. Its true nature is to be oriented to the Divine, which is already in us. The cleaning process helps us to get rid off these samskaras so that the mind becomes more and more clean and if we are going to accept only the samskara which we have during your meditation namely the relative quiet that we get among varying thoughts, the relative quiet will come to us for a few seconds.

Man has three types of impurities: Mala, Vikshepa and Avarana. Master states categorically unless these impurities or coverings are removed, inspiration or guidance from the inner voice is meaningless. ("Reality at Dawn," p. 59). Mala means superficial impurities or dirt that are caused by lack of control over the senses, such as laziness, sloth, attraction to trivia and giving up impulsive tendencies towards sensory pleasures.

Vikshepa means the unreal projections of desires for enjoyment, such as greed avarice, jealousy and others.

Avarana means the layers of grossness due to past Samskaras or impressions in the five layers of our being named as Physical, Vital, Mental, Aspirational and Ecstatic (Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya) which drag a person down through formation of the Antahkarana (Inner Apparatus that moves from one life to another called as Jiva) and form as a barrier for the Union between man and God which is the primary right of every human being.

How then are we to get rid of these impurities? What is the role of the aspirant and what is the extent to which he can rely on the help of the Master or the trainer?

By practising sincerely the Masters' Commandments one can easily avoid the mala or dirt. Avoidance of mala is the basic duty of every aspirant. One who cannot avoid recurrence of his follies and misdeeds is naturally one who has no will to progress. It is true that many situations arise where the path of least resistance is more attractive but one who succumbs to that alternative should be considered as one who has no desire for the Real or desire to know his true nature and claim his right of Union with the Divinity.

It is stated that if everything is done with the idea that Master is doing, then the question of an aspirant doing wrong does not arise. True, Master Himself has stated so in 'Reality at Dawn'. But then are we capable of it? If so when? Unless the dedication of one's self is complete and total, this does not happen. Master states in his example of a person caught by the charming appearance of a dancer on the road side, the moment the aspirant thinks that it is the Master who is enjoying the scene, the person will be relieved of the temptation. Why? Master being what He is, and what the aspirant thinks him to be, the very idea does not fit into the context and the aspirant's sub-consciousness does not allow any more interest in the process. The super ego of the aspirant rebels the moment a bad idea, or a bad thing is connected with the Master who has been accepted as one's Guru and God and that is the truth of the process. But pardon me, how many of us have accepted Master totally? In the absence of that, how can we expect the process to work? Further, there are some who think that Master is enjoying the scene, and therefore, they should not disturb Him. What a tribute to Master! It is not unusual to hear similar views when persons have been seen visiting cinemas - blues and cabarets were asked to clarify their behaviour. The process advocated here by Master is not totally new and is the same as the traditional concept that every thing is done by God or is got done by Him. Lord Krishna in his Celestial Song (Gita) has mentioned this process as one of the types of Balanced Living (Sthitha Prajna)

The principle and process of surrender (Saranagati) in Sri Vaishnavism and that of our Master is different only in so far there is active participation on the part of Master in the cleaning process to which we shall revert later.

This type of impurity (Vikshepa) is really the base for all impurities. Our desires seem to be capable of making us lose all sense. The desires range from those arising out of sensuousness leading to anger, rage to fine shades of egoism. The emotional problems arising out of attachments wisely stated as Eeshana Trayas (namely attachment to Wife, Sons and Properties or Money). These are the real problems before an aspirant. Master therefore, advocated certain practices to be performed by the aspirants to check their influence on the aspirants.

The meditation on points A and B advocated by Master are meant to check the mental tendencies caused by impurities (vikshepa) on oneself who is other wise pure and should be done assiduously by all aspirants. While many do not even seem to be doing this some persons seem to be extra-ordinarily interested in the nature of impurities going out and their quantum. This is despite clear instructions from Master 'Do not meditate on those things which we want to get rid of. Simply brush them off'! The reason why Master advocates that we should not meditate on the nature of grossness is, those thoughts that we want to get rid off gain power due to our interest in them and become formidable. The best thing to do is to ignore them and fix our mind on Master as naturally as we can. Master states that the meditation on points A and B (Efficacy of Raj Yoga) help the aspirant get rid of many impurities in the system.

Moderation of desires and checking of the perverse tendencies of the mind is not all that easy. Assiduous practice of the methods suggested by Master and absolute devotion to God alone can accomplish this. Many persons have asked me as to what is meant by the word 'Co-operation' used by Master. As far as I know, practicing these methods carefully and with all reverence to Him is what can be called as Co-operation with the Guru in Sadhana..

'Aavarana' may be considered as the grossness or perverse tendencies of the mind that got solidified and became part of the nature of the aspirant. These are either consequent on bad actions or Karmas. The Jains have a very complex theory of explaining the accumulation of matter ('Pudgala') on Soul. Master in His work 'Reality at Dawn' states that these Aavaranas are gained by souls almost from the beginning. "From the primary state of existence of the soul in its most subtle form we marched on to grosser and grosser forms of existence. These may be expressed as coverings round the soul. The earliest coverings were of the finest nature and with them we existed in our Home land, the realm of God. The additions of more and more coverings of ego continued and subsequently Manas (Psyche), Chit (Consciousness), Buddhi (intellect) and Ahankar (Ego) in cruder forms began to contribute to our grossness. In due course Samskaras (impressions) began to be formed which brought about their resultant effects". To rid ourselves of these aavaranas (which may be almost equated with the 23 concentric circles consisting of the layers of Maya, Ego and Splendor) is not an easy task to be accomplished. Here comes the assistance of the Trainers and the Master.

To clean the Chakras and carry on the yatra of the aspirant to the Ultimate is the responsibility of the real spiritual trainer. In this regard Rev. Dr K.C.Varadachari says that " The first experience that happens to us in this training (PAM) is that we feel the Pranahuti which is a kind of air that makes the flame inside us burn brighter and look brighter and we experience a smoke, dark thick smoke, coming out of us. Some people are frightened about the matter. That is nothing to be frightened about except, I think the smoke. The same then slowly evaporates or goes out and we are left cleaner and lighter. There is also a light or heat produced in our bodies during that stage and that is why some people said it is a Tapas. Tapas is that which heats. A heated condition is called Tapas and when this increases, we find the old Samskaras breaking from us ..."(complete works of Dr. K.C.Varadachari Vol-I p 226).

Cleaning has to be attended to before starting the meditation. This is as per the Commandment 1 where we are asked to start worship after attending to the purity and body and mind. Body cleanliness need not be explained as we all know that. Regarding the purity of the mind there is necessity to do this. Though Master has not explicitly stated, he has given us the direction that we should clean the point B before starting meditation. The method of doing this is 'think that all the impurities are going in the front and the Divine light is coming to view' Once this cleaning is done the mind is tuned to continue the meditation as prescribed which is to think of Divine light in the heart, it is natural and simple. No complications are there.

To cleanse ourselves of the above mentioned impurities and imperfections, Master has advocated the following three methods of cleaning process to Abhyasis:

(i) Abhyasi has to think that all impurities are getting burnt and are going away from the backside of the body in the form of smoke and vapour and in its place the sacred current is flowing into his heart from the Master's heart.The method of thinking that all the impurities are getting burnt and are going away from the backside of the body in the form of smoke and vapor is very effective. But the sadhaka should think firmly so and will the Samskaras get burnt. There is no indication that this work is assisted by the Master. Invoking Him does not normally serve any purpose. Samskaras were acquired by our attachment and liking or disliking and therefore it is our responsibility to get rid of them.

(ii) The aspirant has to think that he is merged in the ocean of Bliss with his body transparent, so that the waves of the ocean pass through him. He should think that the waves of the ocean are washing off the grossness and impurities from within the interior of the body thus cleaning away all dirt and disease. Master has stated that this method may be advised to be practiced daily at the evening time for all those who require heavy cleaning. In this case also it is our own will and invoking the cleansing powers of the Master is not there. This should be an active attempt by the sadhaka and he should ensure that he does not lapse into meditation or getting into a state of absorbency or Laya etc.

(iii) Another method advised by Master is to think that Divine Light is present in the top portion of one's head having connection with the eternal Divine Store. The aspirant should take some of it, bring it downwards, allow it to run through the left arm driving out all the impurities with it and flowing out from the tips of the fingers along with them. The process is to be repeated taking the right arm, again the left side of the body upto the foot (every grossness going out from the tips of the toes of the foot) and then the right side of the body.

Abhyasis should follow only one of the above methods of cleaning process as advised by his trainer.

Cleaning is an active process where the aspirant has to exercise his will. It is absolutely necessary to apply the force of will to throw out the impurities and to finish the practice with a feeling of confidence that it has been efficiently done and one should get up with a feeling of lightness. One should note that no pranahuti is offered during this process.

The aspirant should develop correct attitude towards the sadhana like while going to the trainer for individual or group sitting it would be better if the sadhaka prepares well. That is, he should ensure purity of his body and mind as far as possible for him. He should be clear about why he is going and should try to maintain the thought on the Master and the true nature of the Divine Light on which he is to meditate upon. Most often the sadhakas' attend the satsangh with the attitude that they are getting something. This is not the correct idea. He should be prepared to wait on the Master and accept whatever is given to Him. Anticipation of reward of any type is only indicative of lack of submissiveness and egoistic feelings. This cleaning is very important.

After performing the task of cleaning still one may find oneself inadequate and helpless then one has to follow the Tenth Commandment that says, "At bed time feeling the presence of God, repent for the wrongs committed. Beg forgiveness in a supplicant mood resolving not to allow repetition of the same". Every aspirant, therefore, has to introspect and analyse his own follies. Though we strive to be on the path of good and righteousness, engaged as we are in the worldly activities, it is found by us to be not possible always to be so and we are conscious of our swerving away from the path of God. The awareness of our own failing is a basic necessity; without this the question of repentance does not arise. Master commands that we take note of our failings and become conscious of our impurities every day and pray to God for help. One has to review one's thoughts during the entire day, talks and actions and discern the imperfect manner of doing them. As Rev. Dr.K.C.Varadachari puts it "The keeping of a diary is helpful not merely for the purpose of noting our spiritual experiences but also of our wrong doings, doings done on our own initiative and without feeling of God's and Master's presence and direction". It is necessary to review these and note them so that the mere entry of it in our diary will automatically draw the attention of the Master and speed up the process of rectification and purification. Repentance is for the loss of practice of 'Nothingness' and of 'presence of Master'. 'Confession' in religion has this same purpose but being made into a technique it is likely to lead to abuses. Confession, in private or in public, has no basic value unless one follows the same to rectification or seek God's power and help to lead him to that stage when he will not ever go wrong: this is perfection". When all this is followed correctly with an yielding attitude to the Master then the statement of the Master, "By prayer, we come nearer to our goal because we come in contact with the Being" can be practised in right earnest. The prayer being

O! Master
Thou art the Real Goal of Human Life;
We are yet but slaves of wishes, Putting bar to our advancement;
Thou art the only God and Power to bring us up to that stage.