• Table of Contents
  • Swami Veda Talks about 2013
  • Chakra Puja
  • A Discussion with a Wandering Monk
  • Tara Comes to Town
  • My Experience as a Gurukulam Student
  • The Art of Borobudur
  • Meditation Classes in Pune
  • German Group Visits SRSG
  • Three New Books by Swami Veda
  • Running on Empty
  • Pilgrimage to the Himalayas
  • Yoga at the University
  • Stoma Visits California
  • Something Swamiji Said
  • Evening Lecture Series
  • Opportunities for 2012 and 2013
  • 2012 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Something Swamiji Said

by Arianna Darshani

I sent a photo of my horse and he responded:

Beautiful Horse
In the Upanishads and Gita, the senses are called
our horses that we ride with the reigns of the mind 
held fast.
Yes, be a rider.

Then I got him to sign it and it's signed in English and Sanskrit. I will get it framed!

On May 25, 2008 at 5:02 pm, our house was completely destroyed along with much of the neighborhood. A child died.

The tornado was over my house for about 3 minutes, and I was in the basement. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. To keep the story short, after I came up from the basement, I saw my house destroyed and I screamed another 3 minutes in total disbelief.

Because I have asthma, I thought all the screaming might have made me asthmatic so I told a paramedic and was whisked off to a hospital and stayed overnight. Then, I got this phone call, and from a drug induced stupor, recognized Swami Veda’s voice. He said I should rest. He called the next day and said I sounded much better. He said we hope things will remain permanent, but they are not. Then he said we are lucky things are as permanent as they are!

I really don't know how Swamiji figured out my hospital. Maybe I told Stoma. That would make sense as Stoma called me as well.

Anyway, I was not harmed by the tornado at all, only my own screaming!

I have always thought that Swamiji was quite kind. He was calling from Britain.

The story of the poem he wrote in 1994 is that after the tornado, I dug it out from hundreds of pounds of drywall, looking for it. It had rained as well, so I was not hoping for much. I finally found the framed poem, and a tiny piece of glass had broken off from the frame but the poem Swami Veda wrote out by hand, was fine - no damage at all, and so I had it re-framed. This is the poem which I recovered:

Thank you, Lord, for letting us see evident
how the seas so sweetly streamline dolphins 
that 
into oceansful of waters of Thy spirit,
we may set afloat our minds to smooth

Thank you, Lord, for sending us dolphins
to show us the smoothness of Thy acts
to emulate

Thank you, friend, for sending me a crystal dolphin:
She will often float in the waters of my spirit
so I may pray for you always
Blessings and Thanks

Swami Veda Bharati
13 Feb – 1994

The poem is a treasure to me and I am so glad it survived the tornado.

I wanted to let you know that Swamiji got back to me about my "situation". I confessed everything to him.

He told me

#1. To be contrite. Already there! My conscience has not let me rest for over a week.

#2. Vow to avoid it in the future. Already there! I need to not act out, every time I get angry. I should love people or at least try.

#3. Focus on your successes and not your failures. Already there as well. I have many, many friends, some going back for 41 years and I am 50. Many other friends for 15 or 20 years. Married 25 years + 2 years of dating or 27 years with my husband. My husband and I were friends back at age 19 or so, which means we have known each other for 31 years. Not to mention that I've been writing letters/emails and having conversations with Swamiji since 1993 and that is 20 years.   
Then he said:

Let #3 be your inspiration.

Editor's Note:

Honor Swami Veda’s many years of teaching and speaking to/with us by sharing some of what you have learned or are learning. What is the Something Swamiji Said that made an impression in your life?  Many years he has talked with us.  What did you hear that was important to you?

There is no set length.  It can be short or it can be long.   It can be a sentence, a paragraph, an article.  It can have pictures and photos.  It can be prose and/or poetry.

Please write to us at http://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/Contact-Us/AHYMSIN-Office.html. 
If you have submitted Something Swamiji Said that has not been published yet, we thank you and assure you that it will be published in a future edition.