Month: February 2011

Stories and Parables of Power

Posted on by ahymsin

Do you seek power? Do you wish to conquer your world? Is the whole world your adversary? Do you seek the power of wealth and control over others? Does the world seem full of unsympathetic, unjust people, always criticizing you, attacking you? Are you anxieties and worries of the past or of the future?

Once upon a time an ancient king had a hall of mirrors built in his palace to entertain his guests. One morning after a long night of celebration, after the banquet was over and all the guests had left, the king’s pet dog wandered into this hall of mirrors. He saw himself surrounded by a thousand other dogs, baring their fangs, snarling, barking. With each of his barks was the echo of a thousand others. The valiant dog defended himself all alone from those thousand opponents. In the morning the king’s dog was found lying on the floor, totally exhausted and near death.

What would have been the best way for the king’s dog to make those thousand other dogs cease barking at him? Only to sit back and stop baring his own fangs, stop barking , stop attacking. For with each attack he made, a thousand of his own reflections lunged back at him, robbing him of life.

To find peace and true power in your life, sit back a moment and be still. Be quiet, be tranquil, and the world will cease to attack you.

Once a great woman saint was passing through a forest infested with robbers. With her was a noble woman bedecked with gold and jewels. When the robbers attacked, the saint took the jewellery of her companion, gave it to the leader of the robbers and said, “ Here my son.” When she said “my son”, there was such a depth of love in her voice that the bandit chieftain wept. “ From the time I was a child, no one has called me thus, son – and so lovingly. My mother died when I was so young” From that time on the leader of the robbers became her true son and followed her everywhere . Later he himself became a great saint. Such was the power she had over him.

There is a power which is not the power of wealth and riches nor ego. Neither is it a power exercised to control others. There is a power that is in loving eyes, the power in a gentle touch of the hand, soothing injuries, bringing light to eyes that were blind, healing the unhappy, making the lonely rejoice.

Once upon a time an emperor posed this question to his advisors: “Here, I have drawn a line on this board. Without touching this line in any way, please make it shorter.” After all his counselors had pondered over the problem and had given up, his wisest minister approached the writing tablet. He drew a line parallel to the emperor’s, but just a little longer, and said,” your Majesty, your line is now shorter.”

If you always seek to shorten the lines drawn by others, you will not win your battles. Draw your line from your own genius. Tap your own resources. Apply your concentration with an inner relaxed mind. Center your mind. Your creative energy is waiting to burst forth. There is within you an eternal genius waiting to express itself. Sit back and listen to him. Draw your line with full concentration, without comparing it to the lines of your competitors. Then you will have drawn the longest line of all.

When the famous Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great died in Babylonia, he said to his retinue, “When you bury me, cover me with a shroud. But place both my hands out of the shroud with the palms up and put a pinch of ashes in each, so that the world may see and know what the conqueror of the world is able to take with him.”

If you seek conquest, seek first the power of self conquest. Then seek that power which is service to others. Seek the power to benefit and comfort the many. For only such a power will be remembered. And even if you yourself do not gain from this power, many years hence generations of people will continue to benefit from it, and you will be blessed.

Once upon a time there were three young men, two of whom were not yet born and one who was not yet conceived. Suffering from the pain of miserable poverty, they decided to migrate from the city named Empty. On the way, feeling weary, they rested under the shade of three trees, two of which had never been planted and the third which has not yet grown. Having rested there and eaten of the fruits thereof, they came to three rivers, two of which had no water and the third which had run dry. They quenched their thirsts from these rivers and then crossed over in three boats, two of which had never been built and the other which had no bottom. After a long arduous journey, the three youths came to a city called Future and settled down in three houses, two of which had never been built and the third which had no walls. They lived in Future city ever after.

Your present anxieties and worries are as baseless as the unreal cities in the parable. Although your anxieties and fears and sorrows are here presently, the bad events which you base them on are forever gone or have not yet arrived. Clear your mind and in the light of your clear mind you will see that in this very moment there are solutions to the problems which have already gone or not yet arisen.

Which power do you truly wish? That which involves you with the false reflections of the snarling dogs of the world?  Or the power of peaceful tranquillity which draws people to you?  Which love do you really wish for? The phantom love of wealth and riches or ego and its control of others? Or the infinite power of the heart? Do you wish to succeed by competing against the lines drawn by others? Or do you wish to blaze forth in the creative expression of your own eternal genius?  Do you wish to conquer the world and gain only ashes?  Or the enduring powers of self-conquest and of one who has served? Do you wish to create and live in fear of the ghosts of past and future? Or to dwell in the city of divine clarity of the moment?

I wish for you the true powers of tranquillity, love, inner genius, service and divine clarity of each moment.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from The Light of Ten Thousand Suns by Swami Veda Bharati.

Shiva Sankalpa Sukta

Posted on by ahymsin

SHIVA SANKALPA SUKTA1

Our much maligned mind deserves a look at its positive attributes. It is the most creative form of energy in the universe. It is our very being. With some malignancy, it is still the source of immense benevolence, all beneficent knowledge, and all love and beauty.

Recently I wrote a series of 27 articles for Life Positive (India) magazine, titled “MIND: THE PLAYGROUND OF GODS.” It is now converted into a book by the same title, yet to be published.  There is much to sing in praise of the mind.

No pathologies here; only the divine power of the mind — so the ancient Rishi sang in the Vedas.Shiva-sankalpa-sukta, ‘Hymn to the Mind Fulfilled with Divine and the Beneficent’, is well known. The 33rd chapter of Kanva recension of Yajur-veda contains only the first mantra.  The 34th chapter of the Vajasaneya recension has six. These are the most well known. Less known is the apocryphal version in the Khila-suktas of Rg-veda (Khila-sukta 33), containing 26 mantras

In this presentation I plan to synthesize the commentaries of the great acharyas, Sayana, Uvvata, Mahidhara and Swami Dayananda Saraswati into paraphrased presentation of a comprehensive rendering.

The portion paraphrased from the first three acharyas is given the heading SUM and the one by Swami Dayananda Saraswati is given the heading SDS.

This, for the first six of the mantras from Yajur-veda. The remaining 20 mantras are being translated for the first time.

It has required these many paragraphs to translate the mere 21 words of the first mantra as presented below. Other mantras are also more or less consisting of similar number of words but they require lengthy explanations.

The explanations of mantras given here are by no means exhaustive, only illustrative. The true meaning will dawn upon the contemplative muni only through meditation. As meditation progresses through its many stages and states, so does the meaning unveil itself.

No mantra is ever recited in the tradition without worshipfully remembering its rishi, the seer and its devata, the deity, divine conscious power. Quite often the real name of the sage is not known as s/he has taken on a name reflecting on the subject matter revealed. Thus the rishi of the first six mantras from the 34th chapter of Yajur-veda is named Shiva-sankalpa and the deity is mind itself. The rishis of the mantras from khila-suktas, apocryphal hymns, are not known.

What are presented here are paraphrases and not always literal translations of commentaries, although we have attempted to maintain an integral intellectual honesty in making these presentations, staying as close as possible to the original.

SHIVA-SANKALPA HYMN

Mantra 1.

SUM

I am the self that is consciousness2 . I am purusha, dweller of the city of body and nature.

I have a mind.

This, my mind rises like the sun. It rises above and beyond my senses and travels far beyond them.

In my wakeful state it traverses and is operative towards even the distant objects through its contact with the senses.

So also does it go to the objects concealed as they are of the past, future, present, too close, or too distant. It goes to them as though they were in its own realm.

Similarly goes the mind of one seeing dreams. It goes to distant objects, objects that are in the form of imprints and impressions that have created realities that consist of latent proclivities (vasanamaya padartha)

As the mind reaches out far in dream and sleep by whatever path, by the same path does it return to where it has been in the wakeful state.

The mind of one asleep, being in its natural state, goes to atman the spiritual self which is normally thought of as distant; it becomes absorbed in it, coalesced with it.

This divine mind is the medium through which is expressed bliss.

This angelic godly mind (daivam manah) is by which one becomes a being of bliss and does no longer grieve or suffer3 .

– Brhad-araNyaka Upanishad 1.5.19

The divine in the human person is the cognition-self. In that does the mind dwell and it is through the medium of this mind that cognition-self is grasped; hence it is of the shining ones, angelic, godly. As it is said:

‘Through mind alone can one perceive the Immeasurable and Permanent One’.

– Brhad-araNyaka Upanishad 4.4.19

It is called light because it is the instrument of illumination and operation of the senses which are the means of cognition of each of its realm.

It is one single light among the lights known as senses that lead one to experiential consciousness and cognition.

Furthermore,

Of these senses, mind is the true light, the one light of many lights, the illuminator, the one that impels them into involvements (pr-vartakam). The senses only thus impelled do become involved each in its realm.

Atman connects with mind; mind with the senses; the senses with their objects – so says Nyaya4 . Without being connected with the mind they cannot be operative.

May my mind be of resolve towards the fruits such as the celestial and heavenly ones in the life beyond, and of welfare, bene, in the current life. May it be resolved upon the right means such as sacraments for attaining the celestial and worldly beneficence.

May it be such, keeping dharma as its object, that its resolve and inclination is always productive of bene.

May dharma alone dwell in my mind and never any sinfulness.

May such a mind, not dependent on causes homogeneous to senses, my realm, the conditionality (upadhi) of all operations, of me who am the field-knower, be shiva-sankalpa5 .

May it be totally intent upon the acts (kriya) of the hymns (sukta).

Sankalpa is the attraction towards desirables like opposite sex; may my mind become such that its desires rest pacified.

Thereby,

May my mind be established in Shiva, one-bliss-self, Supreme Self; may it dwell established in the in Knowledge that Supreme Self.

SDS

Oh Lord of the universe,

Or

Oh King,

Through your grace, my mind that

—dwells in atman the self and serves as its instrument,

—carries a human being far and makes one grasp manifold objects,

—is the light (jyotih), the illuminator and impeller of auditory and such senses,

—thus wanders far in the wakeful state,and in sleep state similarly enters into the inner instrument ( antah-karaNa)—

may such my mind, consisting of resolves and anti-resolves (sankalpa and vikalpa), be endowed with desire towards dharma.

Those who follow the divine commands and keep company of the wise, thereby purify the mind that is endowed with manifold powers; the mind that is operative in wakefulness and pacified in sleep.

Those who know that the mind is the speediest of the speedy forces and the impeller of senses, they thereby bring the mind under control; they can thus channel the mind away from the ugly and the undesirable and towards the beautiful and the benevolent.

Mantra 2

SUM

Without the mind being in health and self-stability6  no actions may be perfectly intent nor would they be [right] action. Sacraments and sacred acts cannot be performed without the mind, and these acts can only be undertaken when knowledge has arisen before.

This mind is unique. It is unprecedented, for, it precedes the senses. It is yet non-externalized because it is identifiable with atman the self.

This mind alone can be sacramental and sacred. It dwells within the bodies of all entities that are born. The senses dwell in the externals; the mind alone is the internal sense.

May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts7.

SDS

Because of being in the presence of God and the saintly, those who are ever intent upon action keep their minds under restraint.

They are the meditative ones (dhyani) endowed with intelligence, performing the enjoined acts such as fire sacraments, other dharma-endeavours, pursuits of experiential knowledge or in battle fields.

The mind [wherewith they so perform] is unique, endowed with the highest attributes and actions. It is honour-worthy, coalesced in the hearts of all living beings. May such a mind, identified as the very process of thought contemplation, be shiva-sankalpa, ever inclined towards the [path of] dharma.

It well behooves the human beings that, through realizational worship8 , beautiful thoughts and company of the noble ones, they divert their minds from non-dharmic conduct and incline it towards dharmic behaviour.

Mantra 3

SUM

The mind that produces specialized cognitions in beings, is the means and the medium wherewith the highest knowledge is obtained.

This mind fully and harmoniously causes the cognition of both generalized knowledge [of direct perceptions] and the specialized cognitions [of inferential processes]; this same mind is the medium wherewith highest knowledge [from wise sages and from revelations] is received.

This mind is identical to patience and sustaining resuscitating power (cause and effect being non-differentiable)9 –

That same mind is the interior immortal light operating within as the  illuminator of all senses –

Immortal, never dying, being one with atman the self.

Without this mind no action can be performed because all involvement in and operation of actions in beings is preceded by the mind. Without this mind’s health and self-stability all possibility of actions will be annulled.

May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.

SDS

Oh Lord of the Universe

or

Oh highest, wise, yogin,

My mind that, when given knowledge by you, is

—the producer of specialized knowledge as buddhi the faculty of intelligence,

—as the instrument of memory,

—as identified with patience and sustaining resuscitating power (dhrti),

—the cause of [mental] actions such as modesty,

—indestructible illuminator inside the beings because it is a companion of atman the self,

—without which no action can be performed,

may the instrument of all actions, such mind of mine who am the soul-self (jiva-atman)

be filled with desire for the ever-benevolent Supreme Self (parama-atman).

Oh human beings, the mind that is the instrument of fulfilling all purposes of beings as it is the inner illuminator in four aspects of inner instrument (antah-karaNa), faculty of intellect (buddhi), mind-field (chitta) and identifying principle (aham-kara)—

Divert that mind away from injustice and non-dharmic conduct and tending and inclining towards justice and truthful action.

Mantra 4

SUM

The mind wherewith is grasped, known, from all sides the reality relating to the past, the existent world that is present, and future

—for, The mind operates in realities relating to all three times whereas senses are limited only to the current direct perception—

this mind is immortal, that is, perennial

—for, the senses perish with liberation but the mind remains imperishable.

The mind wherewith the sacrament of seven priests10  is extended, expanded—

May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.

SDS

Oh human beings, the mind united with the imperishable Supreme Self, wherewith all this reality staying in the three time divisions – past. Present and future, is grasped, known;

The mind wherewith the fire sacrament like agniShToma as well as the application of empirical sciences is extended, expanded,

may such my mind joined in yoga be filled with the resolve towards liberation (mokSha).

Oh human beings, the mind that is trained and has become accomplished through the main methods as well as the subsidiary means of yoga, becomes thus the knower of all three time divisions11 as well as of the whole creation, and thereby the medium accomplishing action, realizational worship and knowledge —

Direct that mind to love and benevolence.

Mantra 5

SUM

The mind in which the lauds [of Rg-veda], psalms and hymns [of Sama-veda], and the liturgical chants [of Yajur-veda] are established —it is only in the health and self-stability of that mind that there would flash the three levels of knowledge (Veda) and it is thus that in such a mind all Word is established.

In the passages of Chhandogya Upanishad starting with

‘Oh Peaceful Beloved (saumya), mind is made up of food’
—Chhandogya Upanishad 6.1-16

it has been explained that the power to recite the Word (Veda) comes only upon the health and self-stability of the mind.

How is this? An illustration is given:

As the spokes are established in the navel (the centre) of the chariot wheel, so is the network of Word established in the mind.

Furthermore, as the stretches of thread are woven and interwoven in the fabric, so also the full knowledge and accurate and harmonious cognition of beings with regard to all subjects/objects is woven and interwoven in the mind, is emplaced therein.

[It is to be reasserted that] knowledge arises [from within] only in the condition of mind’s health and self-stability; in the anxiety and disturbance of the mind there is absence of knowledge.

May such mind of mine be shiva-sankalpa, one with pacified activities, the one in which all operations are now resting in peace.

SDS

The mind in which the Rg, Yajus, Saman and Atharvan Vedas are affixed, are stabilized from all sides, like spokes in a hub,

the one in which the knowledge of beings with regard to all subjects/objects is woven like jewels in a [necklace] thread —may such my mind be filled with resolves of imparting the true scriptures such as Vedas.

Oh human beings, it well behooves you that you purify with knowledge and dharmic conduct that inner instrument, mind,

—by whose health and self-stability alone the foundation of sciences such as those of the Vedas is established and the wisdom as to the [right] behaviour patterns accrues.

Mantra 6

SUM

It is the mind that carries the (human) beings12 exceedingly from here to there as they beings operate only impelled by the mind.

How is that? Here an illustration: the way a good charioteer, controlling, leads the horses with a whip.

Second illustration: as the charioteer leads and controls the horses with the reins.

There are two similes here. In the first the concept is ‘to lead’ and in the second it is to ‘control’. As the charioteer both controls and leads the horses, so also the mind controls and leads the beings.

This mind dwells, is established, in the heart, for, it is in the heart that it is to be found and realized13.

This mind is non-aging as it remains [unaltered] in the respective condition during childhood, youth and old age.

It is the speediest [force], for it is said

‘there is nothing speedier than wind; there is nothing swifter than mind’ 14.

May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.

SDS

As a good and clever charioteer drives the horses from all sides with the help of the reins, similarly the mind drives living beings, such as humans, swiftly in all different directions.

Just as the charioteer controls the speedy steeds with reins and keeps them under restraint [so also does the mind].

This mind is established in the heart, impeller towards subjects/objects, free of conditions like the aging process, and is the speediest [force].

May such my mind find favour in the restraint that is identical to auspiciousness.In this mantra there are two similes.

The mind leads a human being perforce towards the object of his attachment and addiction the way a charioteer leads the horses with the reins. It reins them as a charioteer reins the horses.

The foolish ones follow this mind and the wise bring and keep it under control.

This mind is

— the cause of comfort and happiness when purified and source of sorrow when impure, and

—conquered, it grants accomplishment and adepthood (siddhi); unconquered, it generates failure.

It well behooves human beings to bring and keep this mind under their control.

KHILA-SUKTA 7-26

The five, fifty, hundred, thousand, million, billion are the bricks of the fire altar that the body is composed of. It is all of the mind. May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.   -7

This great Person, of the solar hue, beyond darkness I do know; The wise ones who see its womb and origin do so with the mind. May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.   -8

Wherewith the wise and learned move in their acts by speech, mind or action and point in the direction of one’s self that the living beings follow; may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.   -9

The shining ones, devas, who cause the resolves in my heart and mind and shape the sky of my inner vision in manifold ways; they who circulate in my ears and eyes, they are of the mind. May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.   -10

The one whom the wisdom-endowed ones, seers and poets (kavis), purify, and reveal this moon that is verily an expansive creator and ordainer, along with the moving and unmoving entities and heaven and space, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -11

By which the awesome heaven, earth and sky of inner vision is filled, and by which mountains, quarters and sub-quarters are all pervaded, and so, too, all this fully knowing world, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -12

Unmanifest, immeasurable, transcending beyond manifest and unmanifest   Shiva, to be known as subtler than the subtle, May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -13

On the charming peak of Kailasha15 mountain is the home temple of the Peace-creator Shiva; gods rejoice in that. May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -14

Of the solar hue, burning with ascetic splendour, that which you see in the caves as you are born; of Shiva-form, the risen Shiva, the temple of Shiva. May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.- 15

Whereby all this that is of the world came into being, the knower of all things, even of the great gods; that which is the single foremost light of ascetic endeavour — may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -16

The half-lotus16  that is beloved of the cattle, wealth, long life-span, power, progeny, animals – may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -17

The one that is recited soundless in all the Vedas, non-pierceable self (atman), may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.-18

That which is gayatri in Vedas and elsewhere, all-pervading great God, that is spoken when known, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.-19

Om in which prana is fully controlled, that same Om that is the great God, who is all, whose is all, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -20

The one who knows the great God, Om the highest of Persons, Om the Supreme Self, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.-21

Om, with four arms, patron of all worlds, Spirit dwelling on Waters (naaraayaNa), stable and still in all, having entered all, pervading all, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -22

That is Brahmaa (the creator) beyond the beyond; that is all-carrying Vishnu (preserver) beyond the beyond; that knowledge is beyond the beyond. May such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -23

Children of God (brahmaNas) who always recite this Shiva-sankalpa hymn, whereby they will attain the highest liberation, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -24

‘Is’, ‘is not’ – upon sleeping all this vanishes, and yet again is seen certain as before;

‘is’, ‘is not’ – the middle state is the beneficial one. [Wherewith this is realized], may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts.-25.

‘Is’, ‘is not’ — this is contrary disputation;

‘Is’, ‘is not’ — all this is indeed a secret concealed in the cave;‘Is’,

‘is not’ – that which is beyond the beyond— whereby this is realized, may such my mind be of beautiful and divine resolves, filled with Shiva-thoughts. -26

Editor’s Notes

1The meaning of ‘shiva-sankalpa’ will become clear as one reads the presentations below. A sukta is a hymn in the Vedas that may consist of whatever number of mantras, like stanzas of a Psalm. The word sukta is not used for post-Vedic hymns for which the word is stotra.

2 The commentators are not sectarian as regard to their school of philosophy. ‘Self as consciousness’ is Vedantic terminology, ‘purusha’ is from Sankhya.

3 Acharya Sayana’s quotation reads anando bhavaty… (becomes bliss) whereas the contemporary published text reads anandy eva bhavaty… (becomes only blissful).

4One of the six systems of Indian philosophy.

5The preceding and following paragraphs explain the meaning of shiva-sankalpa.

6Sva-stha, the term commonly used for ‘healthy’, has this verb root meaning, self-stabilized, dwelling in one’s true nature.

7The same long explanation of this phrase that was given in the first mantra is to be repeated here; to be read again for contemplation in the context of this second mantra and each subsequent mantra.

8Upasana (pronounced upaasanaa) is the highest, deepest of the three levels of worship, viz, (a) stuti, hymnal or other praise, (b) prarthana (pronounced praarthanaa), prayer, and (c) upasana, translated here as realizational worship, literally means the devotee being in a state of consciousness of ‘sitting close and near to the divinity’ in a direct experience of the presence, a realization, the Deity becoming real to oneself.

9The word dhrti is consistently translated by Shankaracharya in his commentaries as : an inner self-sustaining power in us that when the strength of one’s senses is almost totally depleted, one still calls upon this power to resuscitate oneself. Since the source of this power is in the mind and the power is an effect of the two, the cause and effect, are identified with each other.

10The commentators who were also experts at Vedic ritual often limited their translations to ‘yajnika’ (ritualistic) references and frequently ignored the ‘adhyatmika’, spiritual interpretations of greater depth. They speak of this sacrament of seven priests as the agniShToma fire rite in which the soma juice is pressed according to the ritual and liturgy prescribed. From the point of a yogin translating the current hymn, the seven priests are the seven energy fields within oneself.

11A yogin is often referred to as tri-kaala-jna or tri-kaala-darshin, one who can see beyond the present into all three divisions of time.

12According to the commentators, ‘human’ in the original is only a synecdote to include all living beings.

13This refers to special meditation practices whereby the nature of mind is realized by a yogin.

14The reference for this quotation has not been found : na cha vaataat kim-chanaasheeyo’sti na manasah kim-chanaasheeyo’sti.

15A mountain in Tibet sacred to four religions. Here, however, following the tradition of yogins, the highest centre of consciousness, the abode of Shiva.

16The suggestion seems to be towards the unpronounced, unrecited, inaudible soundless sound of the half-mora of OM.

First Results of Three Years in the Practice of Yoga Nidra

Posted on by ahymsin

 

I PRIMI RISULTATI DELLA PRATICA DI YOGA NIDRA NEL TRIENNIO 2007-2010—inizio 15/16 febbraio 2010
di Riccardo Valdettaro

My psycho-physical condition:

When I was born my head got stuck in my mother’s cervix and for a while I could not breathe. I had a high fever after the birth. The doctors called this status Cerebral Palsy.

 

Cerebral refers to the affected area of the brain, the cerebrum (however the centres had not been perfectly localized and the disorder most likely involves connections between the cortex and other parts of the brainsuch as the cerebellum).  Palsy refers to disorder of movement.

CP is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the young developing brain . It is a non-progressive disorder, which means that the brain damage does not worsen, but secondary orthopaedic difficulties can appear with time.

There is no known cure for CP. Medical intervention is limited to the treatment and prevention of complications arising from the effectsof this sickness.

Before telling you my practice and what I have obtained from it, I want to write down the theory upon which my sadhana is based on and which I am practicing 24 fours a day, which is the sadhana that I have started in the beginning of the year, 2007, joining the Himalayan Institute of Italy here in Florence.

THE THEORY OF MY SADHANA

First of all I shall describe the important points of my program and then I shall go into what I have gotten from them.

1) Sit in meditation every day, at the same hour, to create new models, new grooves or habits in the mind. This is done by substituting one thought and one samskara at a time(aggiunto 07.02.2010)

 

2) Practice self-inquiry with oneself inside one’s mind, daily. It should be a Self-dialog.

 

3) Develop a steady posture for meditation, still, firm and comfortable.

 

4) Learn to breathe serenely, with no jerk and, in due time, without a break.

 

5) Develop a way of cultivating a sankalpa or determination. In doing yoga, the first aspect to realize is full discipline to your practice, which brings you inevitably to the consolidation of your will. Before doing anything, you should form a conviction that you shall do it, that you have to do it, that you are going to do it, and that you can do it. This creates determination, and this point is very important in my, and I think in everybody’s, daily life, and not only when one practices.

 

6) Learn to let go of every thought that gets into your mind and distracts you: it should not stay there. You should not think over and over on the same thought in particular, either if it is good or bad. You see, if you prick yourself with a needle, it hurts. But if you don’t keep on thinking ithurts, the feeling will not be there. And this method you can use with bigger body injuries, mental woes etc.

 

7) This is examination of your thoughts, called self-inquiry. This means to observe which are one’s thoughts and determine whether to keep on them or not. The yogic manuals talk of aklishta and klishta thoughts. The first one is useful and the second one is not useful, but is harmful. You have to examine your thoughts to determinate which ones help you and which are to be eliminated.

 

8) After self-inquiry, the next practice is witnessing. When you have learned to witness worldly things, in the moment you do not identify yourself with them, you are then at an advanced stage on the path of yoga.

 

I’m putting in this excerpt to inspire myself for an eventual goal in life:

EXCERPT FROM A LIFE OF A YOGI

(I PUT THIS EXCERPT TO GIVE HOPE TO THOSE WHO LIKE ME PRACTICE YOGA NOT ONLY FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF THE SELF. IT IS FROM THE LIFE OF RAMANA MAHARSHI)

“But it was not only submission to regulations; it was submission to all the conditions of life and to pain and sickness which taught us silently that pain cannot disturb the equanimity of one who abides in the Self. Throughout the long and painful sickness that finally killed his body, he submitted loyally, one after another, to the doctors who were put in charge, never complaining, never asking for a change of treatment. If ever there was any inclination to try a different treatment, it was only sothat those who recommended it should not be disappointed: and even then it was made dependent on the consent of the Ashram authorities. If there is a tendency today to regard submission as spiritless, it is only because egoism is regarded as natural. In itself, but for the Grace of Bhagavan, it would be the most inaccessible to modern man on account of its very simplicity and directness; and yet it is the most accessible, and in many cases the only accessible path, from the contingent point of view, since, because of its very directness, it requires no ritual or forms of worship, no priesthood or congregation, no outer signs or special observances, but can be practiced in the workshop or kitchen or city office as well as in the monastery or hermitage.”

“In the same impersonal way a man can attend to all the affairs of life, knowing that he, the real Self, is unaffected by them; and every attack of greed, anger or desire can be dispelled by self-inquiry, vichara. It must be dispelled, because it is no use repeating that one is the Self andacting as though one were the ego. Real, even partial, awareness of the Self weakens egotism: egotism, whether expressed as vanity, greed or desire, is a proof that recognition of the Self is merely mental.”

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MY SADHANA

The above stages, which are the groundings of beginning Yoga Practice constitute the basis of my sadhana, which I started the beginning of 2007 at the Himalayan Institute of Florence in Italy.

I think it is useful to go into some details: I started like everybody starts trying to sit still, trying to breathe continuously, in-breath, out-breath, etc. taking care to watch the touch of the air at the larger, moist, lower nostrils to begin to focus my awareness on the gift that life gives us all,breath.

In the beginning my sickness would not let me sit still. Above all, it was my left foot and my left hand and arm which would not let me put my attention on the practice. The more I wanted to sit still, the more they designed chaotic dystonic figures in the air. The left side of the body ached, due to my silliness to force the body to sit still. And, moreover, I had a shallow breath which made my anxiety grow more than it normally was.

When I was a small boy I always was afraid of other people, even in my own family. This anxiety grew deep inside, so even now there is an unconscious fear when I try to do my daily meditation which comes out again.

The following exercise was even more difficult. Introducing in the breath awareness the universal mantra soham, the mantra that is given to beginners which mimes breath (“ham” when one exhales, “so” when one inhales), the first thing that happened was that I started gasping.

Again I made the silly mistake to force the practice, until I was too tired to go on.

In the first three months my practice lasted no more than ten to twelve minutes.

But I had one thing on my side, my sankalpa!  I DID NOT GIVE UP! And I repeated it more and more “I DON’T WANT TO GIVE UP AND I SHALL NOT GIVE UP!”
This is the philosophical basis to my still young sadhana which will bring you very, but very far in whichever your goal in Yoga is, be it kaivalya, be it samprajnata samadhi, or what else.

But I had some luck: I literally fell in love with a yoga practice, yoga-nidra. I read something about it, but the important thing was that I bought a good CD, which dictates the practice, and immediately started practicing. I found and thought “this must be my main practice” and so I did it night and day, sitting, lying on the floor or when it was cold at night in my straight bed.

 

I won’t go into the details of the practice, because every good teacher should know it. But only two words I shall say: In the beginning the practice seems like a very long shavasana, and “in some way at the very beginning” it is: it is a relaxation practice,  at a first glimpse. The impression is not exact, because one very soon finds out with the 61 point practice, the shithili karana, (or relaxation through breathing with the whole body, which is a very effective technique to relax the body from the crown of the head to the toes), are techniques which go many steps further than shavasana, in one way, and turn out to be a very different practice, in another way.

It is pratyahara.

The essential point is that it is very easy to fall asleep. In yoga nidra one should not fall asleep, but rather remain in a deep sleep while completely awake! It is a “conscious rest”, which the raw theory says is a sister to Meditation.

They say “it is one level below samadhi”. That is why it has many levels and if one has never been in samadhi, like the writer, when one has a glimpse into it, i.e. yoga nidra, it sure is a wonderful experience!

The yoga nidra practice started giving me positive results doing it.

First of all, the left side of the body slowly began to quiet down, as did the dystonic movements. Then, within the time of about one year, I started sleeping less, a gain of 4 four more waking hours. I was amazed and literally out of myself with joy!

Now, when I do svadhyaya, either studying scriptures or doing japa of my mantra, sometimes I just forget that I have a lame body!

My sankalpa, which is to ever refine the practice of yoga nidra with the help of God and Guru, has been the most important thing I ever did, because it empowers ever so much my activity in my whole life, and I’m learning to use it daily for a wide variety of actions, obviously changing it duly.

My goal is to teach this practice to pregnant women who expect a baby who is sick like me or, who is perfectly in good health, so that baby may lead a better life, either practicing yoga (that would be great, starting practice at a few months of life!) or not!

 

THIS SADHANA WENT ON UNTIL WHAT COMES NOW. THAT IS TO SAY FROM NOW ON I MAY USE THE SADHANA THAT FOLLOWS

27 January 2010

UPGRADE OF MY SADHANA BY DR. STOMA PARKER

Today STOMA came to my place and we put together the following sadhana. It is going to be followed, as this self-dialog will witness, until it will be changed.

To begin with, what is written below is my sadhana where

1. “Y N Meditation 2” is my daily meditation. It shall be soon established at what time and how many times it shall be done. It is a meditation done by Swamiji Veda Bharati which “in a way” talks about the yoga nidra practice to yourself, making the practice interiorized.

2. Y N Practice as below:Yoga Nidra Practice—before you begin, resolve in your mind not to sleep. If you do fall asleep, just stop the exercise and return to it the next day. (Don’t labor away at trying not to sleep.)-Regular relaxation exercise to begin. -61 points-shithili-karana  (point-to-point breathing).-Breath awareness at ajna-chakra (5-10 breaths), vishuddha-chakra (5-10 breaths), then sink your awareness into anahata-chakra with no object of concentration (no thought, no mantra), just feeling the breath, until the body heaves (to heave = emettere un sospiro di pieno rilassamento = to emit a breath of deep and full relaxation that happens involuntarily) a spontaneous sigh. That is your signal that you are finished.

CONTEMPLATION

So’ham, “I am That,” is almost the same as aham brahmasmi, “I am Brahman.”

 

3. Physical sadhana:
-treadmill-mental joints and glands-whatever mental postures you want to try and that feel good and helpful-where it is difficult to feel inside parts of the body (e.g. in your hands), use anatomical diagrams to create a visual map and then practice extending feeling into the visual map. With your hands, put the latex glove on, contemplate the feeling of wearing the glove and then visualize wearing your body with a similar feeling. You could even practice drawing the visual map on the surface of the glove.-japa of my mantra in which I was initiated in the Himalayan Tradition, whose Sadguru is Swami Rama, on the 22 October 2007 by Swamiji Veda Bharati.

-Two words about atma-tattva-avaloklanam:  “Do it!!” Practice trying to feel the being that you share even with inanimate objects. (Also other people.) Do this especially when your mind is still and peaceful, e.g. after a period of meditation or yoga-nidra practice. The sign that the awareness is coming is a fine, subtle sense of joyfulness that rises in your mind.

 

Journal exercises:

-Consider writing some of the dialogues with your mind. (Where criticism of self or others is an issue, look at the website of Byron Katie, (www.byronkatie.com   – just Google it.)

Make sure to note each day at least one moment of beauty, joy or wonder that struck you so that you cultivate the habit of seeing beauty in addition to problems.

Track the results of your visualization experiments with relaxation and also with japa.

 

-End of the sadhana for the coming period

 

***

 

Editor’s note: Himalayan Yoga Institute Italia in Florence is an AHYMSIN affiliated center.  This is their website: http://www.himalayaninstitute.it/

 

Now after Years of Yoga Nidra, I Am Moved from Inside

Posted on by ahymsin

The writer of this letter to Swamiji has generously offered to share it with you.

Dear Swamiji,

My illness started in Malaysia in 2005 with sight problems including double vision.  In November I was accompanying my son to Singapore by bus when I suddenly became paralyzed from head to toe. I could neither walk nor move my arms; I could hardly swallow and barely breathe. At the same time I suffered terrible muscular cramps. We were close to Malacca, and the bus made an urgent detour to take me to Hospital for Emergency treatment.

I was diagnosed with an auto-immune illness – Myasthenia Gravis. My return to Kuala Lumpur marked the beginning of a long period of hospitalization, as I did not respond well to the standard treatment for this kind of illness. My condition deteriorated, and after several months in hospital, it was decided that I should be “medevac’d” to France for treatment. I left my family for several more months. In France, a course of intravenous immunoglobulin treatment relieved the symptoms sufficiently for me to be able to return to Malaysia. This treatment continued until the following summer when my condition deteriorated again.  I spent most of my time in bed between long hospital stays. Wheelchair-bound, I could no longer read.

In June of 2006 I was hospitalized again in Paris and treated by one of the best known French Professors who decided to perform a plasma exchange to treat my respiratory insufficiency. After several transfusions my condition improved and I could walk normally, though the muscular cramps remained. This improvement lasted for a month, during which time I regained 70% of my strength. It was necessary, however, to repeat the transfusions regularly – at first every month, then every two or three weeks. I returned to Malaysia, where I had to travel to Singapore regularly for the plasma exchange treatment. During the long hours of immobility, I fought in my mind against the disease and tried to accept this change in my condition, but I was full of rancour and rage, at conflict with everyone. I envied all those who could walk, run, swim, etc….At this time I started to listen to Tibetan chants and this calmed me. I would spend hours just listening to the chanting of the monks; I believe that I was already meditating without knowing it. I underwent regular transfusions, and had an external catheter implanted in my jugular vein. This lasted four months until I suffered septic shock during a plasma exchange. This sort of brutal septicemia is often fatal – in the few minutes of consciousness at the beginning of the path to death, images from my life passed by; I was calm and serene, without fear, in spite of terrible pain in my kidneys, and the panic all around me. I died for the first time, and then had the joy of awakening a few days later in intensive care, where I remained for three weeks. I knew that I was no longer the same person, that I no longer feared death. It was as though I was depersonalized. From here onwards I could be treated without the slightest resistance on my part; I could hardly feel pain. I had become detached. I still needed to have a catheter inserted in the femoral vein for each plasma exchange, but I could now concentrate naturally on my breathing.

After 18 months I was still fighting my illness, unprepared to yield; I hated and detested it for ruining my life. It was then that my doctors discovered that I had ovarian cysts and a huge fibroid in my uterus. On account of my immune deficiency, the doctors decided to perform a total hysterectomy to avoid possible cancerous complications. The operation was successful, but a morphine injection, to avoid too much pain, triggered respiratory problems and once more I was put on artificial respiration. Gasping for air, I could feel myself slipping away again. On awakening I found it difficult to adjust my respiration to the rhythm of the machine; so once again I focused on my breathing and let myself adapt. Once on my feet again, I practiced these breathing exercises regularly. A friend introduced me to the work of Eckhart Tolle, and after listening a few times, things started to make sense to me.

Two months after the operation and long sessions of chemotherapy, the stitches had dissolved but the scar was still weak, which led to disaster. One night I was awoken by a terrible pain in my bowels; I went to the toilet and expelled 3 meters of my intestines. The pain was indescribable and the shock unbearable. As we lived in a cul-de-sac and the ambulance could not find the house, my husband decided to drive me to hospital. I needed to go downstairs, disemboweled, covered in blood with incredible pain. I managed to find the strength to do it – survival instinct – and I lay down in the back seat of the car. Every bump in the road was agony; at the hospital the doctors could not operate until they had contacted the neurologist to know which anesthetics could be used. I remained seven hours in pain.

On awakening, I was in shock, I could hardly communicate, I saw things as if through a camera – no sound, unable to focus – I felt disconnected from the world around me. After one month of depression, and considering suicide, a friend introduced me to Shilpa [Ghatalia]. With her I could talk about what had happened in detail. She spoke to me of the explosion and total loss of the ego, and of distancing oneself from the body. I realized that I was not what I had seen that night. I started to learn yoga nidra, and together we shared three sessions a week for nearly two years. I also practiced alone using a recording of one of your guided meditations. From this point onwards, whenever I was bedbound – I spent my time in meditation. With Shilpa I learned the Buteyko respiration technique. My life was now a long sequence of meditation and breathing exercises. I had given up all combat with my illness – I have made my peace with it – I accept it. As if I took it by the hand and said “let’s see where our paths take us together…..” I accept my hours of paralysis, my treatment, the physical pain, as I still suffer from persistent cramps day and night. I had stopped comparing myself to others, and I no longer envied them. Then my second son was diagnosed with two bone tumours – new shock – after an operation the first tumour was found to be benign. I felt like I was on a swing: thoughts returned, then I found the state of consciousness again, and each time it lasted longer and longer.

In 2008 we moved to Japan; I could not find a yoga nidra teacher, but I started to learn Reiki and Mindfullness. I believe that at this time I was completely detached from my body.  I tried to take care of it; it lived with the blood of others, and I was grateful (and not bothered) about that.

Your voice, Swamiji, and yoga nidra, have not only saved me, but have allowed me to be born again.

Then I started a new life: a life of complete consciousness. My illness is hardly perceptible; I hardly ever talk about it. I have two perpendicular lives – one horizontal and one active. I can walk almost normally, even with my cramps. When I have to lie down, I meditate and practice yoga nidra. When I’m up and about, I forget my cramps, and I rejoice in the moment. I feel so liberated that I almost thank my illness for having opened my eyes. I no longer think of the future, and I no longer look back at my life before. Forty-five minutes of yoga nidra with you gives me more energy than one of the three hour siestas I needed to take every afternoon. Over the years, I have heard you thousands of times, many times each day. I have found that by practicing yoga nidra before having a catheter implanted, I can hardly feel any pain. This is a wonderful preparation for plasma exchanges which can last several hours, as they become more and more difficult. I no longer dream – no more nightmares after the transfusions – I hardly think, or I choose my thoughts. I am no longer sick; only my body remains sick. I feel stronger than when I was healthy, not necessarily « happy » to be sick, but I feel so peaceful and serene. I have found the very tiny piece of gold we all have in ourselves.  I feel indestructible and my gold is permanent. Illness makes you become lonely; I was alone facing death, suffering, pain and sadness even though I had a lot of support. We are lonely when illness hits us though we learn how to dip deeply inside of us, far very far away. We dig tunnels and caves inside our soul like miners, and we get out just like them so dirty, black, lost but with a little tiny piece of gold in our mind that we would like to share, we don’t want to keep it just for us, we didn’t do so much work for only our self, we forget about our self because we discovered that our self was not the one we thought.

When I look at Mt Fuji, this is the tiny piece of gold that I was talking about that I can see, ME. Contemplation, pure contemplation, the key for peace and wisdom. I had a lot of abilities in the past to recognize a shrub or a tree or a flower, I knew all their names because I loved gardening and it was passion for me. Now, even if I still know to name them I don’t need to identify or put a name when I look at them I just see them.

Regarding the phrase: “I think, therefore I am” which no longer has meaning for me. I would say now: “I stopped thinking, therefore I am”.

I worked very hard on my cramps, try to find the way to not feel them anymore and try to use them. With the yoga nidra, discovering pain is stuck energy and it is possible to absorb and relief this energy into the all body. If I used to do meditation to not feel the pain, that is a different approach; we can be able to conduct the bad energy (pain) through your body and transform it in good energy.  If I still have the cramps, cannot sleep, etc… I enter very quickly in meditation when I wake up and I am able to see my body (like a Da Vinci drawing) from the top and now also able to locate the pain and act on it with my breath; it is like inhaling the pain. It is shorter than the duration of a cramp so the pain is going away quickly. During the surgery I can remain a witness; I watch the pain, so conscious that I understand exactly how pain works, how it takes over the mind, and the different paths it takes. Everything is clear to me now, whether it is emotions or ego or life or illness, or, of course, death. The most difficult and pernicious step is to overcome the resistance which we put up to suffering, to illness, to life and to death. It is essential to accept everything and to let go, to welcome this transformed life and to adapt to it. We must let the pain invade us to be able to respond to it, and to offer no resistance – to tame it.

During a deep yoga nidra relaxation, I can feel my body falling, the way you are falling from the balcony, sometimes I don’t breathe anymore and probably my heart stopped for a few seconds. I am like a dead body for a few seconds. After I stay in meditation and have such beautiful pictures, colors, faces appearing to me etc… I cannot move my body anymore for a long time with a kind of dead body.

Practicing so many times like that, I had plenty of time to meditate on emotion and pain. I experienced that emotions are not only the reaction of the physical body, but also the interpretation of them, and if with meditation we cannot control the reaction of the body, we certainly control the interpretation – then we can minimize the reaction of the body. It is what happens with the pain; in fact, if we think in advance that we are going to have pain we will have pain, and then if we feel the pain and let the mind be invaded by the pain, it will increase the pain; it is the same with emotions. For me, thoughts are resulting from emotions; thoughts are the sentiments, interpretations of the emotion by the mental and the ego. When we distance ourselves from our mental and our ego, there are no more interpretations/sentiments. In fact, there are, but we are not touched by them like we used to be in the past; we stay intact because we just look at them. We confuse sentiments and emotions; we think that sentiments are coming from the heart, but they are purely interpretations from the mind/mental/ego to an emotion coming from the heart. We develop these interpretations through the thoughts and then encourage, amplify and aggravate the emotions through them and increase their consequences. Then we think having sentiments is love but this is not. We THINK we have sentiments and sometimes let them take  control of the mind, the ego, and even the heart if we allow them to grow.  But maybe I am wrong.  When we no longer identify with the ego, the body and the mind, we can see emotions clearly. Why? Because they are coming up, not from the body, not from the mind, not from the ego, they are coming from the being, our self, deep-self, and I think this is our HEART. Then the emotions are pure, so pure. And they are so powerful, so big, so unbelievable, so amazing that we can only cry and smile in the same time. Because these emotions are touching OUR SELF so strongly that nothing can be so beautiful. Here is coming up the real LOVE. When we enter deeply in meditation, body is dead, mind is dead, ego is dead, only pure emotion is coming up and provokes total PEACE, opens the real LOVE, as we are in mindfulness and this is exactly the same when you experience DEATH.

At the beginning, being sick is like being in front of the Himalayas, suffering all the tempests, clouds, rain and snow, austerity, but not able to see them. Then one day they just appear and we look at them all the time in total contemplation.

Now after years of yoga nidra, I am moved from the inside not from my muscles. Now there is nothing I would like to change, not even my illness, for it brought me to the path. When I wake up in the morning, I do not ask myself where I feel pain, I just ask myself how I feel inside and every day is a beautiful day.

No more pretentions of knowledge, the further I go, the more I lose this pretention of knowledge… The more I get empty, the more I feel full. Thoughts and knowledge are keeping us away from our real self.

Treatments are approximate; we never know how long they are going to be efficient, but they give us relief. Being sick is an art and illness is driving the dance; we just need to adapt our rhythm to it. I never think that anybody gives up during an illness. I just think we realize our boundary, borders, we learn how to adapt, finally we accept. I am not trying anymore to cure my illness. I do not want to suffer anymore by trying to reach a different state. I have no more hope. I am just happy where I am and as I am.

For two years now I have been working with an association for the homeless in Yokohama. We distribute food and try to encourage them to join the association which can help them. From my contact with them, there is one thing that I have learnt. We are not separated from other people – others are us. In other people, there is necessarily a part of us, something “good” or “bad”, fragile or a suffering which cannot pass and which makes them unpleasant, aggressive or unhappy.  So they transport an open wound which infects those around them. I learnt this from watching them, through them. It is hard to imagine how similar to us they are, apart from the odor the filth and their despair. They resemble us with our weaknesses and fragilities, but inside the gold remains, intact, and if we get to glimpse this gold, these people seem to be our own reflection. It is an unbelievable observation. So we forget their appearance, their smell, as now we can only see the gold, the love they can still give and the appreciation – not for a bowl of soup, but for having been able to see through to the gold. And it is so important for them to understand through compassion that we are capable of seeing the gold. This all takes place in a glance, no need to speak the language. From this experience, I move on with even greater determination to share in my heart. This experience was important for me, and I shall continue. It is as though the more one gives, the more one receives, and I move on enhanced. Not by pride, that is behind me, but because I feel in perfect harmony with them, as if they were me without the good fortune that I have had. In perfect compassion with them.

The plan for me is to return to France next year. I think I am ready to work with very sick people in palliative centers, to help them to accept their illness and to die in peace.

Here is my testimony, Dear Swamiji, I feel sorry about my English. Sorry also because I haven’t been able to write a shortest one and it may be boring to read. Before you met me, you didn’t know that through Shilpa and through the Yoga Nidra, you saved me.  You allowed me to meet you in Narita where you gave me a big part of your precious time.  I was moved immensely when you spoke to my ear as your voice permitted me to survive during all these years.

I feel so grateful for the time I spent with you; the retreat has been tremendous.  I promise you I will take care of my Mantra. I already memorized it totally and I will keep it as it is one of the best gift I ever  received in my life.

With all my love, I wish you all the best.

 

Take care; I hope we will meet again very soon.

 

Hélène

Holi Washes, Holi Wishes – February 2010

Posted on by ahymsin

My Remembrances of Holi

Today is the big HOLI. If yesterday was little Holi, then what!? SVB even played! My hair is still green. Forget oil–It doesn’t work. You need vaseline as our wise predecessors warned us years back—and red stuff came out of my ears when I washed today. The birds are calling but the playful voices, pot-banging and makeshift drums won’t resume until after morning practice.

My memories of Holi are sweet. It is not just pranks and irreverence. It is a mending of all rifts. When you come to India for Holi be sure to bring some old clothes you do not mind spoiling or buy something really cheap and ugly in the bazaar beforehand. I bought a water pistol in town at Anshal Store that makes a very fine stream,  but if memory serves, some of our young scamps use buckets and really huge water torches to vault the streams of colored water at you.

Holi Washes (Among my fondest Holi memories):

Eric Ness in clashing plaids showering his blessings from on high with yellow wash. Strategic location?  The front balcony of the 2nd floor main building. Looking up, one saw a colleague creep up behind him with a bucket of blue? green? red?

Receiving word from my fortress that my son, 6 ‘ 5″ Isaac, had come running from nowhere like a bat out of hell onto the main battlefield with an eentsy teentsy water pistol squirting behind people’s ears. He ended up rolling in the mud with 2 big Punjabis.

Kai Blilie & Company all a fountain of color and cheer!Surendra, Harshanand, Tajvir and the guys all playing hard but with love—never meanTejaswini in full regalia wearing Holi splashes with love and good cheer—every color up to the inevitable gray-greenMarilou Hermens dabbing and painting your face with Holi smiles

SVB

Some big guys tried to take away my fat toy water pistol, but in the end, it went to Sunakshi, Tajvir’s and Sunita’s little girl. She handed me her little water tube as if to say “trade with you?” and I was persuaded.

Ma Radha is in her 90-day silence with Swami Nitya at Sadhana Mandir and will undoubtedly stay clean and dry –but for all that samagree and ghee.Jean Chu is holed up in silence and will not come out though she was at the bonfire last night. No one dropped a spot of color on her. Silence badged people are out of bounds. Do you think I might don a silence badge to avert disaster? Nawwww.

Holi Wishes:

I wish the Humes, the Blilies, Sonia and Koos from Holland, Shauna, Priya and Tarik, Idriss-&-Co-so-close-and-yet-so-far and oh so many other friends were here to play Holi. In particular, if I had my fairy godmother wishes, I would have all of the above friends present at Holi as well as the full contingents from Minneapolis, Taiwan and Italy. Hungary would be required to attend.

The most fun of the whole day was the generosity at the very end, riding on the back of JP’s motorcycle to Ma Ganga, washing off, and then flying back, almost no hands, with Vivek on his motorcycle. Walking from the Ganges through the Sadhana Mandir gardens was another world. No signs of Holi. Just peace.

For more on Holi, see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi It gives an intriguing history and includes an ancient miniature painting of Krishna playing

Holi!Holi He!

Vows of a Swami: The Sanyasa Ceremony

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

On the day of Shivaratri in 2007, Swami Ritavan took the vows of a Swami. He offers the following reflections of the ceremony.

Nandi Shraddha (offerings that bring happiness) is performed in preparation for the actual renunciation ceremony. First, the blessings and the presence of all the great sages of the past from whom the true spiritual tradition proceeds are invoked.  Then, as in all the cultures of Asia, honor of one’s ancestors is performed by placing little ritual offerings in their names.

For the sanyasa ceremony, Nandi Shraddha is unique because it is performed for one’s own self.  Atmane namah; one’s own self has died and one commemorates that death of one’s own.  The ceremony one would perform for one’s father after he dies, is performed for oneself.  One’s own self has died.

First thing in the morning, one gets up and takes a bath.   Then the head is shaved and Nandi Shraddha is performed.  During the ceremony there are a number of fire offerings into which are offered the body, bones, skin, all the seven constituents of the physical; svaha, it is no more mine. Jyotiham viraja vipatmam bhusam, may I become a being of light, free of dust, free of stain.  I have made this offering of myself.  My prana, apana, vyana, samana, udhana, all my pranas and so each one of these subtler and yet subtler constituents of one’s own being are offered as though they are burnt like a cremation.  In the physical cremation, only the physical body is burned. Here, symbolically, one burns all psycho-emotional and psycho-spiritual identities.

Then one merges with the Gayatri, the mantra.

 Jyotiraham viraja vipapma bhuyasam.

Om bhuvah savitrim pravishami.

Om bhuh sanyastam maya.

Om bhuvah sanyastam maya.

Om svah sanyastam maya.

Om abhayam sarvabhutesha mattah.

Om bhuvah savitrim pravishami, previously one was separate from the mantra.  Now the renunciate enters the mantra, becomes one with the mantra, becomes the walking mantra. Then he stands and he mutters first to himself Om bhuh sanyastam maya, Om bhuvah sanyastam maya, Om svah sanyastam maya. Then he says it a little bit out loud, then he loudly and boldly announces to the world. “I’ve renounced the lower the world.  I’ve renounced the middle world.  I’ve renounced the celestial world.  Abhayam sarvabhutesha mattaha, I grant reassurance to all living beings.  May they not fear me.  I am no more a danger to any living being.” This is a vital part of renunciation.

Then the renunciate, guru, priests and witnesses contemplatively walk to the Ganga for the essential part of the ceremony – the submersion or baptism by taking a dip.  As the renunciates are taking the dip, the priests are standing nearby and are reciting what is known as aprati rata sputa, from the Veda.  It is the hymn of an invincible chariot;  the invincible warrior.  After one has given reassurance to all living beings one is taking the vows, the hymn of the invincible warrior is recited because now ones entire battle is inside. One announces to oneself that he/she will be invincible and victorious.  It is the hymn of inner strength.

The same hymn that was recited when the armies were sent to march against an enemy, that hymn is recited at the same time one has given reassurance to all the living beings that one has become a non-violent being. Now, all of one’s war, if any at all, is against one’s own stains.

On the banks of the holy Ganga, the guru gives to the disciple a new name. He teaches the new swami one or more of the Great Sentences (Maha vakyas) of Vedanta; this for contemplation on. Monastic robes are given; robes the color of the rising sun. The guru says, “Wherever you walk, you bring peace of the morning, of the light of dawn, the light of the rising sun.”

 The ceremony concludes with the offering to the Vishnu or all-pervading one, which the renunciate has now become one with.  One is the all pervading one; one is no longer separate.   The state of trance at that moment is truly unique.  It is a certain force that carries one’s consciousness to a different state. One is hardly aware of anything outside the body because this body is no longer “you.”  It’s not oneself being worshiped; it is the deity one has now become one with which is being worshiped on the altar of your skull.  The ceremony ends with the receiving of the alms, the biksha.  Because the sanyasi owns nothing, he owns everything.

Editor’s Note:

On February 8th, 2010, Shiva Ratri, at Sadhana Mandir Ashram on the banks of the Ganges, the vows of a Swami were taken by Swami Uttamanand Bharati (formerly Brahmachari Uttamani) and Ma Richa Bharati (formerly Rinnia Pinto).

This is Yoga

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Cease your Yoga, for, cessation (ni-rodha) is yoga.

The Master asked an artisan to shape a hollow globe of crystal, with all the air vacuumed out of it. He placed it in front of a burning worship candle (deepak) and told his disciples to meditate on the fullness of the crystal globe.

This is yoga.

The Master reached up and grabbed a bolt of lightning from thundering, rumbling clouds. He plugged the lightning into the base of a disciple’s spine and said, “Henceforth, be a lightning bolt!”

This is yoga.

The Master dipped his copper goblet (kalasha) in the ocean and filled it. He held the goblet aloft to his disciples and said, “This is the whole ocean; dive into it!”

This is yoga.

The Master drew a single vertical line on a writing board and said to his disciples, “This is all the scripts; now read the scriptures written in all   scripts and learn them by heart!”

This is yoga.

The Master uttered the sound of the letter “a” and said to his disciples, “This is all the languages; now contemplate the scriptures revealed in all languages!”

This is yoga.

The Master taught an advanced mathematics class, wrote the number ‘1’ on a blackboard and said “This is all the numbers; now count to the end and backwards and add, subtract, multiply, divide and work out the square roots, cube roots, decimal points and negative numbers of all possible numbers from this ‘1’ that I have written!”

This is yoga.

The Master marked a point ‘ . ’ on the same blackboard and said to his disciples, “This is all the uncountable myriad universes; enter their inner spaces and explore in freedom”.

This is yoga.

“The Master squeezed a drop of a thousand times concentrated juice of the bitterest herb on the disciple’s tongue and said “Savour and enjoy the sweetest flavour (rasa) masquerading as the bitter.” 

This is yoga.

The Master said, “Cease! (ni-rudhyasva)”.

The Master said, “Harmonize! (sam-aa-dhehi).

This is yoga.

Meditate on the emptiness (shunyataa) of the fullness (poorNataa), on the fullness of emptiness. Have your spine plugged to a lightning bolt. Dive into a drop as in an ocean. Decipher all million scripts in a horizontal or vertical line and read all the scriptures revealed in all the universes. Recite the sound of “a” in a manner of non-reciting (a-japaa) so that all the mantras may become recited. Count all the universes and all the atoms of all those universes by simply saying ‘1’.Explore the expanses unfathomable spaces in the non-magnitudinous dot.  Savour the sweet flavour of a concentrate of the bitterest herb. Then, cease. Harmonize.

This is yoga.

Then the Master said, “None of the above! Or, below!!” – This is turiyaateeta, beyond the fourth state of the consciousness of yoga.

May you unveil in yourself such open mysteries of yoga, dear aspirant of yoga. May your yoga cease to be an aspiration, for, it has now been achieved.

Swami Veda Bharati

Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, Rishikesh

January 2011

In Spanish: Esto es Yoga

Cesen su yoga, pues, el cesar (ni-rodha) es yoga.

El maestro le pidió a un artesano crear un globo vacío de cristal, con todo el aire succionado fuera de él. Lo puso en frente de una vela de veneración (deepak) y le dijo a sus discípulos que mediten sobre lo lleno del globo de cristal.

Esto es yoga.

El maestro alcanzó y cogió un rayo de luz de nubes tormentosas. Puso el rayo en la base de la columna de un discípulo y le dijo “Sé un rayo de luz.”

Esto es yoga.

El maestro recogió agua del océano con su jarrón de cobre (kalasha) hasta que éste estuvo lleno. Le enseñó el jarrón a sus discípulos y dijo: “Este es el océano entero, sumérjanse en él.”

Esto es yoga.

El maestro dibujó una línea vertical en una pizarra y le dijo a sus discípulos: “Estas son todas las escrituras. Ahora lean las palabras en todas las escrituras y apréndanselas de memoria!”

Esto es yoga.

El maestro entonó el sonido de la letra ‘a’ y le dijo a sus discípulos: “Estos son todos los idiomas, ahora contemplen las escrituras reveladas en todos los idiomas!”

Esto es yoga.

El maestro enseñó una clase de matemática avanzada. Escribió el numero ‘1’ en la pizarra y dijo: “Estos son todos los números. Ahora, cuenten hasta el final y de regreso, sumen, resten, multipliquen y dividan. Trabajen las raíces cuadradas, cúbicas, puntos decimales y números negativos de todos los números posibles que parten del ‘1’ que he escrito.

Esto es yoga.

El maestro dibujó un punto ‘.’ en la misma pizarra y le dijo a sus discípulos: “Esto es todos los incontables universos. Entren en los espacios internos de estos universos y exploren la libertad.”

Esto es yoga.

El maestro exprimió una gota de un jugo mil veces concentrado de la hierba más amarga en la lengua de un discípulo y dijo: “Saborea y disfruta el más dulce néctar (rasa) disfrazado en lo amargo.”

Esto es yoga.

El maestro dijo: “Cesen!” (ni-rudhyasva)

El maestro dijo: “Harmonizen!” (sam-aa-dhehi)

Esto es yoga.

Mediten en el vacío (shunyataa) de lo lleno (poorNataa) y en lo lleno de lo vacío. Pongan un rayo de luz en sus columnas vertebrales. Sumérjanse en una gota, como en el océano. Decifren las millones de escrituras existentes en una línea horizontal o vertical y lean todas las escrituras reveladas en todos los universos. Reciten el sonido de ‘a’ sin recitar (a-japaa) para que todos los mantras sean recitados. Cuenten todos los universos y todos los átomos de esos universos simplemente diciendo ‘1.’ Exploren los vastos espacios dentro del insignificante punto. Saboreen el dulce néctar del concentrado de la hierba más amarga. Luego, cesen. Harmonizen.

Esto es yoga.

Luego el maestro dijo: “Nada de lo anteriormente dicho.” Esto es turiyaateeta, más allá del cuarto estado de la conciencia del yoga.”

Descubre en tí estos misterios del yoga, querido aspirante.

Que tu yoga cese de ser una aspiración, pues ahora, ya ha sido logrado.

pūrṇa – āhuti

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पूर्ण – आहुति

pūrṇa – āhuti

The Offering of Completeness, of Perfection Which Is Made with the Mantra

पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते॥

pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ

pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate|

pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya

pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate||

That is pūrṇa; this is pūrṇa.

pūrṇa is taken  from the pūrṇa.

Upon taking pūrṇa from the pūrṇa

what remains, too, is pūrṇa.

The word pūrṇa means filled, fulfilled, complete, perfected, as perfect as God.

“That” always refers to the transcendent and “this” to the tangible material, eminent universe including ourselves.

The definition of infinity recited in the fire ritual is as above.

Planting the Precious Seed – Children and Yoga

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Dearest Family,

Within the last several months a number of members in our global community have made glorious efforts to gather children into their local communities and serve them with the teachings of Gurudev. Swami Veda has communicated that he is very pleased to see these sorts of projects happening all around the globe and would like to encourage all of us to take the initiative to welcome the younger generation into our tradition by offering more children, youth and family based activities in our centers.

As you may already know, Swami Veda is planning to gather all of the children and youth together on Dec. 22-31, 2011, for the International Yoga Youth and Children’s Retreat  in Rishikesh, India. If you haven’t done so already please help spread the word to all “young people” in your local community and offer them continual reminders to plan ahead for this event. With honest effort and intention, starting from now, all children will be able to attend this retreat with Swami Veda Bharati and meet children from The Himalayan Tradition found all around the world!

It is very important that we plant this seed from now and prepare the younger generation, not only to make this pilgrimage to India, but to know how to make the most of their time there, so that they can continue to live and share the teachings with others in the future.

At this time, we are predicting that there will be hundreds of children attending this event, from various countries, speaking many different languages. As you can imagine, there will be quite a diversity of Cultures. Children from various countries will interact very differently with the environment, the adults, and each other etc. Please keep these things in mind while preparing yourselves and your children to attend.

To tentatively reserve your space: https://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/Contact-Us/Events-and-Conferences.html

To read more about this retreat, please visit these links:

https://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/2011-Youth-and-Children-s-Retreat/yoga-youth-and-childrens-retreat-december-2011.html

and

https://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/2011-Youth-and-Children-s-Retreat/2011-yoga-youth-and-childrens-retreat-objectives.html

The cows are here! The cows are here! – October 2009

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cowsThe cows are here! The cows are here! The excitement continued all day Wednesday, October the 28th after Bhagawan Dev, Swami Sukhmit and the new ashram cows arrived here at SRSG after a grueling fifteen hour long journey from Rajasthan. Sadly, the denizens of our newly built luxury Gaushala (cow shed) were not as excited to see us as we were to see them; reluctant, to say the least. It took long hours to get them to leave the truck and almost as long to convince them to walk from the truck to their new home!

Eventually however it was done, and except for two rogue cows who are still at large all were properly welcomed, blessed and given prasad by our beloved Swami Veda. The reverence with which the Ashramites welcomed the arrival of the cows was as if a reverence for “Mother.” The cow is a symbol of the divine mother, representing life and the sustenance of life. Lord Krishna is associated with cows, as two of his names reflect: “Govinda” (finder of cows) and “Gopala” (protector of cows). In Krishna’s aspect as a child, he is often depicted crawling on his hands and knees or dancing, often with butter in his hands. As a mischievous child he was called Makhan Chor (butter swamijiworshipingcowthief).

swamijihugingthecalf

Of course, the cows will fulfil a very practical purpose of providing milk for Swamiji and the ashram. In India, other “products” of the cow are used extensively.

Cow dung is known for its disinfectant and insect repellent qualities and is used to line the floors and walls of mud homes. It is also one of the major fuel sources for households in the villages and rural areas of India. The therapeutic use of cow urine and its use in curing diseases has been highly regarded in India since historic times. Is it any wonder then, that many consider the arrival of the cows as filling a missing element at SRSG; one that was necessary to make our Ashram complete.