Month: February 2014

Prayer used before Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

asya try-ambaka-mantrasya
vamadeva-kahola-vasishtha rshayah
try-ambako devata, anushtup chandah, tryam bijam, bamshaktih, kam kilakam.

Of this try-ambaka mantra, the sages are Vamadeva, Kahola and Vasishta.
try-ambaka is the Deity
Anushtup (of 32 syllables) is the metre.
tryam is the bija, seed word.
bam is the shakti, inherent power.
kam is the kilaka, affirmative force (literally, nailing down as a peg for tethering).

sarvarishta-shantaye: for pacifying all untoward onsets
sarveshta-siddhy-arthe: for fulfilment of desired outcomes
moksha-sadhanarthe: to obtain liberation
jape: in performing the japa

Prayer used before and after the Japa of Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

Asya maha-mrityunjaya japasya phalam (pronounced as aspirated ‘p’, not ‘f’)
Gurave samarpayami. Om tat sat. Brahmarpanam astu .

The fruits (phalam) of this practice are offered to the Guru. Om tat sat.
May the Universal Self be Satisfied

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You may also see

The Science of Mantra and the Study of Mrtyunjaya Mantra by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/swami-veda-bharati/the-science-of-mantra-and-the-study-of-mrtyunjaya-mantra.html
Maha-mṛtyunjaya Mantra by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/swami-veda-bharati/maha-m-tyunjaya-mantra.html

An audio of Swami Veda Bharati reciting Maha-mṛtyunjaya Mantra can be downloaded at
http://ahymsin.org/docs2/mm/SwamiVeda-Reciting-MahaMrtyunjayaMantra.zip

Note: The prayers above are a transcript of a recording of Swami Veda Bharati.

 

Japa is a special science. It is a science of devoting the mind’s energies to a specific goal so that particular divine conscious forces may arise within us and make us their dwelling place. Through which ever deities’ japa you perform, the qualities, the attributes of that devata enters into you. What is a devata? The pictures and images are not the devata. Devas are conscious, living forces. We give them bodies because we project those forms onto them. In the mantra vidya [mantra science], we think of the mantra as the body of the devata. A Devata has two forms, a jyoti form and a nada form. There is the universal conscious sound, the Maha Nada of the cosmos, and certain waves of that cosmos are the mantras. These mantras have been revealed in the “minds” of the rishis. (I am using the word “mind” incorrectly but we are just getting started, and it is the best word I can use at this level without going into a detailed treatment of this very deep topic. Please review my past tapes on the subject of mind.)

In the beginning of reciting a mantra we always remember the rshi of that mantra. For example, the rshi of Gayatri is Vishvamitra to whom the mantra was revealed. Mrtyunjaya mantra is Shiva’s form and will settle people into its ultimate goal, into their ultimate goal: moksha (liberation). You may say that you do not want to think that far about moksha; however, liberation and enlightenment do not come dramatically; they come in tiny little steps. When one knot of your character, of your psychology, is loosened, one small step is taken toward liberation. We are unable to loosen that knot. So a prayer for moksha is a prayer for loosening our immediate knots. In the practice of japa, which mantra should be done, by whom, at what time of life? When we give mantra diksha (mantra initiation) in our tradition the guru has taught the student-initiator (dikshata) to observe the personality and let the mantra be transmitted.

In our tradition mantra becomes the mind’s link with the entire tradition. We call the mantra as though it were a drop of Guru’s mind. It is through the mechanism of the Guru-given mantra that you become linked to the entire guru-parampara. And if you keep strengthening that with japa, the bindu enlarges and slowly begins to cover more and more of your mind. In the Siva Sutras, which is the primary text of the Kashmir Shaivism tradition it says, Chittam Mantram. The entire chitta becomes the mantra. This is a later stage when the entire mind becomes one with that mantra; that is, if the mantra is given in the yoga tradition. In India right now we have many priestly traditions or sectarian traditions. People of a particular sampradhya or sect are given the same mantra. Shrivaisnu are given one kind. Guadia are given a different one. Very few of those who grant those mantras in the sampradhya are yogis. But what yogis do, as our master did, was influence first those leaders and teachers and give them the power so that the mantra would be fruitful. Our master had done that with Christian leaders and with Muslim holy men. He strengthened their power to make that mantra fruitful to their disciples.

The mantra in the yoga tradition is a direct linkage; and it has its own mechanism, its own internal development. And you will find it revealed inside you very, very slowly because you do not have time yet in your present way of life. Then, in addition to your personal mantra, a person may be given personal practices called purashcharanas. You keep your personal mantra, your guru-mantra in your mind while you are walking or whatever, and for a certain period of 3 months, 6 months, or one year, you may do a special practice of Gayatri or Mrtyunjaya called a purashcharanas.

Now also with these mantras, it is better to first be initiated and then afterwards to do these intensive practices. Sometimes when these practices are done collectively, there is a larger affect on the mind. The collective mind settles down and loosens its knots. Those who sit together for meditation will become a family. When you sit together, the field of consciousness is awakened. In this way, minds become part of a single Guru-field; then they find such a quiet link, that without having to speak much they understand each other. That is why I would like to see more collective mantra japa. If I am gone and not present, still you will feel the Guru-link through this regular meditation practice. If you can somehow find time to join in this uniting of the minds, the benefits will not only be spiritual and karmic, but also social, for it is with our minds that we create friendships.

Now in mantra science, as I said, which mantra is given for whom, when, for how long? Now the second consideration is: How? You want the shakti to arise, but you block the shakti by sitting in a unbalanced posture, and so you say that nothing is happening. First consider the simple mechanics to the practice and train the body to sit correctly. After the basic physical mechanism, there is the pranic mechanism, measured in the correct breathing. Then there is the mental mechanism, the process of doing the japa.

Let me tell you one secret about the mind. Modern Western medicine and Western schools of psychology are deficient in understanding mind. Yoga has a very different definition of mind. Mind is an energy field. It is not one single field with one surface. You think that this apparatus by which you think all these different thoughts and constantly produce beta brain waves is the mind. No, this is only the surface level of mind. Mind has many, many, many, many layers. At each progressively deeper layer the mind is of a higher and yet higher frequency. And the way to go into the mind and understand it is through stillness by way of deep relaxation practices. Through relaxation practices you become absolutely still. Then you slowly learn to go into the higher frequency layers of the mind. Those are deeper layers of mind where the mind moves faster. So whatever you put into that layer of mind will move faster. Japa is that kind of a science. It is the science of going into the deeper layers of mind which progressively become of a higher and yet higher frequency. Now please read the Mrtyunjaya Mantra:

Om Tryambakam yajaamahe
Sugandhim pushti vardhanam
Urvaarukamiva bandanaan
Mrityor mukshiiya maamritaat.

The words written to explain the mantra are not the meaning of the mantra. First you must understand the meaning of the word “meaning.” What is the meaning of the word “water”? What is the meaning of the word “jal”? One word is not the meaning of another word. One word cannot be the meaning of another word. That which you taste, that which you put into the mouth, that which quenches the thirst, that object is the meaning of the word. Otherwise is “jal” the word and its meaning is water, for the English speakers? Or is “water” the word and its meaning is jal , for the English speakers? That is why we have a word “padartha.” The meaning of the word is padartha. The absorption of power, the awakening of power, the experiencing of that force, the pacification of the mind, that process and that experience itself is the meaning of the mantra, not the translation. This translation is not the meaning. The meaning will be understood perhaps a hundred incarnations from now. You will become the meaning of that mantra. So for now, this mantra looks only like a prayer.

Now the next thing to remember is that there are two aspects to such a mantra. One is the prayer contained in it, and the other is the vibration. One is the prayer itself, and the other is the vibration of the sound. The sentiment that is in that prayer should become very intense; that is one should work to increase the intensity of the sentiment contained in the prayer translation and the intensity of the concentration on the vibration that is the sound of the mantra. Therefore you do not “do” the mantra; that is, we do not just “say” the mantra; mantra is happening by itself.

The translation I have given here is incomplete, but it will have to do for now. One ancient translator has translated try-ambikarn as “he who is one with that feminine force.” Ambika also means “the eye.” Tryambika, then can mean “one with three eyes.” There is a whole Tantric text on Mrtyunjaya Mantra called Netra Tantra. This mantra is referred to as the netra mantra, “the mantra of the eye.” When a person says, I cannot see my way, why is that? So here you have three eyes to see your way. There are special mantras for the awakening of certain chakras. This mantra is the “three-eye” mantra. So the second meaning is “one with the three eyes.” A third meaning is “he who is one with the Three Mothers (the Three Shaktis).” The Three Shaktis are iccha shakti, jnana shakti, and kriya shakti (the Power of Will, the Power of Knowledge, and the Power of Action). I have explained the relationship of these Three Shaktis with the Five Koshas in previous lectures.

So, the translation would be:

Try-ambakam: “The one with these Three Shaktis :” to him.

Yajamahe: “We make sacrificial offerings.”
Those who make offerings in a religious context perform outer ritual, bahir-anga. Those on the path of a more pure spirituality perform them as antar-anga, inner worship. Our outer forces we burn into our greater higher forces. That is yajamahe, in the process of antar-anga, in the internal yajnas. Because here you are not on the path of religion, you are on the path of yoga.

Su-gandhim: “Our lives become fragrant with meritorious deeds,”
This is one way of looking at this word. You may have heard of fragrances emanating from the body of yogis. One of my first experiences with Baba (Swami Rama) was in 1969 on Divali Day when I first saw him. A few weeks later, we had been invited to the home of Howard Judt, who had sponsored Swamiji’s first trip to Minneapolis. After dinner Swamiji said, “I will give everyone a gift.” We were all excited. He said, “Tell me your favorite fragrance.” Somebody said: “Jasmine.” Somebody said, “Lotus.” Somebody said, “Sandalwood.” He said, “All right, give me your handkerchief.” He put his hand on the handkerchief, and the fragrance was on the handkerchief. He did that for everybody. Mrs. Arya was there and said, “I do not have a handkerchief.” So he touched the corner of her sari, and for 6 months the fragrance was there. A week passed and we had lunch again. This time Sushumna, this body’s daughter, went to Swamiji and said, “I didn’t get any perfume.” So Swamiji took her long hair in his hands and perfumed her hair with his very touch. So this mantra is the mantra for the siddhi of su-gandhi. But don’t waste your time on such a siddhi. How does such a siddhi come? Earlier I said this was a mantra of the Third Eye (Ajna Chakra). The Third Eye also controls the nostrils. But also the abode of su-gandhi is prithivi tattwa, and prithivi tattwa resides in the muladhara chakra. This is also the mantra for awakening the su- gandhi of the prithivi tattwa by awakening the muladhara chakra. That is why I have translated it:

Unto Him who awakens our shakti right from the muluadhara chakra,
thus, activating fragrances in our body, prana and mind.

Every word has a depth. You reach there and there is a further depth; like the ocean, you keep diving. Yet, by only intellectual understanding nothing will happen. There are many of you who as students must study hard using the power of concentration. If you practice a concentration for one-half hour in the morning, then mind becomes concentrated. And not only then. Now I have said something here and you have not understood what I have said. I said, “Mind becomes concentrated,” so you think what you read you will be able to concentrated on. But that is not what I said. I use the term in the sense in which a medicine becomes concentrated, a chemical becomes concentrated, an energy field becomes concentrated. That is how mind becomes concentrated. So in this incomplete explanation, I am giving you an indication of the power hidden in the mantra. So, awakens the shaktis; then

Pushti-vardhanam: “Unto him who nourishes all our shaktis, strengthens and increases our devotion by His grace, and makes us advance into the spiritual dimension.”
There is a story where someone says, “I don’t believe in God.” And the guru said, “Wow, what grace! The word “God” came from your mouth!” So pushti marga is that marga (path) in which one knows that it is only by the grace of God that we remember God. So the problems arise: “I am not growing. I am not increasing, I am being blocked.” Why? Because I have blocked myself by my karma, by the knots of karma in my mind, prana and body. So when grace awakens the shakti and makes your life fragrant and nourishes you, then comes vardhanam. How far can I progress? How far can I increase? As far as moksha (liberation)! You can start by liberating yourself from small karmic knots and reach up to moksha, up to amrita (ambrosia, the elixir of immortality). When the Third Eye begins to become active, one begins to see his way through life.

Urvarukam-iva [bandhanat]: “As a melon drops from the vine upon ripening, so also may we, upon the ripening of the fruits of our actions.”
Not the smallest fruit; the mantra refers to the largest possible fruit, the whole melon, because our karmas are that large and that looming. So even such a big fruit becomes released from bandhanat, from bondage.

Bandhanat, Mrtyoh: “From bondage that is death.”
People live in fear. Every living being has some fear. Fear is the large block. In that there are immediate fears such as someone will steal my money, or take away my job, or this or that. Yet of all these fears there is but one fear – all the fears are part of one fear – that one fear is the fear of dying. What is the death we are afraid of ? Bandhanat-fear is death. The small death we suffer, the small death we fear, that death is our bondage, our knots. And when your knot is opened then you increase and grow. You take the next step because you see the next step. The mantra is for release from bondage.

Mukshiya: “Be released, attain moksha.”

Ma-amrtat: “May I never again be parted from amrta, from the immortality (of Atman, the Spiritual Self, or Parama-Atman, the Supreme Self.”

Now the task is to absorb this meaning, to contemplate it, to make it your goal for one year, maybe for life. Now, if you keep impressing the mantra upon yourself, your personality, everything that is in you, will undergo a change. Certain kinds of thoughts produce certain kinds of diseases, and not only viruses. Certain kinds of thoughts don’t produce disease; they weaken your iccha shakti, otherwise known as immune deficiencies. The mental aspect of the immune deficiencies is weakening the Iccha shakti. The mantra is used more for removing the power of the disease in this indirect way. The primary purpose of mantra is moksha. Some people do japa with these kinds of thoughts. Some have a key to success and others have a key to failure. Some have a key to failure in life: “I am no good; nothing ever happens; nothing succeeds with me; it’s never going to succeed,” and they do the japa of this thought. And the result is that they do not succeed because the mind then becomes fixed in that frame.

But even if people do not all sit in one place to do the japa but they do the japa of the same mantra, it means that at least once a day, the mind of everyone will be alike, will be thinking the same kind of thought.

Answers to questions:

1) Yes, as japa progresses, the need for sleep reduces.

2) Once you start [a purashcharana], do not stop in the middle. If you are very busy and it is your time for japa, at that time sit down and maintain the link even if you repeat the mantra only 11 times. That is the secret of continuity. If you cannot sit for a whole hour, it doesn’t matter. In the olden days we use to set a time that we would complete so many by such and such date, for in those days people sat in the ashram and life was not so busy. But today life is very busy. Now even with a person like me who spends six or eight hours in meditation, life is very busy. Those that work with me know how many centers I take care of, how many people’s inquiries I answer, how many people I meet. Then I do my writing. And then do my meditation. So I find it difficult to set a date for completing a purashcharana.

Fix a time for your japa, or wherever you are maintain the link with mental japa. And now even those who are not going to do the japa, do take the training for sitting in meditation.

 Maha-Mrityunjaya Mantra

Try-ambakam: Unto Him who is One with the three Mothers (the shaktis of will, knowledge and action); the dweller of Ajna and the Sahasrara chakras,

Yajamahe: we offer our very selves in internal sacrifice,

Su-gandhim: Unto Him who awakens our shakti right from the Muladhara chakra, thus activating fragrances in our body, prana and mind,

Pushti-vardhanam: Unto him who nourishes all our shaktis, strengthens and increases our devotion by His grace, and makes us advance into the spiritual dimension,

Urvarukam-iva: As a melon drops from the vine upon ripening, so, may we, upon the ripening of the fruits of our actions,

Mukshiya: be released, attain moksha,

Bandhanat, Mrtyoh: from bondage that is death, and thereby,

Ma-amrtat: may I never again be parted from the immortality (of Atman, the Spiritual Self, or Parama-Atman, the Supreme Self).

Blessings to all,

Swami Veda Bharati

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Editor’s Note

This is a transcript of a talk that Swami Veda Bharati made on January 14, 1997, at Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust in Dehradun, India. 

An audio of Swami Veda Bharati reciting Maha-mṛtyunjaya Mantra can be downloaded at http://ahymsin.org/docs2/mm/SwamiVeda-Reciting-MahaMrtyunjayaMantra.zip

You may also see: Maha-mṛtyunjaya Mantra by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/swami-veda-bharati/maha-m-tyunjaya-mantra.html

Prayers used with Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/swami-veda-bharati/prayers-used-with-maha-mrityunjaya-mantra.html

OM tryambakaṃ yajāmahe
sugandhiṃ puṣṭi vardhanam
urvārukamiva bandhanān (or bandhanāt)
mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt

Try-ambakam: Unto Him who is One with the three Mothers (the shaktis of will, knowledge and action); the dweller of ajna and the sahasrara chakras,

Yajāmahe: we offer our very selves in internal sacrifice,

Su-gandhim: Unto Him who awakens our shakti right from the muladhara chakra, thus activating fragrances in our body, prana and mind,

Pushti-vardhanam: Unto him who nourishes all our shaktis, strengthens and increases our devotion by His grace, and makes us advance into the spiritual dimension,

Urvārukam-iva: As a melon drops from the vine upon ripening, so, may we, upon the ripening of the fruits of our actions,

Mukshīya: be released, attain moksha,

Bandhanat, Mrtyoh: from bondage that is death, and thereby,

Ma-amrtāt: may I never again be parted from the immortality (of atman, the Spiritual Self, or parama-atman, the Supreme Self).

Unto Him who is one with the Three Mothers (shaktis of Will, Knowledge and Action); the dweller of ajna and the sahasrara chakras, we offer our very selves in sacrifice unto Him who awakens our shakti right from the muladhara chakra, thus activating fragrances in our body, prana and mind, unto Him who nourishes all our shaktis, strengthens our devotion by his grace, and makes us advance into the spiritual dimension. As a melon drops from the vine upon ripening, so, may I, upon the ripening of the fruits of our actions be released, attain moksha from bondage that is death, and thereby may I never again be parted from the immortality of atman, the Spiritual Self or parama-atman, the Supreme Self.

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You may also see

The Science of Mantra and the Study of Mrtyunjaya Mantra by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/swami-veda-bharati/the-science-of-mantra-and-the-study-of-mrtyunjaya-mantra.html

Prayers used with Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/swami-veda-bharati/prayers-used-with-maha-mrityunjaya-mantra.html

An audio of Swami Veda Bharati reciting Mahā-mṛtyuñjaya Mantra can be downloaded at http://ahymsin.org/docs2/mm/SwamiVeda-Reciting-MahaMrtyunjayaMantra.zip

Note: The article above is a transcript of a recording of Swami Veda Bharati.

Vyaptam yena characharam
pervaded by all that is moving and unmoving
Tat padam darshitam yena
that pedestal, that state was shown by whom
Tasmai shri gurave namah
to that glorious Guru, my homage.

Dhyaana mulam guror murtih
For meditation the Guru’s image (is worthy).
Pujaa mulam guroh padam
For worship, the Guru’s feet.
Mantra mulam guror vaakya
For a mantra, the Guru’s speech.
Moksha mulam guroh kripaa.
For liberation, the Guru’s Grace.

Namah Shivaya Guru-dev satchitananda murtyaye
Namah Shivaya shantaya nitradhritaya vedase

Akhanda-mandalakaram
unbroken, complete orb, having the configuration
Vyaptam yena characharam
pervaded by all that is moving and unmoving
Tat padam darshitam yena
that pedestal, that state was shown by whom
Tasmai shri gurave Namah.
to that glorious Guru, my homage.

Who has shown me to that state,
the meaning of the word That,
which is the solar orb permeating
all things moving and unmoving
unto that Guru, my homage, my prostrations.

Feel the flow and the touch of your breath in your nostrils.  With a relaxed mind, no strain.  Only observe the flow. Breathing gently, slowly, smoothly.  As you come to the end of a breath, let there be no break as you are approaching the end of a breath.  Prepare your mind to continue the awareness.  As you come to the end of a breath, immediately begin to feel the next breath.  Your mantra or your favorite name for Divinity, let that be your only thought.  Exhaling and inhaling, the thought flowing along with the breath. No break between the breaths.  No break between the mantra thought and the mantra thought.  Without breaking the flow, observe how the breath, mind and the name of the Divinity are flowing together into a single stream. Simply observe how the consciousness has become a stream. Observe the flow of consciousness.  Continuing to observe the flow, gently open your eyes.

And I join my palms before my heart and I bow my head.
With all the love of the heart,
with all the power of action in the hands,
with all thought in the head,
I give you the love of the Himalayan Lineage
and I worship the Divinity that is within you.
God bless you.
God bless you.

Why is my respected brother [Swami Hariharananda] sitting over there?  Swamiji, please.  I can’t sit up there.

The sources and origins of the Himalayan Lineage.  The Lineage speaks for itself by not speaking.  Where there is speaking, the Lineage conceives itself.  If you wish to connect with the Lineage, listen to no one, ask for no words, attend no lectures, read no books.  Become like Swami Hari, who without reading, he knows.  He is one Swami who doesn’t know anything.  Do you believe that?

The world of realities in which you dwell and I dwell is not the world of realities.  These are forms cut out of the fabric of formless Space.  The only fabric of Space is akasha.  The only fabric of the universe is akasha, empty Space, and this, it may be the Universal akasha, the Universal Space or chidakasha, the Space of Consciousness.  There is no other fabric and all the rest are bubbles and ripples in this fabric, in this vast, incredibly vast, Ocean of Light, Ocean that is Consciousness, Ocean that is the Mind.  On the fabric of the Mind, the Mind paints with the brush that is the Mind, with the pastels that is the Mind, paints a painting that is the Mind and renames itself the universe.  On the fabric of Light, Light, the Being of Consciousness, holding the brush of Light, with the pastels that is Light, paints a painting.  That painting is Light.  The Light paints itself with a brush of Light upon the fabric of Light, and renames itself the world.

However many observatories may be put together to observe the extent and the span of the universe, multi-trillion light years – send your thought out – your mind stretches all of that way, and having traversed its own span, returns to dwell within the myth, returns to dwell within the myth that is called you.  You are a myth, you and your notion and fear of death.  And you are this Reality also that stretches out trillions upon trillions of light years, a vast Ocean of Light in which the currents of space flow, the currents and cross- currents of life, and all of this span of chidakasha, the Space of Consciousness, all of the span of oceanic fabrics of Light, all of this span of spaces heaped upon spaces, carrying within them the tributaries and the promontories and the streams and the rays and the ripples and the bubbles of life and forms.  All of this span is contained in one Bindu and is contained in one Pinpoint of Light.  The Pinpoint is too large to serve as an analogy for the minuteness of this Light, this Point of Light.  All of us, you and I, these myths, all of these spans into which you have sent out your awareness and have returned to the myth called you, all of these pasts, stretching into multi-trillion light years, futures, stretching into multi-trillion light years; all of this is contained in that Tejo Bindu.  Hence, we have the Upanishads: Brahma Bindu Upanishad, Nada Bindu Upanishad, Tejo Bindu Upanishad, opened(?) the secret teaching that reveals that one Pinpoint known as Brahman, that initiates us into that Pinpoint that is all of Light that has ever been, that now is, that shall ever be – all of sound that has ever been, that now is, that shall ever be.

This Pinpoint of Light containing Itself multi-trillion light years of times and spaces, containing Itself multi-trillion ishvara kotis, multi-trillion jiva kotis, multi-trillion god-head powers, multi-trillion soul-sparks, all dwells within Itself, by Itself in absolute, total satiety of completeness, plentitude, vastness, bhuma, completeness, perfection purnam – and within It, you vibrate.

This Pinpoint of Light contains within It all of potentialities, making It omnipotent sarva shakti mayam, the potencies of viccha shakti, jnana shakti, kriya shakti (the Power of Will, the Power of Knowledge, the Power of Creativity and Action), together with the Power of Revealing and the Power of Concealing.  What It conceals remains ever revealed to Itself.  What It conceals remains ever revealed to Itself.  That Revelation becomes Grace: the kripa, the anukampa, the karuna.  For this Pinpoint of Light is karuna niti, a Treasure of Compassion, trillions upon trillions of light years of the oceanic spans and depths and extents filled with Compassion, otherwise known as Love.  That Love is Light.  That Compassion is Love and Light.  That Love, Light, and Compassion is Grace, the infinite Ocean of Grace.

Impelled by the power of Grace, this Pinpoint of Light bursts, for It can contain its Love no more, and this bursting stretches out, stretches out, stretches out and becomes the Cosmic Mind, yet the Point is not lost. The Ocean of Space is filled with Light, the Light which is the Mind, the Mind that is filled with Consciousness.  Reduction in Consciousness is called Prakrti.  Reduction in Consciousness is called Matter.  This vast Mind filled with Consciousness is the Golden Womb of the universe, Hiyanyagharba, the Golden Womb.  And inside the Golden Womb, the Beings who are being nurtured as fetuses are also golden, Golden Lights enwombed in Golden Lights.  Golden Lights enwombed in Golden Lights.  Golden Fetuses wrapped in the Golden Bless—(?), ——-(?) ——- (?) of the golden fluid of immortality and being nourished and nurtured upon that fluid, on that amrita.  On That have we been nursed by our Mother.  All of this that we have so far narrated is She and no other.

“Sarvam shakti mayam jagat.  Eka evaham jagatyatra.  Anya kastimamapara.  I alone am in this universe.  Who other than Me is this universe?  Who other than Me are the deities?  Who other than Me are the devas and the devis?  Who other than Me are the beings of ishvara koti and of jiva koti?  God-heads and soul-sparks are all of these. I am.”  So says the Mother in our minds.   I send my pleading for forgiveness to Mother, having said “our” minds when She has just said there are no many, only I am.  I have erred in saying “minds.”

From that Pinpoint of Glory all the glories diversify all in one Mind, the first Universal Mind, Hiranyagharba, Samasti Chitta, otherwise known as Brahma the Creator, facing in all four directions, containing all Veda, all knowledge.  Within this vast, immeasurable, unfathomable ocean of consciousness-filled mind, Hiranyagharba, the Golden Womb, the Golden Fetus, the Golden Placenta, the Golden Amrita, because of the impetus of Kriya Shakti, the power of creativity, whirls and swirls of energy begin to take place.  Currents and bubbles begin to flow and rise.  The Consciousness has not yet been so reduced that you should become matter and form.  The Consciousness has not yet been so reduced that you should become matter and forms.  The whirls and swirls in the vast Ocean of the Golden Womb Mind are alive with Life Force, with Consciousness, with chit shakti, carrying within them still the ananda, the Joy, the Bliss of Satiety, nitya trita.   These are the First Beings.  These are the Manasa-putras of Brahma, the Mind-children of the Mind-mother.  These we know as formless, First Beings of Light, in a creation created without gender, filled with the Light of Knowledge, Beings of Light, filled with the Light of Knowledge, suffused with the Light of Joy, Love, Compassion, sending out and receiving waves and powerful currents upon currents of Grace as the ocean sends out currents from within itself.  And they flow within it and they return within it.  So the currents of Life and Consciousness and Grace flow in this Ocean of oceans.  These are the Great Beings, the Brahma-rshis.  Brahma-rshis, the first rshis that have emerged from the mind of Brahma carrying His knowledge, Her knowledge, Its knowledge.  These are the first Mantreshvaras, as that Brahma, the Hiranyagharba, is the first mantra, the Maha-Mantra, the Mega-Mantra.  So from within emerge these Mantreshvaras carrying the Light and the Sound, the Lords of Mantras.

The age and the size of a cosmos, the age, the extent and the span of a cosmos – and how many, who can tell?  Who has counted how many Mind-cosmoses there are, there can be?   Within these Cosmos-minds, the swirls and whirls and ripples and bubbles and currents and flows still continue forming little smaller ones.  They are Deva-rshis, yet without forms that contain within themselves the seeds of the Five Subtle Senses nourished upon . . . .

. . . . the Celestial Fragrances, Celestial Lights to see, Celestial Sounds, Celestial Tactile Sensations, Celestial Tastes.  The Consciousness begins to congeal.  The Minds begin to congeal.  The Light begins to congeal.  The bubbles that had arisen as manifestations of space become the minute energy particles, and the subtler dance begins.  And these little ones playing with each other, going around each other, swirling around each other, whirling around each other.  How many?

The forms of the universe come into being, but these forms of the universe at the same time are Swirls of Light, are at the same time the Oceans of Space.  There is no distinction between what is Space and what is contained in Space as there is no distinction between what is water and what is bubble, ripple, wave.  As there may be ripples within a wave, bubbles within the ripple, so there are minds now within minds – you might say, less concentrated mantras just the size of solar systems and planets – little fetuses.  Just as the force of a bubble is drawn from the ripple, the force of a ripple is drawn from the wave.  The force of the wave is drawn from the tide and the current.  And the force of the tide and the current is drawn from the entire sea.  So also you live the myth of being you, the bubble.  Know that the power of this bubble is only an impetus from a ripple.  The power of the ripple is only an infusion from the wave.  The power of the wave is only an emanation, Divine Incarnation, from the Ocean of Light, Space, Consciousness.  And all of this yet contained in a single Pinpoint of Light.  No one can count how many of these Angels dance on the point of a single sharp pin, how many universes, how many time frames and time layers.

The first whirls and swirls of the mind force, the first Beings, the first Manasa-putras of Brahma, the first Mind-children of the first Guru, Hiranyagharba, who is puruvesha adhi-guru, the Guru of the previous ones, and the preceding ones, and the preceding ones, and the preceding ones.  When these mind swirls choose to be contained in a body made of congealed Light, when these Mind-swirls, Mind-children of the Guru-mind choose to dwell in a body made of congealed Light that has now become matter, these Beings are simply called the first rshis, first pitris, first Patriarchs in the Lineage of Knowledge.   They may whirl and swirl within these human forms.  They may whirl and swirl without these human forms.  Without the human forms, they yet remain the Mantreshvaras, the Lords of Mantras, they yet remain the rshis, they yet remain the devas, the Celestial Ones.  And if grace so impels, they may become contents of the body vessels and their whirls and swirls touch the tiny whirls and swirls of – I-make-ever-again – tiny whirls and swirls of our minds, like two whirlpools in the sea, little one meeting the larger one, the little one becoming the disciple, the larger one becoming, being the Guru who was always the Guru, contained or not contained in a body that was a painting on the fabric of Light, painted by Light with a brush of Light, with the pastels of Light.  When that Guru-swirl just happened to touch the edges of our mind-swirl, that is known as the first initiation, the mantra that is our mind becoming, being pulled and sucked into the mantra that is the mind of the Mantreshvara, the Lord of the Mantras.

On any given planet, in any given solar system, universe, galaxy, cosmos, in this vastness of empyrean space, which with all of these whirls and swirls and pools and currents, still you will not accept what I say.  With all of these tiny sub-photons, particles of light dancing, yet [She] remains absolutely still, remains absolutely serene.  When the myths that are our minds know that nature of the Mother, then it is that the mantra has lead us into samadhi.

Close your eyes, and there is no whirl, no swirl, and all of this is contained in that one single Pinpoint of Light.  These beings of Light on this particular planet chose the ancient forests to dwell in, mountains the highest to remind us of the altitudes of the Mantreshvaras, to remind us of their heights, their grandeur, the grandeur of this Light so thick that our tiny minds fail to penetrate it.  Sometimes like a pin made of piece of wood trying to penetrate an object of steel, we sit on our meditation seats trying to penetrate into this solid Light which is also the Sea of Stillness and Serenity, which is total Knowledge, total Creativity, total Will, total Awareness, total Consciousness, Perfection Satiety.  These Beings manifest themselves as Tejo-rashis, Heaps of Light, Heaps of Brilliance, wandering around at their own free will.  Every now and then they reveal to us their glimpse, and we call that Initiation, we call that our energizing shakti-pata.  In gratitude to that Grace we receive it, cherish it, resolve to nurture it, are nourished by it as a mother who was first a baby girl and was nourished on her mother’s milk, and passes on now in her full youth the same nourishment to her baby girl, so mother upon mother upon mother.  These Beings, our mothers, rshis, wander around, sending to us streams of milk made with streaks of Light and with that of Silence.  When these Tejo-rashis, in the history of this particular, just this one of multi-trillion cycles of creation and dissolution on this particular planet, embodied themselves, they became known by the eternal names: Agasthya, Bolaha, Kratu, Atri, Vashista, beings for whom the age of embodiment is no consequence.  Therefore, Astyavakra, teaching from within the womb of the Mother.

Sanakaha, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Sunatsujata, five-year-old quadruples teaching assemblies of rshis.  And those who have eyes still see them wondering around in the holy places.  Those who have eyes are still graced with their darshana, for their embodiment is of no consequence, just as their dis-embodiment is of no consequence. The whirls and the swirls of the Guru will continue to touch our tiny minds.

Again and again out of that vast, depthless, fathomless compassion they incarnate, incarnate and disincarnate.  The patriya, the founder of the Mendicant Lineage, simultaneously the incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.  The rshis of what we call the ancient past, still being born from Mother’s womb in our times and wandering the Earth, initiating and guiding, and guiding and touching, and suffusing our souls with that Divine Light, making us again into their Mind-children.  And when embodied, the Soundless Sound becomes Word, becomes Scriptures, becomes Revelations, becomes the Vedas, and when we unite with It, we become the Yogins.

Those who have been initiated by the Lineage, let them not for one moment forget this connection of whom you are, whose disciple, whose multi-potent magnet has touched your feeble magnetic mind.  Let us never cease to pay homage.  What they have taught, when it is seen merely as a teaching, merely as a method, merely as a technique, the connection is lost.  And then they have to come again and again and elevate the method and the teaching and the technique into what it’s [meant] for in its reality.  The connection through these Tejo-rashis, Heaps of Light, though Reality-made, Divine Mind, all of which, with all of its divergences, having become as the rshi in the Rig Veda repeatedly said, “Vishurupa pavati, vishurupa pavati,”  becomes manifest in many forms.  All of that dwells in that single Pinpoint of Tejo-bindu.  All of this play is happening within that Micro-point.  The play is emerging within, is sustained within, is returned to dwell forever in Eternity, in Perpetuity, Perennially to dwell within that Pinpoint of Light.

As you walk your days, as you sleep your nights, dwell in that serene, ever absolutely still Point of Light of immeasurable magnitude.

May our Guru-deva, one of these great swells that touched our bubbles, not be disappointed in us that we have turned his teaching into a mere method rather than linking, surrendering, merging our little swirls into that of the rshis, the Vedas, the founders of Yoga, the founders of the Lineage.  Let us remain connected.  Dwell in that link of Light with Light, Serenity with Serenity, Stillness with Stillness.  May the Lineage and our Guru-dev bless us all that this Vision becomes our reality and we be freed of our myths? and we may dwell in this reality.

God bless you, bless you.

I can take a few questions, if there are still questions.

Q: Last year at Guru Purnima, you mentioned that in our tradition, there are several schools, such as Buddhism, Christianity, etc. Within the school of Christianity, could you speak about the special case of Mary?

A: Mary, Athena, Isis, Tara, Quan-Yin, Dolma, Saraswati.  Human beings have created, according to their surroundings, their prejudices, pre-conceived notions, mental forms, that which they call cultural symbols.  Lotus, somewhere, Chrysanthemum somewhere, somewhere the Rose, or any other.  When this Mother I spoke of, Who loves me as She loves you – “Mother wear a blue dress today.”  “Mother wear that green sari that you wore three centuries ago.”  “Mother, I haven’t seen you in white for a long time” – Mother, in order to please Her children, puts on the dress called Mary, whatever the Greeks called the clothing for Athena, or She puts on the Tibetan garb and becomes Dolma, puts on a Chinese face and becomes the twenty-one different faces of Quan-Yin which in India, among the Sanskrit speakers are the twenty-one forms of Mother Tara, becomes the Japanese for her Japanese children.  And perhaps you may not know that Mother Mary in Kerala, which has twenty-one percent Christian population, wears a sari.

So Buddhist tradition and Tibetan tradition and…. [People ask,] “Swamiji what do you think of Paramahansa Yogananda and how do you compare the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda with Swami Rama?”  Mother, to please her children, today put on this clothing, and tomorrow will put on some other clothing, and three thousand years from now, all the religions that there are on this earth at this time, their names even will be forgotten, just as the names of some very, very powerful religions that were prevalent fifteen hundred years ago, no one even knows today.  But Mother will keep making her appearances and three thousand years from now, people will be asking, “What do you think of the tradition of Maitreya as compared to the tradition of our guru, or the prophet who…?”  Maybe a new continent will appear where the Pacific Ocean is.

This is the universal view of your question. And in this tradition, for this reason, the lineage of renunciation, of sannyasa, the lineage of the philosophy of Vedanta, the lineage of Shankaracharya, the lineage of the great Sanskrit scholarship, the lineage of the Buddha as we are, in our lineage – and I speak repeatedly of this when I speak in the Buddhist countries.  As my Master said the day he initiated me, he said, “We are preparing the way for the Maitreya Buddha.”  Okay?  All right?  The West has mega-bubbles of questions.  We answered thus.  I told you yesterday how the Master answered my questions in the last seven years of his life.  People laughed because they thought he was playing a big joke on me.  But no, no.  The answers were loud and clear.  Let them who have ears to hear. . . .   We have not the ears to hear silence.

It is this vast, infinite force, the mind-cosmos, ever vibrant, ever still – Tat tai jati, tan nai jati – that moves, that moves not at all, said the rshis in the Vedas.  Tat tai jati, tan nai jati.  It moves, vibrates, and it moves not at all and is ever still.  Its vibrations touch the little swirl that has become embodied. From this congealed light, the body is formed. Of this congealed space, the body is formed. But the swirl of that mind-energy and light and consciousness remains ever vibrant and that current I speak of touches somewhere within, moves the prana, thereby moves the air, and becomes your breath.

To go back to that connection, start your entrance right where you have emerged from it into the world of forms and trace it back by the same pathway.  Trace it back now.  Just feel the flow and the touch of your breath in your nostrils.  Let it not be your breath but an awareness of that oceanic current that in this form, is sending forth its rhythm through your embodied form.   Feel the flow and the touch of your breath in your nostrils.  Let the Mantreshvaras, Lords of the Mantras, send forth a mantra with this stream. And as the waters from two streams mingle together and flow as a single stream, so let the mantra stream, breath stream, awareness stream, flow as one stream and let not the stream break anywhere.  Resolve in your mind that for the next two minutes, there shall be no interrupting thoughts – only this stream.  Make the resolve and begin now. . . .

Without breaking the flow, gently open your eyes.  Resolve in your mind again and again to re-enter this stream, until you know your being as one with the Mantreshvaras, the Lords of Cosmic Mantras.

God bless you.

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Editor’s Note

This is a transcript of a talk given by Swami Veda Bharati at the Institute of the Himalayan Tradition (IHT) Conference 2000 on July 22, 2000, at St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

There are many misunderstandings about yoga. There are many paths in yoga and different yogis choose different paths. Here we shall speak only of two paths to clear up some misunderstandings. There is a common perception that all yogis are glowing with health and youthfulness. Sometimes we hear questions like: If he is a yogi why does he wear eye glasses? We shall explain a little.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa died of cancer. Swami Vivekananda died of diabetes. Paramahamsa Yogananda died of heart attack – so we hear. But we do not doubt their achievements in yoga.

Here, there are two paths. The path of dhyana-yogis and the path of hatha-yogis. The hatha-yoga practices that grant youthfulness and glow of health are time consuming. The dhyana-yogis do basic hatha just to enable the body to sit in meditation. They prefer then to spend more time in the internal meditative practices to achieve the goals of the realization of eternity and moksha.

Even the practices of dhyana-yogis and hatha-yogis differ on many grounds. For example, hatha-yogis teach kumbhaka, retention of breath. The genuine dhyana-yogis, both of the Himalayan tradition of yogis and of the Buddhist orders, teach awareness of the soft and suavely flowing breath and related practices. These latter prefer to perfect kevala-kumbhaka, which is when the breath becomes so subtle that it goes into akasha-tattva, the ‘space’—element. This can be understood only experientially. Very few know these practices and have mastered them.
Then among the dhyana-yogis (and jnana-yogis), there are those who sit in the solitude of caves (if any caves are left by now!) and monastic cells of solitude. They do not take many disciples, and remain absorbed in their contemplative practices.

Then there are those who have chosen, or have been ordered by their guru, to serve and teach widely out there in the world. They travel around the world, meet and guide thousands of people and manage to find time only for their spiritual practices, besides giving the necessary attention to guiding and helping others, not to mention often undertaking massive charity projects. In such a life, because these demands on their time are so heavy, there is no time for these guides of dhyana-yoga and jnana-yoga for their own physical well being.

So, with the few minutes or few hours jealously saved, one can either go into meditation or do eye exercises to take off the glasses!

Then, is there no physical benefit to the path of meditation? That would also be erroneous.

First of all, these dhyana-yogis dwell in the inner world of the mind from where they derive endless flow of inner knowledge which they continue to share.

Secondly, such yogis do not make body conditions into mind conditions and their spiritual practices give them the ability to endure even when, in the course of service, their bodies collapse. They have served the mission of their guru lineage and die in satisfaction and inner peace.

Third is the greatest benefit to the body. The practices of meditation awaken their prana bodies and it is the prana that gives them the inner strength to continue to serve far beyond the capacity of ordinary people.

Here I will give a personal example.

I started full-time traveling and lecturing, domestic and international, in 1946. It has been non-stop for 68 years of my current 81 years.

For many decades those serving close to me have seen me often at the verge of collapse and suggested I cancel appointments, travel or lectures. I go through special and subtle internal prana-revival practices, not known to hatha-yogis. Half an hour after those practices and deep meditation, the same people are surprised to see me give my lectures, teachings and appointments with full force.

Have you ever heard of a case where a person with six heart arteries 100% blocked for a number of years has done several round the world lecture tours? That is my case, by the power of dhyana-yoga.

So, the path of dhyana-yoga is not totally useless in the body’s care!