Month: November 2017

Guru-purnima 2001

Posted on by ahymsin

Dear fellow wave in the Oceanward river of light,

The gravity pull of the earthly dense objects pulls all things downwards. The flame of spirit is pulled in the opposite direction by the Guru’s upward pull. May you be pulled upwards like a flame. Be a flame of light to all thereafter.

A subtle sound is heard in the ears, an un-nameable flavour is percolated into the taste-buds of the soul. The song that lay asleep in the recesses beyond mind begins to float up and becomes music on the tongue. A touch of lightning into every pore. To those who have washed themselves; to those who have purified; to those who have made sacred their home – the walking, blinking, thinking, feeling home that has been built by the bricks of karma and the mortar of samskaras.

The Guru comes to perform a sacred ceremony in this home of yours. Have you truly washed the house clean? Have you spread out the welcome mate? Have you set his seat where he may be offered the five offerings of the senses, that he may consume them and leave you senseless? That from that seat he may speak the inspirations so subtle only the soul without physical ears can hear? For, the Guru is a sight only the soul without physical eyes can see.

May your physical eyes and ears and mouths of all senses be shut this day and your prana and mind be set as twin chalices on the altar to be filled with the amrita of Guru-Grace. As a priest’s offering may you give him your beclouded identification with karmabrick-samskara-mortar-built home so that the Guru may leave you homeless and give you wings to roam freely with the light-breathing celestials.

On this day of Guru-purnima a special rain falls upon humankind that soaks only the soul. Those who have somewhat attenuated the body cloaks would feel the drenching of the Guru-shakti.

May you be drenched through and through never to feel the dryness of the world’s deserts again.

On this day the Guru descends into our prana and mind to make us sacred. May his presence within you be a strong vibration, for this day be such a memory that remains your interior companion throughoutthe year till he returns to descend again.

See you in the Ocean but who will be the seer who will be the seen, all in the Guru.

With profound blessings,

Swami Veda Bharati

Blessings for You from Swami Veda Bharati, Guru Purnima 2003

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

Dear Initiate,

– On Guru Purnima 2003 –

Please accept this small gift of the picture of a sculpture on the occasion of celebrating the Full Moon of the Guru for the current year. This particular sculpture of the 11th century is from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. I have recently seen two other versions in the Musee Guimet in Paris. However, many spiritually live ones adorn places of honour in the temples of India.

This particular figure of the Guru is known as Dakshinamurti, that is

1. He grants skill and expertise (daksha) in the right-handed Path, and

2. Receives the offerings (dakshina) of gratitude and appreciation from the disciple,

3. as He sits on the Northern mountain (the Himalaya), facing South (dakshina).

In its iconography, the cosmic Guru-Shiva sits on the mountain top and hols various aspects of power and knowledge.

In one hand we see rudrakha mala of perhaps 27 beads on which a-japa japa, unrecited recitation, is maintained.

One hand, partly in chin-mudra or jnana-mudra, the gesture of the knowledge of Consciousness, holds flaming sacred fire of knowledge that burns all dross and accepts offerings of the devotee’s beautiful thoughts.

One hand is in the upa-desha-mudra, gesture of instruction with the index finger point out.

One hand is open in varada-mudra, the gesture of granting a gift or a boon. The left leg is crossed over the right thigh as the Guru sits comfortably.

An interesting feature of the icon is that the right foot rests on the head of a half-bent figure. The figure has eyes closed in stupor, has an unbalanced body,is deformed with a big belly. In some other icons of Dakshinamurti the right foot rests on the back of the figure that lies curled up face-down. This feature is similar to that of the figure on the back of which Shiva Nataraja, the King of the Cosmic Dance, dances.

This bent and stupified figure is know as apa-smara, the anti-thesis of smrti, memory, remembrance, concentration, mindfulness. Apa-smara is our cosmic and individuated forgetfulness and lack of mindfulness. Shiva-guru in the form of Dakshinamurti has put his foot down on its head (or on its back).

May the One

Looking like the mount Kailasha (as we see his matted locks)

whose form is constituted of (a) granting the right-handed skill, and (b) the disciple’s offering of the gifts of gratitude,

sitting on the Northern (Himalayan) mountain, facing

South,

holding

beads of the ‘unrecited recitations’,
fire of knowledge,
gesture of instruction, and of
granting boons,

crush the head of our inattentiveness, ignorance, cosmic forgetfulness, weakness in concentration and our absence of mindfulness,

on this day of Guru-purnima.

May the Full Moon of the Guru knowledge shine and manifest in our very minds and, as an offering of gratitude may be aid in the illumination of many souls through our disciple-consciousness.

May we learn to surrender our deformed minds filled with apa-smara so that they become pedestals for the right foot of the God-Guru.

With immense love for our Gurudeva, Swami Rama of the Himalayas and his perennial lineage, and blessings for you,

Swami Veda Bharati
Meditation Center, Minneapolis

What is the Vishuddha chakra?

Posted on by Mandala

Question

Can anyone give me more knowledge on the Vishuddha chakra, the ether element…space energy…communications?? What is the Vishuddha chakra? I know its place in the body, the throat; it’s especially important in the psychic breath of the Ujjayi pranayama. To me it is a mystery.

Answers

Four have answered this question: Michael Smith, Stephen Parker (Stoma), Mrs. Lalita Arya (Ammaji), and Carolyn Hume.

Michael Smith

The best information I’ve found on Vishuddha Chakra is from the section on Vishuddha Chakra in Yoga and Psychotherapy: The Evolution of Consciousness (pp. 254-262), by Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine and Swami Ajaya — where it is said:

Vishuddha Chakra (or 5th Chakra or Throat Chakra,) has to do with being nurtured “from above”  taking in what is given, being cared for, being tied to a reliable source of nurturance, of feeling basically secure – learning to surrender & accept, to receive grace and unconditional love — and then the “creativity” and seva “service” that flows from that nurturance. Think of Anjali Mudra (the prayer position with the palms together and held between the heart and the throat), where energy and awareness are concentrated at Anahata and Vishuddha Chakras, and a devotional attitude is created, harmonizing Grace and Effort. “In the act of being creative, one nurtures himself by giving himself and accepting for himself guidance from the higher consciousness that lies within.  It is this sense that we say that the act of nurturing and being nurtured are one and the same.”

Another good resource is the section on “Surrender” (pp. 123-150) in Healing the Whole Person: Applications of Yoga Psychology by Swami Ajaya.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

Here is one answer: Viśuddha means “purified.” This refers to the processes of tapas, “austerity,” replacing experiences of pleasure with experiences of joy and transcendent beauty by refining one’s enjoyments through concentration (tapas). Concentration at this cakra eventually yields control over hunger and thirst. It is also a center that concerns speech (the process of vibration moving through space) and hence creativity and expression. It is the seat of the dream state, so stimulation of this cakra through an intensive practice of simhāsana potentiates the experience of dreams and carrying mindful awareness into your dreams is one step on the path to yoga-nidrā. As the awakening of Kundalini slowly evolves in the cakra system, this stage concerns preparation of the mindfield through citta-prasādana (making the mindfield clear, pleasant and stable) for deeper practices of concentration and meditation that lead to samādhi.

Mrs. Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

Ujjayi Pranayama is a technique that helps calm the mind and warm the body. When practicing Ujjayi, you completely fill your lungs, and breathe through your nose, meaning do not breathe through your mouth, as this happens unconsciously sometimes.

Vishudha – ‘visha’ means ‘poison’ and ‘shudha’ means to make pure. so this is the throat section which when concentrated on helps purify body and mind. For easy practice concentrate on the visual image blue in color with a downward triangle in a circle within a larger circle of 16 petals.

On the physical plane it is supposedly associated with the thyroid gland dealing with general health. On the specifics it is associated with speech, communication, expression – all related to sound. Also associated with music. Singers usually concentrate on this. This is the answer with technical details.

However, it is always advised that if you are an initiate in our Tradition of Himalayan teachers, you consult with a qualified teacher to guide in such practices. We read about all kinds of stuff connected with yoga/meditation practices, but are not always educated on the effects of their practices. Every action has a re-action and the same applies to our practice. One needs to be ready for a particular practice and be prepared to go through its entirety. Everything is a mystery until one understands its history and even then we need a competent Guide.

All the best with blessings of the Tradition.

Carolyn Hume

In Path of  Fire and Light, Volume 1 in the chapter “The Awakening of Kundalini,” Swami Rama wrote: “The fifth chakra is located in the vertebral column at the hollow of the throat. It is called vishuddha chakra, which means ‘purified.’ Here there are sixteen lotus petals. Each contains one of the vowel sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet and represents a quality that is cultivated with mastery over this chakra. The akasha principle – space, ether, or the void – is the force of this chakra. The color of vishuddha is blue and its bija is ham. The sense of hearing is controlled by this chakra. Vishuddha is the center of receptivity and creativity. Devotion, surrender, trust, and willingness are qualities that it engenders. Musicians and artists are said to have their energy concentrated there.”

And in Lecture #7 during the 2013 Sangha Gathering, Swami Veda Bharati said, “One whose throat chakra [vishuddha chakra] is open becomes both eloquent and goes into natural silence. Not one word of his wasted. His words become effective, and he goes into natural silence. He does not want to speak. He does not want to speak. He has control over hunger and thirst. People who are suffering from diseases like bulimia and anorexia nervosa, I tell them to concentrate on the throat center. People who are suffering from chronic coughs, I tell them to concentrate on the throat center with a visualization of a full moon – but then there are other intricacies. So, one whose throat chakra has opened doesn’t go about shouting at the world. He develops a serene voice, an effective voice, and is very selective with his words. He becomes a master of languages, but doesn’t use it for showing off. And silence to him becomes natural.”

It is well to take heed of what Ammaji has written regarding consultation with a qualified teacher, preparation, and mystery.

When I heard this question, I immediately thought of the will – Thy will be done…and to the state where there is no distinction between Thy will and my will.

Editor’s Note

If you have any questions about your spiritual practice, you may write to the AHYMSIN Spiritual Committee at adhyatmasamiti@gmail.com.

Skill in Action

Posted on by Mandala

There is excessive ungentleness in the world, and display of pride and arrogance.  We speak looking down upon the ‘lesser ones’, sometimes gently, but that also patronizingly.  We do so towards ‘lower castes’, towards ‘have nots’, towards children, towards ‘employees’, towards people of other nations, religions, skin colours, cultures, languages – but we expect these ‘lesser ones’ to practice humility towards us.  This continues till they rebel and we quash the rebellions equally insensitively and arrogantly because, well, ‘we are the senior ones’!!

We shout slogans against nuclear wars without controlling and pacifying our personal angers in daily life – how would we then prevent wars without individual peace in each mind?

At the same time, we are always in denial about our individual violence, ungentleness, harshness, personal anger, pride, and arrogance.  Let someone say, ‘you are being ungentle’, we immediately blurt our defensiveness: ‘What? I am so gentle!  I am so humble!!’; ‘there is no ego in me!’; ‘angry? Who? Me? You are imagining!!’; ‘you are always unfairly criticizing me!’ and so on.

A spiritual guide makes us confront our inner ‘demons’ and exorcise them.

This document is an invitation to constant

self-observation

self-examination

self-purification

self-pacification

Please respond to the invitation.

Are the suggestions being made in this document impractical when one is working in and interacting with modern societies?

Nothing can be achieved in a day.

Change has to begin somewhere, even at a snail’s pace.

Just as one keeps one’s spirituality private when interacting with daily routines of business, government and employment situations, but maintains it as a well-guarded treasure, so also one may apply the principles suggested here slowly in the outside world, examining where they may be acceptable without excessive resistance from others.

If you made the experimentation, you would be surprised at the positive results you would obtain in your company, your offices, with your ‘employees’.  And at home with your family.

Editor’s Note

This passage has been taken from the book Sadhana in Applied Spirituality, pp 13-14, published by Ahymsin Publishers in 2013

Here and Hereafter

Posted on by Mandala

At some point every human being becomes confused about his dharma or duty. Arjuna, a warrior who specializes in the science and art of war, should learn to practice and perform his duty, so Sri Krishna instructs him not to think of renouncing his dharma. Instead he shows him the path to follow in order to fulfil his dharma. For Arjuna, fighting the war is the only dharma that can open the gate of heaven for him. All heavenly joys can be experienced if one learns to perform his dharma. As it is used here, heaven means knowledge of the higher dimensions, which frees one from the apparent reality of the external world. All great traditions of the world conceive of a heaven that one may attain after death. But those who understand the science and art of death and dying can glimpse the life hereafter while still living.

When one learns to study the past, present and future as different parts of one whole, he can have a vision of life hereafter, for whatever one was before, that he is today, and the way one directs the course of his life today will create his future. After death the individual soul does not go to heaven or hell but remains in the atmosphere created by his habit patterns. Negative habits lead to unpleasant experiences, which are called hell, and positive habits lead to pleasant or heavenly experiences. Heaven is a predetermined factor that one creates in his unconscious where the habit patterns of merit and demerit remain lively. No external agent can force another to go to hell or heaven. Heaven and hell are realities that one creates with his thoughts, deeds, and habit patterns.

Editor’s note

This passage has been taken from the book Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, pp 70 – 71, by Swami Rama, published 1985 by the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the USA.

Yoga Approved in Saudi Arabia

Posted on by Mandala

Yoga is now an approved sports activity in Saudi Arabia

Due to the conscientious efforts of Nouf Marwaai, an initiate and student of Swami Veda Bharati, yoga has recently been legalized in Saudi Arabia.

We thank Nouf for all her efforts towards spreading yoga in Saudi Arabia and making available the yoga teachings for many. As Swami Rama writes in his book – Living with the Himalayan Masters:

04a Yoga in Saudi Arabia

“We do not believe in conversion, changing cultural habits, or introducing any God in particular. We respect all religions equally, loving all and excluding none. Neither do we oppose any temple, mosque, or church, nor do we believe in building homes for God while ignoring human beings. Our firm belief is that every human being is a living institution or a temple.”

“We strictly abstain from politics and from opposing any religion.”

The United Nations General Assembly in 2015 recognized that yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being and that wider dissemination of information about the benefits of practising yoga would be beneficial for the health of the world population. It also underscored the fact that global health is a long-term development objective that requires closer international cooperation through the exchange of best practices aimed at building better individual lifestyles devoid of excesses of all kinds, before declaring the International Day on Yoga on June 21.

This was a much needed move since Malaysia’s top Islamic body, the National Fatwa Council, had banned yoga for Muslims in 2008, claiming that elements of Hinduism in the ancient Indian exercise could corrupt them. The Fatwa Council chairperson, Abdul Shukor Husin, said many Muslims failed to understand that the ultimate aim of yoga is to be one with the God of a different religion – an explanation disputed by many practitioners who say yoga need not have a religious element.

Since then, it became difficult for Muslims around the world, and not just in Malaysia, to practice, teach, or propagate the yoga teachings.

Nouf Marwaai, who teaches yoga to thousands of people in the Islamic nation, has had an uphill task to make the profession official. “My illness made me interested in yoga,” said the 37-year old Nouf, who has been on the forefront of the yoga campaign in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  “I do yoga and naturopathy. My disease is stable and my doctors are surprised. That is I became committed in learning and promoting yoga in Saudi Arabia,” Nouf said.

04b Yoga in Saudi Arabia

Her journey was a long and painstaking one. She started approaching the authorities in 2005 but to no avail. She finally approached Princess Reem bint Bandar Al-Saud, the deputy president of Saudi Arabia’s Women’s Sports Authority. “Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud was chosen to be the deputy of the General Sports Authority and she welcomed all leaders in any sports for women to approach her directly. Sports have been allowed for women this year, and driving as well,” Nouf said. The princess assured Nouf that things were changing and they will soon approve sports for women.

Finally, her efforts have paid off, when Saudi Arabia on November 14, 2017, officially approved yoga as a sporting activity under its Ministry of Trade and Industry. So, any Saudi citizen who now wishes to practice, teach, and propagate yoga in Saudi Arabia can do so by applying for and procuring a license from the government.

The leadership in Saudi Arabia, King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, are changing the history of Saudi Arabia. The crown prince, known as MBS, launched the new Vision 2030 that focuses on development and investing in youth.

His vision includes focus on health and wellness of the nation as well. On September 26 this year, Saudi Arabia officially allowed women to drive cars. This move came after the kingdom was widely criticized for years for its conservative attitude towards women.

It was the concerted efforts in campaigns throughout the nation and fighting conservative as well as fundamentalist forces to reach out to the government for a change in the mindset towards women that led to this decision by Saudi Arabia.

Editor’s Note:

The Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation is not a religion. Having cultivated an authoritative knowledge of the religious writings and meditative practices of the world, and being versed in 17 languages, Swami Veda Bharati used to teach meditation to people of different faiths – Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Hebrews, Hindus, etc. – from within their own rich scriptural and meditative traditions.

Silent Prayer of the Heart

Posted on by ahymsin
Question

You taught us to meditate, but you’ve not taught us to pray. You’re not supposed to ask for anything.

Swami Veda

A devotee can ask anything. A meditator asks for nothing. But a devotee is a child: he can ask for a morsel out of the mouth of his mother. It depends on where you are. A meditator asks for nothing, but a child asks for anything. When prayer becomes wordless it becomes meditation.

I have not taught much on prayer. I don’t want to say more about it, and it’s not because I’m not interested in prayer. All life should be prayer. There should be nothing in life that is not prayer. There should be nothing in life that is not worship. There’s nothing in life that is not devotion. There is nothing outside prayer, no human activity. For prayer, you have to be a devotee, not a dependent. Understand this.

For prayer you have to be a devotee, not a dependent. In a crowd where many people are dependents, devotion is very difficult to teach, because devotion becomes an excuse for showing dependence and it’s not devotion. There are few who can truly pray. Others only give vent to their insecurities.

I’d like you to know the difference between the two. Prayer is a gushing fountain. It cannot be constructed, it cannot follow a text, and it cannot follow words or a method. Who can teach you to pray? You have it in you, it flows from you as a fountain.

It never exhausts itself. If you want to lead the life of prayer, your tears will purify you. They’ll cleanse you, they’ll wash all the transgressions and failures and fears. One who prays is afraid of nothing because he knows that by his prayer he can call upon the Protector of all Protectors.

How can I write down words of prayer and teach? That is not prayer. Prayer is something you either have in you or you don’t have in you. Who taught the first man to pray? In which school of literature did the writers of the psalms of David learn to compose poetry? Who critiqued their poems? Who edited them and said they were ready to publish? Who taught them? They had less of the world literature to draw upon historically at that time. Yet what came out of their hearts and their mouths became immortal literature because there was prayer in them. Indeed, prayers that have flowed out of them have been read by others to follow a model.

So we read prayers and we recite verses. In every religion of the world, even in Buddhism, which does not believe in a Creator God, there are prayers.

Worship is divine. If you have the worshipfulness, you’ll find the right object of worship. What is worshipfulness? The spirit within you, calling you, I’m here. Recognize me? I have met you many times before. “O Arjuna. Many incarnations have past, yours and mine. I remember them all, but you do not remember them.”

So we have met that God, many, many times before but have forgotten His face and His touch. Suddenly you meet Him again, or expect to meet Him, hope to meet Him, or He just simply, barely calls from inside, from within.

A desire arises to place flowers somewhere. So if they don’t go to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, they place flowers on the Lenin stone. The urge to place the flowers is the urge to pray. If you did not believe in a God, you would still find a place where you want to put your flowers. And you cannot be without it.

For me that prayer is something spontaneous. Today’s prayer is often like a Hallmark card you send to your beloved ones. Somebody else has to write and sell you the love message. It’s one thing I don’t understand. Somebody else has to write and send you the love message that you are to send. I know my statement is not good for the greeting card industry!

Can you not pray without a book? Without somebody else dictating? Have you no feelings left of your own? How can one teach you feelings? If you have love, you write your own love letter and don’t borrow someone else’s printed word. The best prayer, as you know, is the silent prayer. That silent prayer becomes meditation. Then it becomes meditation in action or it becomes prayer in action. When the feelings awaken, then you will pray. You need no one to teach you.

Editor’s Note

This transcript is an excerpt from Pandit Usharbudh Arya’s talk on the Bhagavad Gita given at The Meditation Center in 1985. Pandit Arya became Swami Veda Bharati when he took sanyas.

To read “How to Pray for Someone” by Swami Veda Bharati:  http://ahymsin.org/main/Swami-Veda-Bharati/how-to-pray-for-someone.html