Month: January 2018

Saumya Mantra

Posted on by ahymsin

(This was previously published as part of “The 2014 Annual 40-Day Spiritual Festival.”)

Saumyā Mantra
Explanation, Translation and Transliteration into English

Prepared by Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma)

सौम्या सौम्यतरा शेष
सौम्येभ्यस्त्वतिसुन्दरी।
परापराणां परमा त्वमेव परमेश्वरी॥

saumyā saumyātarāśeṣā
saumyebhyas tvati sundari
parāparāṇāṁ paramā
tvameva parameshvarī

This mantra is addressed to the Divine Mother as Saumyā, Divine Mother as cool, gentle, moonlike peacefulness. It is used as a special mantra for the cultivation of these aspects of personality. The mantra occurs in Caṇḍī, or Devī-mahātmya, (I.62 or 71, depending on the edition) an important text in the tantric part of our tradition.

What is Khechari?

Posted on by Mandala

Question

What is Khechari? (Apart from the lingual frenulum cutting metaphor)

Answers

Four have answered this question: Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral, Stephen Parker (Stoma), Michael Smith, and Carolyn Hume.

Pandit Dabral

Khe Charati Iti Khechara: Khe means Akash (sky), Chara means walking; therefore Khechari means walking in to the Sky.

There is also a Khechari Mudra that which allows a Sadhaka to walk or roam into the Sky. The different layers into the Sky of a Sadhana.

This mudra is to do with very advance spiritual practices.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

Khecari, as Panditji says, is actually an experience at a certain depth of meditation when the prana is flowing upwards along the sushumna. The tongue spontaneously lengthens (no need to cut it as they do in the formal hatha yoga traditions) and rises into the juncture between the oral and nasal cavities accompanied by GREAT joy. It is discussed in some detail in several Kashmir Shaiva texts (Pratyabhijñā-hridaya, Netra Tantra and, I believe, in Vijñāna Bhairava).

Michael Smith

Swami Veda talked about Khechari Mudra in several of his lectures. Here are some things from Swami Veda’s Commentary on Patañjali’s Yoga-sutras, Vol. 2:

On page 761 of his Yoga-sutra Commentary (Vol. 2) Swami Veda has written that Rāmāyanda Yati has described certain fruits of the practice of pratyāhāra not found elsewhere:

“I shall teach the fruits of pratyāhāra, by practicing which, one may become a mover in space (khe-chara).”

Swami Veda then wrote in a footnote that what Rāmāyanda Yati is talking about is “closely related to the practice of the khe-charī mudra,” and that “the reference [above] is not to the physical position of the tongue or an external space but to the mind reaching out to the vastness of the unity of internal and the external spaces. A very special experience similar to the one described in Yoga-sutra I.36, jyotiṣhmatī, is explained by Vyāsa as the experience of the vastness of space.” (p. 761)

Then Swami Veda explained a characteristic of many yogic texts:

“Many words in the same text occur in one meaning in one section and in a subsequent chapter in a different, subtler meaning, as the text, and the initiate being taught experientially advance from bahir-aṅga [external limbs] to antar-aṅga [internal limbs]

. . . . For example, khechari, as commonly taught in hatha-yoga, is a very different from the way the word is understood in Tantra. The body-bound people keep cutting the base of the tongue and what not, because they seem to have read the Hatha-yoga-pradīpikā only up to III.32-41, but they have failed to notice IV.43 ff which conforms to the Tantric tradition’s usage of the word in the context of the kuṇḍalinī and its forces.” (p. 791)

From the talk “Philosophy of Hatha Yoga” by Swami Veda in Hong Kong in 2007:

“The last great [sage] whose place in hatha yoga is like that of Patanjali in Raja Yoga is Swatmarama. . . I’d like to tell you something. The . . . first half of it is with reference to physical practices. The second half is pure kundalini yoga – but the name of the text is Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

What is hatha yoga? In Sanskrit etymology the word hatha-yoga can be broken up in two ways: . . . by forcing the body, . . . but that is not how we take it in the traditions. . . . Ha is the bija mantra, the seed syllable, of the solar force. Tha is the seed syllable, bija mantra, of the lunar force. The union of the solar force and the lunar force through the central sushumna stream is hatha yoga, union of ha and tha. If you understand that, you understand the entire philosophy of hatha-yoga, raja-yoga, kundalini-yoga, mantra-yoga, all combined in that word.”

If one refers to those sections in Svatmarama’s Hatha-yoga-pradīpikā (The Light on Hatha Yoga), they show what Swami Veda first refers to when he cites Chapter 3, verses 32-41. A good translation and commentary of this has been done by Swami Muktibodhananda Saraswati under the guidance of Swami Satyananda Saraswati (in the Bihar School) and to get a good idea of khechari mudra entails, that book would be helpful.

In brief, these verses tell about two positions of the tongue at the back of the throat into the nasal cavity and beyond; the more intense version of the physical khechari mudra takes years of preparation to lengthen the tongue. Once the technique has been mastered, one is able to direct the flow of ida and pingala nadis. In Chapter Three many virtues are ascribed to the practice of khechari mudra and in tantric texts there are poetic ways of describing what occurs when the pranic force is channelized through sushumna.

3.44 – “With the tongue directed upwards, the knower of yoga drinks the fluid of the moon. Within fifteen days physical death is conquered.”

The Bihar commentary states:

“The process involves the release of the body fluid the yogi call amaravaruni. Amara refers to immortality and the moon and varuni is wine. Amaravaruni is the wine of immortality or of the moon. This wine is actually the chemical fluid secreted by bindu vasarga. Tis the nectar of pure consciousness. Just as the result of the union between a man and a woman is the release of reproductive secretions, so the union of ida and pingala with sushumna in ajna chakra releases the fluid from bindu. At that time one experiences the climax of spiritual experience which is more fulfilling than any empirical experience. With the release of amaravaruni, the body is impregnated with spiritual or cosmic force and gives birth to higher consciousness or atman.”

In regard to this Swami Veda has talked about the cryptic saying, “Eat meat and drink wine,” and he has blessings which speak of “the wedding of the sun and the moon.”

Following the verses from Chapter 3 (above) are the verses Swami Veda cited in Chapter 4.44 and beyond, and in the Bihar commentary the subtleties of khechari mudra, yoga-nidra and many poetic metaphors are explained.

The verses that Swami Veda is referring to can be read by clicking on this link:
http://www.swamij.com/hatha-yoga-pradipika.htm, however, again, the Bihar translation and commentary is recommended.

Carolyn Hume

Swami Veda Bharati in his booklet “Silence” wrote

“The word khechari means ‘that which takes one on a flight into the skies.’ The tongue is turned into the palate. Actually the particular nadi, the energy channel that has its location in the tongue, is turned back and is merged into that central energy channel which flows through the palate into the brahmarandhra, into the center of the sahasrara chakra. It is not an act of turning the tongue; it is the act of merging the oral, vocal energy into the path of sushumna and one cannot accomplish khechari, the practice of silence in meditation, until or/and unless one prepares for that union, that merger. It would become contrived, an effort like our asanas which similarly become an effort unless we understand the pranamaya kosha (the prana body). That is why in our philosophy we describe the practice of hatha yoga to be a practice not of annamaya kosha, not of the physical body, but the practice of the pranamaya kosha.”

And later

“If the silence grows deep and true, khechari will form by itself and you will become a sky-wandering one.”

Editor’s Note

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

Saumya Practice 2001 – 2002

Posted on by ahymsin

SHREEM
SAUMYA SAUMYATARAASHESHA
SAUMYEBHYAS TVATI SUNDARI
PARAA PARAANAM PARAMAA
TVAM EVA PARAMESHWARI
STREEM

 

This particular observance that I am requesting our Gurudeva’s discipleship to undertake this year has the purpose of bringing about peacefulness within each mind, radiating first into the personal family, then into the entire Guru family AND then into the larger global family. The normal rule is that while such an observance is going on there should be no controversial or confrontational thought. Not even one thought, leave along a word or action on the part of those who are undertaking such an observance.

Even though we have declareda purpose for that observance, we do it without expectation. We do it simply as surrender to the divinity. It is ‘Guru Prityartham’, that is, ‘for the pleasure of the divine Guru spirit’, to invoke the Guru spirit’s grace. It is with this intent of self-purification that I have requested that all collectively undertake this observance.

I strongly recommend that you read about these special japa observances in my little booklet titled “Special Mantras”. At the end of that booklet there is an appendix about the sankalpa, that is, a resolve with which one undertakes an observance for a specific period and for a certain duration. It will not be possible for more people to follow the dating system as given in the appendix to that booklet, so you may just recite the date according to the western calendar. Location as known to you. Your name and lineage a known to you. Those who are familiar with the tradition described in that appendix may follow that accordingly. For those who can recite the sankalpa and prefer to do so in Sanskrit I am giving the words here in Sanskrit. Those who know only English or a western language may mentally recite the sankalpa below in that language.

ASMAD GURUDEVA CHARNANAM, SHISHYA VARGASYA
CHITTA SHANTYA PARASPARAM SAUHARDA
STHAPANARTHAM TAT DVARA GURU PREETYARTHAM…

The purpose of this observance is to etablish and enhance the peacefulness in the hearts and minds of Gurudeva’s disciples and thereby to strengthen a bond of good heartedness among all beings…only for the pleasure of Gurudeva.

It is recommended that this prayer be undertaken only by initiates. Non-initiates can participate however, but at the recommendation of their local director or teaching guide.

Many people who have never undertaken the practice of a long mantra before, may request my cassette,”How to do long mantras faster”. Once your rhythm is established the practice will go much faster than you think.

In this mantra I have added two very powerful bijas, (seed mantras), one in the beginning and the other at the end. In the beginning, SHREEM, and at the end, STREEM. They are both bijas of the Divine Mother. The first seed sound, Shreem, is the Mother of the Sri Vidya principle in Her aspect of glory and divinity. The second one, Streem, is the bija mantra of the entire feminine aspect of creation. It is to bring the feminine kindness, compassion and motherliness among all of us. This has nothing to do with the gender of the person undertaking the observance, but rather it is for the enhancement of the motherliness in all of us.

Although the mantras are done for their sound vibration, they may carry a translation. Then there may be translations within translations going down to thousands of depths. I will give you here the shallowest level of translation.

The first word “Saumya” is a feminine word referring to soma like, or lunar qualities and attributes. Saumya, she of the lunar aspect, moonlike, peaceful and kind. Saumyatara, even more lunar and peaceful than the moon itself. Here there is a linguistic little secret. There is a hidden ‘a’ in a shesha saumyebhyas… She is even more beautiful than all lunar like forces and peaceful entities combined in the entire universe. So, breaking down the first hald for the verse word for word it reads, “saumya, saumyatara, ashesha, saumyebhyas, tu, ati, sundari.”

The next half of the verse is as follows: Paraparanam, parama. Parama, supreme one transcending. Paraparanam…all things of the transcendent realities and the realities of this shore as experience in the world. She who transcends even the transcendent forces a well as immanent forces. Tvam Eva, thou alone, Parameshvari, Oh supreme Lady. Tvam Eva Parameshvari, Thou are the supreme Lady. Thou alone art the supreme Lady who transcends all transcendent realities and immanent forces.

If you are presently doing some special practice, (purashcharana), then for this period of the one year, continue with that purashcharana and you may do only one mala of the Saumya mantra, or as many as you are capable of doing.

If you have any questions please forward them to Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral…

May the Guru Spirit thereby be pleased and confer Its grace upon us all.

Swami Veda Bharati

February 8, 2001

[Attached to this letter were “SAUMYA MANTRA as explained by Swami Veda” and “Phonetic Pronunciation in Saumya Mantra”; please see below.]

SAUMYA MANTRA as explained by Swami Veda

SHREEM
SAUMYA SAUMYATARAASHESHA
SAUMYEBHYAS TVATI SUNDARI
PARAA PARAANAM PARAMAA
TVAM EVA PARAMESHWARI
STREEM

The practice of saumya mantra repetition has the purpose of bringing about peacefulness within each mind, radiating first into the personal family, then into the entire Guru family AND then into the larger global family. The normal rule is that while such an observance is going on there should be no controversial or confrontational thought. Not even one thought, let alone a word or action on the part of those who are undertaking such an observance.

Even though we have declareda purpose for that observance, we do it without expectation. We do it simply as surrender to the divinity. It is ‘Guru Prityartham’, that is, ‘for the pleasure of the divine Guru spirit’, to invoke the Guru spirit’s grace. It is with this intent of self-purification that I have requested that all collectively undertake this observance.

I strongly recommend that you read about these special japa observances in my little booklet titled “Special Mantras”.

It is recommended that this prayer be undertaken only by initiates. Non-initiates can participate however, but at the recommendation of their local director or teaching guide.

Many people who have never undertaken the practice of a long mantra before, may request my cassette,”How to do long mantras faster”. Once your rhythm is established the practice will go much faster than you think.

In this mantra I have added two very powerful bijas, (seed mantras), one in the beginning and the other at the end. In the beginning, SHREEM, and at the end, STREEM. They are both bijas of the Divine Mother. The first seed sound, Shreem, is the Mother of the Sri Vidya principle in Her aspect of glory and divinity. The second one, Streem, is the bija mantra of the entire feminine aspect of creation. It is to bring the feminine kindness, compassion and motherliness among all of us. This has nothing to do with the gender of the person undertaking the observance, but rather it is for the enhancement of the motherliness in all of us.

Although the mantras are done for their sound vibration, they may carry a translation. Then there may be translations within translations going down to thousands of depths. I will give you here the shallowest level of translation.

The first word “Saumya” is a feminine word referring to soma like, or lunar qualities and attributes. Saumya, she of the lunar aspect, moonlike, peaceful and kind. Saumyatara, even more lunar and peaceful than the moon itself. Here there is a linguistic little secret. There is a hidden ‘a’ in a shesha saumyebhyas… She is even more beautiful than all lunar like forces and peaceful entities combined in the entire universe. So, breaking down the first hald for the verse word for word it reads, “saumya, saumyatara, ashesha, saumyebhyas, tu, ati, sundari.”

The next half of the verse is as follows: Paraparanam, parama. Parama, supreme one transcending. Paraparanam…all things of the transcendent realities and the realities of this shore as experience in the world. She who transcends even the transcendent forces a well as immanent forces. Tvam Eva, thou alone, Parameshvari, Oh supreme Lady. Tvam Eva Parameshvari, Thou are the supreme Lady. Thou alone art the supreme Lady who transcends all transcendent realities and immanent forces.

Phonetic Pronunciation in Saumya Mantra:

“A’ is pronounced as in “mama” “papa” “la” “baba” “ha”

“AU” is pronounced as the “au’s” in “saurkraut” or like in “cow” or “house”

“E” is pronounced like “ay” (long A) as in “day” or better yet “grey”

SHESHA – shay-sha

SAUMYEBHYAS = saum-yay-bhyas

EVA = ay-va

PARAMESHVARI = param-aysh-va-ree

“I” is pronounced like “ee’ (long E)

“U” is prnounced like “oo” (long U), as in “loon” “raccoon” “moon” “noon”

SUNDARI = soon-da-ree

The V is actually a combination of a V and a W, (VW), the way Russians would pronounce the V in VODKA.

Peaceable Emotions

Posted on by ahymsin

If saintly tranquility is a dream, let us awaken realizing the choice of peaceable emotions is our daily duty.

When the senses no long burn with uncontrolled desires and anger, understanding reveals innate tranquility.

Free from disturbance lake-like mind remains calm, pacified heart remains loving.

Your true nature reveals the source of your health and wealth.

Meditate and Listen.

Editor’s Note:

“Peaceable Emotions” by Swami Ritavan Bharati was published in the June 2016 edition of the AHYMSIN Newsletter as well as by The Meditation Center.

Mahasamadhi Address (2016)

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

Guru Brahma…
Tasmai Shri Gurave Namah;

Namaste, as Gurudev would say, “I salute the divinity that is within you.”

A sincere Welcome and Greetings to One and All; and please receive the blessings of these saints and distinguished guests, who have gifted us with their presence.

All of us have journeyed to this sanctuary, to this sacred place of beauty and peace, with sentiments–bhava, of respect, shraddha-faith, and joy.

When devotion has matured in the fires of tapas, in our sadhana, a gem is formed. A pure heart is the gem of the saintly world; a loving mind, the gold of the saintly alchemists. This aspiration, this sankalpa for a life well-lived are the gifts we bring today.

We gather as a celebration on this first anniversary of our beloved Swami Veda’s samadhi. Here, we are not adoring the physical body which was placed in this space one year ago; we are present to embrace the subtlety of his example, the beauty of his teaching, and faith in his mandate — “share with the world the pure form of meditation and only initiate into the same.”

We gather to give witness — that our relationship with the Yoga Meditation Tradition, a Living Lineage, should be absolutely pure and selfless, and carry the Guru-Shakti of self-transformation and spiritual awakening.

This is expressed in performing our duties selflessly and with mindfulness of: “Let Each Person Feel Loved.” This fulfills our debt to our beloved Swamiji and assures a wholesome and holy life.

May I present these distinguished guests — these living saints as examples of gems in the world today. They live with the constant awareness of divinity and always mindful of their duty. May their words and their silence encourage you, inspire you, and guide you to that inner source of Light and Love.

NOW for a moment of Silence…

Om; shreem gurudev namah;

Editor’s Note:

“Mahasamadhi Address” by Swami Ritavan Bharati was published in the July 2016 edition of the AHYMSIN Newsletter.

Sadhaka Grama Awaits You

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Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (Village of Sadhakas) awaits you.

Such an invitation from our Beloved Swami Veda echoes around the globe; for he built a home where love dwells, a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to live.

With Guru’s building stones of hopes, dreams, and visions of sanctity;
A home where prophets speak – the silent words of shraddha-faith.

So place in your mind this image-of-heart where sincerity, simplicity, and purity are honored.

Make your plans for 2017 to pilgrimage to this oasis of peace and beauty.
Return home to your homeland of the Tradition.

May i receive you with folded-hands, namaste.

Swami Ritavan Bharati, Ashram Pramukha, and the Sanyasin community of SRSG.

Editor’s Note:

“Sadhaka Grama Awaits You” by Swami Ritavan Bharati was published in the August-September 2016 edition of the AHYMSIN Newsletter.

Body, Mind and Breath of the Ahymsin-self

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Question from a student

I experience myself as an individual self, but what would be the body, the mind and the breath of the Ahymsin-self?

Answer from Swami Veda

Very good. I love that question. The body of an organization or a family or a nation is its structure; the mind is the degree of awareness of its mission; and the breath is the life you put into it. Then you can elaborate on that theme. The structure is the body. The awareness of its mission is the mind – and the mind of a thumb is not different from the mind of a nose in your body. A thumb doesn’t say, “Hey, I have a mind of my own. I’m not going to help you.” In the organization, in the family, that [unity of vision and purpose] happens. [There is] that mind – and then [there is] what you do with it out of compassion. The word “love” ceases, stops. If there is only one, who will love whom?

Long ago I gave a lecture back in the early seventies in Minneapolis I still recall. I don’t know if it’s available, Saints Do Not Pray. To whom will they pray? And I would add to that a sentence. A true lover is he who does not love – because there is no other left to love. Let’s remember that. Saints do not pray and lovers do not love, and that’s the ideal. Only in the world of duality is there separations; there is one and there is another to love. When there is only one mind . . . . The word love exists where there is a sense of separation. I love someone. Does my hand love my mouth, and does my mouth love my stomach? So the hand kindly puts food into the mouth, and mouth doesn’t say, “Hey, I have a mind of my own. I’m just going to keep the food in the mouth. Why should I give it to that stomach?” Because you have one body, one mind from head to toe – and when the organization, nation, group, family, become like that, there is no other to love and no one to fear. Then there is no one to fear. Okay. Alright.

Editor’s Note

This is a transcription of an excerpt from “Discussion on Bodhisattva,” Rishikesh, India, February, 2007.

Beijing, May 18, 2015

Posted on by ahymsin

As the keynote speaker at the plenum closing session of the inaugural Yoga summit conference in Beijing, Swami Veda Bharati delivered a lecture to the conference participants via life video. This was likely his very last public lecture before dropping the body in July 2015. The transcription below is based on a recording made by the event organizer.

I pay homage to Swami Rama of the Himalayas and all the gurus of the lineage. I pay homage to the Buddha, to Lao Tzu, to Confucius. I pay homage to Kāśyapa Mātaṅg and to Dharmaratna [being the first two recorded Buddhist masters of the 1st Century BC traveling to ancient China and whose remains were buried at the White Horse Temple] of Luoyang. I pay homage to Kumārajīva [a monk of 4th Century AD from Central Asia who alone translated massive volumes of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese], to Faxian [of 4th Century AD], to Yijing [of early 7th Century], to Xuanzang [of 7th Century], [the latter three being Chinese monks who traveled to India and brought back and translated scrolls and scrolls of Buddhist scriptures]. I pay homage to Bodhidharma. I pay homage to all those in both civilizations who have communicated with each other in silence for thousands of years.

Yoga which unites everybody in silence and meditation now unites the people of China and people of India. Walking on the footsteps of all those great immortals to whom I have paid homage, I come to you to revive in you that tradition of discovering the inner serene silence through yoga. Yoga is not a system of physical movement. It is a system of silence and stillness from which the movement expresses itself. It is this yoga to which I invite you to enter within yourself. It is the subtle yoga, not the yoga of the body but the yoga of inner self.

I will first take you through five minutes only of the entry way into the chamber of inner silence. First you will discover your spine. Your spine is a center of all your energies in teachings of the Taoist masters of China and the yoga masters of India. As you discover your spine you will begin to sit straight and you will begin to sense the subtle flow of energy in your spine. And then your senses will naturally want to close. Your eyes will close to look inward into a chamber of silence. Then, as you enter that chamber, your spine will remain erect but all your muscles and joints remain relaxed.

Relax your forehead. Bring your mind’s attention to your breath. Only observe how your breath is flowing. The source of your breath in the energy centers in the spine, the source of serene flow of breath. Simply observe and feel your breath flowing. As you observe your breath will slow down.

Now, feel the flow and touch of your breath in your nostrils. Breathe gently, slowly, smoothly. Just feel the flow and touch in the nostrils. No jerk in your breath. No break between breaths. Let your entire mind become absorbed in feeling this energy stream.

Now the word I give you will not come to your mouth, only in your mind. While you are feeling the outward flow and inward flow of your breaths, count in your mind in your own language: one — two — … Breathing out, one… Breathing in, two… Continue to feel the breath with the count of one and two… No break in the flow of the breath. No break in the count. Observe how the mind, the word and the breath are flowing together in a single energy stream of your conscious mind. Without the feel of the flow gently open your eyes, but let the flows continue even with the eyes open.

Resolve in your mind to calm the mind in this way many, many times during the day. This way is the very first step we teach in our ashram in our yoga tradition. It’s only the first step. But even with this step you will join the great disciples who for thousands of years have sat at the feet of masters and the immortals. The count of one and two is for those who do not wish to believe in any Guanyin, Buddha, religion, Vedas and the masters even. It is a perfect system for the atheist scientific societies. However, if you wish to follow a different system you will have many alternatives.

Those who wish to follow the Heart Sutra, as is shown on the screen written in the Siddham script. The entire Heart Sutra cannot be done in one breath – unless you are already an immortal. So for those who are dedicated to the Heart Sutra you may use “bodhi svāhā”. With each breath you use those words flowing in the mind.

For those dedicated to Guanyin you may use the mantra that’s dedicated to Guanyin in all of China, or to Dölma in Tibet, to Tara in India and to all these lands in Asia, two and half billion people are united by this mantra of Guanyin: “tāre tuttāre ture svāhā”. It is the same mantra that is recited to mother Tārā at my ashram here in Rishikesh by the holy river Ganga. The entire mantra again cannot be done with one breath. So meditation with the breath you may use only the word “tāre”. Breathing out, feel the breath in nostril and think in your mind: “tā – re –”. Breathing in, feel the breath and think in your mind: “tā – re –”.

However, in the yoga tradition, in India commonly, the masters of the Himalayas, they use another word. When Xuanzang brought thousands of scriptures from India and he established the pagoda in Xian, under the patronage of Tang emperor, called the Haṃso Pagoda. Why did he choose to call it Haṃso? That is the word which the yoga masters teach to every beginner to start the practice of meditation.

Now in the honor of Xuanzang, join me, feel the breath in your nostrils. Be still and breathing out think “ham –“, breathing in think “so –“. Continue in silence with your mind, hamso and the breath flowing together.

Many years ago, nearly ten years ago, I had the honor of making the pilgrimage to the temple in Qinling Mountains where Laotzu gave his teachings. I had the honor of sitting with a Tao master who was the abbot there. He talked about the Tao path of energy in the spine. I talked about the Yoga path of energy in the spine. He talked about the bifurcation of the energies in the base of the skull and I talked about the bifurcation of the energies in the base of the skull. He talked of the great masters and immortals leaving the bodies consciously from the top of the head. And I talked of the great yoga masters leaving the body consciously from what we call here brahmarandhra, the opening to Infinity.

I did not bring any offering to the abbot but he gave me, out of his spontaneous love, this Chinese calligraphy that hangs on the wall in my room to this day. Also hanging in my room are the portrait of my master, Swami Rama, and the painting of Guanyin. This is how the traditions unite us.

And I am so joyful that you and I, though apparently thousands of miles away, are united today in yoga. Here in India we have kept the language from which the masters like Xuanzang translated. For example, I have here (holding up a scripture) the Lotus Sutra in the Sanskrit language from which Kumārajīva translated in the 4th Century, seventeen hundred years ago and we are teaching them in our ashram.

I had the honor of visiting the chamber where Xuanzang’s skull was preserved. And I was permitted to enter that chamber. There I recited the original Heart Sutra from which Xuanzang had translated for you. I am sure that his spirit accepted my love offering.

There are yoga and yogas. The paths of yoga have been offered to followers of many cultures. If you do not believe in any religion just use the count of “one –“ and “two – “ with your breath. If you are a Christian you may use the name of Yesu. There is a Christian yoga. There is also a Muslim yoga. And there is also a Buddhist yoga. Now to add a little humor – there is also a “Hollywood yoga”!

But I have no sense of humor and the only yoga I enjoy is the Himalayan yoga. This Himalayan yoga is not the yoga for powers. It is the yoga for purity and serenity. Learn to move as though you are not moving – that is yoga. We have a beautiful text here in India called the Bhagavad Gītā, the Divine Song. It says, “He who knows action in inaction and inaction in action knows the meaning of action.” [around 47:30 SVB stopped briefly in the middle of a sentence, said “Excuse me” and remained in silence for around 30 seconds before continuing citing the Gītā]

[At this point the video connection was interrupted. After resuming the connection Swami Veda continued.] I hope our minds remained connected. Through your silence and through your serenity you can connect to the minds of all the teachers and immortals.

As I was saying, the Divine Song, the texts in Sanskrit says, “He who knows action in inaction and inaction in action knows the meaning of action.” Lao Tzu also says, “A warrior who in the middle of battlefield is not fighting is a true warrior.”

So do not do only postures. Learn to lead such a yoga life with a yoga mind. What was it that the great Himalayan masters were doing in their mind sitting years and years in silence in the caves? They were not pursuing a path of powers. They were pursuing a path of purity and serenity. When the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree for 49 days and 49 nights absolutely still, what was he doing in his mind? When Bodhidharma sat in front of the wall for so many years that his shadow was imprinted on the wall, what was he actually doing in his mind? Do not only honor the founder of yoga, or the Buddha, or Bodhidharma. Do not only honor them. Be ambitious. Learn to do with your mind what they did with their mind.

I have a wish for you – that you become someone that anyone who comes in your presence, any time, feels that he has entered a realm of peace. To have that ambition is yoga. I wish you to be ambitious.

Please accept my thanks to Yin Yan and Mohan for organizing this event for us. I thank the honorable Prime Minister of India and the honorable President and Prime Minister of China for having brought us all together here under the banner of yoga. This union in the yoga transcends all political boundaries as it has done for thousands of years in the past. I pray that someday I welcome many of you to come and sit in silence meditation with me here. In the meantime, please make a resolve that you will calm your mind many, many times in the day by following the harmony of mind with one single thought and the breath for however many minutes it may keep you in enjoying your own inner peace.

Yin Yan would you kindly convey my sincere thanks to his excellency, the Ambassador of India. I shall be grateful.

[Yin Yan: On behalf of all the participants here, I thank you, Swamiji, and I shall bring our students to your ashram to study meditation with you.]

Thank you, Yin Yan. Thank you all. Now before you all go, once more, enter your inner realm for one minute. Just relax your mind and feel the flow and touch of your breath in the nostrils with “one — two—“or with “ham— so—“. Just sit for a minute in silence.

With all the love of my heart, with all the power of action in my hands, with all thoughts and intellect in my head, I honor and worship the pure serene spirit within you. May that always be your own source of peace.

Are there any questions?

Question: Whenever I sit in meditation I would be in tears. Why is that?

Swami Veda: You have many emotions stored up inside you. When you relax they begin to flow out. Make your emotions a flower offering to Guanyin, to your inner spirit, to whomever divine mother you believe in and they will accept your offering. Your tears will turn into a very serene feeling. After some times when you let out your emotions as an offering, after some times, it will stop flowing and you will be calm in your meditation. Just accept it. Accept it and keep coming back to the feel of your breath and the word of your choice. Just keep doing it again and again.

Question: I want to know how meditation can benefit us and what’s the connection between meditation and the āsanas we do in hatha yoga?

Swami Veda: First, my advice – do not practice meditation for its benefits. What is the benefit of smiling? What is fun of smiling? What is the correct method of smiling? What is the benefit of being calm and being in peace with yourself? If you smile for its benefit, is it a smile? So practice being at peace just for the sake of being at peace. Now, you carry a lot of load of emotional tensions in your body, in your muscles. That also makes your breath very short, very shaky and very jerky. Through hatha yoga in postures you release these stored up tensions, stress and so forth so that your body may calm down and be relaxed so that your breath may begin to flow gently and smoothly. In fact, when we teach hatha yoga we teach that the postures being done with a smooth movement, gentle and unjerky flow of the breath. If your body is full of tension and stress it will not let you sit still in meditation. It keeps shaking about. In fact, as I have been taught by my master and as we have been teaching in our ashram, we think of hatha yoga as a form of meditation not separate from meditation. These are explained in my book the Philosophy of Hatha Yoga. So hatha yoga is one of the forms of meditation when it is done with a serene mind with even flow of breath and relaxed movements.

Question: What is samādhi? Is it a way to calm our mind? And let’s add one more question, does God exist?

Swami Veda: What is samādhi? In February 2016 we are doing a 6-day program and the topic is: Can I have samādhi? But I do not promise that you will enter samādhi by doing this – even the Buddha had to sit for 49 days and 49 nights. Samadhi is being that what you really are. You are not your eyes, ears, hands and feet. You are not your breath, your emotions, your disturbances. You are a serene form of conscious energy that is total and pure knowledge and absolute joy. Samadhi is returning to that self-nature. Once you have RE-discovered that self-nature you will never lose it again.

Now to the question: Does God exist – why do you want to believe my answer? Find out for yourself. That is what my master taught me – find out for yourself. You will not find it out by asking intellectual questions. Go to the most serene, quietest place inside you and there find out if there is a God. You will come back from there and tell me if God exists. Find out for yourself.

My blessings.

Editor’s Note

Shi Hong provided this transcript and also acted as translator of Swami Veda when Swami Veda gave the talk.

Chinese translations

Traditional: https://www.facebook.com/ahymsin.taiwan/posts/1773505236053274
Simplified: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-PjoqiM1PsKFp2BFDGTA8g

Progress in Meditation

Posted on by Mandala

The student of meditation, without understanding the importance of pratyahara, cannot concentrate the mind and thus is unable to sit in meditation. The mind is in the habit of functioning along the ten avenues or senses. These senses distract and dissipate the energy of mind. But the mind can function without the help of the senses. In such a state, the mind starts turning within. During the practice of pratyahara, the student restrains himself from doing meaningless actions that are not related to this practice. Learning to with draw the senses from the objects of the world does not mean withdrawal from the world, but the student, before sitting in meditation, has to learn to withdraw the senses from the objects of sense perception before he steps into another stage called concentration. Here I would like to mention that concentration for meditation and concentration in the external world are two different ideas. Concentration in the external world does not help the student of meditation.

Paying attention toward the action one is performing and performing one action at a time strengthens the power of concentration. Concentration helps one to be successful in the external world by helping him to do his duties efficiently and competently. It should not be forgotten that the mind attends one thing at a time, though at a fast speed. Students often think that the mind can attend more than one thing at a time. In attempting this, the power of distraction increases and concentration decreases. For strengthening concentration, attention should be trained. That is why the teacher gives an object or a point – to focus the mind for strengthening concentration. A fully concentrated mind has immense power – unbelievable power– which is attained by concentrating and focusing the mind. That makes the mind one-pointed, and pratyahara makes the mind inward. The inward tendency and one-pointedness help the student in doing meditation. In meditation, the mind starts flowing spontaneously and uninterruptedly, but this flow of concentrated mind is inward. The body remains still, and the breath remains calm and serene. Such a mind experiences the joys of meditation.

So often, students learn to sit in meditation without preliminary preparations and are disappointed if they do not find peace of mind and joy in meditation. Actually, according to the system of raja yoga, the student needs to prepare himself before he practices meditation. In our day-to-day life, and from our childhood onward, sitting still, looking within, withdrawing the senses, and focusing the mind on the centres (like the space between the eyebrows and the centre between the breasts) are not taught. Therefore it is difficult for a student to actually meditate and find the inexplicable joy that is quite different from the joy derived from the pleasures of the world. The joy derived out of meditation makes one calm, balanced, and thoughtful. Such a joy gives strength to students, and they remain undisturbed in the trials of life. In order to form such a habit of being undisturbed – even by strong memories and imaginations – one must at first choose a calm, quiet place for meditation.

Meditation opens an entirely new dimension of life for the student. There is no other method for enjoying
now
except the method of meditation. When meditation deepen, and the mind starts flowing toward the centre of consciousness, then the student finds great delight, and meditation becomes a part of life. When one learns to sit regularly, at the same exact time and place, he gradually expands his capacity, and his mind forms a habit and finds delight in meditation. Much has been written on the subject, but very little is useful, for inner experiences cannot be drawn on a piece of paper. It is important that the student of meditation is guided, at least for some time until his meditation is strengthened, and that he receives instructions from a teacher who has direct experience and who himself practices meditation. Many obstacles obstruct the student when he encounters his memories, symbols, and ideas. Sometimes the fancies and fantasies are mistaken for visions. Some students are deluded by extraordinary visions, and some aspire to experience and visualise something extraordinary. Neither of these types of students progress, because the psychic world bewilders and distracts them. Students should learn to reject such experiences and watch their progress by the signs and symptoms of calmness, clarity, and one-pointedness. If there is no sign or symptom of calmness, balance, and clarity of mind in the personality of the student, there is something wrong with the method of meditation. Anyone can theoretically know the method of meditation in a matter of a half hour, but practice alone is the real method of learning.

Editor’s Note

This passage has been taken from the book Choosing a Path, pp 137 – 139, by Swami Rama, published 1982 by the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the USA.

For published works of Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati, please visit www.yogapublications.org

Letter from Minnesota

Posted on by Mandala

Yesterday I fell asleep watching a movie at my computer and knocked over a cup of water. I frantically sopped up the damage. A few hours later, I turned on the computer again and the setup looked strange. I rebooted and it was all back to normal.

The new normal is unsatisfactory. Minneapolis friends are nearly 2 hours away. The closest friend is about a half hour’s drive. I don’t have a car. There are bus lines and service, but these are restricted to schedules and routes which do not go directly everywhere one would want to go when one wants to go. But I live in a beautiful, clean, spacious, secluded apartment on a fifth floor with big windows that let lots of sunshine in. My physical environment is uncluttered and well organized. Now and then, I write a poem. I love the quietude.

But the new normal is not terrific.

So here I am asking myself if this new lifestyle is a good plan. I eat whatever I want and enjoy it (I thought I hated pizza.) And it eats me— so many sweets—much of it freely given—is a delight to the sensate moi, Miss Piggy. But after 2 years of my personal Battle of the Bulge, my new found fun of eating and watching is inching me toward the dieter’s Armageddon.

I do not regret having discovered the British TV series, free online, called Doc Martin. What utter delight! But I sit at the computer lapping up movies, interesting American and BBC TV more than I would normally do. As Swami Veda once said— “Too much is not enough.”

I had thought I would write more, do more yoga and refine the mind, body and breath. So, one day recently I went looking for old handles. “What,” I asked myself, “did my infinitely wise teachers say that helped me to shift gears so many times before?”

Well, for one thing— the easiest and most obvious— sweaty exercise was missing. Then the phone rang. After a wonderful discussion, I said that I had to get ready for a Skype chat in a half hour.

“Have you tried Jane Fonda’s low impact workout”?”  She said. “It’s free on YouTube.”

I said that I hadn’t. I balked.

“Why don’t you try it as soon as we hang up? It’s only 26-minutes long. You still have a half hour before Sonia calls.”

I agreed to try it. I found it easily: “Jane Fonda’s Walking Cardio Workout, Level 1.”

Not half way through —huge smiles! It was invigorating! And it answered a question: What did Swami Rama recommend in your daily routines?

I once heard him say in a lecture to do a minimum of 20 minutes of sweating exercise at least twice a day. Not 20 minutes of exercise. 20 minutes where you are sweating. When I lived at the Himalayan Institute, everyone had a jogging suit and shoes. Everyone jogged up that steep hill. I resisted jogging. But that’s another story.

Eventually, I jogged 5 miles a day and walked briskly another 5. More than once, I found myself literally bending down and kissing the ground. Vigorous exercise was great for moving out the inertia, resetting the metabolism and my whole modus operandi. Brain, bones and lungs thrived with it.

Speaking of my first experiments with jogging in Swami Rama’s day, little by little everything changed— my tastes and inclinations as well as a greater clarity on the day’s goals and my long term aspirations. I found myself with more time and energy for 2 dear, old friends— yoga and writing. So I begin again.

In addition, together with more yoga and meditation, I believe that jogging greatly diminished my sleep needs. Sleep was deep and still. But I would strongly discourage you from suddenly jumping to 3 or 4 hours of sleep. The body needs sleep to repair itself. In short, please don’t force it.

In 2005 or 2006, Swami Veda required residents to go for a daily early morning jog. Even before dawn a bunch of us were at the lower gate headed for Ma Ganga every day—until a sleepy rebellion set in.

So this is my first letter back to many old friends from around the world who often come to mind. I can look inside or out my bright window and see one big space that holds us all.

Editor’s Note:

For more about jogging, please see the chapter “Exercise” in the book A Practical Guide to Holistic Health by Swami Rama.