Month: June 2019

How much time and how many lives do we go through “neti, neti”?

Posted on by Mandala

Question

Does a long challenging and purifying the mind not subtly take you to an ego of the mind? Because you are still in the gross body/mind and extremely far from Brahman…nothingness. How much time and how many lives do we go through “neti, neti”?

Answers

Stephen Parker (Stoma), Lalita Arya (Ammaji) and Michael Smith have answered this question.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

In a word, no. If you live a mindful life, depending on the density of your karmic accumulation, you can substantially cleanse the mindfield in one lifetime. If you observe your life from buddhi, which is causally beyond ahamkara, this breaks the self-identification with samskaras and keeps the ego in its minimal role. The problem with ego is that it gets the idea that it is the Self. That needs to be corrected from time to time. But without an ego one cannot have a body and without a human body one cannot purify samskaras. So until the mindfield is cleansed enough to dissolve, one needs an ego in order to progress.

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

Great precise reply by Stoma.

Sometimes I feel sympathy for the impatience of seekers, but that is understandable when such questions are asked as they are done is in all innocence.

Treading the path requires a lot of cleansing which purifies body, mind, samskaras, ahamkara, etc, etc. Once that cleansing REALLY starts, all such questions answer themselves as we proceed on the path. It takes lifetimes upon lifetimes to get anywhere close to understanding anything. It is great to have someone be able to explain, but to comprehend on one’s own is the revelation that leads further. Meditation does not follow logic.

We people of the modern world do not really know the meaning of patience…once I asked my Guru a really dumb question – “Baba”, I queried, “I am bored with my present mantra that I been meditating on for over 20 years. Can I have another one?”  He laughed, looked at me and said, “Beta (Child), no, carry on with this until your last breath….”
He has also reiterated in almost every lecture – “Do not believe what I say, go home and practice on your own.”

So the more we keep to our practice sincerely, daily, patiently with discipline the greater the chances that answers reveal themselves when you least expect.

Michael Smith

Swami Rama talked about “polishing the ego,” but personally, I agree with you – a polished ego is still the ego. I have heard many things about how long it takes until the final liberation – from “it takes millions of lifetimes” to “it can happen in a single lifetime.” I think it depends on the readiness (adhikara) of the student. Personally I like Yoga-sutra I.14 and what Sri Nisargadatta wrote:

Sutra I.14
Sa tu dirgha-kala-nairantarya-satkarasevito drdha-bhumih:

That practice, however, becomes firm of ground
only when pursued and maintained
in assiduous and complete observance
for a long time, without interruption
and with a positive and devout attitude.

“You are never without a Guru for He is timelessly present in your Heart.
Sometimes he externalizes Himself and comes to you as an uplifting
and reforming factor in your life:
a mother or father, a wife or husband, a child or teacher;
or he remains as an inner urge towards righteousness and perfection.
All you have to do is obey Him and do what He tells you.
What He wants you to do is simple:
learn self-awareness, self-control and self-surrender.
Though it may seem arduous, it is easy if you are earnest.
And it is quite impossible if you are not.
Earnestness is both necessary and sufficient.
Everything yields to earnestness.”
— Sri Nisargadatta

Editor’s Note

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

Japa, Silence and Atma-tattva-avalokanam, part 3

Posted on by Mandala

I remember when I was for a few years on the board of The Meditation Center in Minneapolis. One of the things that is important to remember about Swami Veda’s organizations is that they always ran rough. Always. No such thing as a smoothly running organization with Swami Veda. There is always lots of back and forth and contention about stuff. Being a well-trained therapist for a long time and an organisational consultant, I ran around trying to fix it. Then one day I was sitting and watching some kind of conflict go on between two people and the thought suddenly came in my mind, “Stoma, it is not supposed to get fixed. It is supposed to be this way. This is how he facilitates emotional purification in people.” And if there wasn’t enough rough running going on, he would create it! He’d give a job to somebody and then two minutes later, after that person had left, he’d call in somebody else and give him the same job. And he usually picked two people who didn’t like each other. He’d set up a big conflict about it.

Ashutosh [Sharma] has some beautiful stories about this. In his early days with Swami Veda, he would go through the roof: “I can’t stand that person, he is driving me crazy!” And Swami Ji would say, “Ashutosh, they are just holding up a mirror to your own mind. They don’t make you angry. They only show you your anger that is already there.” And for most of us, this is such an important lesson to learn. It really helps learning to dance with these kinds of situations, and it frees you up from having to get stressed out about them. Obviously, you do the best you can, especially those of you that are teachers and center leaders to facilitate a good outcome. And in the long run, we get those good outcomes.

I was just in Hungary, and in addition to teacher training stuff, we did a couple of events to release the Hungarian translation of my book on emotional purification. In the last event that happened just before I left, somebody came to that event that I and several other people have had some real difficulty with. We had a wonderful conversation that just made all of that go into the past. And I actually have heard a whole bunch of stories of that nature in that last week which has been really good to hear. And that was how it was with Swami Veda. Things will always come around in the long run.

Take me for example. I ran away from the tradition four or five times for one reason or another. And every time something brought me back. Different things at different times. Very often, it was my showing up at some event, and Swami Ritavan was there to say, “Welcome home.” He always said this to me. And I really needed to hear that at those times. It made all the difference in the world. Even in those times when people feel like they have to take some distance from their practice or from the organisation for a while, this is only temporary.

Once you are linked by that initiation, the Guru’s got you. You can’t get away. You will come back. Sooner or later–maybe not even in this lifetime, but it will happen. Absolutely it will happen. And I have the most beautiful gift of being able to go from place to place and see what this family is like in the whole world. I wish I could just transplant that experience into your mind to see how lovely that is. It is so lovely that it just made my mind go quiet. But it is a wonderful gift to be able to see this in people. Often when I go to a new place, I will almost always meet somebody I recognise, but do not know. And these experiences are just bizarre because sometimes the feelings are just so deep and so strong.

I can remember one person again in Hungary that I met some years ago. He had come for mantra initiation, and there was just this intense love between us, unbelievable. And the problem was I spoke no Hungarian and he spoke no English so we just sat across the room from each other, looking at each other with all of this stuff to say and no way to say it. But I know when those things happen that I am meeting somebody who is coming back. I am meeting someone who has been drawn back into relationship by the Guru somehow for some reason. And that is a really beautiful thing that gives me a really solid sense of faith in how the Guru does its work, especially at the times when the Guru’s work seems to be disruptive. And the thing that gets you through this is deepening this threefold process of japa, silence and atma-tattva-avalokanam.

If you really do that, you cultivate these beautiful qualities that are described in Sutra 33 of Chapter 1 of the Yoga Sutras: friendliness, compassion, joyful mindedness. In some ways, I think that is the best one. It is what the Dalai Lama means when he talks about people seeking happiness. It is not ordinary happiness. It is joy. It is not happiness that comes from the satisfaction of desires. It is happiness that comes from selfless love, from feeling what other people feel, from knowing what the lives of other people are like on the inside. And it is a wonderful thing even if what is inside is painful. It is also what we feel when we grow.

For dealing with the rough spots in life, however, the most important attitude is the last one, upeksha, non-reactivity, the ability to overlook people’s shortcomings. As Swami Rama used to say, ‘Don’t respond to how the person is acting now. Respond to the person that you know they can become.’ That is such a beautiful attitude. What results from that is the ability to have a sense of presence from people that can withstand some of this rough running that we encounter from time to time. And as you go deeper and deeper into that attitude, into your ‘lazy person’s yoga’, even just watching your breath, every once in a while, I just close my eyes, and the feeling of the breath just says to me ‘You are alive! There you are.’ Just like you would say it to a new born. You get the childlike sense of presence, and it is as important for you to be able to have that with yourself as it is to have with other people. It is wonderful to just feel your breath and know that is what it is to be alive. So, practice lazy man’s yoga, make the effort you need to make to learn the basic skills but then work on letting go, letting go, letting go.

I’ve watched Ashutosh teaching now for twenty-three years, and in the beginning, he used to say, ‘Stoma, tomorrow I am going to bring my stick.’ In some ways he was just like the same old Ashutosh: First, we would start our class at 4:30 PM, and the dinner bell at Sadhana Mandir would ring at 7 PM, so we would finish our class when the dinner bell rang. So, we thought maybe we should start a little earlier so we can have a little time before dinner. So we started at 4 o’clock, and we went all the way to the dinner bell. Then we started at 3.30 PM, and, again, all the way to the dinner bell. And over time, especially in the last six to seven years, there is such a deepening in his teaching about this whole issue of learning hatha yoga as this process of really being able to let go, of being able to allow the natural person in you to express itself.

If you listen carefully to his language, he says, ‘Allow your breath to flow’. He doesn’t say breathe diaphragmatically. Because when you say that to people, they start to do all kinds of artificial stuff. And what we are really after is to help people recover the memory you have from being an infant of how to breathe correctly. Your body already knows how to do this. It is there in your memory, and it is a question of getting the rest of the disturbances out of the way enough for that to come forward. And when you begin to get skillful at doing that, then you naturally are also able to relax.

So, we have a whole week to play with lazy person’s yoga. It should be fun. That is the other thing. It really should be fun. It should be child’s play. As much as possible. We love as adults to make work out of it, but never forget that work is really a waste of time. Work is waste of energy. I worked as a child therapist for five or six years. Watching how efficiently they heal themselves in imaginative play and how quickly they learn things in imaginative play, it is so much more powerful than working at these things. So, learn to play with your life as much as you can. We have a wonderful opportunity to play together for a while here in a very good way; I think that helps us to come to a more natural state of relationship with each other. And I think that is the most important thing we can do during the time that we are together here.

Editor’s Note:

This is from a transcript of a session with Stephen Parker (Stoma) at the 2019 Sangha Gathering at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama. This is Part 3 of 4 parts. To read Parts 1, 2 and 4, please click on the appropriate link: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4.

Blessing of a Death Conqueror

Posted on by Mandala

In those days, and up to very recently in the history of Indian civilisation, no hostile acts were permitted at night. Soldiers picked up weapons only after morning prayers, which was a daily duty, and laid them down for evening prayers. In the night, enemies might even feast with each other on occasion.

Doffing their armour, the five Pandavas and Krishna, weapon-less, go to Bhishma and honour him by placing their heads at his feet, as if entering a refuge.

“Welcome, welcome to each of you.” Bhishma addresses each one by name. “What service can I give you today that would be pleasing to you? I will do even the most difficult task for you with my whole self.”

Yudhisthira says to him in a very loving and pitiful voice:

You know everything, Sir. How can we win?
How can we gain the kingdom without endangering our progeny?
You yourself, tell us the way you would die.
How can we withstand you in the battlefield?
We cannot find the minutest weak point in you, the tiniest aperture to get through.
Your bow is like a mystic design, a mandala,
When you hold it, set it, pull the strings,
We see you on the chariot like the great sun’s twin.
Just advise us how we may defeat you, how the destruction
Of our armies can be stopped. How can I gain the kingdom?

Bhishma replies, “There is no way that you could win while I am alive. I am telling you the truth, and you all know it yourselves. If you manage to defeat me, then, and only then, will you win the war. Therefore, organise your attack on me soon if you wish to gain victory in this war. I permit you, attack at your pleasure.”

Yudhisthira asks again how they might go about doing this very thing which they have not failed in doing for so many days. Bhishma now counsels them seriously, “I do not fight someone who has thrown away his weapons, has fallen, has lost his armour or flag, is running away, is scared, or who says ‘I am yours.’ I do not fight a woman, someone with a woman’s name, someone who is maimed, has only one child, or is an ignoble person.”

Readers of the Mahabharata will recall that Draupadi’s brother, Shikhandi, was born a girl and had later become a boy. Bhishma always regarded him as a girl even though he was now a warrior fighting on the Pandava side. Bhishma advises Arjuna to place Shikhandi in front of the latter in the chariot and to shoot from behind Shikhandi so that Bhishma will not be able to return the attack. The Pandavas gratefully honour Bhishma, who has, through his counsel, taken initiation to enter the next world. The Pandavas return to their camp. Arjuna is in despair:

Our elder, our Guru, he of cultivated wisdom and great intelligence,
How will I fight my grandfather in this way in battle?
In childhood I would come with limbs all muddy after play,
Upsetting him by looking like this …!
Yes, as a child I climbed on the lap of the great–souled one
And called him “Tata, Daddy”
And he too would say, “Not your father’s, but your father am I.”
Better to let him destroy my whole army.
I will not fight against that great soul
Whether I win or lose my own life.
But Krishna, what do you think?

Thus Arjuna repeatedly echoes the earlier sentiments of The Bhagavad Gita 1.8. Krishna again uplifts Arjuna from the mire of depression, reminding him of his duty, so that the depressed mood of his friend and disciple does not disturb the Lord’s divine plans for Bhishma.

The next day, in the battle, Arjuna follows Bhishma’s advice and by the end of the day not two fingerbreadths of Bhishma’s body are without an arrow sticking into them. Finally he falls. It is said, that at the moment of his fall, as he stumbles from his chariot, some divine force enters him. He becomes part of the divine essence so that when he falls, he does not touch the ground. The arrows stick, and he is supported on them. He sees that the sun is not yet in the right place for him to leave his body. A yogi waits for all the forces of the universe to be in a certain harmonious position with his own spirit before he drops the body. Because Bhishma knows the relationship of prana with the sun, and sees that the sun is not yet in the right place, he will not yet depart.

Editor’s Note

This passage has been taken from the book titled Mahabharata’s Bhishma, Death Your Servant: Examples from a World Classic by Swami Veda Bharati.

Energy of Consciousness in the Human Personality, part 3

Posted on by Mandala

The yogis say that only a certain surface of the mind is asleep but that a vast area of the mind never sleeps. For if the entire mind were to sleep, who is it that continues the digestive processes during that time? Who keeps the lungs breathing and the heart pumping? If the entire mind were to sleep, who would wake us up again? Seeing that the body (which is run by the mind) maintains some of its operations during sleep, we surmise that a part of the mind must remain awake; but if we simply depend on body consciousness to experience that mind which remains awake while we sleep, we are left helpless. Yet we know that the will of consciousness is operant in the mind in order to keep the body functioning and to wake us up again. Thus it becomes clear that the finer energies cannot be contained in, or measured by, the denser ones, but the opposite is not the case.

Our greatest concern in a study of the relationship among energies within the human personality is with the question of self identification, called abhimana in Sanskrit. In the average individual, consciousness has gravitated to identification with the densest energy level, the body—or so it appears. But in fact consciousness can identify with each of the forms the energy takes and call them all “I.” This person identifies his relationships with various members of his family. For instance, take these four statements: He is my father, I am his son; she is my sister, I am her brother, she is my wife, I am her husband; she is my daughter, I am her father. In each the “I” is common, but the relationship differs. The person saying “I” has the experience of being in all four roles, those of son, brother, husband, and father. But each of the relatives can play only a single role with him. The wife cannot know him as a son, the sister cannot identify with the father in him. Yet he is all four states within himself. He is also apart from these—just himself—sitting writing a poem to his divine Lover. Then he is free of all human relationships at that time, yet he is even closer to his true identity. It is thus with consciousness. At the level of the body we identify consciousness with the body, and it says, “Yes, body, too, is made of my being, but I also breathe in breath, animate through prana, and think when I am mind, and yet I dwell in my own nature apart from these at all times. They are my modes, but I am not their mode. They are my variations, but I am the theme.”

In other words, even though most human beings seem to identify with only the surfaces of their bodies, consciousness remains wide awake and active elsewhere, too, for if their identifications were truly limited to the surfaces of their bodies (as in the case of someone sleeping), how could they breathe with the lungs, digest with the internal organs, and send out brain waves? Deeper still, how could they have internal emotions and other forms of thought? Obviously, consciousness is operant in and identified with each of these forms of energy even though it appears that their main identification is with the surface of the body. As we cultivate meditative self-awareness, we gradually proceed from the exterior to the interior self identifications of consciousness—first the body, then the prana, then many stages of mind, one after another, and, finally, pure consciousness alone.

A question is often asked, “How did consciousness ever lose its purity in the first place?” The answer is that it never did. Just as one’s whole mind is never asleep even though the sleeping part does not know of the ever awake part, and just as his sister does not know him as his daughter’s father, so body consciousness identification cannot be identified with the pure consciousness one. But the full and pure consciousness continues on, taking care of all its children—the lower level frequencies which are powerless to contain and measure it. Again and again the ancient texts on the nature of consciousness have made this assertion: “Who are you that ask this question?” A being identifying yourself with the consciousness as it extends into the body? Just move a bit on the spectrum. Keep moving. All of those colors reflect the same light. When did light ever cease to be light? The green is green and the red is red, but the light is always light. Only when you identify the light with one of its modes do you see blue or red. See all of consciousness, and your body is included.

Editor’s Note

Reprinted from Revision, Vol 3, No. 1, Spring 1980

2019 Spiritual Festival

Posted on by ahymsin

Each summer during the 40 days that precede Guru Purnima, students in the Himalayan tradition are invited to participate in the 40-Day Spiritual Festival, to expand and refine their sadhanas.

This year the 40-Day Festival will begin on 7th June and will end on 16th July, which is Guru Purnima.1

It is a time to contemplate (and talk with others about) the ways you can participate.

“We are all here for a purpose; it is an on-going spiritual process. We are all here for spiritual liberation and serving that mission. For that purpose we are purifying ourselves of our pride and ego. For these reasons we train ourselves in constant self-observation: to see oneself, to hear oneself to develop this internal dialogue. I have used one criterion for all my thoughts, my words, and my actions: ‘Is this conducive to spiritual liberation?'”– Swami Veda

The many presentations,2 sacred ceremonies and scriptural contemplations3 in recent years have pointed to the main focus of this year’s Spiritual Festival, which is the japa of the Saumya-Tara Mantra and the celebration of the Divine Mother in the universe and in ourselves. The Saumya-Tara Mantra was given to us in past years by Swami Veda, and now again, in 2019 by Swami Ritavan to bring loving peace to the collective mind-field: “Saumya-Tara Mantra can be a means for expiation and purification and lead to pacification, a peace that is necessary now and at all times.”

At the 2019 Sangha Gathering (February 25 to March 5, 2019) at SRSG, Swami Ritavan guided the AHYMSIN Sangha into the Saumya-Tara Mantra practice for the next three years. Please see Three Year Mantra Practice, 2019 to 2022 and follow the many links which are included.

The Saumya-Tara Mantra practice is especially propitious, as it reconnects us with Swami Veda’s love for this mantra and the immersion in the energies of the Divine Feminine, as when Swamiji first introduced Saumya Mantra to the Himalayan community in 1999 when he further expanded it in 2012 4 by joining it to it to the Tara Mantra, and when he prescribed this mantra for the Spiritual Festival in 2014.

In February of 2002 Swami Veda spoke these words:

“The swift, yet soft current in the middle of the river is that of Soma – in the whole universe all that brings peacefulness. In the common spoken languages of India we often refer to a person who is very Saumya person. That gentleness shows on his or her face. That gentleness and softness is exuded from his body and from his voice. Such a one does not need to make an effort to ascend, to rise. Such a one simply floats like water filling all the holes and making everything even. Wherever there is disharmony such a one’s presence creates harmony. Where there is strife, such a one’s speech, glance, thought establishes symphony. We seek to be such for in these times there is enough of the exhibition of fire in the world. If each one of us – even one single one of us – becomes a Saumya person, his very presence on this planet can bring about a mildness in the flames of fire….
If you want to know what a Saumya feature is like, [remember] the face of your mother when she was suckling you on her breast and looking down at you. That was a Saumya face. Pray that your face may be seen like that face by all living beings – not only by your family and friends and neighbors and your co-nationals, but all human beings and all living beings. [Let them seek you out]…as hungry children come and crowd around their mother….
So each time you utter the word “Saumya,” let that quality of personality be invoked in you so that slowly, slowly, gradually you may become the source of Saumya forces flowing swiftly, softly. Gently like a breeze made fragrant by flowers . . . [may] others who pass by you smell that fragrance and may their minds become Saumya….
The great divine Mother’s presence has to be invoked and invited to dwell in your body, speech, mind, eyes, even more intensely manifesting…a clear presence at all times. “Saumya, Saumyatara.” Each time we recite these words let these qualities, let these attributes be invoked in you and may the mother who is ever Saumya – suckling all her children, the entire universe after universe – may she descend and dwell in you and look out to the world through your eyes. Saumya, Saumyatara. Hari Om. Hari Om. Hari OM.”
(from “Saumya, Yajna and Yajmin” by Swami Veda on February 10, 2002)

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1 As Swami Ritavan has written, “Celebrating Guru Purnima is a joy beyond words, a deep stillness that echoes a wholeness and holiness. A wholeness that provides the answers to our pursuits, our yearnings and reveals a purpose for life. To live and to love with a heart unconditioned by conflict, and a mind, unified beyond division.”

2 “Sangha Practice for the Next 3 Years” by Swami Ritavan
“Advancing Guidance in Yoga Sadhana” by Swami Ritavan
“Saumya Mantra Explanations”

3 SAUNDARYA LAHARI, VERSE 3 by Shankaracharya

avidyānāṁ antas-timira-mihirod dvīpana-karī
jaḍānāṁ chaitanya-stabaka-makaranda-śhruti sṛtiḥ
daridrāṇāṁ chintā-maṇi-guṇanikā janma-jaladhau
nimagnānāṁ daṁṣṭrā mura-ripu varāhasya bhavatī.

Thou art the sun that dispels the darkness of the ignorant;
to the unknowing Thou art a spiritual flower overflowing with honey;
to the needy Thou art the gem which bestows one’s heart’s desires;
and to those who are drowned in the ocean of births and deaths,
Thou art the Rescuer.

SAUNDARYA LAHARI, VERSE 27 by Shankaracharya

japo jalpaḥ śhilpam sakalam api mudrā virachanam
gatiḥ prādakśhiṇya-kramaṇam aśhan ādyāhuti-vidhiḥ
praṇāmas-saṃveśhas-sukham akhilam ātmārpaṇa-daśhā
saparyā-paryāyas tava bhavatu yan me vilasitam

“Oh, Supreme Divine Mother,
Whatever action of mine, may it be intended for and dedicated to Your worship:
may my speech become recitation of Your name as prayer (japa),
may all my actions become gestures of Your worship (mudras),
may all my movements become a circumambulation around Your form (pradakshina),
may all my food and drink become offerings to You as oblations to divine fire (havan),
may all my resting and sleep become prostrations to You (pranam)
may all my worldly pleasures and enjoyments be transformed into acts of devotion to you (seva),
(May “I” become “Thine” and “Thou” become “mine”, O Mother.”)

4The installation of the Tara Shrine took place on March 31st & April 1st, 2012. To appreciate the profundity of this event and its relationship to the Saumya-Tara Mantra, please read the article “The Birth of The Lady of Compassion at SRSG.”

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In addition to the practice of Saumya-Tara Mantra, during these 40 days students can choose to intensify their yoga sadhanas and/or make beneficial changes in their lifestyles, in a variety of other ways. Please review what Swami Veda’s suggestions and teachings have been in previous years, including Sadhana in Applied Spirituality and the practice given by Swami Veda on 9th March 2013 for “your next five years and for the rest of your life.”

Prepare a study and practice plan for yourself. If there are instabilities in our lives, they exist, Swami Veda said, not because our circumstances are unstable, but because our minds are unstable. Stable minds, he said, are like soft, gentle ripples in the calm lake which can stabilize all external circumstances.

Some possible undertakings for the 40-day Spiritual Festival:

1. Increasing one’s practice of meditation and japa.
2. Expanding some other aspect of one’s daily yoga practice with subtle relaxations or pranayamas.
3. Studying an inspiring book and applying a principle or practice in it.
4. Implementing an element of yoga, such as a particular Yama or Niyama. “These Yamas and Niyamas are the sure means of advancing spiritually. When your mind is clarified, purified, by the constant application and implementation of these principles, you’ll find that your problems will become less and less overwhelming.” (Swami Veda Bharati)
5. Cultivating positive aspects of mind through such practices as the Four Right Attitudes (brahma-viharas – friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked) or pleasant-mindedness (chitta-prasadana – clarity and purification of mind, making the mind pleasant and clear).
6. Making lifestyle changes so to honor the natural environment – reducing clutter, consuming less, planting trees, simplifying one’s way of living.
7. Making healthier choices in one’s daily schedule in terms of diet and nutrition, sleep and exercise habits and punctuality of meditations.
8. Refining one’s personal relationships with family, friends and co-workers.

In reviewing the guidelines and making your own commitments, please keep in mind your own capacity. Success with a series of smaller goals will lead to greater purification and capacity for next year. Assess your own capacity and do not try to push to complete “on time.” Accommodate for your family responsibilities.

Some further suggestions from Swami Veda for stabilizing the spiritual mind-field include:

1. Let your selfless service increase, whether by one percent or five percent or whatever. Increase the time and energy you spend in SELFLESS service of others. That is the first concrete action you can begin with.
2. Refine your personal practices including concentrating more on exhalations. This will help you achieve 2:1 ratio of breathing without physical effort.
3. Review: Read Mind Field: The Playground of Gods . And Marks of Spiritual Progress.
4. Keep your regular meditation time. In addition to that, you may sit at other times in the day. Do not forget to take 2 minutes, 3 minutes breaks, for breath-awareness many, many times in the day.

A group of spiritually-oriented people, thus stabilized, can become part of a larger, stabilized mind-field called a sangha. We are all part of a global network of spirituality in the Tradition, and we can continue to harmonize the mind-field of our community, through our own self-transformation, so that its mission work will be successful.

“We all dream,” Swami Veda has said, “of the possibility of living in a peaceful world. This aspiration can be realized only if we first provide to our very soul, the self, atman, a peaceful home in the mind inside which it lives. That is the essence of our spiritual journey; that is yoga; that is meditation; that is peace in the family, which, then, extends to becoming world peace. We need to keep a diligent vigil, to keep this mind pure and peaceful and clean, to make it progress towards becoming the environment suitable for an enlightened soul. There needs to be sense of continuous progress in us so the world may progress towards peace.”

Lokas samastas sukhino bhavantu
“May the whole world attain peace and harmony.”

“May we weave the fabric of spirituality in our lives,
and within our spiritual family – AHYMSIN” (Swami Ritavan)

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Stabilizing the Spiritual Mindfield
Additional Spiritual Festival Guidelines

Prayash-chitta and Chitta Prasadana: through Self-Examination & Meditation

Self-Examination, Sadhana Practice, Meditation & Mantra Japa

• Maintain mindfulness and an attitude of self-examination throughout the day. Observe thoughts and emotions asking oneself, “What transgressions did I commit?”
• Where there was fearful or aggressive thoughts/words/actions ask, “What was it in me that evoked that response and reaction?”
• “What right thing that should have done have I omitted?” – replacing such negativity with kindness and compassion. (Refer to Swami Veda’s Yoga Sutra commentary of I:33 on Chitta prasadana.)
• Do Nadi Shodhana (channel purification) 3 times a day.
• Do one to three malas of your personal mantra japa daily.
• For any thought critical of anyone, do 11 recitations of Gayatri.
• At juncture points in your day (or about every 2 hours), sit for 2 minutes, observing the flow of breath in the nostrils and repeating your personal mantra.
• Recite the Gurur Brahma Prayer and the morning and evening prayers .
• Surrender samskaras & random thoughts to the inner Guru.
• Resolve to enter into non-self-centered meditation.
• Om Tat Sat Brahmarpanam Astu – dedicate prayers to the enlightenment and happiness of others.
• Your last formal thought at night should be the Gurur Brahma prayer and entry into meditative mode as you fall asleep. Your sleep will become a meditation. Awaken with a Yoga Nidra practice or simply breath awareness in bed before rising.
• Participate in Full Moon Meditations . “The full moon meditations are an opportunity for us to come together in connecting with the universal mind-field bringing unity, harmony, peace and love. Go into your silence; exhale-release, inhale-accept, forgive & fulfil, with purified heart and mind receive the blessings of the Lineage.” – Swami Ritavan Bharati

Hatha Yoga

• A practice of hatha yoga to purify the body, breath and mind. Consider undertaking a practice of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) during these 40 days. Please refer to the section in Swami Veda’s Philosophy of Hatha Yoga in which he writes about asana as worship. Do Joints & Glands Exercises. Use whatever asana practice you undertake as a way to strengthen your link with the lineage through whom all blessings flow.

Meals

• If possible do not eat alone. Take a small portion of food and give it to a companion or co-worker. If it is embarrassing and not socially acceptable, then surrender the first portion to the Great Prana of the Universe.
• Recite Grace.
• Eat 5 mouthfuls less than enough to fill the stomach at each meal.
• Eat no solid food after 9:00 p.m. A glass of liquid may be taken at night. Special health and medical situations are exempt. Total fasting is not suggested.
• Try to avoid eating meat or fish during the month although you may serve it to your family.

To further deepen your practice

• Consider taking a vow of one month’s celibacy, but only with the happy consent of your spouse.
• Keep a personal journal on subtle violence in personal life, e.g. an unjustified sharp tone of speech, or in using objects obtained by violence and disregard for the rights of other living beings.
• Dedicate 10 percent of your month’s income plus one dollar to a charity of your choice, in addition to your usual commitments. Through this ancient Western and Eastern tradition of tithing, one learns the way of giving sacrifice joyfully.
• Look for ways to reduce your possessions, acquisitions and energy consumption at least 10%.
• Conquer anger, laziness and selfish thoughts.
• Vow to give special love to your family and reach out to others, beyond your blocks and fears.
• Experiment with a practice of silence (see Swami Veda’s booklet Silence for more about silence). This could be through observing your speech in daily life to see if you are using more words than necessary, speaking louder than necessary and if your tone and voice evokes a positive response in the listener. You could undertake to practice a half day of silence or a longer period. “Silence should not merely be an absence of speech. If it is merely an abstinence from speech it can even be emotionally and spiritually damaging. Unless one has filled oneself within there is no silence. Fill yourself with meditation. Fill yourself with contemplation. Fill yourself with your mantra…” – Swami Veda Bharati
• Take a one or two-day, or longer, personal retreat.

Further Observances

On Guru Purnima day you may decide to undertake further observances of self-purification for next year.

Do please proceed, and may the Guru Spirit
thereby be pleased and confer its grace upon all of us.

Om Sham

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The One-Pointed Mind

Posted on by Mandala

Merely knowing what to do without one-pointedness of mind will not lead one to perform his duty accurately. Therefore, the desired results will not be attained. Just as profound knowledge of what to do is essential, so having a one-pointed mind is equally essential. The modern student tends to know intellectually, but does not make sincere efforts to develop one-pointedness of mind. Thus, his mind remains scattered and all his actions result in disappointment. For lack of a one-pointed mind, the modern student jumps from one path to another because he does not understand that it is his scattered mind that is creating barriers for him. He thinks the barriers are outside. Assuming that another path or goal will be better is trickery played by the mind. One already knows what is right, but he does not know how to put it into practice. In childhood, the fundamentals of all great truths are taught to us. Then we spend energy in trying to apply those truths, but we fail. We do not realize that with systematic practice, we can succeed. The key point of practice as well as of success lies in one-pointedness of mind.

Attention is the first step on the ladder to develop one-pointedness of mind. One must pay wholehearted attention to all of the things he does from morning until evening. The aspirant should also understand why he is acting in a particular way. Actions should not be performed as are action without understanding why one does them. The human mind is prone to be reactionary if it is not trained, and an untrained mind crates disorder, disease and confusion. If one does something with full attention, he will increase his awareness and ability to perform his duty. If one forms the habit of attending fully to whatever he is doing, the mind will become trained, and eventually concentration will become effortless. It is a great quality for one to be able to express his knowledge through his speech and action with a one-pointed mind. Thousands of thoughts remain waiting to be entertained. The purpose of sadhana is to attend to those thoughts in a systematic manner so that they do not create unrest in the inner world. Arjuna is instructed to make his mind one-pointed before performing his duty.

Editor’s Note

This passage has been taken from the book Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, pp 77- 78, by Swami Rama, published by Himalayan Institute Press.

For all Swami Rama’s and Swami Veda Bharati’s published works, please visit www.yogapublications.org or email info@yogapublications.org.

Published works of Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati are also available at other venues.