Month: July 2020

A Willful Event of Purification

Posted on by ahymsin

This is a transcript of the video “Swami Ritavan’s Guidance” . Moni Ambrus provided the transcript.

ॐ तत्सत् ब्रह्मार्पणं अस्तु ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om tat sad brahmārpaṇam astu.
Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ.

I’ve shared with the community, as you know, a short message that has come through me in some way. Initially by way of a few weeks ago when certain experiences of people’s suffering were manifesting in various parts of the globe. At that time, I had written that the knots of your heart should remain open to hope, to a sense of fullness. Only in coming to the moment, in resting in the infinite moment, does one come in touch with the power that emanates as you gather these forces of stillness and silence as the source of the eternal, and let them well up within you, a fountain that grows within you, and thereby fears and worries of limitations will disappear if, only if you are allowing the spiritual forces to rise up. This is our teaching.

And the teaching continues. The blessings of that teaching will flow from the spiritual core of our being. Let this opportunity be a willful event of purification, and this is the ideal of titiksha that we have always spoken of in those ways of purification, the forbearance, the patience and understanding. So, the quest remains; the teachings continue.

As the experience of hardships and challenges will grow, remain aware of the spiritual strength. We see this reflected in our disciplines by way of that spiritual understanding and that inner strength, the disciplines of ahimsa, satya and santosha, and as Swamiji always reminded us “Smera-smera-stimita” – Let the mind smile. Let the happiness of the heart be reflected through that smiling mind, those positive emotions, that way in which then the speech is honeyed with a sweetness, where the thought patterns are no longer pulled to those attachments of selfishness, but are opened to kindness and compassion.

As we cultivate such a recognition that the sources within and thereby these natural forces of patience, forbearance and tolerance are present for us, such sentiments will continue to arise with our purified mind, our clear mind, our pacified and in that way peaceful mind. A mindfield that is showing the fruits of our disciplines and sadhana by way of goodness, by way of an inner satiety and contentment, by way of a compassion and kindness for all.

Yet when we recognize that it’s a different sense of awareness that must be cultivated, and in that way it’s renewed each and every day in our meditations, each and every moment as we carry the mantra breath to breath. As we share in this moment of stillness, as we share in the offerings of our prayers for others, we come again to the moment of completeness and wholeness and holiness, of recognizing our true nature, of recognizing that inner source of light and life that remains with us always, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, that presence remains. Only to bring forward the name. Only to bring forward the presence as a name, as a relationship with ourselves by way of our mantra, by way of that Divinity that we recognize and thereby communicate with the eternally and internally by way of our japa. Our mental recitation of the mantra, our presence of that Divinity. That relationship with the Lord that is near and dear, in whatever form or with whatever name.

Editor’s Note:

This article has also be published in the April 2020 edition of the AHYMSIN newsletter.

The Importance of the AHYMSIN Community Saumya Mantra Practice

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

Once again let us come back to our practices. The practices that no doubt each of us have by way of those daily routines of sadhana, but by way of having time, making time, honouring time to intensify, to deepen, to nurture another part of our spiritual life that we have always hoped for – the opportunity to address in addition to our daily meditation for spiritual renewal, for that rejuvenation of the spirit by way of our own mantras, also knowing yourself to be not the meditator, but the very way in which the meditation can flow, a flow that actually is arising from the samasti citta, from the universal mindfield where those saintly minds, the Masters in their bodiless forms remain as mind and thereby extending their blessing honouring that role that they continue playing in blessing humanity and thus bringing grace toward for us by way of our meditations to receive.

Along with the personal mantra, we have our community mantra, the Saumya mantra, and it’s not a coincidence that the Saumya mantra was introduced a year ago. For when we look at when such collection mantras are brought forward to our awareness, we find that there are preparations for that inner strength. Swami Veda brought the first recognition of the Saumya mantra to the community back at the turn of the millennium. Only then did he address what this pacification of the mindfield on a universal scale would mean and would be necessary.

And he gave such a beautiful address The Perennial in the Millennium, meaning how to envision the future, because it was only within a number of months later that the United States experienced a trauma of that terrorist act that brought an entire change of consciousness through the community of the US citizens. But it actually affected the entire globe. And it actually gave us at that time a mirror to look at ourselves, and yet how we acted and reacted has continued some theme in our humanity of fear and protection and [of] securing our small little concept of self. He recognized that this was coming; he asked us to begin the Saumya, and we continued that for this period of time plus an entire 3-year segment.

And now that mantra is coming back to us a year ago. We too are preparing and have actually prepared the groundwork for what is now happening which has once again shown us that we must think of the future in a positive way, in a vision, that will create the themes of this perennial in the millennium, that we once again will come back to and reread and contemplate on and secure in our mind very clearly a vision for our future.

And that’s not imaginary; it’s not fantasy; it is the reality of that first yoga, that first way in which humanity has a collective harmonious mindfield of the saintly. This is how they lived, and this is how a segment of that consciousness has continued to mature and manifest in each of the many yugas that have continued from that point. So whether we simply say “Oh, this is the Kali Yuga” and again and again, we simply blame our own ignorance, our own pain and sufferings that is outside of us. We have the opportunity to go inside. We have the opportunity to envision the prominence of that perennial that remains and thereby create the future that we wish for.

Swami Rama reminds us that we are the writers of our own manuscript day by day. In this lifetime for our next lifetime. So, how will we compose this life and write the book of life that will then be a chapter for the next manifestation of this Jiva Atman?

Editor’s Note:

This article was also published in the May 2020 edition of the AHYMSIN Newsletter.

How can the non-enlightened ones guide others?

Posted on by Mandala

Question

Only one who has realized his true self who is free from ego and body mind breath identifications can understand and speak the truth and guide. All others are only speaking about concepts and second hand knowledge. That being the case, how can they guide others?

Answers

Randall Krause (Mokshadeva) and Stephen Parker (Stoma) have answered this question.

Randall Krause (Mokshadeva)

To answer your question, let me tell you a story—which you may have already heard but it bears repeating. There was man who, during a flood, climbed onto the roof of his house. He began praying fervently to God to save him. After some time, a firefighter came by with a long ladder to help him down but the fellow on the roof waved him away because he was praying to God to save him. The water continued to rise and soon was almost at the level of the roof. The man prayed more and more fervently. Soon, a person came in a boat and shouted, “Save yourself, jump into my boat and I’ll take you to safety!” But the fellow on the roof wouldn’t go because he wanted God to save him. The water was flowing rapidly now and came up over the roof and the fellow climbed to the top of his chimney—the only dry place—and prayed with all his heart and mind and concentration. Soon a helicopter came and lowered a basket and the Coast Guard soldier shouted down to “Get in the basket and we will haul you to safety.” But this fellow didn’t go. He was waiting for God to save him. Soon the flood swept the fellow away and he drowned. Then he found himself as a soul in the presence of God and was upset and said, “Why didn’t you save me when I prayed to you?” God said, I sent a fireman with a ladder, a man with a boat and a helicopter with a basket. What more did you want?

The idea is that the un-embodied, timeless Guru can teach us in many ways, through many people, and especially through initiated teachers. If you refuse all the help that comes to you, insisting that the Guru personally appear before you, you may miss essential lessons and have a very long wait.

Very few people ever came into the physical presence of Swami Rama, and almost nobody spent more than a few moments in that presence. The Guru can teach through many means and one does not need to be in his or her physical presence to be guided. Most teaching occurs out of the physical presence of the Gurudeva.

Finally, do consider that it is said in the Traditions that “when the student is ready, the Master appears.” So do the absolute maximum in your power to overcome your problems and do the practices you’ve been granted with full devotion, strength and with a positive, devotional attitude, and, only when you are “ready” will the Master appear. Before then you can search and search and possibly not find.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

I think Mokshadev’s answer is wonderful, and I would only underline that the Guru in its intangible form reaches us all. And before it makes any kind of personal appearance, it will test you, as it tested the person in the story, to see whether you are really listening. I knew Swami Rama in the body for 26 years and certainly had more in-person darshana than most, although it was still very little in terms of clock time. All of his most important and most personal teaching came to me without any familiar form or voice after I had demonstrated some willingness to pay attention. And then it can just as often from beloved friends as from my own buddhi. The great Guru of the Avadhūtas, Dattātreya, listened well enough that he could take instruction from a range of animal teachers.

Editor’s Note

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

Heaven, Hell, Reincarnation?

Posted on by Mandala

Does a soul after death go to heaven or hell, or does it reincarnate? On the surface it would appear to be a controversial question, but it really is not, once the definition of heaven and hell is better understood.

There is also the question about the transition period. How long does one stay in heaven, hell or in the purgatory? How long does it take for one to reincarnate? Different cultures and traditions ascribe different time periods. It should be understood that the question of such temporality is irrelevant to the soul which is not limited to our sense of time. The sense of time for different states and levels of consciousness varies. For example, we must measure our time during a dream in two ways. The time an event seemed to take during the dream is quite real while the dream lasts. Yet it is not to be measured against a clock ticking in the same room where the dreaming person lies in bed. One might be tempted to suggest that, well, of course, the time being told by the clock is real; the time experienced during sleep is merely subjective. Such an assertion is based on the unproved assumption that what is subjective is unreal, which is not the case. Are our unexpressed mental thoughts, memories, feelings unreal?

Excepting the liberated Masters, all the experiences of a soul in transition from death through heaven or hell or a reincarnation occur within the subtle body. Our subtle body is constituted of a very refined level of material energies, such as pranas, powers of the senses and so forth, and serves as an individualized instrument of the universal unconscious. The individualized chitta serves as the repository of all our impressions which become the samskaras, creating latent tendencies which finally mature into karmic fruition. Such karma ripens at a physical level but some only on the mental level and within the subtle body. Just as our mental sicknesses – including milder disturbances – are part of the karmic fruition, so also are the experiences between death and the next life. It is important to note that the philosophical systems of India, including Buddhism, accept reincarnation as well as heaven and hell. The deeper aspects of the teaching make it make it clear that heaven and hell exist only in the subtle world. A number of passages in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (4.3.8-20) state that the experiences between death and rebirth are in the same category as dreams, a twilight zone. The wakefulness is like being in this body, in this world; the sleep and dream states are as though a transition after death and before rebirth. The life force, the soul wrapped up in the subtle body, sees whatever it has stored in its unconscious chitta and from its own light creates its own worlds, within its own time zone. The experiences of this zone of awareness draw from the previous life, the previous series of experiences and their samskaras.

According to the same Upanishad (4.4.6),

…to whatever one is attached, he goes to that as a result of his actions, to whatever his subtle body and the mind are affixed. Coming to the end of that action whichever he has performed here, from that world he returns again to this world to perform actions. Such is the state of those who desire…

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Meditation and the Art of Dying by Pandit Usharbudh Arya, who later became Swami Veda Bharati. 1979. Pages 90 – 92.

Meditation Makes Time for Itself

Posted on by ahymsin

In response to the frequently heard comment, “I don’t have time for meditation,” I say, first, meditation makes time for itself: it pierces the fortress of time to create fresh temporality. Second, meditation facilitates and hastens the tasks which previously seemed difficult and a time-consuming uphill struggle. Meditation creates time for itself.

What is time? Time is not the movement of a hand on the clock. It is a state of mind, a consciousness, and our time-consciousness depends entirely upon our view of life and our view of the universe. As we grow, our concept of time changes. Time, which is very long for a child, as from Christmas to Christmas, is very short for an adult. Time, which is like five hours when we stand for five minutes at a bus stop, reverses itself. When we are engaged for five hours in some highly pleasant activity, we are surprised because it passes like five minutes.

The greater beings, whose consciousness is not tied down to the human body, to human limitations, view time from an entirely different perspective. Meditation makes time for itself. It does so by increasing one’s energy level so that less time is required for sleeping. It purifies the emotions so that less time is required for dreaming, day-dreaming, and fantasy. Fantasy includes reading stories and watching movies. This is not to say that one should stop reading stories – now, this minute! Meditation will change your inclinations. You will need less emotional outlets. Meditation makes time for itself by purifying your emotions so that less time is spent in that angry, vengeful, depressed, self-pitying, internal dialogue that we all carry on.

Meditation makes time for itself by suspending the sense of movement on which time depends. The existence of time depends entirely on the sense of movement in space. We experience space only because we move through it or observe objects moving through it. In meditation total stillness occurs. Where total stillness occurs, our relationship with space changes. As our relationship with space changes, the need for movement of the body is suspended. When the need for movement of the body is suspended, time stands still.

Put it this way, the mind experiences time as a movement of thought. I am speaking and fifteen seconds of silence pass since my last word. Meanwhile the listener’s mind has continued with a chain of thought created by an instant observation, such as, “What is this man doing? Why is he not speaking? Why did he stop? What is he going to say? Is he going to say anything more?” Then the mind inverts itself, looks at itself, and says, “Now I have thought so many thoughts in this time; much time must have passed. What has been happening all this time outside of the body?”

When the mind no longer carries on a chain of varying thoughts, the minutes and seconds stand still. To go further, the mind enters a chamber of silence. What is this chamber of silence that we speak of as occurring in meditation that we sometimes touch the doorknob of when we are in meditation? This chamber of silence is a chamber of transcendence. The whole universe outside of us, including our bodies, including the objects which provide thought to the mind – all of those factors and entities in the universe are, as it were, triangular. The three arms of these triangles are time, space, and causation. That which transcends these triangles of time, space, and causation is that chamber: the chamber of silence.

Where time stands still, our relationship with limited space ceases and, therefore, causation, karma, the series of causes and effects with which we are constantly involved, also comes to cessation. Thus, in meditation, as our meditation grows, time will not be experienced as a movement from point “X” to point “Y” in mental space. In deep meditation time ceases. You’d say, “If so, what happens to all my appointments that I have made in external time. If internal time ceases, what happens to all my responsibilities? Would I simply sit there completely unaware of all my external responsibilities, duties of love, and other matters of importance?”

My friend, when you touch the timeless regions, the Timeless One begins to take care of your affairs. At this stage, to believe in this statement requires much effort of faith. But the saints who started out on their journey to saintliness started out from the same place where you and I are worrying, being concerned over ordinary daily life and affairs: “What will happen?” “How will it go?” “Will the sun rise tomorrow?” “Will there be a moon next month?” “Will the crops grow?” “Will there be bread in the pantry?” “Will I be shod?” “Will my feet have two pieces of leather to cover them to walk through the winter?” “Will my child be taken care of?” “Will my husband be served?” “Will my wife be happy?” All of these questions arise so long as we have a relationship with time, space, and causation.

Here we come to the second statement: meditation facilitates and hastens the tasks which previously seemed difficult and a time-consuming uphill struggle. With much less effort things attend upon you when you have learned to meditate. If you sit to meditate, however, with the thought, “Panditji1 says with much less effort things will attend upon me; therefore, let me meditate for fifteen minutes,” it will not happen. You cannot bargain with God. You cannot sign contracts with God. You cannot say, “God, sit down and sign on the dotted line.” “How long do I have to meditate before you will start taking care of my affairs?” “If you don’t sign on the dotted line, if you don’t show a sign, then I will not believe it, then I am not going to meditate.” This process will not work because you are imposing time, space, and causation upon the Transcendental One.

In the book Living with the Himalayan Masters, Swami Rama speaks of an episode concerning a wedding at the home of a man named Gopinath in the city of Kanpur. Now, in India weddings are very elaborate affairs. They are held in the bride’s home. The bridegroom comes with a big party, on horseback, with bands playing, and is received like a royal guest. Everybody is fed and taken care of, and much gold jewelry is given. It is a huge celebration. Well, this man Gopinath has the key to the safe in which the jewelry is kept. A little before the wedding he walks out of the house on some last-minute errand and, along the way, hears kirtana going on. Kirtana is a few people gathered together singing the name of the Lord. You call it chanting here.

Gopinath stops for a moment, listens, becomes absorbed, sits down – “I’ll go just now” – and joins in the chant. Sitting there chanting with the others, he becomes completely absorbed, completely entranced in the name of God, whom he loves, and he forgets about his errands. Time passes. He does not know how much time has passed. When the kirtana ends, Gopinath’s trance breaks, he is shocked out of his rapture, and he sees the time: it is 10:00 o’clock at night! The wedding party must have come; the wedding must have taken place! But how could it when all the bride’s jewels were in a safe to which he held the key? Madly he rushes home. Everybody is gone.

He asks his wife, his relatives, “What happened?”

They look at him amazed: “What happened? Don’t you know what happened?”

“Well, no. I went on this little errand, and I became entranced listening to the chant of the name of God, sat down, did not know what time had passed, and here I am.”

They tell him, “You were here all the time. You came. Do you not remember opening the safe and giving the jewels, feeding the guests, bidding the bride and bridegroom farewell, and doing all your duties as the man of the house?”

“Who, me? Not me,” he insists. “I was not here. I was sitting chanting. I was in a trance. Time passed. The chanting ended, I was shocked out of the trance, and I rushed home.”

“No, no, no. You were here!” they repeat. “You did all the duties you should have been doing. What has happened to you?”

“Who was this other man who came in my place? How did it happen?” he wonders.
There are many, many stories of happenings of this kind among the saints and saintly of India, stories of how the Lord has taken care of the affairs of those who have really loved him and who have become entranced by him.

On a smaller scale, our tasks can become easier and less time-consuming. Decision-making processes become shorter because the mind is clearer. It is no longer befogged by intellect and emotion – both cobwebs covering the quick facilities of the mind. The result of taking the short cut through the emotions and the intellect is such that the answer flashes before you.

Until the answer flashes, you will not make a decision. In meditation, however, you will not struggle, you will not worry about it. You will let it be. You enjoy your rapture. You enjoy your meditation. And from somewhere, suddenly, a very silent, whispering command comes: “Do this.” And it clicks. It seems right. It feels right. Your decision is made. The time that you would have spent in much effort is no longer required because the mind is clarified. Your buddhi and the processes of your intelligence are purified. They are no longer befogged by the emotional confusions through which we constantly live, calling them our love or our problems.

In this universe there is an all-pervading principle called the unconscious mind. It is called so by the yogis, not because the mind is unconscious, but because we are not conscious of that vast expanse of the universal mind. Through this universal mind run currents and crosscurrents of life, karma, time, space, and causation. In this vast expanse of mind our individual minds are as though little focal points. In the vast history of the universe, our individual lives are little episodes. The currents and crosscurrents of-life, of the flux of the universe, pass through, crisscross through these little focal points called our individual minds. When we live a life in which the mind is turned to only the world which is visible to the eyes and audible to the ears, the mind is not in tune with this vast expanse of its own other being.

When we enter the state of meditation, true meditation – not the “meditation” that is a struggle, a fight, a quarrel with the teacher, a discussion with the wife or husband – when we enter that meditation – a stand-stillness of the mind, that chamber of silence – then the mind becomes inverted. When the mind becomes inverted, it is in tune with the currents and crosscurrents of the flux of the universe, which are crisscrossing through these focal points which are we individuals, who are the little episodes in the history of the universe.

In the history of the universe many, many events are linked to faraway places and times. What is happening here is somehow linked with something that is happening at this time to a person in perhaps England or Australia, to one whom we have never met, to one whose name we do not know or of whose existence we are not aware, but whose friend will probably pass our way, cross our path, sometime during our visit to Los Angeles or New York or Peking [Beijing] ten years hence. The events that will make that happen are taking shape now without our knowledge and are part of the entire flux of the universe.

We little beings worry, worry, worry, and through that worry and depression we try our best to stop the free flow of that flux through the focal points of our minds, to prevent those good things from happening to us. By saying “What will happen? What will happen?” we prevent the right things from happening to us. We fill our mind with cobwebs in this manner. When the mind is inverted in meditation, it is linked to that flux, becomes aware of those currents and crosscurrents, and those far-away events are hastened, happen more quickly. The message passes without a phone, as It were. The mind is linked and is inspired to do something whereby the right things begin to flow your way. You want someone to pass your way? The next day he passes your way. We call this coincidence. In the life of a yogi such coincidences are common daily fare. They simply happen. When they happen once, twice, or three times, he too calls them coincidences. But when they begin to happen without his effort, over and over again, every day, he says, “To heck with the effort, I will meditate and let these things come my way and take care of me.” And they do!

But remember, meditation is not the path for the lazy, not for the weak, not for someone who simply closes his eyes, fights all the emotional battles, and says, “I am in meditation, but things are not taking care of themselves. Why aren’t they?” No, that is not the kind of meditation of which I am speaking. True meditation, from the background of emotional purity by which you have risen above your insecurities, that meditation guides you and guarantees your success in all your undertakings without consuming much of your time and energy. If you want to find time for meditation so that the meditation may later find time, create time for itself, start working on emotional purification.

The painful emotions are a sign of blockage in spiritual progress. Get rid of them. Don’t suppress them: get rid of them. Replace them with happy emotions. Your mind will become clearer and meditation will become a pleasure, a joy. Only when meditation becomes a pleasure, only when it becomes a joy, when you simply love to sit and enjoy it, then meditation lengthens in time and takes care of itself. You just take care of the purification of your emotions. Meditation will take care of itself, will find time for itself, and will begin to give time for all of the things that you have been wanting but unable to do.

(1979.)

Editor’s Note

1 This article was written by Swami Veda Bharati before he took Saṃnyāsa, when he was Pandit Usharbudh Arya.

Non-Violence and Spiritual Strength

Posted on by ahymsin

Swami Veda Bharati gave a lecture on Non-Violence and Spiritual Strength in Holland, 2009. Transcript provided by Michael Smith.

The best answer to that question is: Let spiritual experience become personal. The more you go into your personal spiritual questions, the more answers come. It’s not answers to questions. Simply guidance comes. If I had never met you and read a book about you, and friends had told me about you, I would have all sorts of questions about you. The best answer to that is to meet you. The best answer is to meet God. Until such time, the questions will remain. Some answers will come. Those answers will raise more questions, and the process goes on.

The answer is silence of the mind — clearing your emotions – clearing your emotions so that they do not become obstacles in the way of your spiritual experience.

A lot of people have emotional experiences. They are spiritually inclined, so they think they’re having a spiritual experience. I believe in utter purity. I don’t believe in all this flying off to astral travel, and out-of-body experiences, and dreaming this and dreaming that. A lot of people think of that as spirituality. And there are a lot of people who have written books on that basis, and they are very misleading.

My idea of spiritual experience is . . . total stillness — stillness of body, stillness of breath, stillness of mind, quietness of speech. Not “armchair loving.” You know, just like some people do “armchair traveling, some people do “armchair loving.” They sit there and send out loving thoughts to the universe – and they have not loved their near-and-dear ones yet.

Stillness and selflessness is my idea of spirituality. Stillness and selflessness. The rest is all very romantic: “I am thinking this thought. I saw a bird. Maybe the bird brought me a message.” I don’t believe in all that. It’s nice poetry. It’s enjoyable. Stillness and selflessness. It’s all very poetic.

I’ll tell you the truth. I never have any experiences – I must be very unfortunate – but I also now do not have questions.

I’m not yet totally selfless. My ambition for that total selflessness is not yet fulfilled. I know where there is self-centeredness in me. I know where my stillness is still lacking. And I keep working on that. And as I work on that, the questions have become less and less and less and less.

You will find your own way. You will not need to ask. Your own soul, what we call antar-atman, your own “inner-self,” will show you. You will devise your own experiments because your situation and somebody else’s situation are different. Whenever you are faced with a situation where you have to make a decision, where you have to respond to something, respond to something someone has said, you have to respond to something your child is asking, or your friends are expecting, or your husband is wanting from you, or your wife is wanting from you – what is the least violent way? You create your own experiment. What is the most loving way – even if you disagree? What is the least violent way you can express yourself – causing the least disturbance, in the other person’s mind causing the least disturbance in your mind, causing the least disturbance in your surroundings? You will make your own experiments once you have decided that you want to go on that path. You will make your own experiments. No one else can tell you. You have to make your own experiment. What is the least violent way? What is the most loving way?

You cannot become totally nonviolent at the present state of your life and your relationships. It’s not that it’s not possible. It’s possible, but you’re not yet ready for it. You’re not yet ready to go and stroke a tiger in the forest. Some special, rare enlightened ones do it, and the tigers come to them like little pussycats. That is a fact, but it is not yet for you. But the animals you hurt you can stop hurting. See where your next step to nonviolence is. Start with small things. Go home, see where your next step to nonviolence is. And I want to say something that many people don’t like me saying. The philosophy and the traditions that we come from does not differentiate between a human soul and an animal soul. So nonviolence is towards all living beings. So which is your next step. You work it out.

In the Yoga philosophy they speak of five Yamas and five Niyamas, and the first Yama is Ahimsa (Nonviolence). And it is said that the other nine Yamas and Niyamas arise out of Nonviolence, and they exist and they are practiced to support Nonviolence; it is written in the sutras in the explanations. So truth that leads to violence is not truth. Truth arises out of Nonviolence and exists to support Nonviolence.

In my own search for what is the right conduct for me, I could be involved with many things, but I’m only one body – and at the age of 76, I cannot start a new movement here, and a new movement here, and a new movement here. So what is the core thing I feel I can do? That is what I am doing. And if people have that: purity of mind, purity of emotions, these problems that we are creating in society will not exist. Along with that I judge my capacity. I am not a prime minister or a president of a country. I cannot make laws. I do not have one trillion dollars that I can give to the hungry children. So what is within my capacity? That much I do. And I hope and pray that my capacity may increase, and I do mentally and spiritually what is within my power to increase my capacity. About the rest, I don’t waste my time sitting in my library and crying about the rest; this I cannot do. And I absorb myself in what I can do and remain neutral about the rest. This I cannot do; I accept that fact.

Sitting there crying about it is not helpful to anybody. Shouting angry slogans is not helpful to anybody. So, watch your capacity, work for increasing your capacity – your spiritual capacity, your moral capacity, your influence in society so people listen to you.

“Oh, I’m a spiritual person; I don’t talk about money.” How are you going to feed the hungry children? Make more money; find ways to make it so that you can give more. That is spirituality. That is also your next step in nonviolence: make more money so you can give more to the hungry children.

So, you will devise your own ways. Once you’ve got your mind clear – “Okay, what is the purest way, what is the cleanest way for the mind to live? What is the purest way, what is the cleanest way, what is the most nonviolent way?” You just do that. And you make your own experiments. And you will make those experiments, and to do your experiments in such a way that they do not hurt your child, your parents, your husband, your wife. Because that is canceling your spirituality. Take them along. “How? He won’t listen to me.” Because you do not have nonviolence enough. So make experiments with that. That is why he won’t listen to you. Nayam atma balahinena labhya. “This Atman, this Self cannot be found by a weakling.” (Mundaka Upanishad – 3.2.4) You have to have some inner strength in you – nonviolence strength. Nonviolence requires the greatest strength. You cannot be nonviolent without deep inner strength.

Again, you have to watch. You have to make your own experiments. What do you love? What do you want? Act accordingly, and do it again and again, nonviolently, with no violence to anyone, no hurting of anyone, no withdrawing your love from anyone. Otherwise your so called spirituality is self-defeating.

There are subtle things. Act according to your capacity. What is within your capacity, do that. In your present capacity, your task is not to look at whether other people are angry with you or not, but whether your mind is angry or not. You cannot actually stop the whole world from being angry with you. The Jews and the Romans were angry with Jesus. I saw in my master’s life that so many people got very angry. But I am not going to compare myself with a master.

Your work is not so that people should not be angry with you, but in you there should be nothing that causes anger in others. That is the real meaning of that. In you there should not be something that causes anger — that you want to reduce your resistances to them. That others resist you means that you are resisting them.

You cannot send out a questionnaire to seven billion people on this earth: “I am on my spiritual path, dear Sir?” — You can do it on the internet — “Are you angry with me?” – [Laughter] “because I want to judge whether I’m making spiritual progress or not.” That was not the point. How far are you moving in that direction inside you? That is all that matters. And its effects on others will show themselves. But some folks have such strong rajasic and tamasic tendencies, that your sattva may not influence them – and you have to accept that fact. Then be neutral towards them. Then you don’t respond to their anger. Then you just be neutral. That is their rajas. That is their tamas. “I have examined myself – my thoughts, my tone with my words, my actions – and I have done the best, the purest, the most loving, the most nonviolent that I could be.” That is it. That is all. And you bring that together in you. You’re not working on other’s anger. You’re only working on your sattva – to increase it.

So, spiritual life is the easiest life because it gives of ease of mind – gives you ease of mind – but you have to learn to use those tools that God has given you. Some people are really doing it – great work!

Okay, God bless you all. See you whenever, wherever. Keep up your practice. Plan in your own way of spirituality, in a very practical way, okay – not birds bringing me messages – but in a practical way, what you can do out of compassion to purify yourself. Alright. Keep your meditation pure – very clear. Alright. God bless. Thank you.

Fifth Anniversary of Swami Veda Bharati’s Maha-samadhi

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

“Share with the world a wrinkle-free forehead, a calm, soothed, wrinkle-free mind-pool of stillness and silence.” the often repeated words of Swami Veda.

Our mandate of the Lineage remains — “share with the world the pure form of meditation: as a process and a goal.” Through meditation, prayer, and contemplation we change the world, from within.

And today we are ready to embrace a world that has changed, and in a subtle way, has become purer, more beautiful, kinder, and more compassionate. We send a quiet, yes, very quiet message to the forces of the subtle world and having done so, leave it there, surrender it to the divine will, and do not struggle.

A force unites us around the globe, this unified experience of Oneness challenges us to remember those who are experiencing the pain and suffering of illness and loss with patience, compassion, and understanding.

When faith and hope have matured in the fires of sadhana, a loving mind, the gold of the pious alchemists’ forms as the pure-hearted gem of the saintly world. This aspiration, this sankalpa for a life well-lived, is what unites us, and these are the aspirations, as well as, the gifts we bring to the world today.

We gather in celebration on this fifth anniversary of the Maha-samadhi of Swami Veda, with this gift for the collective mind-field of humanity. Please receive the blessings of this sacred fire and our akhanda-japa from our residents at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG). And, as we continue with our Saumya-Sangha Mantra, Tare Tut Tare Ture Svaha, may this Mantra of Peace, find sanctuary in our interior solitude – a sacred place of peace, beauty, fullness, and wholeness in the heart-cave of humanity. We honor this revered saint, who touched our hearts, in our lives bearing witness to his teaching: “Let each person feel loved“.

In service to the preceptors of the Lineage,
srb

Editor’s Note:

 

Shared by AHYMSIN:

On 14 July, 2015 our beloved Swami Veda Bharati left his body.

To celebrate the purity and love that Swami Veda embodied, you are warmly invited for Online Satsang – ‘In Loving Remembrance of Swami Veda Bharati’ on 16 July, 2020.

Swami Ritavan Bharati, Spiritual Guide of AHYMSIN and Ashram Pramukha of Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) in Rishikesh, will bless us with his presence in this program. He will also guide us with a special meditation on this sacred occasion.

Kindly pre-register for this program by 14 July, 2020. Seats are limited.

Date: 16 July, 2020
Time: 5:00 to 6:30 PM (IST)
Location: Zoom
For registration email: ahymsinsouthsangha@gmail.com

Guru Purnima 2020

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

svaha – svaha – svaha:
a fire burns within,
a sacred yajna honoring the light of knowledge,
the guru within, above, below, on all sides,
the very source of peace happiness and bliss – danda-pranam.

a fire burns to the back as dharma, the righteous way of truth, svaha;
a fire burns to the front, the fruits of all actions, svaha;
a fire burns above, the illuminating guru enlightening, ever-present, svaha;
a fire burns within, flame of desire, urge of moksha…the offering made….
In that final svaha, ghee and spiced-herbs, thoughts and prayers, samskaras and ignorance – all is offered to the Guru, svaha.

That Guru of liberating wisdom in silence response:
your sacrifice of surrender, burning the knots of bondage, letting-go of attachments, now, Come to Me.

Delight in discipline, strength in respect, liberation in ishwar-pranidhana,
now, Come to Me.

Reason cannot see, attachments cannot hold, samskaras will not bind,
now, Come to Me.

To that Guru that is Vasudeva, the indwelling illumination of the heart-cave,
my oblations of self, sacrifice of ego, surrender of ignorance;
You alone are the source of my inner strength, my determination, my all.

svaha,

On this Full-moon of Guru Purnima, aspire, decide, and practice, become the flute through which the winds of Guru’s Breath will sing an eternal song of Love.

Yours in danda-pranam, to the paduka, the feet of Guru.
Om
dasanudasa

This is a translation of Swami Ritavan’s message into French. 

Message de Swami Ritavan Bharati
A l’occasion du Gourou Purnima
Publié : 04 juillet 2020 | Écrit par Swami Ritavan Bharati | Imprimé
Gourou Purnima 2020
Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, Rishikesh, Inde

svaha – svaha – svaha :
un feu brûle à l’intérieur,
un yajna sacré honorant la lumière de la connaissance,
le gourou à l’intérieur, au-dessus, en dessous, de tous les côtés,
la source même de la paix, du bonheur et de la félicité – danda-pranam.
un feu brûle dans le dos en tant que dharma, la voie juste de la vérité, svaha ;
un feu brûle à l’avant, les fruits de toutes les actions, svaha ;
un feu brûle au-dessus, le gourou illuminant, toujours présent, svaha ;
un feu brûle à l’intérieur, flamme du désir, pulsion de moksha…l’offrande faite….
Dans ce svaha final, ghee et herbes épicées, pensées et prières, samskaras et ignorance – tout est offert au gourou, svaha.
Ce gourou de la sagesse libératrice répond en silence :
ton sacrifice de reddition, brûlant les nœuds de l’esclavage, lâchant les attachements, maintenant, viens à moi.
Le plaisir de la discipline, la force du respect, la libération dans ishwar-pranidhana,
maintenant, Viens à moi.
La raison ne voit pas, les attaches ne tiennent pas, les samskaras ne lient pas,
maintenant, Viens à moi.
A ce gourou qu’est Vasudeva, l’illumination intérieure de la cavité du cœur,
mes oblations du moi, le sacrifice de l’ego, l’abandon de l’ignorance ;
Vous seul êtes la source de ma force intérieure, de ma détermination, de mon tout.
svaha,
En cette pleine lune de Guru Purnima, aspirez, décidez et pratiquez, devenez la flûte à travers laquelle les vents du Souffle de Guru chanteront un éternel chant d’Amour.
Le vôtre en danda-pranam, à la paduka, les pieds de Guru.
Om
dasanudasa

Raja Yoga – Meditation & Samadhi

Posted on by Mandala

Some students think that without practicing the preliminary steps of raja yoga they can attain samadhi, but that is not true. No matter which mantra you have, if your technique is defective, if you do not have a philosophy of life behind it, that technique alone will make you a technologist, but not a meditator. Work with yourself gently. As you look after your body, look after your mind. Proper meditation is very useful, and raja yoga teaches that.

Once you start doing meditation, you will come to know that life consists of more than merely learning. You talk of learning. You say, “I want to learn, I want to learn.” But that is not the proper attitude. There is something higher. On the spiritual path un-learning is much more important than so-called learning. What you really need to learn is “un-learning,” but only in meditation will you discover what this means.

I wish you could forget everything. If you could forget all that you have learned, in which language would you talk with yourself? What would be your state of mind? Do you know that when you have unlearned all the languages in which your mind thinks, you attain the state of samadhi? With the help of meditation and through the un-learning process, you will come in touch with your unconscious. Gradual and systematic meditation will enable you to make your mind one-pointed and will give you the power to penetrate the infinite library of intuitive knowledge. Then you will attain the real state of joy and happiness. Joy is realized only by that mind which can fathom the deeper levels of peace. One who has attained such an equilibrium of mind is never disturbed by worldly fetters because he has learned how to remain undisturbed, how to live here and now. He has learned to be here, yet above. If we live only here, we are flattened like a ball of clay and cannot get up, so we should learn to live here and yet remain above.

You know who is in samadhi? He who has no more questions. If you do not have any questions, if all your questions are solved, you are in samadhi, but as long as your mind is busy with dialogues, that is duality. If one part of your mind puts a question and another part answers it, you are not in samadhi. The day you are free from the argumentations of the mind, you are in samadhi. Samadhi is strengthened when you learn to practice your meditation constantly, without any interruption. This final rung of raja yoga has led you to become the most practical of persons, for now you are fully free, in full awareness of reality.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from the chapter “The Path of Raja Yoga” by Swami Rama in the book Inner Paths Compiled by the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1979. Pages 18-20.

The book Inner Paths is out of print, but available at some used bookstores.

For a better understanding of raja yoga, please read the book The Royal Path: Practical Lessons on Yoga by Swami Rama.

For all Swami Rama’s and Swami Veda Bharati’s published works, please email hyptbooks@gmail.com

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