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Peace Mantra Meditation

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Guided Peace Meditation by Swami Veda Bharati:

Gather all your senses. Let your mind, body, breath be in harmony and peace. The seat of your mind at peace. Bring that peace to all your limbs., organs, and faculties. Feel the peacefulness in your forehead. Peacefulness in your vocal organs and your jaw. Peace descending into your neck and shoulders. Peace in your arms. Peace in your hands and fingers. Let them rest in peace as you breathe. Breathing gently, slowly, smoothly.

Peace in your fingers, hands, arms, and shoulders. Peace in your shoulders, peace in your throat center of consciousness and all its internal organs. Peace in your bosom, the heart center and all its internal organs.

Peace descends into your navel center of consciousness and all its internal organs. Peace in your thigh joints, legs, feet, and toes. Peace in your entire body from head to toe. Breathing with a smooth, gentle breath from toes to top and top to toes three times.

Guide the mind and breath upwards. Follow the ascending breath of peace to each center, pausing with three breaths in each. Peace in your navel center of consciousness. Peace in your heart center of consciousness. Peace in your throat center of consciousness. Your speech organs resting in peace. Peace in your forehead and deep within the seat of peace in your mind. 

Peace in the seat of your mind. Peace descending like a gentle dove in your whole mind, body, breath and through all your organs. Your whole-body breathing peace. Your breath descending and ascending from the crown to toes and from toes to crown. Feel this breath of peace, this gentle dove-like peace flowing through your whole body in each breath. 

As you breathe in and as you breathe out, let the feel of the thought ‘OM SHAM’ flow through your whole body. Inhaling and exhaling with OM SHAM five times. 

Inhale as though you are inhaling from your toes through your whole body. Your consciousness ascending with OM SHAM. As though you are exhaling from your crown and the peace prayer is spreading into the whole world with that exhalation with OM SHAM. 

REPEAT: Inhale as though you are inhaling from your toes through your whole body, your consciousness ascending with OM SHAM through the crown. Exhaling from your crown and the peace prayer is spreading into the whole world with OM SHAM. 

Continue five times.

NOW, inhale and exhale as though you’re inhaling and exhaling from the opening of a cave in the heart center. Remembering OM SHAM as you breathe. Enter the cave of light in your heart center. Light and peace and the mantra OM SHAM reverberating in that luminous cave of peace. Dwell in the luminous cave of peace absorbed in the reverberations of OM SHAM. 

And now even the reverberation of the mantra subsides. Be assimilated into the divine silence of this emptiness, of this sacred-space. Again, the conscious thought of OM SHAM and the luminous cave of peace in the heart. Your heart cavity expanding, expanding to include all who are brought into your intention. Their hearts, your hearts, your peace, their peace; OM SHAM.

Let this cave of peace expand, expand to include all living beings. All as One, life-force-beings together in your vast expansive cave-space of the peaceful heart. The entire earth, all living beings, all sentient-beings in harmony, love and peace as a unified stream of being.

Dwell in this vast expansive space cave of unity, of the all-pervading, all-permeating life force. All consciousness at peace. Resting in this universal presence. 

Slowly return coming back from that expansive space into the luminous cave of your heart reverberating with OM SHAM. 

Now follow the course of your mind into your breath. Feel the flow; navel to nostrils and nostrils to navel. Feel the touch and flow of your breath in your nostrils. Exhaling with the thought OM SHAM and without a break inhaling with the thought OM SHAM. Your mind, mantra and breath flowing as a single stream. 

Remaining attuned to the stream of consciousness in mind, peace mantra, and breath, gently open your eyes. Let the peace, the vibration of OM SHAM continue flowing even with your eyes open. Just sit and be at peace. Maintaining that presence when you leave from here. And wherever you are, whatever you do, let the peace-filled heart and mind, bring blessings of peace, harmony, and love to all. OM SHAM

Meditation is Renunciation

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Swami Veda Bharati gave two lectures on “Peaceful Planet, Heart, and Mind” in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, on August 5 & 7, 2010. This is an excerpt of the original lectures.

[Guided Meditation]

Let your mind unwrinkle; Relax your forehead,

Feel the touch and flow of the breath in the nostrils,

Breath flowing deeply, smoothly, without a jerk, without a pause between the breaths. 

Breath flowing nostrils to navel and navel to nostrils.

Now, along this pathway, enter your heart cave.

As you breathe, feel the heart cave expanding.

Light of love and mantra reverberating in the heart cave. 

All living beings–their consciousness dwelling in the cave of your heart.

Their love and consciousness is in you, and yours in them.

Vow never again to cause any hurt to a living being…….

Without breaking the flow, gently open your eyes. 

Maintain the same stream of consciousness even with your eyes open. 

May the divine spirit that is this living spirit of all living beings, may that One bless you and all living beings.

May all living beings bless you.

[Lecture]

Any further commentary is unnecessary because you have expanded your heart and understood the unity of all living beings in you. 

The Bhagavad Gita says, “he who knows action in inaction, he who knows inaction in action understands the mystery of action”. Only a meditation master knows this mystery that is also the principle of Tao and of all spirituality. 

Action in Inaction; and Inaction in Action. Those contemplations are your guide, your inner guide, your voice of conscience, your third-eye of wisdom. Spirituality means meditation but meditation is not a withdrawal from the world. 

Let meditation be in your home and wherever you are. Contemplate it in whatever you do. What conclusions you draw from it for your life, for your actions, for your words, for your choices, for what you eat, what you wear, and what you do when sleeping, when dreaming? 

Someday, sometime, somewhere, in some incarnation, through the build-up over all of this time, build-up, build-up, build-up, build-up, there comes a moment. You will not know where that moment came from. It is part of that eternity that flows, flows through you; flows as the life and consciousness forces through all beings. You will realize that these ascending and descending forces, these expanding and contracting forces are not confined to this frame, to the skeleton of you, the body, or “I” “Me” and “Mine” as the possessions of your personality. It is part of that eternity that flows, flows through you and all beings. Then you will not be looking at your problems piece by piece. 

Someday, sometime, do you know when, when you made a choice, and those choices became the actions that brought you the results you call “my” life. You have made plans for everything. You plan for holidays; you plan for what you are going to wear. You have plans for your accounts, and for your insurance. You have plans for your son’s or daughter’s schooling or wedding. Yet, you have no plans for reality, though Reality has a plan for you. When will you cease identifying with these actions you call life, with the possessions you call your personal property, with this body and the issues you have with your organs? What you have now is not what you had as a child. Your personal property is only for a period of time. Whose property will they be fifty years from now? I don’t know who is going to inherit the molecules of my nerves fifty years from now. So, come on tell me when? Now don’t tell me; you decide it quietly and keep at it, and you will find your spiritual plans revealed when you meditate. 

Today everyone lives in pieces. You have fear of this; you have desire for that; you have anxiety about something; you have jealousy against someone; you have temporary love for this one; you have temporary aversion against someone else. You have a problem of losing weight and gaining weight, a problem with economy, politics, and all manners of social problems. Yet, when that moment of a flash occurs, your consciousness becomes unified, and no problem is separate from all of the problems. 

In the unified mind, you understand the force and source. Yet, today the way you handle your problems, others throughout the world handle their problems; it is all in pieces. Again, I say you keep looking at problems piece by piece. Somebody is talking about children dying hungry, somebody else about climate, someone is negotiating about limiting the nuclear weapons, and others signing a peace treaty somewhere. I would like to know over the last ten thousand years, how many peace treaties have been signed on this Earth. By now there should be peace, don’t you think after signing so many peace treaties, recorded or unrecorded…? So, each problem is looked at separately, separately, separately. Whom should I vote for? What is happening in my economy? These politicians are all wrong. So many problems, so much confusion.

When I was speaking the other day, I asked– “What do you want? Do you want to suffer recession, or do you want to enjoy renunciation?” If you will pursue an unbridled desire; you want this, you want that, and somebody else wants that and somebody else also wants that. For three months or two years, they are very happy with those possessions and at the end what? The book of Tao – the law of nature, states: ‘things return to their opposites’. And, unbridled growth brings a collapse. Why do you pursue those desires in an unbridled way? Because you have no other means of satisfaction. For that moment, you feel satisfied with the larger piece of the pie, but do you feel fulfilled even with that larger piece? 

When you discover a unifying stream, your sonar force, and your solar force, which are not confined to your five-foot-four, or six-foot frame, the forces of this universal connection, then you find connections among all things. And when you solve one problem and truly solve it, you will have solved all problems. There is a verse in a very ancient text of the Jain system of religion and philosophy, which you may not have heard of –  

एको भावः सर्वथा येन दृष्ट

सर्वे भावा सर्वथा तेन दृष्टाः

सर्वे भावाः सर्वथा येन दृष्टा

एको भाव सर्वथा तेन दृष्टः

Eko bhavah sarvatha yena drshta

Sarve bhava sarvatha tena drshtah

Sarve bhava sarvatha yena drshta

Eko bhava sarvatha tena drshtah

He who has seen one being, one aspect, sarvatha, in all its modes, from all its directions, thereby, he has now seen all beings, all entities, all aspects, all states, in all their modes and beings. That is called universal consciousness. 

I was saying that this economy is going to collapse 20 years ago. Nobody was listening, not because I have some great, some prophetic vision but because I know the laws of nature. The laws by which the forces of consciousness operate that the economies don’t read about. And you want to stop the next recession, stop the problems. How? Understand the forces of consciousness. Something I said that day with great, very great sadness, humanity, the way it is going, is going to go through enormous suffering. You haven’t seen anything yet. Unless you understand the laws of consciousness. The way your consciousness is going, humanity is bound to invite upon itself dreadful, terrible misery. Nobody will listen. Cut your desires down. It’s a very long time before humanity starts living by wisdom… very long time, very, very long time… 

Simple question, “So what do I do with my desires? I want it. But I really want it. If I don’t get it now, I am going to be upset. I am going to be angry. So, what to do with those desires? Because if I don’t fulfil them, I get so frustrated.” Meditation naturally, slowly, gently reduces the forces of your desire. Because inside you, you discover fullness. Not in emptiness, that you must pour a yet larger bowl of something into your stomach, thereby your mind will feel filled. When you will learn to renounce that which would otherwise be taken away from you feel the equilibrium of satiety. So, I leave you the question; “do you want to suffer recession or do you want to enjoy the renunciation?” Your renunciation will be helped by your mind discovering its inner fullness through the practice of meditation. That’s all. 

Meditation is renunciation. Renunciation means reduction of, reduction of possessions, property. Reduction of wishes and desires is renunciation; and with that naturally comes what in Sanskrit language we call ‘Abhaya’. This word ‘Abhaya’ means not causing fear in anyone, being of no danger to anyone, being a place of asylum for everyone. When the Swami raises his hand, that blessing says, “I grant Abhaya” I grant this recognition of the unity of all living beings; that is renunciation. May you be blessed with Abhaya.

[Guided Meditation]

Once again bring your mind’s awareness to yourself,

Renounce all external thoughts,

Feel the unity of life, the life-force breathing in you, the breath of all living beings breathed through you,

Breathing gently, slowly, smoothly,

Feel the flow with one divine name in each breath. 

Mind, breath and divine name flowing in a single stream,

Now, at this moment of mind’s calmness, renounce one, any one desire of yours…….. 

Having renounced making this offering to the inner light of the heart-cave.

Continue with the mind-mantra-breath as a single stream.

Maintain this flow of consciousness even with your eyes open. 

God bless you.

Full Moon Illuminations – Next steps in Meditation

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Become Space Born

When your meditation becomes that empty space in the sky of the heart, it becomes like the moonlight in the space of consciousness. What a subtle and refined pleasure, beyond the mystic ecstasies of tears or laughter.

Akasha-ja, one born of space or space-born. Imagine a being whose being is space alone. Space is not considered an emptiness in ancient Indian physics, but a condition of matter. The subtlest condition of matter. Many of you have practiced the purification of tattva, these subtle conditionings of matter through practices such as bhuta-shuddhi, and others.

So continue to aspire for that as much as you can. When in meditation you have purified and refined your inner-eye, you will find that this physical body is a cave in which you dwell. And there is a deeper cave inside that cave, and yet deeper, so you keep going.

In that inner space, in moments of absolute silence, slowly you learn to dwell in that cave and all sense of dimension ceases. You return to your breath and to your mantra. Then you will go deeper, touch a moment of silence, come back to your breath or your mantra. Go deeper, letting the breath refine, let the mantra refine, letting stillness expand where mind becomes centered on a single point, the whole mind becomes a single point.

This is no longer meditation of concentration which is separation; but a union where even mystic emotions rest in quietude and stillness. Such a subtle state reveals the light within, for you now are that appropriate receptacle, you are the pure space (akasha-ja), consciousness, and a configuration of space. The very nature of such a space means, the “holder-of-light”, Chidgangana-Chandrika, as Kalidasa has written in his poem of the same name. When such a brilliant light shines illuminating sushumna – the prana-path guiding in this sky of consciousness – para-akasha, illumination is revealed in its source.

May silence and stillness unfold as light and fullness in your daily meditation. Om

Love and Forgiveness

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”I forgive you.” These three words are so powerful that they can suddenly change the darkness that we experience about us into the pure light of a new day. As soon as you experience forgiveness your whole demeanor, your attitude and your personality change dramatically. Instead of being tormented by the hate and vengeful feelings that are carried inside in seeking justice, you experience a warm expansiveness. As you let go of those negative feelings, and of the rationalizations that gave you the excuse to get even you find yourself beginning to experience a common bond you share with others. The sense of rigidity and of being shut off within yourself is replaced by a feeling of comfort. All this is achieved by simply saying, “It’s no big thing, I don’t have to get even. I’ll just let go.”

When you practice forgiveness and love, you find that others begin to treat you differently. Instead of reacting to your revengeful attitude with their own closed-off distrust, other people begin to open up and share their warmth with you. As they become aware of your forgiving attitude, they realize that they no longer have to fear judgment and wrath. They can be themselves and be comfortable with you. Others will appreciate this to such a degree that they will open themselves to you and give whatever they can.

So, in forgiving others, we become the recipients of comfort, peace and happiness. It turns out that the way we treat others creates a situation that leads us to be treated in the same way. When we forgive others we soon find that they begin to hold less against us. We need not to be so fearful of their harsh judgments. This law of human existence was clearly expressed long ago in the Lord’s Prayer: ”Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Many people look at this statement as merely a request, asking the Lord, who is seen as separate from them, that they be forgiven the way they forgive others. But no request need to be made, for there is an exact and inevitable correspondence: to the extent that we forgive others we are forgiven, and the very act of forgiving is in itself a forgiveness of ourselves.
This is the law of forgiveness.

There is an exact correspondence between our experience of forgiving and the experience of being forgiven. We can only open ourselves up to the experience of the other’s forgiveness to the extent that we ourselves have developed a forgiving attitude. For we are being forgiven always but we do not know it when we are preoccupied with judging ourselves and others.

It is not necessary to take our word that such a law exists. You can test it for yourself. Merely become aware of where and when you feel judgmental and critical of others, or feel that you have been abused and wish to get back. Then just sit quietly and think for some minutes of forgiveness until you genuinely feel yourself forgiving the other, letting go of judgment or criticism. See for yourself how your attitude changes and what psychological effect is produced. Have you lost something or have you gained? Become aware when a critical, condemning attitude arises within you and each time work with yourself in this way. Try it for only one week and notice the reaction of others. See how relationships change. You might say, ”How can I forgive people who have abused and mistreated me?” But if we could see more deeply into our relationships we would realize that we bring these experiences on through our own actions, we would see that there is nobody to be forgiven. The people who mistreat us are often acting out the part that we assign to them.

There is a line in a prayer by St. Francis: it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.” In the act of pardoning we think we are doing something wonderful for the person we are forgiving, but actually we are doing something much more wonderful for ourselves. For that very act creates for us an entirely different frame of reference. Because love and forgiveness allow us to experience the world in such a harmonious way it turns out that we are really pardoning ourselves. We are throwing off all the hate and the vengeance that we ordinarily harbor and acquiring a new sense of freedom. What could be more perfect justice than that? Some people might feel that in forgiving others they are opening themselves to being taken advantage of. They might say, “If I keep forgiving everyone they’ll get away with all kinds of things.” This is a misconception. In fact condemnation often does not prevent behavior but fans the flames so that the unwanted behavior increases. If the other person sees that it gets you upset he may do the same thing again for that very reason.

Forgiving does not mean allowing people to walk all over you and abuse you. Nor does it mean that you should not try to prevent others from overstepping their bounds, from being callous and inconsiderate. Setting limits for another person is often helpful to him, whereas letting that person take advantage of you merely teaches him that he can hurt and injure others without concern. This does not give him a chance to develop respect and care for the other. The person who allows others to take advantage of him is not practicing forgiveness but is actually attempting to repress his hostile and aggressive feelings, hiding them beneath external acquiescence and acceptance. Often we see this quality amongst those who have been following a set of religious precepts. In trying to practice forgiveness they mistakenly decide that they should allow themselves to be used by others. While they outwardly appear to be pleasant and forgiving, there may be smoldering resentment beneath the surface. There is a vast difference between outward acquiescence which masks resentment and a genuine inner forgiveness.

Editor’s Note

This article has been taken from the book Creative Use of Emotion, pp 150 – 154, by Swami Rama and Swami Ajaya, published 1976 by the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the USA.

Meditative Discipline

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Meditation expands awareness, but this does not mean that awareness should be external. It is a natural tendency of the mind to roam toward the objects of the world. This also can be considered awareness, but such awareness is completely dissipated and gross. The schools of meditation use awareness in a different way. Meditation teaches the student to make the mind one pointed and inward. To some degree all human beings are aware of their environment and the things related to them. This is the dimmest and most superficial state of human consciousness, and we are not discussing that sort of awareness here. Human consciousness flows through various degrees and grades from the center of consciousness, and systematically going back to the source of consciousness within is the purpose of meditation.

The mind is in the habit of identifying itself with the objects of the world, and it does not become aware of internal states as long as it remains in its dissipated condition. But with meditative discipline, the mind starts traveling inward toward the subtler, finer levels. When one attains a state of perfect stillness and tranquility, that which is beyond the mind reveals itself. Actually, nothing is attained in meditation-a meditator simply allows the Reality to be revealed through a calm and tranquil mind. Tranquility of the mind is an important factor, but more important is breath awareness. The first step in the practice of meditation is a steady, comfortable, and easy posture. The second step is calm, serene, and even breathing. The third is a calm and steady mind; this is the only means for experiencing the deeper levels of being. The fourth step is control of the conscious mind used during the waking state; this control can make one dynamic and creative. In the fifth step, the involuntary system as well as a vast part of the unconscious mind, including the memory, is brought under conscious control. In the sixth step, the mind becomes aware that it is conditioned by time, space, and causation. Through prolonged, unbroken concentration and the regular practice of meditation, the mind can be trained to remain aware of the now, which is an essential part of eternity. This is the seventh step, in which a superconscious state full of bliss, peace, happiness, and wisdom is attained.

After serious observation and analysis of the working of the mind, we find that the mind forms a habit of being conditioned either by remembering past experiences or being conditioned either by remembering past experiences or by imagining future experiences. There is no technique that helps the mind become aware of the now except that of meditation. Meditation is not a method of allowing the mind to roam aimlessly. It is also not something that dawns all of a sudden; it is not an instant method, as some lazy and confused people think. It is a conscious effort of training the body, the breath, and the mind. Meditation should be practiced systematically. No doubt a few visions and unusual experiences are possible by practicing meditation haphazardly, but it is not possible to attain the fruits expected by such methods. But it is not possible to attain the fruits expected by such methods. If a student practices systematically, it will not take much time for him or her to realize the highest state of bliss.

Editor’s Note

This article is an excerpt from the book titled “Inspired Thoughts of Swami Rama”.

The Path to Emotional Maturity

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A pure mind is a happy mind. Are you unhappy? You are afraid to say, because by this definition – a pure mind is a happy mind – if you admit you are unhappy, then there are impurities in your mind. Unhappiness or pain is a stain on the mind; a stain on the mind is a pain. Do you want to check the level of your purity? Just check the total content of your thoughts. How many happy thoughts do you have, and how many unhappy ones do you have? How many pleasant thoughts do you have, and how many painful ones do you have?

We like to think of ourselves as mature persons, but then in contradiction, we see ourselves throwing tantrums. We throw all kinds of tantrums, visible and invisible. More often they are invisible tantrums and, when we cannot contain them inside, they become visible. It could be a nasty letter. It could be a horrid remark. It could be a banging on a wall, or of a door in the house. Only a few people, those closest to us know we throw these kinds of tantrums. No matter what kind of makeup and polish we put on our faces, no matter what exterior we show to the world, we know ourselves. And those with whom we have close relationships also know what goes on in our minds, what ups and downs we constantly go through.

Is there a way around these ups and downs? Many people think there is, through renouncing the world. After all, they reason, all the spiritual teachers say the things of this world are not important; we should seek spiritual knowledge, we should renounce. Perhaps. 

One day I was sitting and listening to my teacher, Swami Rama. Someone asked, “Well Swamiji, tell me about renouncing.” He replied, “What do you have to renounce?”  The questioner was a single young man, without a penny in his pocket and no responsibilities. “In order to renounce,” he said, “you should have a house, or a wife, or children, or fame, or power, or wealth. Which of these do you have that you want to renounce? Gather these first and then come and talk to me about renouncing.” Those who have gathered these, ask them about renouncing. They have to think twice, four times, about renouncing.

Renunciation – rising above the world – is the highest form of spiritual and emotional maturity. But, in the minds of many people it has become synonymous with quitting and dropping out, shirking the responsibilities of creativity that have been given to us by our birth. Renunciation must not be confused with quitting. The injunction to an average person is, “go forth and prosper,” not to be weak, but to create and give.

The process of renunciation is not a process of withdrawing into oneself and sitting around doing nothing, while carrying on with all manner of thoughts and desires of the mind. What point is there in being like the two monks who were practicing silence, yet fighting over a little bed of straw? They had renounced their wealth, their families and their houses, but what had they renounced? Nothing. Many people who talk about renunciation are only resigning, not renouncing. They are running away, escaping, quitting, getting rid of· their responsibilities, but retaining the same painful emotional content in their minds.

Emotional purification, how then is it achieved? Not through renunciation. Nor by following some quick, straight­forward formulas and prescription that we can write down and follow to achieve emotional and spiritual maturity: one, two, three, four, five; A, B, and C; project A for this week; project B for next week; project C for the third week; and so on. In nine weeks’ time I shall be an emotionally and spiritually mature person. Then I can go to my spiritual teacher and say, “Now I am emotionally and spiritually mature; will you give me enlightenment?” Every time we embark on such a project of self-improvement, -we end up laying into the hands of our ego.

Ego isn’t a bad thing; it’s a function. It’s a function of the mind. It makes us say, “I am something.” But when the ego makes me say I am that which I really am not, then ego becomes a hindrance. Let us talk of aspirations. Mind, intelligence, ego, and the totality of the mind stuff, all these four aspects of the inner person are considered to be insentient. They are not conscious of their own being. The only principle that has consciousness is the pure self, and that pure self is hidden because its life is covered by these other four, including ego. 

It’s like a brown paper bag that is lit by the light of the light bulb inside. It has no light of its own. Yet the bag seems to impart a certain minor amount of illumination. An inexperienced person who does not know all amenities of modern science and civilization, seeing this apparition for the first time might say, “Oh my! You have a luminous brown paper bag.” Instead of thinking – it is an illuminated brown paper bag, he thinks it is a luminous brown paper bag. The brown paper bag of the mind and the ego sees the light from within, sees the light from the pure self. This seeing of the light is often mistaken to be consciousness. In reality it is only the pure Self that has consciousness. If only the pure self has consciousness, how do I know when I am emotionally and spiritually mature?

If you have painful thoughts and feelings remaining with you, then you have karma yet to be fulfilled. How do you know when your karma is paid for? When do you know you owe no more debts to anyone in the world? When you have soothed everyone you have irritated, you will have irritation left in the mind so long as you have not yet soothed everyone. In the process of soothing everyone you purify yourself emotionally and attain maturity. It is not possible for a human being to have dropped something negative into his surroundings and walk away clean. 

Emotional purification, how then is it achieved, without renunciation, without quick formulas? The method is like washing your clothes. When you pick up your dirty clothes you are not judging yourself for having made them dirty. If you treat your clothes like this, why not your mind also? Treat it the same way. When you find your hands dirty, do you sit there feeling guilty and condemning yourself for letting them get dirty? “Here I have gotten my hands dirty again, it’s never going to work. I’m no good, I always get my hands dirty.”  Do you feel guilty about the floor of your house? “I promised to keep the floor of my house clean, but I keep getting it dirty. I give up, I’m never going to clean it again. It can never remain clean, it’s impossible. I’m no good.” Of course, you don’t react that way. When the floor of your house gets dirty, when your laundry gets dirty, when the skin of your body gets dirty, you go and you wash it and you start out again fresh. That which is your most intimate possession, your mind, why not at least treat it the way you treat a paint brush? After you are done painting, the brush is filled with paint and you put it in a solution where it will become clean. Treat your mind in the same manner.

Guru Purnima in Noida

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HYMC Noida celebrated the sacred Guru Purnima with all the initiates and devotees who are connected with our center. The program started with lighting of the lamp and group chanting of the Akhanda-mandalakaram Mantra and Ganesh Stuti.

Shashank, the founding member of the center, apprised everyone about the Himalayan Tradition and our great Lineage, which goes back to the Vedic period. He reminded us that Swami Veda has mentioned how many different traditions like those of Tibet, Buddhism, Bhakti Yoga, Shankaracharya, Christianity and Patanjali tradition of Yoga and Meditation converged in Gurudeva, Swami Rama.

Our center head, Mrs. Jaya Bhagat invoked the presence of the Divine Masters by her melodious bhajan soaked in devotion. Mrs. Naina Mathur, another founding member and a senior devotee, spoke on the meaning and significance of Guru in our lives. She shared about her own journey of seeking her Guru and this journey finally culminated into our tradition.

Mrs. Archana Ranjan spoke about how blessed the initiates were for being a part of this holy tradition. She mentioned about the responsibilities of the sadhakas to continue on this path and how Swamiji guided each one of us to progress on this path with regular practice.

Mrs. Jaya Bhagat, elaborated on the Guru Tattva. She spoke from her personal experiences with Sri Satya Sai Baba, Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharti ji, how the Guru helps, guides and works to help their initiates progress on this path. The environment was charged with her direct devotional experiences with the masters. The program concluded with a guided meditation conducted by none other than Gurudeva himself, working through his chosen instrument whom we lovingly call Guruma.

Gratitude in the lotus feet of all Himalayan masters for soaking everyone in the bliss of their presence and showering their blessings on each sadhaka present.

Hari Om.

Editorial

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Dear AHYMSIN Family,

Today you are being introduced to changes in the AHYMSIN newsletter and website. Dowlat Budhram, a vice president of the AHYMSIN Executive Committee, has taken on the responsibility of editorship for both the new newsletter and website. He was initiated by Pandit Usharbudh Arya (who later became Swami Veda Bharati) in 1971 in Guyana, and, in addition to other things, in the last 10 years was a member of a group of Swamiji’s initiates that did editing of his speeches, lectures and writing that were subsequently published over the years.

When the Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International (AHYMSIN) was founded in 2007 by the impetus provided by Swami Veda Bharati, there was no newsletter or website. And I did not even have a personal computer, let alone a Smartphone. It has been quite an enriching adventure enhanced by the participation of many sangha members and a learning experience on many levels.

The founding of AHYMSIN was also a bringing together of sadhakas from around the globe – many people brought together who previously had not known one another. What a pleasure to meet, a meeting that continues to enrich my life.

I am reminded of what Swami Veda said, “AHYMSIN is a group of initiates for support. How can groups or individuals help the greater family in a spiritual sense? This evolves from time to time if we can succeed in developing a sentiment of Sangha.” Swami Veda invited us to become kalyana mitras. He taught: “In our vast universe, there is only one mindfield. This is the underlying truth of kalyana mitra. We are all inextricably interlinked, from a stone to the stars. What I do affects my neighbor and perhaps affects someone I may never know or see.” (Yoga Sutra course, Pada 4, 2012).

Stephan Hodges, the retiring AHYMSIN webmaster, worked selflessly and without remuneration to bring about internet communication. First, he created a forum, which was a platform to facilitate communications between members; one could log in, make a comment, ask a question, etc., and others could join the conversation with their own comments, questions, etc. The forum is no longer in operation. Later Stephan created www.ahymsin.org. And I helped with website content. Stephan has contributed much to AHYMSIN and Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG), more than most are aware.

The history of the newsletter started with a PDF version mailed by email. Balraj Pannu provided the impetus for this creation, and Sujit, a graphic designer who worked in the AHYMSIN Office at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG), contributed design and graphics. I can still remember Balraj, Carolyn Hodges and I looking over the first edition, sharing thoughts, and basically feeling happy. Carolyn Hodges then took over the responsibility of editor. When Sujit moved on to pursue his spiritual life elsewhere, Stephan Hodges stepped in to format the newsletter and continued in the position through our last mailing of April 2021. Somewhere along the line, I assumed responsibility of newsletter editor.

Over time, it was thought that a new website should be developed. Divya Gupta, Rabindra Sahu, and others have worked in acts of sewa with SolutionChamps Technologies Pvt. Ltd. to bring about these changes. The development of a new website has been accomplished, and work continues.

Thank you to all those who have contributed to the newsletter and website content over these years. I am filled with gratitude – and enriched by the beauty, sadhana, insights, questions, struggles, and brotherhood you have shared, not only with me, but also with others in the spiritual family over the years.

“The process in which the aspirant unfolds, develops, and enlightens himself is called sādhanā. Sadhana is that practice which has the power to carry the seeker (sādhaka) to his objective. Our object is to realize the truth of life. We have to bring about our maximum development and arouse and express the power lying dormant within us. It is possible through sadhana alone. Life itself should be sadhana. We can achieve the object of life if our mind, body, and everything else we call our own, becomes sadhana or a means of attaining our goal Our object is to attain absolute peace, an unalloyed happiness or perennial bliss; and this is possible only when we use all circumstances in life, whether good or bad, happy or painful, to promote our sadhana.” – Swami Rama, Book of Wisdom – Ishopanishad, Chapter “Mind and Sadhana”.

As you know, Stephan and I included in newsletter after newsletter: “Share Your News! We invite you to share what is happening in their centers and your experiences, insights, and questions. With such sharing, we can learn more about one another and strengthen one another in our sadhana, becoming a true ‘sangha’. We welcome your articles.” I would like to invite you to continue to share. Articles can be sent to ahymsin@gmail.com, Attn: Dowlat Budhram.

During recent times, we have had the challenge of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus, and Swami Ritavan Bharati spoke of this, “In these times of adversity, the teachings of the Tradition continue by way of the power of your ascetic endeavor (tapas). Let us loosen the knots of the heart to remain full of hope (smriti). Come to the awareness of this moment and remain the observer. Come in-touch with the power that emanates when you have gathered all forces and rest in stillness. Where fears and worries appear, let-go and let the spiritual forces rise-up in your mind. The quest remains, the teachings continue, the blessings flow, all from that spiritual core of our being. Let this opportunity be a willful event for purification. That is the ideal of titiksha -forbearance. This is our lesson, and this is our test. As you experience hardships and challenges, remain aware of your spiritual strength, through your disciplines of ahimsa, satya, santosha. Let your mind smile. Cultivate this awareness drop by drop, moment to moment. Recognize this source within, and thereby, recognize these natural forces of patience, forbearance, tolerance. Such sentiments arise from your purified and pacified mindfield showing their fruits in goodness, satiety, kindness and compassion. Let it be a process of a different kind of awareness and a renewing quality of our selves”.

During this time, there were also births, deaths, sickness, happiness, sadness, violence, compassion, economic hardships, storms and earthquakes, etc., not related to COVID-19. The phenomenal world constantly changes, and one “… discovers that all the objects of the external world are ever changing.” (Swami Rama, Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, in the commentary in Chapter 9, Verses 1 – 3.) It is well to remember that all circumstances can serve the purpose of sadhana.

For most, the mind is conditioned by past, present, and future. Many spend time remembering on the past or thinking/dreaming/worrying about the future. Utilize the present. “What happens to us is the fulfillment of what we have done in the past; what is to be in the future will likewise be the result of present actions. The karma created by past action cannot be altered. We can, however, determine future karma,” Swami Rama has written in Freedom from the Bondage of Karma. With that in mind as well as “You are the architect of your life.” (Swami Rama), what are the thoughts, words, and actions you choose today?

Perhaps some of you will want to accept the invitation presented by Swami Veda in 2015, “Since our motto is “YOGAḤ SAMADHIḤ” let us get serious.”

Thank you again for your friendship.

Practice, practice, practice!

Carolyn [Hume]

Guru-Purnima Message

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

Dear fellow wave in the Oceanward river of light,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With profound blessings

SVB

Swami Veda Bharati

Disciple

Guru Purnima Message

Posted on by Divya - Administrator

God Bless you.

[For all initiates] Today is the greatest day of the entire year called the Guru Purnima Day.

The word, Guru, is not used for any particular person or being. It is used for the center of consciousness, for the knowledge. There is only one life force, therefore there is only one Guru from where consciousness flows on various degrees and grades. That is why a human being is called Guru.  Those who follow the spiritual tradition faithfully train themselves, practice, and serve others selflessly, love others, and learn to give knowledge to others. They are called spiritual teachers, and such spiritual teachers are also called Guru.

This day is not like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any other day.

This day makes us aware of the reality that life has some purpose, and the highest of all purposes is to get freedom here and now. Mother is your first Guru—matru devo bhava—who gives you training in your childhood, and makes you aware of other people in your family.  Then comes—pitru devo bhava—a father who makes you aware of your neighborhood, and people around your home. Then you receive education from colleges and universities, environmental education. Yet, you do not know the purpose of life.

Anyone who honestly, selflessly, makes you aware of the purpose of life is a teacher, spiritual teacher, and Guru. Your spiritual Guru and leader is Dr Arya, who follows the Tradition faithfully. Our Guru is still alive. He is in physical form. He lives in the Himalayas, and I go to see him every year. He prays for us all. But in a world tradition, we do not adore a physical Guru. We just respect him because the knowledge that is imparted through the Tradition flows through him.

In our Tradition, a Guru is a messenger who imparts the knowledge imparted to him by the great spiritual teachers of the Himalayas. The purpose of a spiritual teacher and Guru is to make you aware that the Guru is within you, and you should learn to understand life, both aspects of life within and without.

Let you learn to live in the world and remain above, free from all worries and bondage.

Let you be aware that the center of spirituality is within you.

Let you be aware that the Guru is within you.

Let you become creatively intelligent, serve humanity, become good citizens,

Love all and exclude none.

I pray for you in every breath of my life.

I love you.

God Bless you.

Peace. Peace. Peace.

(July 16, 1981)

Editor’s Note

* Swami Rama had shared this Guru Purnima message in 1981, before Swami Veda Bharati took Saṃnyāsa. Swami Veda Bharati was then known as Pandit Dr. Usharbudh Arya.