Mantra After Initiation

Posted on 8 October 200917 March 2024 by ahymsin

Source of Mantras

Mantras are units of sound contained in a combination of syllables or words.¹ The universe is composed of the single energy of which two beams are sound and light. One does not become activated without the other, especially in the inner spiritual space. The sound units that are called mantras are not ones that are passed on from ear to ear; that is their only physical manifestation.

Note: Before starting on this, please read the booklets/articles by Swami Veda Bharati entitled

“Beginning Meditation” and
“Mantra: What and Why”

The present article is meant mainly for those initiated with a personal mantra.

In the highest state of meditation, one’s spiritual self is in total at-one-ment with the Divine who, being omniscient, is the source of all knowledge and Word. The ancient Indian philosophers of language called it shabda-brahman, the Word that is God. All of that divine knowledge is available for the spiritual self to tap into.

In its trans-revelatory state that knowledge is referred to as para, the Transcendental Speech (fem.).

As the knowledge in the form of speechless speech and the wordless word flows into the individual spiritual self, it is called pashyanti, the Seeing One (fem.).

From here a ray of consciousness emanates and touches the mind’s interior surface that is facing the self and not the senses and the world. This interior surface is called antah-karana, the intuitive faculty. Here the ray of consciousness flowing through and from the spiritual self produces a mental vibration. The mind is stirred with the awareness of a flash like that of lightning. Then in a micro-moment, which could be as subtle as 10 to the 57th power part of one second, the entire book of the Veda or all 330 million mantras may be revealed. The experience is like a seed (bija) or a single dot (bindu) containing the details of the picture of a vast area taken from a satellite. The point has yet to be developed for the picture to manifest itself in detail. It has been described as all the colors of the peacock’s fan contained within the peahen’s egg. This state is called madhyama, the Middle Speech (fem.).

As the knowledge rises from the depth of buddhi to the outward surfaces of the rational mind it becomes verbal thoughts. The words are nothing but a process of manifestation, a vibration of a lower frequency than the preceding ones. This verbal thought in the mind is named by the ancient grammarians and philosophers as vaikhari, divergent and harsh sound (fem.). This is only the first stage of vaikhari.

Now this vibration from buddhi, mind and the relatively low frequency verbal thought, creates a quickening in the yogi’s vitality field, prana, which then activates the speech organs and the articulate sound emerges, the final product that the disciple’s ears hear in the process of transmission, initiation and teaching.

Thus, what people called Revealed Word is actually the veiled Word at the lowest frequency of knowledge. It is veiled by the layers of individuated mind. The true unveiling is only in the highest meditation which is a wordless dialogue or interchange between God and soul. It is as though someone was in the innermost room of a cave that is a treasure house of light and as he comes out he unravels a ball of thread. Emerging from the mouth of the cave he hands the other end of the thread to the disciple and advises him to follow the thread inward until the seeker of treasure reaches the internal golden womb, hiranyagarbha, the first and last guru. The disciple, receiving the sound of the mantra then uses it to gradually penetrate into the various stations in the cave until the womb chamber of pure consciousness is reached.

Different types of sound units have different effects on the mind field and upon the prana field. Therefore they have different effects on different psycho-physiological systems within you. For this reason, to trigger a state of consciousness, you get hold of the corresponding sound unit of a particular mantra. Then over years, decades of practice, a student tries to trace that sound unit to its original vibration in the prana and from there into the mind. In the process, mantra alters our samskaras, our mind states, and thereby frees those areas which are blocked in the prana, even in the physical centers.

What is Japa?

Japa is mental recitation, or better still, the remembrance, of a mantra, which gradually awakens energy vibrations in the mind field. The practice of meditation really begins with mantra-diksha, the event of receiving a personal mantra by initiation through a qualified teacher or preceptor in the tradition of a particular lineage; all the rest is preparation.

There are several ways of practicing japa. People sometimes do daily japa, reciting a mantra aloud. Kirtan or chanting is also a form of japa. For total beginners there is even a form of japa which is writing one’s mantra 125,000 times. This is a form seldom advised in our Tradition. Just having a mantra is not enough, there are beginners’ to highly advanced steps in the practice of mantra. All of these steps are stages in japa.

The highest form of japa is mental japa, in which one is immersed only in the silence of the mind. Here, the four phases of the practice and experience of mental japa are explained.

Phase One of Mental Japa

After one has,

sat down,

established the correct posture,

has relaxed the body,

established diaphragmatic breathing,

has spent the necessary time doing alternate nostril breathing,

one goes into the feeling of the flow of the breath.

The flow of the breath may be felt along the path of the breath from the navel to the nostrils.

Or it may be felt only in the nostrils, just as one does with the word, the universal mantra, So Ham, before receiving a mantra in initiation.

Feel the flow of the breath, with the same cautions as when practicing the word So Ham: no jerks, no breaks, smooth flow of the breath, silent flow, no pause between the breaths. Eliminating the pause between the breaths is the most difficult part of the process, because that is the door through which external thoughts enter the mind, through those pauses. So, exhale, and immediately inhale, smoothly and slowly.

One experiences the mantra along with the feel of the breath. Some one-word mantras or bija mantras (seed words) pose no problem.² But there are mantras that are a little longer, five letters, twelve letters or syllables or more. Those who are not initially familiar with them have difficulty with these intermediate-length mantras. So, the advice given is to remain aware of the flow of the breath, let the mantra come in whatever way it comes with the breath. It may be divided over several breaths. Do not try to synchronise. Let us say that your mantra is ‘om namo bhagavate vasudevaya.’ You may want to do namo with the exhalation, bhagavate with the inhalation, vasudevaya with the exhalation, and so on. Thus you let it flow, one word merging into the next because of the breath awareness. You are doing the mantra mentally, but with the feeling of the flow and the touch of the breath in the nostrils, or on the pathway of the breath from the navel to the nostrils, unless you have been given some other method by the preceptor.

Phase Two of Mental Japa

Next, mantra is experienced merely as a verbal thought. In the Himalayan tradition, the idea of japa is first to forget that the mantra is a word, and to convert the word into vibration.

The first thing one learns is to seal one’s lips.

The second is to still one’s tongue while doing japa.

Third, one learns not to permit the mantra in the other speech organs, such as the throat.

These are processes of elimination. The mantra tends to come into the speech organs the moment you lose the state of relaxation and then other thoughts intervene. Even if that happens, let the verbal thought arise, at whatever speed, whatever frequency feels easy and natural for the mind. At this point, you are not paying attention to the breath. If the breath has been well trained prior to initiation, it will remain diaphragmatic, smooth, and without jerks or breaks. If it does not, then your breath training is incomplete and you need to keep working at it. Occasionally, you still need to observe the breath flow as it will indicate to you whether you are really concentrating or not.

The subtle shift in japa comes when you stop doing mantra. Mantra is not your thought, not something of your doing. Mantra is the (manaso retaha), it is the Guru-mind’s drop that has been planted in your mind. Through that mantra you are linked to the entire lineage, therefore the lineage will take care. So, after the first, active verbal thought phase let the mantra arise, and simply observe its presence; let it be. If you keep on using your will, doing japa, you block the divine will or Guru-will working within you. So, let the mantra come and be engaged in simply observing its presence. Awareness of the presence of the mantra becomes the real japa.

Phase Three: Deepening the Mantra

Now, as to deepening the mantra, please understand here what mind is. At present you associate the word “mind” only with the instrument of gross and active thought. But mind is not just one layer. It has many, many layers vibrating at different frequencies; thus the force field called mind becomes subtler and subtler at deeper and deeper layers.

The common impression is that the mind is that wherewith one thinks the articulate thoughts; however, that is not even the shallowest surface of the mind, but only just a few waves of the sea hitting the beach. For a child playing on the beach, the waves hitting the beach are all he knows of the ocean. Similarly, our association with the mind’s ocean is limited to these noisy waves of articulate thoughts. But the depth of the ocean is much greater. The Mariannas Trench (near the Philippines) is the deepest part of the sea at a depth of 35,000 feet. If you dropped Mt. Everest there, its peak would be 6,000 feet. underwater. From the beach to that deepest part is quite a journey and a very deep dive.

At each subsequent level of the sea, divers know there are thermoclines—layers of water at a certain temperature, just above or below another layer of a very different temperature. As one dives, at the boundary line between the thermoclines, suddenly half of one’s body is in a colder temperature and half in a warmer one.

So it is also with diving in the mind’s ocean. At these deeper layers of the mind the frequency of the vibration incrementally becomes higher and higher. Whatever thought or word you put into that layer will then vibrate at the frequency of that layer of the mind. When you dive to a deeper, higher layer of the mind, the mantra automatically becomes higher frequency. Continue to observe the level at which you find yourself and penetrate beyond that to the next depth.

At all stages of meditation, observation of the state you are in is a very powerful secret; becoming aware of that layer of the mind, of that state. Right now you are awake; but you are not aware, “I am awake.” When dreaming you are not aware that you are dreaming; when asleep you are not aware that you are asleep. With awareness, these states become the steps toward divine consciousness.

Here we should refine again: doing the mantra, remembering the mantra, listening to the mantra. At each of these stages other thoughts and images seem to come simultaneously alongside the mantra. In observing the mind very closely, I have found two distinct phenomena.

In one, the mantra and the other thoughts appear to be going on simultaneously, but they are actually intermittent and alternating. “Mantra; my flight time; mantra; listen to the neighbor’s lawn mower; mantra; there is too much noise around here.” But because the mind moves so fast, we do not realize that these are intermittent and alternating. The solution is to close the gap between the breaths, and make a resolve to close the gap between mantra, mantra, mantra, mantra. One may make a resolve that for the next one minute, I shall have no other thought but my mantra.Try it. Right now, for one minute, just sit, relax the body, let the breath settle down, and resolve that for the next one minute there will be no other thought but your mantra. Begin now. (After one minute) –Keeping the mantra in the mind, gently open your eyes.In this way, you train the mind one minute at a time. In that one minute you can obtain ten minutes worth of meditation if the concentration is intense and deep. It is not long meditation which is the secret, but the intensive and deep meditation. Close the gap between the breaths and eliminate the pause between the mantras using one minute and two minute resolves at a time.
The second phenomenon that I have observed is that, indeed the mantra and other thoughts do go on simultaneously. Thinking is happening at one layer of the mind and mantra is pulsating at another. At the level of the surface, waves are hitting the beach, creating sound, but ten feet below it is absolutely silent. You have to shift your attention from the surface to this deeper layer. Apply the principle of observation and when you have observed the deeper layer, the waves on the surface will not cease but will gradually cease to matter.At any new level, people come across unprecedented disturbances. When thoughts cease, images arise. When images cease, if you manage to overcome that phase, certain types of sentiments and emotions arise. Some people begin to cry; some feel like laughing; some feel angry; some become afraid; some feel they are becoming sexually aroused. For each of these sentiments arising, you need to seek the preceptor’s advice, because then you are at a place where you may go in a wrong direction. For example, a lot of people say, “At this certain point I become afraid and I come out of meditation.” There are answers from the tradition for these questions, and a well-trained preceptor can guide you through these stages.

Phase Four of Mental Japa

The fourth phase in your meditation should be, perhaps five seconds of absolute stillness of the mind—if you can achieve it. Most people cannot manage more than one second of absolute stillness. One enters the chamber of silence and the mind becomes as though it is a crystal lake, with not a single ripple. And then from that moment of silence, again one single ripple, the ripple of your mantra arises. But keep it at that high frequency, where it is barely a word and then it is not a word, only a vibration. Then it does not take you long to do a long mantra. Japa is thus understood to be a very subtle and fine art.

Different people have different experiences in that stillness. The mind feels like

a vast field,

or one forgets oneself,

or one doesn’t know how long one has been sitting in meditation as the time simply passes.

People may think, “Ah, I have achieved final peace,” but this stillness is not the ultimate stillness. It is just that the waves have stopped hitting the beach.

However, the undercurrents of samskaras are still active. As that stillness begins to occur, experiences from the subtler part of our being, begin to arise. One may see a light, but not all lights are spiritual lights. It may be the light of prana, it may be the light of physical heat turning into an experience. It may be even something less significant than that.

Centers of Consciousness

In some cases right at the time of the first initiation the preceptor may asign different syllables or part syllables of the mantra to the different centers of consciousness. For example, if an initiate is given the mantra namah shivaya, s/he may be guided to place the mantra in the way of remembrance at five of the centers as follows:

Ascending, Exhaling		Descending, Inhaling
na	perineum	na	eyebrows
mah	navel	mah	throat
shi	heart	shi	heart
va	throat	va	navel
ya	eyebrows	ya	perineum

It is not as staccato-like as it appears. The breath unifies the syllables and connects the chakras.

In most cases, however, after the mantra has been assimilated for some months or years, a specific center of consciousness may be assigned to the initiate in which certain energy patterns and forces are visualized in a methodical system.

Or the path of kundalini may be introduced when the initiate’s consciousness is ready for it. Many people nowadays play around with the idea of the kundalini but without the mantra and the proper guidance in the way of concentrations, it could even prove harmful to one’s physical and mental well-being because it is the manifestation of sound as mantra that helps regulate the energy flow.

There are many different ways of refining the mantra in the mind. These are taught as the initiate’s commitment keeps him progressing and a contact is maintained between the initiate and the preceptor.

Meditation Time

Having a fixed time for meditation is a great secret of success. One fixed time. It is a matter of sankalpa, determination. In addition to your fixed meditation time each day whenever you can throughout the day, no matter where you are, for five minutes, for two minutes, for even one minute tune your mind to the mantra. On the other hand there is also an allowance given in the texts that say, (mumukshunam sada kalah, strinam kalascha sarvada), for those who are doing japa as seekers of liberation, there is no rule about time. And (strinam kalascha sarvada), for women also, there is no such rule. So again there is freedom. The meaning of this is not, however, that you do not keep your fixed meditation time, but you keep your meditation at all times. A certain level of japa should go on in the mind no matter what one is doing.

Mantra “Doing” Itself

Those who have received the mantra in the Yoga tradition will find that, ideally speaking, the mantra is not being done; one should learn to let the mantra be. Quite often, one has to do the mantra, but at other times one simply invites, invokes the presence, lets the mantra arise by itself and continue in the mind. A lot of times, even that invocation, that invitation is not necessary. One finds that one wakes up at night and the mantra is going on; one goes to the bathroom and the mantra is going on; or one is in the embrace of one’s spouse and the mantra is going on.

Simply learn to listen to the mantra within, and become absorbed in listening.

The mantra in the Yoga tradition is called, bija (seed), a seed is implanted in the mind, that is, a tiny particle of the Guru mind is implanted into the disciple’s mind. Therefore, it has its own movement. Even if you do not do your mantra six years from now, ten years from now, somewhere it is bound to come up. It is said in the Yoga tradition that the mantra given goes with you even through death. In our teaching of the art of dying, we prefer to train people for the day when they have to leave the body and the mantra will continue with them in this way.

Progression in Purification

Mantra is

for penetrating through the veils and curtains of samskaras,

for countering the existing samskaras, and

for preventing the formation of new, undesirable samskaras.

Samskaras are all of the impressions of past actions stored in the unconscious mind..

Or, in the language of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,

to prevent the klishta vrittis (afflicted vrittis) from arising, and,

to develop and maintain one single aklishta vritti (unafflicted vritti),

so that shuddhi, buddhi, siddhi, and mukti may occur.

Shuddhi, purification;

buddhi, awakening of pure and sattvic awareness;

siddhi, fulfillment of the purpose of japa; and,

by grace and whenever our acts mature, mukti—freedom.

We have to penetrate through the curtain of samskaras, through the five koshas or sheaths of body, prana, mind, knowledge and bliss; through the three bodies, gross, subtle, causal; to the interior-most part of the buddhi beyond which mantra does not go and at which point mantra is dropped.

Use of the Mala

One may need different types of malas for different types of mantras. One may be advised to wear one kind of mala, and use a different kind of mala for doing the mantra. All that is between the student and the preceptor.

Big bead malas slow you down; by the time you get from one side of the hill to the other, two seconds have passed. The big bead malas are okay for wearing, but for doing japa use small beads, with a little knot in between.

Do you need to use the mala? There are two different aspects to japa. Both practices have their own benefits. One often needs to go through a period of discipline with the mala: “I shall do so many repetitions.” In your practice, do a part with the mala, so that you have the basic discipline maintained, a habit is formed, and then put the mala aside and go into the mind. Experiencing the pathways to the subtler depths, put aside the mala and just go into the mind and go deeper, and deeper, and deeper.

Purash-Charanas

I often advise new initiates to undertake a purash-charana immediately after initiation. The word purash-charana means “a foot forward.” That is the term for undertaking a special observance. A beginning observation of purash-charana, for example, would be for someone to do 125,000 repetitions of their mantra using a mala. Then the mantra becomes habitual, is absorbed. Knowing the number of minutes it takes to complete one mala of your mantra, and how many minutes you have available daily, you can decide how many sessions in the day you want to have. One session is at your fixed time; the hours of other sessions may vary.

When you have completed those 125,000 repetitions of the mantra, get in touch with your preceptor who will advise you whether you should do the same observance again, or do it differently. At a certain point, in your progress, the preceptor may assign

special modes of breathing with the mantra,
chakras or centers of consciousness to meditate upon and, together with those, sometimes
certain internal visualizations, or internal rituals.

He may assign any of the five pillars of sadhana:

stillness,

celibacy,

silence,

fasting, or

conquest of sleep, in lesser or greater degree.

For this guidance, you remain in touch with the preceptor. Try to put aside three days, five days, seven days, ten days, or a month every year to be rid of the world, and enjoy the freedom of a retreat for intensive practice of mantra.³

Other Aspects of Deepening Mantra Meditation

When the body is tired, the mind becomes sluggish because the mind draws part of its energy from prana. When the prana moves at a lower frequency and in erratic patterns, the mind also moves more slowly and erratically. Therefore it is most important for one who is keenly interested in developing his or her sadhana to be rested. Resting not only means sleeping enough, but it also means using conscious rest as in shavasana practices eventually leading up to the practice of yoga-nidra. To be rested also means that throughout the day’s hectic activities one gradually trains the mind to be restful so that the activity does not draw more of the energy of the body than is absolutely required for the task undertaken. Practice of silence is most restful.

Resting is not enough by itself. Physical yoga practices activate prana, align and harmonize the prana flow and transform it into higher vibrating frequencies. Once you have activated the prana through Hatha Yoga, go through a relaxation exercise, and other shavasana practices, then sit up and do nadi-shodhanam, alternate nostril breathing, to further balance the left and right flowing energies.

One also has to train oneself in many other directions of life. All the yamas and niyamas (ahimsa, detachment and so on) are guidelines for emotional purification. Otherwise, our emotions produce random thoughts, slow down the mind and exhaust the body. Emotional purification is a whole different sadhana, to go along with japa sadhana. The sadhana of emotional purification is a life-long endeavor of self-observation and self-refinement, atma-samskara, atma-shuddhi, manah-shuddhi. Emotion is where people are stuck, where the progress in our meditation gets blocked. But then the more japa you do, the more the emotions also begin slowly to purify, and vice versa.

What To Do With Previous Mantras

The question is asked often in India, before or after a mantra initiation: “What do I do with the mantras I have previously received?” Both in the West and in India there is a habit of receiving many initiations. In the West because people simply like to experiment with this mantra or that mantra, or with this teacher or that teacher; it is all experimental. In India people feel that it will add to their sanctity or holiness if they accumulate many initiations. To both audiences, our answer is that having many mantras is like having many wives or husbands. The mind becomes divided. When the purpose of the mantra is to concentrate the mind, doing many mantras is not helpful.

People of the religious traditions of India, are very highly ritualistic, using elaborate pujas, and so forth, in which, because they are sacraments, many mantras are recited, many prayers are used. These are all exterior acts. In many Tantric works, beside the Kriya Pada and Charya Pada, the chapters on the rules of ritual and chapters on the rules of daily disciplines of life, there is often a Yoga Pada, a chapter on the interior part of the observance. Very few people are familiar or conversant with the interior part of mantra and mantra practice as we are describing it here. So they satisfy themselves only with the exterior acts. In the churches and the synagogues in the West, the external rituals, prayers and hymns satisfy people the same way as they do the temple-going people in India. With a slightly different cultural milieu, the idea is the same.

Now in India, mantras are given or received or practiced in many different ways.

As already stated, they are part of rituals, external rituals. The priest often gives mantras; for example with the twice-born, the Gayatri mantra, given at a certain age by the priest preceptor. The people practice that Gayatri as much as possible throughout their life.
Sometimes the people, and I found this also in the overseas Indian communities, just decide to embark on some aspects of spiritual life, and they go to their priest or astrologer and are given a mantra. How do the priests and astrologers select the mantras? In many different ways.
a. There is Angka Vidya, the science of numerology, very ancient in India, in which the numbers have a close association with the letters of the alphabet. You find that tradition also among the Jews, where they have done an entire analysis of the Hebrew Bible to find, say, prophetic codes and so forth, on the basis of the numerological interpretation of syllables. The mantra may be matched numerologically to one’s name or birthdate.

b. In India, unlike the present day West, astrology is not merely a science of prediction. No astrologer will be consulted if he does not also give a preventive measure to change the circumstances, because with each astrological prediction it is implied that the forces can be moved around. So if Mars is in a bad place, the astrologer always tells you what the Mars mantra is for propitiation, or what other mantra may be done and what other ritualistic acts may be performed along with it. One’s rashi, the sign of the zodiac, determines what forces need to be brought into play to ward off any ill effects of the rashi, or to enhance the good effects of another one.

c. Quite often, priests who are not bound to a particular religious denomination, may ask an initiate “what is your Ishta Devata?” What is your favorite form of the deity? Some speak of their family deity; others speak of the personal deity that they are most drawn to. By the word deity we mean the form of divinity, the manifestation to which we are attracted, either by family tradition or personal choice. Based on their answers a mantra is given.
Then there are certain mantras that come in family traditions. The families pass on the mantra from a father to a son, from a mother to a daughter. In a similar manner, sometimes the daughter-in-law receives a mantra from the mother-in-law upon marriage. Just as the son is the continuity of the father, the daughter-in-law is the continuity of the mother-in-law, because the daughter is not the continuity of one’s parental family, she’s the continuity of the marital family. So just as upon marriage a lot of times the bride receives a new name, many women have received, a mantra from their mother-in-law, or from their new marital family’s priest.
There are also sampradaya mantras. These signify the various religious denominations within which everybody receives the respective mantra. This is illustrated in the story of Ramanuja, who received a mantra from Nambi. The Acharya said, “The mantra should be kept a secret,” but Ramanuja went up to the rooftop and shouted the mantra to the whole world, “om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, I have received such a great treasure.” The Acharya said, “I told you it was supposed to be kept a secret.” Ramanuja said, “I am so over-joyed to receive such a treasure, I want to share the treasure with everybody.” So everybody in that tradition has the same mantra. Or there is the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tradition in which everyone receives the same mantra. It’s like becoming a convert to Christianity and receiving the Lord’s prayer.

Now, let us say that you have received your sampradaya mantra, a mantra of your particular religious denomination, and in the rituals you recite all the other mantras as well. How do these mantras differ from the tradition of the Yogis? In each of these traditions, there is no doubt that a certain spiritual force exists. There is no question about it. Except that the focus is more on the form of the deity to which the individual is drawn through that mantra.

In the Yoga tradition, first of all, one authorized to initiate, uses an intuitive process to assign mantras. Those who are authorized to give initiation, mantra-diksha, are taught to arrive at a mental state where intuition alone plays the major part in receiving the mantra to be given to the initiate. The idea is to reduce the mental conflict as much as possible, to unify the mind through concentration. The mantra received in the Yoga tradition is not for rituals, it is for inward absorption only. It is for penetrating the veils of the five koshas and of the three bodies until the mantra comes to a point where, as the Shiva-sutras say, “the entire mind becomes the mantra.” Beyond that when one reaches the state of a-manaska-yoga, then not only the mantra is left behind, but even the mind is left behind.

Now, again the question: “What do I do with the mantras I received before?” The mantra you received in the Yoga tradition, as I said, is for inward absorption only. If you have a denominational (sampradaya) or family mantra and you perform your external worship, carry on, with that worship with the mantra appropriate to that aspect of divinity. There is no problem with it. What you do with these, your sampradaya mantra, or your family mantra, or the one given by the mother-in-law to the daughter-in-law is a few recitations, to honor them. You have seen a beautiful piece of jewelry. If you purchase that piece of jewelry, you do not throw away your old jewelry, you still keep it alongside the new piece. But these are not the mantras for your regular meditation practice; they have different purposes, to keep your link with your sampradaya, your denomination, to keep your family tradition going, for performing exterior worship and pujas; that is fine.

Therefore, if you have other mantras in addition to your regular guru mantra received in a Yoga initiation, perhaps even new mantras given by your preceptor for special practices, every time you sit for meditation, go inwards, and do one or three repetitions of all of your mantras to remember and honor them. Do five, do eleven, you may even close your mediation with the same recitations again. But let your major work in meditation and throughout the day be with your personal guru-given mantra. In the Yogic tradition you should learn to differentiate between what people do with the mantras in an exterior context and what the interior context and purpose of the mantra in meditation practice is.

How to Do Long Mantras Faster

Often there are questions about the mind’s ability to do japa of the long mantras with effectiveness when a person only has a limited amount of time available. Many people take something like half an hour to complete one round of the mala of the Mrityunjaya mantra, for example. Similarly, with the Gayatri mantra. At that speed if they undertake a purash-charana, a long observance of completing the japa of 125,000 repetitions plus twenty per cent of that number,⁴ it will take years. So how can these long mantras be done with some saving in time?

Principle of ardha-matra: Half a mora Again and Again

There is a principle called ardha-matra, half a mora. A mora is the time we take to pronounce a short vowel. One learns to pronounce it in half that time. Here we are not speaking of articulation, uttering it with the mouth, nor even silently while still engaging the speech organs. Many people doing silent japa still permit it to come into the speech organs, throat, larynx or a moving tongue, even with sealed lips. Doing the mantra fast with the mouth will only increase tension and will not serve the purpose of deepening the meditation.

The principle of ardha-matra can be understood only if we know the nature of mind as explained above, the idea that mind is not just made up of one layer. It has many, many layers vibrating at different frequencies and this force field called the mind becomes subtler and subtler and subtler at deeper and deeper layers. At these deeper layers the frequency of the mind’s vibration incrementally becomes higher and higher.

It is taught in the Tantras that the mantra may thus be refined nine times, thus:

1/2

1/4

1/8

1/16

1/32

1/64

1/128

1/256

1/512

Even in the subtle point of life force and consciousness in the sahasrara chakra, in the highest center of the thousand rays, even within that bindu there are nine levels. All of that is part of the ardha-matra system. One starts with the time it takes to pronounce, no, to mentally remember a short vowel, the mora, and then reduce it by half, and then half of that and then half of that, leading to higher and higher frequency vibrations.

Let a Quiet Resolve Arise in the Mind

When you sit for your meditation, let there arise a sankalpa in your mind, a quiet resolve, not a loud determination but a very, very quiet resolve. A resolve like the sure and quiet one a person feels when s/he wants to commit oneself in love. Just simply realize this something within, that way. At each stage, each state, each phase of mediation, renew that resolve. Don’t make that resolve for the next half hour, but for the next minute. Don’t say, “I shall not permit,” bur rather, gently, “for the next minute, there shall not arise any intruding thoughts; I shall experience only the even flow of my breath.” Just as we learned above to resolve to close the gaps in our breathing process through a one minute practice, try this quiet resolve to have no intruding thoughts for one minute starting right now.

How was that minute? Now resolve in your mind that for the next one minute there will be no intruding thoughts except the presence of your shorter personal mantra, coming like a thought-wave repeating itself, a wave into which there will be no intruding thoughts for the next minute. Now resolve once again in your mind that for the next one minute there will be no intruding thought; you will only feel the flow of your breath in your nostrils with the presence of your mantra.

Now keeping that state of mind, resolve to do two repetitions of the Gayatri mantra:

Om bhur buvah svah

tat savitur varenyam

bhargo devasya dhimahi

dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.

Keep the same state of mind you were in during the one-minute following the resolve; go there and resolve that during these two repetitions of the thought wave called the Gayatri there will be no intruding, interrupting thought. Now begin. That was one minute. In that one minute, a yogi can do the Gayatri twenty-one times or many more because s/he goes into a higher frequency deep in the mind.

Now attempt to do the long mantra keeping the words even with the breath, dividing the mantra over several breaths. Take the fragment “Om bhur buvah svah.”

Do that and see how long it takes. For the initial practice, do just that fragment in one exhalation however many times it fits in that exhalation. Similarly, you will try on your own with the second fragment, “tat savitur varenyam,” and the third segment, “bhargo devasya dhimahi,” and the fourth segment, “dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.” Try segment by segment with the same kind of resolve that we made earlier with the shorter mantra, permitting no intruding thoughts. It is the intruding thoughts that not only bring you to the lower frequency, the shallower level of the mind, but by intruding between mantra and mantra, they slow down your japa. So eliminating intruding thoughts by these short periods of resolve will help. Recall again and again the state you experienced when you went to the slightly higher frequency level for one minute, and keep going back to that. Gradually you may increase the period of the resolve to two minutes and so on.

Let the Entire Mantra Flash as a Single Unit

Now relax completely. Let your breath settle down. Let your personal mantra come in your mind. Do not let the mantra come word for word, syllable by syllable. Let the entire mantra flash as a single unit as though your mind is a clear sky with one single star flashing, flashing, flashing.

Now let the first segment of Gayatri flash the same way.

Let the second segment of Gayatri flash and then the third segment. And the fourth segment. The entire segment as a single unit.

Now the first and the second segment together.

The third and the fourth segments flashing as a thought-wave. Remain there.

And now let the entire mantra be done. Gradually your practice will improve as the mind learns to enter its own higher and higher frequency levels.

Let the Mind Observe the Mind

There is one more secret for deepening meditation and at the same time learning to do the long mantra. Observe the mind. Let the mind observe the mind. Observe the presence of the mantra. The part of the mind that is being employed to experience the thought-wave at present is a small fragment of the mind. The rest of the mind wanders off. That remainder of the mind should be employed in observing, and gradually, the doer and the observer will merge. Those who have been initiated into a chakra will find a certain vibration in that chakra and will learn to merge their consciousness. Sit in grace and surrender. Not by your effort alone will you reach total pacification, enlightenment. Your effort only purifies the vessel. Surrender your body, prana and mind so that the Guru spirit may enter and the Guru mind may touch your mind, making your mind one of its meditation seats that it may meditate therein.

However, you may not succeed in the practice simply by reading about the “technique” described above. Seek out a qualified preceptor who will do the transmission of the vibration and will help open some of the interior doorways in a personal or small group session.

What we have tried with the Gayatri mantra also works the same way with the Mrityunjaya mantra or any other long mantras whenever they are given to you.

May you dive into the deepest layer of mind and beyond. God bless you, Om.

Two Mantra Meditation Practices

Practice One: Meditation with Mantra

Sit with your head, neck and trunk straight. Your spine erect.
Withdraw your mind from all other places and be aware only of the place where you are sitting.
Withdraw your mind from all other spaces and be aware only of the space your body is occupying from head to toe. Be aware of yourself from head to toe.
Withdraw your mind from all other times and be aware only of this moment in time. In your awareness be here and be now.
Relax your forehead, relax your eyebrows and eyes, relax your nostrils, relax your cheeks, relax your jaw, relax the corners of your mouth, relax your chin, relax your neck, relax your shoulders, relax your upper arms, relax your lower arms, relax your hands, relax your fingers, relax your fingertips. And breathe as though your breath is flowing all the way to your fingertips.
Relax your fingertips, relax your fingers, relax your hands, relax your lower arms, relax your upper arms, relax your shoulders, relax your chest, relax your cardiac region. And gently exhale and inhale, slowly and smoothly.
Relax your stomach, relax your navel, relax your abdomen, relax your thighs, relax your calf muscles, relax your feet, relax your toes. And breathe as though your breath is flowing through your whole body, from top to toe and toe to top, gently, slowly and smoothly.
Relax your toes, relax your feet, relax your ankles, relax your calf muscles, relax your knees, relax your thighs, relax your abdomen, relax your navel, relax your stomach, relax your cardiac region, relax your chest, relax your shoulders, relax your upper arms, relax your elbows, relax your lower arms, relax your wrists, relax your hands, relax your fingers, relax your fingertips, relax your fingers, relax your hands, relax your wrists, relax your lower arms, relax your elbows, relax your upper arms, relax your shoulders. Your neck straight, relax your neck muscles, relax your chin, relax your jaw and the corners of your mouth, relax your cheeks, relax your nostrils, relax your eyes and eyebrows, relax your forehead, relax the seat of your mind. And gently exhale and inhale, as though your breath is flowing through your whole body, from top to toe and toe to top, gently, slowly and smoothly.
Observe the gentle rise and fall of your stomach and the diaphragm muscle. Observe how that area gently relaxes as you inhale, how it gently contracts as your exhale. Observe the movement with the gentle rhythm of your breathing.
Establish diaphragmatic breathing.
Let your mantra come to your mind in whatever way it comes easy, natural and comfortable. Exhaling and inhaling, let your mantra come however many times in your breath. If it synchronizes with your breath, let it synchronize, or simply let the mind remember the mantra, in whatever way it comes easy, natural and comfortable. Feeling the diaphragmatic breathing.
Feel the flow and the touch of your breath in your nostrils, breathing slowly, gently and smoothly. No break in your breath, no jerks, no sound. Continue to feel the touch of the breath in the nostril. Maintain the mantra in whatever way it comes easy, in whatever way it adjusts to your breathing, however many times in your breath, or even divided over several breaths. Exhaling and inhaling.
If your mind wanders, again straighten your spine and your neck. Relax your abdomen, stomach, chest, shoulders. Relax your jaw, relax your forehead. Reestablish diaphragmatic breathing.
Again feel the flow and the touch of the breath in the nostrils. Maintain the mantra in whatever way it adjusts to your breathing, however many times in your breath.
Now you may ignore your breathing. Let your mantra come in your mind in whatever way it comes easy, natural and comfortable. Let the mind remember the mantra. Over and over and over.
And observe your mind doing so.
No turning away from your mantra. Relax, relax, Let the mind remember the mantra over and over.
And now cease all effort. Abandon all endeavor. Only let there be a quietness, a stillness, silence in the mind.
In this restful silence, again let your mantra arise. Pulsing, pulsing, pulsing.
Again, feel the flow and the touch of your breath in your nostrils, as though your breath and the mantra are a quiet stream flowing from your pool of silence.
Observe the flow of the breath: observe the presence of the mantra.
And gently, without losing touch with your breath and the mantra, slowly cup your eyes with your palms. Remaining inwardly tuned, gently open your eyes to your palms. Continuing to enjoy the feeling of calmness, you may bring your hands down.
God bless you.

Practice Two: One Minute Meditation Practice with Mantra

First center your body from the nose center using the breath, then establish diaphragmatic breath.

The important point is the resolve for one or two minutes to allow no other thoughts to enter the mind while maintaining the prescribed concentration.

Now, resolve to allow no distracting thoughts in your mind.

Feel the breath as if you are breathing with your whole body, from crown to feet for one minute.
Feel the breath in the navel center for one minute.
Feel the breath flowing in the channel between the navel and the center at the base of the nostrils for one minute.
Do nadi-shodhanam.
Feel the breath in the active nostril for one minute.
Feel the breath in the passive nostril for one minute.
Feel the breath flowing through both nostrils for two minutes.
Feel the breath flowing through the channel between the center at the base of the nostrils and the center between the eyebrows (sushumna breathing) for two minutes.
Do sushumna breathing while hearing the mantra in your mind for two minutes.
Sense only the mantra in your ajna (eyebrow) center for two minutes.
Be aware of complete silence for one quarter minute.
Feel the breath flowing through both nostrils with the mantra for one minute.
Open your eyes while maintaining breath awareness and hearing the mantra for one minute.
Move the body, stretch and relax.

End Notes:

Before starting on this, please read the articles by Swami Veda Bharati entitled “Beginning Meditation” and “Mantra: What and Why.” The present article is meant mainly for those initiated with a personal mantra.
In Swami Rama’s introduction to Swami Veda Bharati’s Meditation and the Art of Dying, Swami Rama has explained more about the art of dying taught by the yogis. Also see Swami Rama’s Sacred Journey, the chapter entitled “Mastery Over Death.”
H. H. Swami Rama’s Ashram in Rishikesh is an ideal location for such a guided retreat.
Special Mantras by Swami Veda Bharati.

Inner Change: Power of One Conference Address

Posted on 18 September 200917 March 2024 by ahymsin

In the very humble opinion of this man from the 21st century B.C., because my tradition goes back to that and I only speak from there, I have nothing new to add. I’m only an interpreter and a paraphraser.

The beginning point of all social change and the ending point of all social change is in oneself.

So integrating it all into oneself and daily giving oneself some time for contemplating these issues – not on how to bring change in the society, or how to bring change in the economics, or how to bring change in the social structures of education – but where to bring change in oneself.

To ask oneself: Where is my level of greed that I can reduce? Where is my level of want that I can reduce? At what level is my peace of mind, that is, absence of conflicts in my mind? And perhaps I have fewer conflicts now than I had ten years ago, but what are those conflicts whose energy needs to be integrated and harmonized, and how do I go about doing it?

Spend time on oneself and then be a leader. A good leader is he or she who leads without letting anyone feel that he or she is leading – just by mere presence. A real peacemaker is one who by his or her mere presence generates peace in the surrounding minds.

When we have worked enough on ourselves in this way, spending some time in contemplation and meditation both, moments of that silence then bring peace and harmony around us, and the sense of unity around us will expand in concentric circles like a wave spreading out and becoming subtler and subtler and subtler – its energy spreading and in this way similarly forming ten thousand waves.

When two waves know that they are waves of the same ocean of consciousness, that is called love. And love will happen as peace will happen. We cannot make it happen. We cannot do it. We do nothing. We must simply “BE” and keep making quantum leaps in our Being.

I have one request. After this please do not applaud. Just take ten seconds to go over what I have suggested, and ask yourselves whether there will be this quantum leap from now so that you will have more time for this kind of contemplation in your life when you go back. Thank you.

Power of One Conference

September, 2009

Washington, D.C.

Yoga Nidra Refined Silence

Posted on 22 July 200917 March 2024 by ahymsin

Why do we sleep?

The great Shankacharya says that everyone is ananda. Being of bliss. You know these three words that we often use? Sat Chit Ananda. I’m sure everyone has heard those words. Sat chit ananda, sat chit ananda. Sat the being, the very being. Chit, awareness, awareness of being, consciousness of being or just the force called consciousness. And ananda, purnam, completeness, bliss, totality of bliss. All the pleasures of the world are little sparks of that fire of ananda. All the pleasures of the world are just drops of the ocean of ananda, and every drop is trying to experience what it feels like to be the whole ocean. Every drop that is you and I, every drop is trying to feel, trying to see what it would be like to be the whole ocean of that joy and bliss.

We think that by increasing our worldly pleasure we will have that perfect joy, but that never happens. No matter how much worldly pleasure you have, whether of the body or of the mind or of the possessions, no matter, it’s never enough. It’s never satisfactory. So there must be some other way that each one of us, the drops of the ocean of joy, can experience what it feels like to be the ocean of that ananda. Each one of us sparks is longing to feel what it feels like to be the universal fire, but we do not succeed. The well known principle in all the spiritual philosophies is that, until you calm your outward opening senses, the inner ananda will not be yours.

So we have been given a state of ananda called sleep. This is not the Yoga Sutras definition of sleep. This is the Vedanta definition of sleep. The sleep is our effort to experience the ananda that we are.

The Yoga Sutras say that sleep is not an unconscious state. I have written about it in my commentary on the Sutras. Sleep is not an unconscious state. If sleep was an unconscious state, says the great sage Vyasa, how would we wake up and say, I slept so beautifully. I slept so comfortably. How do we remember if we were unconscious?

The closest that we get to that ananda in which everything reaches the state of laya, dissolution, we have in this sleep, and that is why the word Shiva, the Lord of dissolution, the Lord of laya, the word is derived from the verb root shi to sleep.

Well then, our task is easy. Everybody go to sleep and stay asleep and we are in perfect bliss and if you wake up just put a sleeping pill in the mouth and put your head on the pillow and the pillow will take care of Brahmananda.

What is all this talk about samadhi? The difference is that in sleep we are not aware that we are in ananda. In samadhi we are aware that we are in ananda, and that is the difference.

In the Bhagavad Gita, repeatedly Krishna calls Arjuna Gudaakesha, the master of sleep. Most people think that it is probably because Arjuna sleeps so little. That is not the real reason. The real reason is that the turiya, the fourth state, the ananda state, the samadhi state does not come until we have mastered the three lower states of jagarat, swapna, and shushpti, of wakefulness, dream, and sleep.

Aum represents jagarat, swapna and shushpti, wakefulness, dream and sleep. Although in other traditions, it has other meanings which are equally valid. For example, in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition the word Aum speaks of the devotee, the sadhaka, merging his mind, speech and body into the mind, speech and body of the Buddha, and that is the meaning of the word Aum in Mahayana Buddhism. And in the Jain tradition, it’s a different meaning.

So, now let me explain one point here. A question is raised in Vedanta. If Brahman is nirguna, has no qualifications, then why is that Brahman being the qualifications of sat, chit and ananda. If he is nirguna, no qualifications and no conditions, then why are we calling it sat, chit and ananda? That becomes a qualification. The great Shankacharya answers that these are not qualifications of Brahman. He uses the term swalakshana, the words themselves denote the very being. Not that God has existence, not that God has consciousness, not that God has bliss. If we said God has existence, God has consciousness, God has bliss, then we would be giving God qualifications; that God is blissful. But the word is not anandatita, blissful. The word is ananda, bliss, God is the bliss. These are not qualifications or qualities. These are its swalakashanas. The term is swalakshana, swa – lakashana. Swa in Sanskrit means one’s own. Something one’s own. Something that oneself is. Lakshana, something that defines the being.

The three words sat, chit, ananda, they simply express the being of Brahman, not qualities of Brahman. Sat is Brahman, chit is Brahman, ananda is Brahman. Brahman is sat. Brahman is chit. Brahman is ananda. Not that Brahman has sat, has chit, has ananda. So this is not a guna; it is not a guni sambhanda. It is not a relationship between the qualifier and the qualified. It is the very statement of its very being. It simply is.

In sleep the levels of mind which fall asleep are not aware of that ananda though they are in ananda. When one has mastered the three states of jagarat, swapna and shushpti, then one is qualified for the turiya. One is an adikaran, one is ready for that next step. What Krishna is saying to Arjuna is: Arjuna, you have mastered sleep.

If somebody says you are now are at mile ten, that means you are finished with mile one, mile two, mile three, mile four. He doesn’t have to keep saying you’ve finished mile one, mile two, mile three and mile nine, and mile ten. He says you have finished mile ten. So he doesn’t have to keep saying you who have mastered wakefulness and you who have mastered dream. He just says you who have mastered the sleep state.

Now that you have mastered the sleep state, now that you have understood all its secrets, now that you have entered the conscious sleep which is the mastery of sleep state, now that you have reached the state of yoga nidra, now, Arjuna, you are ready for the virat rupa darshan. You are now ready for the universal view of consciousness. Until then you were not ready, but now that you have mastered that, you are now ready, I consider you qualified. I consider you a qualified student, a qualified sadhaka. I will therefore show you what the next step is in the experience of universal consciousness.

So in a way, we can say that to be initiated into samadhi, one has to master the sleep state, and the mastery of sleep state means mastering yoga nidra.

Now here let me explain one thing very clearly. There are books and there are cassettes and CDs by various swamis including this one which purport to teach yoga nidra. They are not yoga nidra cassettes. They are presented as yoga nidra cassettes, but they are not yoga nidra cassettes. Those are exercises preparatory to yoga nidra. In Swami Rama’s book Path of Fire and Light, Vol. 2 [note: the original 1988 printing], there is a chapter titled “Yoga Nidra” in which he has given all very detailed steps. Take five breaths up to this point. Take ten breaths up to this point, and so on and so on and do this lying on the left and do it lying on the right and if you read it carefully, those who are teaching the philosophy of Swami Rama, there are only two lines on yoga nidra proper at the end, and those lines don’t define, they just indicate. Yoga nidra itself cannot be taught by a cassette. That you have to go in. So whatever is in that chapter is also preparation. Preparing a person for being able to be taught yoga nidra.

When do we know that we have mastered technique? The state of consciousness to which a technique is meant to lead you, when you go into that state of consciousness without the technique, then you have mastered the technique, that state of consciousness. A lot of times our ego comes and says I have mastered it. A lot of times. There are a lot of masters nowadays, and it’s easy to become a master in this Kali Yuga. A little taste and they think they are now masters. Though once again, the state of consciousness which a particular technique is capable of giving to you gives you the taste of that, then you no longer need the technique. You can go into that state of consciousness instantly and never need that technique again. Then you have mastered the technique. That is the definition of mastery.

So how long, how much time will you take every time doing a relaxation and doing sixty one points, blue star exercise, and so many breathings from the head to the toes and from the head to the ankles and head to the, come on, get in there, go right there? Make you house on the next hill. Don’t keep climbing up and down, up and down, and up and down. When you have made your house on that hill, you don’t need to keep climbing up and down and then live there. Live in that consciousness, live in that awareness. Then the ups and downs of the valleys below that house no longer matter to you. It was very laborious to climb all those valleys of sorrows and little pleasures, and expectations, and disappointments, and I can’t sleep, and I had a deep sleep that now I’m not getting. You don’t have to keep doing these zigzags. Build your house on the next hill. When you build your house on the next hill, then you climb the next hill, come down, climb the next hill, come down. Climb up, climb down, slowly, slowly, slowly then you abandon this house, and you now build a house on the next hill until you start living among the Gods on the top of the Mount Meru. Do you know Mount Meru? Have you seen?

So very simply, if you really need to define yoga nidra, these processes are not yoga nidra.

There is a cave in the heart, the interior cave of the heart. For some practices that guha, that cave, is entered and filled with light, becomes a jyotir guha, cave of light, as we have done many times in our Shivaratri meditations and other heart center meditations. Sometimes it is filled with sound, because it is the anahata, the place of the un-struck sound. There are two centers of sound, of nada in mediation. There are two centers. One is the Anahata chakra, the cave of the heart, the center of the un-struck sound. The other is what we call Brahmar guha, the cave of the bees. The yogis call it the cave of the bees, which is in the right hemisphere of the brain. In modern brain research also, the center of music in human beings is in the right hemisphere. That is why we give the mantra in the right ear.

Now if you try to enter the cave of the heart just like this sitting, you will not manage. You try to enter the cave of the bees just like that, you will not manage. You will sit there, you will imagine. There’re people who read books. From books they try to start concentrating on the center between the eyebrows, or they start imagining the right hemisphere of the brain. They are pathways, they are channels through the energy channels.

I have not mentioned the throat as a center of sound, because here we are talking of the anahata nada, un-struck sound. Sound has the four levels, the para, pashanti, madhyma, vikari. So this is only vikari, the spoken sound; the spoken sound in the Indian philosophy of grammar is called vikari, which simply means the sound that is perhaps of a donkey, donkey sound. Vikari means possibly a donkey sound. There is no difference between the braying of a donkey and by mouth praying of a human being. They are all vikari sound. So when we speak of these centers of sound we don’t speak of the throat. The concentration on sound. Sometimes people sit and they, I’ve seen people sitting in yoga classes and concentrating, articulating Aum, listening. Better to do, rather than not to do. Nothing to do with Aum. Aum that can be sounded is not Aum. Aum that can be sounded is not Aum. Aum, coming back.

We have pathways to go into these caves, special nadis. You take the mind through those. Then you can enter. If you are on the outside of the city, you cannot enter the city center just by sitting there and imagining it. You have to know the road. Those who are trying to do this without the road map and without a guide don’t manage it well.

The center of mastering dreams is the throat center, but again if you lie down there and concentrate on the throat center, it will not happen. You have to know the way to go to that throat center. There are channels. It is all part of Shri Vidya.

The center of the mastery of sleep is in the heart cave, but there are caves within caves within caves. The Mandala Brahmana Upanishad speaks of five akashas, five spaces one after the other, one inside the other. Spaces within spaces, within spaces, within spaces, and the light and the sound at each one of these levels of spaces differs.

Do you know what our problem is? Do you know why we are not making progress? If we are not making progress, it is because we have no ambition. That’s why we don’t make progress. When you have ambition, you work for it. Then you do what needs to be done. Then you abandon something and you sacrifice something. But you have no ambition to want to get there, to devote your time and effort for that purpose.

I appreciate it and I am happy when you come for ten days of silence and I welcome you, but ten days of silence is not going to make you a master. When you see a swami who has been silent for eighteen years, you will see the light of silence.

When you are entering the cave of the heart and you are seeing a light, that will not take you to yoga nidra. If you are hearing a sound, that will not take you to yoga nidra. If the yoga nidra cave is within the same space, then there are many different caves; otherwise, when you open it, there is no cave. A medical student will say, “What nonsense are you talking. What cave? Where is the light burning, where is the drum beating?”

So you have to know that you go into the right cave right in the same space, and that cave is absolutely silent and absolutely dark. Darkness so thick you cannot cut it with a knife. That is the one into which all senses dissolve. Remember then that yoga nidra and laya, dissolution of the universe, are very closely linked. When there is no thought, no light, no sound, no stir, no movement, then you are there. It feels as though that darkness is breathing. Then in that absolute stillness you are not unconscious, you are conscious of being there. You are not unconscious the way people are unconscious in sleep. You are conscious in that cave, and you are observing the fact of being there without any words, without any sound, without any light, without any movement, without any memory, without any samskaras arising; then it is yoga nidra.

Then out of that laya state you can create a whole universe. You can write poetry, you can write an epic, you can have the vision of any subject in a flash.

Poor children, students memorize, memorize, memorize. What is the meaning of forgetting? Nothing is ever forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten. The mind remembers that it has a memory that you had winked your eye, and that memory remains and becomes a samskara. Even when the brain stops functioning, the samskara in the mind remains. That samskara goes into the next life. Nothing is ever forgotten. It is a matter of bringing it up. The problem is not in memorizing. The problem is in recall, in what you call information retrieval. Finding in which program it is filed and going in there and bringing up the file. But if you have got ten thousand files open and you want to open then thousand and one file, now how much effort do you have to make on the computer? The computer says there is no more space now. Shut some, close some files, then you can reach the file you want.

That is yoga nidra. Close the files. You cannot even write the last sentence I have spoken absolutely correctly because you have so many files open in the brain. So shut those files. That is called yoga nidra.

Then you open in that state of yoga nidra, you open the file you want. You lie down and you say, ok, where’s my Spanish file or where is my Italian file, where is my Sanskrit file, where is my English file. Do you think beliefs have to adopt themselves? Do you think beliefs have to adopt themselves to the present of the sentence I read? I can repeat that sentence tomorrow, day after, exactly as it is, because when I was reading it, my mind was not divided into all the other places, and I can do that in Spanish and I can do that in Italian or in Portuguese or Sanskrit. When you read, the best time is when you are really sleepy; you convert that sleep into yoga nidra, and then the imprint will go and will be clear.

The question is asked that when we take on, take in the imprints of all the samskaras, all the activities that we do, they leave imprints on us, right? How to stop them forming samskaras?

If this cup is full, I can’t put any more water in it. If in your mind you already have something else starting with your mantra moving onto higher states of consciousness and awareness, then the yogi has to wash the previous samskaras, but forms no further samskaras.

So don’t worry about how to stop the samskaras. Don’t worry about how to stop the thoughts arising in the mind, in the meditation; don’t worry about that. Don’t worry about the thoughts arising in the mind. The extraneous thoughts. Only make that one thought arise that you want. When only that keeps arising, then there is no space for other thoughts. That is why we say no break between the breaths, because in that tiny gap millions of thoughts enter.

How to forget some unpleasant experience? Every time you remember it, it becomes stronger. You keep putting the same stamp exactly at the same spot again and again; how strong that imprint will be. So why do you keep doing that? Put some other imprint, some other stamp. And if you said ok, mantra, mantra, mantra. Keep putting that stamp again and again so you can remember nothing else.

My Gurudev said that Tulsidas, the author of that Tulsi Ramayan, which is the most popular, wrote the most popular religious text in the whole of north India, the Ramayan Tulsidasa in the Awadhi language, and everybody reads it. Mothers recite. No matter how a person is quoting, no matter how much effort you make, you cannot reach the end of that Rama. So no matter which language people speak, the most popular Ramayana is this one written in Awadhi in the sixteenth century. Mothers who cannot read and write, they teach chapters while they are cradling the baby.

In India, religion is taught by mothers, not in the Sunday school. In America and Europe, people have Sunday schools. That’s where their children go for learning religion. In India, they learn in their mother’s lap, and mothers recite the texts without reading as the way their mother recited and the way their mother recited and the way their mother recited.

How many Italians can recite one canto of Dante? Take out one beautiful canto of “El Paradiso” on the light. It can elevate children’s consciousness. The love that moves the sun and all the other stars, why can’t you recite that to your children? Why do they have to sit down and analyze the poetry in university classes? You who are the daughter of your son, Dante speaks to Maria, to Mother Mary, you who are the daughter of your son. Such depth in every language.

This text, Tulsidasa Ramayana, has sixteen thousand verses. My Master said that in the entire Tulsidas Ramayana, sixteen thousand verses, he said there are only seven, I don’t remember, seven or nine or eleven or five verses in which the sound ra and ma does not come. There is hardly any verse in which the sound ra or ma, which was the personal mantra of Tulsidas, does not come. They are verses that are learned at the mother’s knees, but the point is that the imprint of the word Ram in his mind was such that in all sixteen thousand verses there are hardly any that do not have either the sound ra or the sound ma.

That was also with Gandhi. This country got its independence under Gandhi’s Ram Nam. People don’t realize that. The whole country sang. I remember the times when thousands of volunteers would go to get arrested, would go singing this. The whole country of three hundred and fifty million sang this Ishwara Allah Tere Naam. Ishwara and Allah are thy names. That was a little modification on the original from the Ramayana. It was a leper yogi who gave the Ram mantra to Gandhi, and Gandhi fought the battle of independence by reciting that Ram mantra and taught the whole nation. If I was shot, I would say ahh. When he was shot, He Ram!, He Ram!, then he fell. That’s the power of mantra.

When I am teaching in the eastern countries like Taiwan and Korea, people don’t ask me what is the meaning of my manta. They ask me is: will this mantra then go with me in death? That’s what they ask. They don’t ask for the meaning because it’s a blessing, it’s a gift. “It’s a divine gift I have received. It doesn’t matter what it means, but will it go with me to the next shore?” That’s the question they ask. There are some things I greatly respect in the American and European cultures, in the western culture. When I pray for someone’s wellbeing who is in hospital, when I do it for the Americans and Europeans, it’s so much different. You have to keep doing and keep doing and keep doing. It takes so long to bring a result. And when I do it for the Chinese or the Koreans, it happens within the hour. They are open. Their minds are not locked by the idea of “me, me, me.” Even now.

This is the answer to the question about samskara.

The beauty of space is that within one space there can be other levels of spaces which I have been speaking about as to the cave of light, cave of sound and so forth. The deepest is the cave samadhi.

So practice, but first learn. Between now and next year, just master five breaths in which you do not have any break between the breaths anytime you sit down and start counting your breaths. Then it’s mastery. Then come back in the next year for the next lesson.

The question has been asked, “How do I feel when there are two or three students here who really have this ecstasy in their meditation already, and they say, ‘we sit down and we feel now we are doing it right. It happens very nicely and we were successful in the meditation but one can be fooling oneself. How do we know that we are not fooling ourselves?’” When you sit and meditate in front of the Guru, he will detect your signs and he will tell. There are ways of detecting those signs, but enjoy what you have. If you had a beautiful meditation, don’t let it become a point of ego – “Now I am such a great meditator, now I am the universal teacher, now let me call the nearest advertising agency and declare myself the master.” Stay away from that.

When you succeed with five breaths without a break, then try for seven. When you can take twelve breaths without a break, you will already begin to touch the first rungs of samadhi. It’s only twelve breaths away. I assure you of that.

The question is asked how is it that the breath stops. I said the breath stops, because we all have a bad habit of dying. Keep dying every time. Every time we are given a body, we go die. Is that a good habit? What is death? It’s a long pause between two breaths that reflects in our breathing. You want to stop the long pause, stop the short pause.

Understand the physicality of the breath, the energy content of the breath and the mind content of the breath. The physical content of the breath which is the physical breathing process, the pranic content of the breath which is the flow of pranic energy in the breath, and the mental content of the breath which is the thought that moves the breath.

That which does not see with the eyes wherewith one sees the eyes know that to be Brahman, and not this that you are all worshiping. That which does not breathe by the breath. That by which the prana is impelled and is moved so that mental content of the mind says to the breath, ok, move. Only then breath moves. The mind is switched off, the breath stops.

So to merge the breath in the space element, when it becomes as invisible as space, the pause that occurs at that state that is mastery of death. There are cases where the yogi is waiting for his favorite disciple to arrive, and the favorite disciple has not arrived. He says he will arrive tomorrow morning, and the yogi who had announced that he was going to leave his body in the evening says, “I’ll wait till tomorrow morning.”

A Yoga Nidra Exercise

This should be done lying down. Switch off the lights.

Relax the way you have learned to relax all parts of the body. Just check every part starting from the forehead in the sequence of the anatomy. Every muscle and every joint. As you relax, your breath relaxes. It automatically lengthens and becomes deeper. When you have relaxed completely, bring your attention to your breathing. Breathe gently, slowly, smoothly.

I’m taking you through a very short version.

Observe the gentle rise and fall of the stomach and the navel area. Observe how that area gently relaxes as you inhale. How it slightly shrinks as you exhale. In this practice, no mantra, no thought, only the feel of the breath flow.

Now feel as though you are inhaling from the crown of your head. Feel as though you are exhaling from your navel . No mantra, no thought, only the feeling of a flow as you exhale from the navel going upward again inhale from the crown.

Now inhale from the crown and exhale as though you are exhaling from the heart center. No mantra, no thought, only the feeling of the flow.

Now inhale as though you are inhaling from the crown and you are exhaling from the throat center. As though you are inhaling from the Brahma-randhra and exhaling from the Vishuddha chakra.

Inhale as though you are inhaling from the crown, as though you are exhaling from the center between the eyebrows.

Now inhale as though from the crown, exhale as though from the throat center.

Inhale from the crown and exhale from the heart center. No mantra, no thought, only a feeling of the flow.

Now feel as though you are inhaling and exhaling both from the heart center. No break between the breaths.

Now when you breathe in, go into a dark cave. Let the breath continue as though from the heart center. It is the cave that is breathing. Your primary focus is in being in that cave. The consciousness is in the darkness of the heart cave. Total rest. No thought, only a feeling of being in the cave.

Slowly come out of the cave and come to your normal awareness of breath.

Gently open your eyes.

Turn on the lights. Feel rested? Five minutes in the cave, rest.

I use that for my cardiac condition. One who practices this before leaving the bed cannot suffer from constipation; he will have to run straight to the bathroom. It’s a total rest, heart, intestine, digestion. People don’t know this yoga nidra practice. This beginning level can help with the heart condition, with the lung condition, with digestive, intestinal, colon, everything. Five minutes two or three times a day, wonderful.

(This is from a lecture on “Yoga Nidra Refined Silence” given by Swami Veda Bharati in Rishikesh, India, in 2004.)

Gathering of the Sangha

Posted on 25 June 200923 October 2021 by ahymsin

Gathering of the Sangha

1^st – 14^th February, 2010

at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama

In February 2007, Swami Veda Bharati initiated our Guru Family into a three-year practice of the Ityukta mantra for the purpose of creating a Mindfield of Community – a Sangha. “With a stable mind, you can stabilize all external circumstances. A mindfield thus stabilized is called an organization or a sangha.”

संघे शक्ति कलौ युगे
Sanghe shakti kalau yuge
(saṁghe śakti kalau yuge)

In Kali Yuga, a group that has clarity of purpose
and a unified vision has tremendous power.

Join Swami Veda and our international spiritual community in February 2010 for:

\ Final Sacred Fire Offerings of the Ityukata Mantra

Join with others in our global sangha to complete the practice of the Ityukta mantra. Participate in the final sacred Fire Offerings of the Ityukta mantra 1^st – 12^th February, 2010.

Do not be discouraged if you have not done the practice. Swamiji has said, “Those who have not practiced are also welcome; they will benefit immensely.”

\ AHYMSIN Meetings and Satsang

Help create a vision and plan for AHYMSIN and ensure the transmission of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition to future generations. .

\ Initiation into the next set of Practices

Be present for initiation into the next set of practices to benefit you – your family – your community – and the world.

A sampling of additional activities during the Retreat:

Presentation of the Himalayan Tradition, its richness and comprehensiveness, and how it flows through AHYMSIN; the importance of sangha in our present time (Kaliyuga)
The significance of initiation and introduction of the new initiators
Shivaratri celebration on the night of February 12th
AHYMSIN discussions and election of officers
An SRSG sponsored field trip to Haridwar and the Kumbha Mela
Lectures about the Fire element and Fire ceremony practice
Opportunities to practice silence
Daily morning meditation and two hatha sessions most days
Celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the laying of the Foundation Stone for SRSG
Entertainment from International artists
Opportunities to visit sacred sites in the area

Cost of Retreat

The cost incurred by Swami Veda and the Ashram for the “Gathering of the Sangha” 14-day retreat is expected to be approximately Rs1,717,000 (roughly $45 per participant per day). Please note that it is the policy of SRSG to give special consideration to those living in countries with developing economies.

The costs include: SRSG room and board and use of facilities, food catering and tent, 12-day Ityukta Yajna, Celebration Bandara at conclusion of Yajna, AHYMSIN welcome packet including CDs and Booklets, and scheduled excursions. <Click here to view preliminary budget worksheet>

To Register

A deposit of $100 is recommended to secure your reservation. Electronic prepayment also helps the Ashram to prepare for the event.

The staff of the AHYMSIN office will be happy to take reservations or answer any questions. Ahymsin@gmail.com

In your email please include your contact information, date of arrival in India including flight number, and the dates you will be staying at SRSG.

Transport to Rishikesh and Sightseeing

SRSG Travels can arrange for your transport from Delhi to Rishikesh. The staff can also help you plan any excursions or sightseeing you would like to do while in India. Please contact Silvia at sadhakagrama@gmail.com .

Come Early or Extend Your Stay

You may arrange to arrive early or stay later. Listed are a few optional pre- and post-retreat suggestions:

Attend the Sarva Yoga International Congress February 14th-25th (www.sarvayoga.org)
Sightseeing tours to other places of interest in India – SRSG Travels can help (sadhakagrama@gmail.com)
Undertake an extended Silence Retreat under the guidance of Swami Veda
Revitalize through Pancha Karma treatment
Join the March Teacher Training Program at SRSG (www.himalayanyogatradition.com)

Dakshinamurti Stotra by Adi Sankaracharya

Posted on 20 June 200917 March 2024 by ahymsin

Dakshinamurti Stotra

Foreward

There is a book: “Dakshinamurti Stotra”. It is only ten verses, composed by the great Shankaracharya. They are a hymn in the honor of God as teacher, who is often shown in iconography in a beautiful forest, for the great ancient ashrams were in forests, filled with the sounds of birds and animals. At such a place, where the beasts of prey have ceased all violence, he is pictured as sitting under a great sheltering vata tree, that sends down branches and spreads out. Shankaracharya, but a youth, sitting in silence, surrounded by elderly-looking disciples, his silence is his speech, and all the disciple’s questions are answered. All their doubts vanish.

The best edition this book is published by Samata Books in Madras, India, with a commentary by one of Shankara’s disciples. It is not a book for reading; it is a book for studying and for long contemplation. Here now I take you away from the respect for ordinary sources of knowledge, to transcend it so that you may sit face-to-face with God the Teacher, the Guru, whose silence is his sermon.
I shall try to translate these ten verses for you with a few comments, but wait for the time when you can contemplate these over a long period of time in silence.

The commentator introduces the first verse by saying, “There is no greater gain than gaining the knowledge of one’s own Spiritual Self. There is no greater gain than knowing the Self. So have the sages known in all the traditions. Therefore, seeking such a supreme benefit, the composer offers praises to the Supreme Being who is our own very Self, the One who by freedom of his will has created the whole universe, and having created the universe, has entered it, to dwell in it. The same transcendental Supreme God is being offered the praises in this hymn.” The first verse of the hymn, as all the other verses, end with the fourth line: Tasmai Shri Guru murtiye namah, idam shri dakshina murtiye. (My homage, my prostrations, my namah to that Guru-form, the One who always turns us towards the right direction.)

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 1

This universe is like a city, reflected in a mirror. The mirror, seeing the city within itself, may regard it as a real city in three dimensions, but all that is within this mirror is maya , an illusion of three dimensions, as though something were being seen in sleep, in dream. But when the time of awakening and enlightenment comes, the duality between the reflection and the mirror ceases, and one knows one’s own self as the Non-Dual. That Non-Dual One is my Guru, and I pay homage to that Form in which the Guru has manifested himself, that Form which guides me in the right direction.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 2

As a whole flower dwells within a bud, a bud dwells within a seed, but without all the distinguishing marks. Then from within that seed there appear all these beautiful colors, dimensions, forms, times, spaces, places – the petals of maya . But truly the Maha-yogi , the Great Yogi of the Universe, God himself, is the one who by his own maya , his own freedom of will, has shown himself in this expansive form, in the way that the seed may manifest the fruit. Unto that Maya-yogi , the great Guru-Form, who always leads me in the right direction, I pay homage; I surrender myself.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 3

Whose Interior Flash alone constitutes reality. And this Flash is transferred to the unreal forms of the universe, causing their appearance.
It is because of this Interior Flash that the words of wisdom, the words of eternal knowledge, come to us and tell us Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art).

But this knowledge comes only to those who have completely taken refuge in it, by the realization of which we no long return to this fathomless ocean of worldly cycles. Unto that Interior Flash who always directs me, gives me, points me in the right direction, unto that Form, unto that Guru I pay homage; I offer my prostrations.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 4

Make a clay pot with many holes, with many openings. And inside that pot place a very brilliant light. The light within the pot shows through these openings. So it is, that within the clay pot of the body has been placed the Great Transcending Light, which shows through all of these senses and through their vibrations. Since that Transcendent Light knows itself and says, “I know,” it is through the light of that, that everything else in the universe is illuminated. The light from within the clay pot, coming out through the openings, illuminates its surroundings. Just so, the Transcendental Light that dwells within the clay pot of the body emerges through the senses and illuminates the surroundings; and thereby we think that the world, being illuminated in this way, truly exists. But this is an illumination that is only a tiny vibration, a tiny flash of that Interior Transcendent Light, knowing and saying, “I know myself to be.” The One whose knowledge that is, who always points me in the right direction, unto that Form of the Guru I pay homage.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 5

Some discuss the body, prana, the senses, the ever-agile intellect, and even the Void. They take it seriously when someone mentions a man, a woman, a child, someone blind, someone insentient. But there is someone beyond these who demolishes all of this delusion that is imagined only on the basis of the play of the great shakti called maya , the creative power of the Divine Being, he whose power this is. He who always points me in the right direction, unto that Form of the Guru, namah , I pay homage, I surrender myself.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 6

Like someone asleep woke up. During sleep he had withdrawn all the senses. Upon waking up, he realized that he was still in possession of his senses, and says, “Before this I was asleep. Now I am awake.” Similarly, certain shadows fall on the sun or the moon, and the sun and the moon are eclipsed. The shadows pass by, and the sun and the moon reappear. So it is at the moment of enlightenment. One says, “I had been asleep. I had been eclipsed. Now I recognize myself. I re-cognize myself for who I am.” This one who truly is, who truly knows his being, who points me in the right direction, to that Form of the Guru, I pay homage. I surrender myself.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 7

We seem to pass through conditions such as childhood, youth, old-age and death, being a fetus again, being a child again. We pass through the developments of our awareness: wakefulness, dream and sleep. But in all of these conditions and states of consciousness that keep changing and turning around, there is one thing that never changes and is the flash of the knowledge “I.” He who manifests himself, shows himself, at all times in this unchangeable, non-transient, ever-sentient, transcendental “I”- the Self, and who by his mudra alone, by his Seal of Auspiciousness and Blessing shows himself to those who devote themselves to him. Unto that one who guides me in the right direction, to that Form of the Guru, I pay homage; I surrender myself.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 8

We see this world in its diversities, as relationships of cause and effect, of employer and the employee, master and servant, teacher and disciple, father and son, dividing up this one Self into all these diverse divisions. In dream, in wakefulness, being whirled about by the force of maya , but in the interior, in the hidden-most reality of all of these, there is only that One Person, “I”- the Spiritual Self, in whom these divisions and these revolutions cease, as though – when true knowledge comes – they truly had never been. Unto that one who guides me in the right direction, unto that Form of the Guru, I pay homage, I surrender myself.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 9

Earth, Waters, Fires, Airs, Space, the Lord of the Day, the Sun, He of the Cool Beams, the Moon, and the Person who claims the lordship over this body, by whose presence all this moving and unmoving diversity of the universe appears in these eight forms. Yet, when we go beyond these playfulnesses, all these games being played by our intellect alone, and go beyond our contemplation, beyond our intellect, to that Supreme One who is ever-present and all-pervading, and outside whom nothing else exists –
That is to say, not only that “There is no God other than God,” but there is none other than God. Through whom this enlightenment dawns, he who guides me in the right direction, unto that Form of the Guru, my homage, my prostrations, my surrender, my namah.

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 10

Through whom “all” and “self” become as one word. And it becomes clear as one contemplates this hymn. By listening to this, by contemplating this, by meditating upon it, by singing it to others, one reaches this lordship of the oneness of All-Self, including all the beautiful powers that reside in the universe and beyond. All these powers then become as yours; and you become the sovereign who can never be challenged by the laws of the universe. Celebrate that sovereignty of the your being.
The commentator, who was a disciple of Shankaracharya, says, ” He who knows this becomes a child of God, a Brahmana. Even all gods come to serve him, leave alone the ordinary men and women and the beasts of burden and the beasts of prey. Nay, even the so-called sovereigns who may rule over the entire Earth come to serve him, for this is the true sovereignty, the true imperial status in which the word “all” and the word “self” express only the state of sambratya , an empire which is one’s own being. They whose samadhis have matured now need to seek nothing. For them even the emperorship over the heavens of gods is nothing, for they are the emperors of the Supreme Self, which is their own very being. He who has supreme devotion towards God, and as towards God so also toward the Guru who is the source of his enlightenment, only he upon listening to these words will understand their meaning. He who by his power of light affords light to all lights, who lights the whole universe, may that Light shine full in his Light.”

Afterward

I wish you this day the light of the full moon which rises, that shines when you have transcended the lesser worlds that are within you, when knowledge alone is celebrated as supreme, and total gratitude is given to those sources from which this knowledge comes to us and becomes our enlightenment. And my homage to that Guru who has shown me the meaning of the word “Tat” (That), who has shown me the meaning of the word “Tvam” (Thou), to that Guru who has shown me the meaning of the word “Asi” (You are), to that Guru who has shown me the unbroken orb of light, by seeing which all that is lit becomes as one within my own self, he who has shown me this “Selfhood,” unto that One I pay homage.

Guru Dakshina / Love Offering

Posted on 20 June 200917 March 2024 by ahymsin

For thousands of years, seekers have made offerings to the spiritual master out of love, respect and gratitude. The Rig Veda, an ancient scripture says, “When we offer to a great being with reverence, what comes back is a portion of the Guru’s essence.” So offering dakshina creates a direct and ongoing connection with the source of grace in our lives. It allows us to participate in the universal cycle of giving and receiving and connects us with our own inner state of generosity. As we express this generosity of spirit in our lives, we experience a world that is generous in return.

The true essence of dakshina is that it is offered with an open heart and pure feeling. It is not the amount given, but the feeling with which it is offered that truly bears fruit. The student or disciple gives his/her offering for the love of the teaching, so that the teaching may be facilitated, that the Gurukulum or Guru Family may flourish, and that the teacher(s) do not suffer. No “amount” is a “price” paid for knowledge.

Silence Is Golden

Posted on 19 June 200917 March 2024 by ahymsin

Silence is such a profound and deep experience of human existence that only when we have understood silence would we understand all the inspiration that has ever flowed to humanity from the minds and mouths of its great saints and sages. To understand silence as an act, as a habit of mind, is to know a person’s disposition and most natural urge. We can look to the monks or “silent ones” of our society for example; however, even a householder with an active life can learn the art of “speaking” while in silence. Such a paradox has a very clear lesson.

Silence is creative; silence is dynamic; silence speaks when all words fail. So celebrate an hour, a half day, a day of silence. Start slowly with full permission of all those involved. Then begin with the attitude of celebrating. When you come upon noisy persons, sprinkle a cloud full of silence on them. We have only to look at the examples of saints and sages that understood the secrets of silence. They did not respond to conflict with conflict. When they spoke, their speech was measured, beneficial, and pleasant. Only then did they reach into their vessel of stillness and become silent.

Try it!

Sprinkle silence out the windows of your eyes, of your senses, out of your heart and through your words. Convey your inner peace, stillness and emotional equilibrium. See how this silence “speaks” to other minds at that deep level. Silence impacts the psyche as no spoken word can.

So learn to build up that energy within yourself. It is not the silence of being “shut up.” It is not that silence with which you come home angry and you say, “I’m not going to say anything to anybody. ” That is not silence, because then you go to your room and you bang your door and your spouse says, “What happened, honey?” “Nothing happened, I didn’t say anything.” Well, you’ve said enough. You’ve said enough for 10,000 years; that is not the silence we are speaking of. It is the other kind of silence. The kind when someone has banged the door you stand there and immediately on that persons face who has banged the door comes a serenity, a silence. This is the silence of the saints of the ages. It is the smiling silence of the Buddha. Practice it again and again. Experience that stillness again and again. But you have no time you say. Ah, you have no time. There is time between the breath and the breath. For a fraction of a moment between the inhalation and the exhalation there comes a moment of silence. Just learn to experience that in the middle of your noisy day.

I wish you the art of learning to live in silence, and I wish you the discovery of that still depth of mind in which all words cease, from which all spoken words arise. May your meditations and contemplations lead you to be “the silent one”. May it lead you not to be a super man, but to be a silent woman, a silent man. When a child is disturbed, you place yourself into deep silence and take the child and put the child to the left side of your bosom, where he can feel your heart beat, where the child can feel your depth of breath and the crying child, if it is not a matter of great physical discomfort for him, if it is not an illness or something, just wrap your arms around the child. The child will pick up your mood of silence, and he will learn that communication which will come in handy for him for his entire life. Let silence be part of your education for your children and then you too will enjoy in your great nation the same kind of silence that the people of Indonesia enjoy on the Nepea day, that the entire nation goes into silence.

May you keep your silence even while walking through the traffic of downtown Minneapolis and elsewhere. Blessings to you.

Ityukta Final Fire Offerings and AHYMSIN Elections

Posted on 12 June 200923 October 2021 by ahymsin

ITYUKTAA SAA TADAA DEVEE…

FINAL FIRE OFFERINGS

At SWAMI RAMA SADHAKA GRAMA, RISHIKESH

1st to 14th February 2010

Mark your calendars!

The following is a letter of invitation for this upcoming celebration from Swami Veda :

From February 2007, many thousands have been offering themselves to divine stability by practicing the mantra ITYUKTAA SAA TADAA DEVEE….

It was then announced that the practice will last three years.

The three years will be completed with sacred fire offerings from 1st to 14th February.

There will be periods of silence, kirtana (chanting), teaching, deep meditation and insightseeing tours.

You should plan on arriving in Rishikesh on 31st January 2010 and plan to depart not earlier than 15th February. Or you may stay for a longer period of silence or tours into the mountains.

If you cannot come for the entire 15 days, it is essential that you plan for at least the last five days.

According to the Constitution of AHYMSIN, this is also the time to hold an election of the executive committee and office bearers.

Non-initiates and those who have not been practicing this mantra are also welcome.

The next set of practices will also be introduced at this time.

Please write now to ahymsin@gmail.com.

Eagerly awaiting to hear from you that you will join us in setting your mind ablaze in the fire of self- purification.

Yours in service of Gurudeva,

Swami Veda Bharati

Your Teacher Is Always in Your Heart

Posted on 4 June 200913 October 2021 by ahymsin

In May, 2009, a beautiful message to the Himalayan community was conveyed by Kai, the 6¾ year-old child of Swamiji’s dear students, Jon and Veena.

After a Karate session, Veena was waiting to teach meditation to their instructor, when Kai sat down on her meditation cushion. His hands spontaneously formed a mudra, he looked as if off into a great distance, and these words came out of his mouth:

“Your Teacher is always in your heart. SVB and Kai walking hand-in-hand

You don’t need to write to Him.

You don’t need to see Him.

You don’t need to be by Him.

You don’t need to touch Him.

Your Teacher is always in your heart.

Your Teachers is always by you…even if He is on the moon.

Always, right by you, in your heart.

Love, heart-to-heart, is the connection

Heart-to-heart, even if you don’t know each other yet.”

“It was something to be there to witness,” Veena said. “There was a Karate class going on at the time – sweaty men working out hard, very focused, lots of noise. Then Kai was moved to the cushion, his posture established itself, the mudra formed, and then these words formed in slow motion from his lips. There was all of this…and then there was the energy behind the words . . . the feel in the space . . . that was really quite something. I felt something was charged to me, that is, I was instructed to capture it . . . so paper and pen moved near me. There was such energy to it that later when I met with the Karate master, he said he felt it, too – and I know this is true because, despite the activity of the Karate room on the other side of the glass, I had seen that the Karate Master had looked over and watched him as the poem flowed from him – from Her through him.”

Jon was initiated by Swami Veda in India, and Veena was initiated by Swami Veda in 1986 and stayed with Swami Rama for several months in 1987 at the Himalayan Institute when Swamiji was having regular Kirtans. She completed teacher training in 1988 with the Minneapolis Teacher Training Graduates. The family has traveled to SRSG several times recently, and their service to the Himalayan Yoga Tradition over the past several years has been considerable.

Such revelations from their son are quite common. Veena said, “This is how life has always been with him, even from conception.” In the course of a week many such insights come from him “out of the blue.”

As we deepen our sadhanas, may we all come to know where that Place is and enter It as effortlessly as a child.

A Brief Form of Yoga Nidra

Posted on 3 June 200931 July 2021 by ahymsin

This is a brief, preliminary version of Yoga-nidra (not a full Yoga-nidra). It is a way of taking quick rests during the day for a few minutes. It may be done sitting in a chair, resting on a sofa, or lying down.

Here is the synopsis:

1) Close your eyes, relax, and be aware of your entire body from head to toe.

2) Breathe diaphragmatically as though the breath is flowing from top to toes, and toes to top.

3) Bring your awareness to the Ajna Chakra, and exhale and inhale three times

4) Bring your awareness to the Vishuddha Chakra, visualize an immaculate full moon there, and exhale and inhale three times.

5) Bring your awareness to the Anahata Chakra, and exhale and inhale three times.

6) Feel as if there is a Cave in the Anahata Chakra, and breathe as if you are inhaling into the Cave and exhaling from your toes.

7) Breathe with no thought, no mantra – but only the awareness of the breath and the prana flow.

8) When you feel rested, open your eyes and gently sit up.

Source of Mantras

What is Japa?

Phase One of Mental Japa

Phase Two of Mental Japa

Phase Three: Deepening the Mantra

Phase Four of Mental Japa

Centers of Consciousness

Meditation Time

Mantra “Doing” Itself

Progression in Purification

Use of the Mala

Purash-Charanas

Other Aspects of Deepening Mantra Meditation

What To Do With Previous Mantras

How to Do Long Mantras Faster

Principle of ardha-matra: Half a mora Again and Again

Let a Quiet Resolve Arise in the Mind

Let the Entire Mantra Flash as a Single Unit

Let the Mind Observe the Mind

Two Mantra Meditation Practices

Practice One: Meditation with Mantra

Practice Two: One Minute Meditation Practice with Mantra

End Notes:

Recommended Readings:

A Yoga Nidra Exercise

Gathering of the Sangha

1st – 14th February, 2010

at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama

Dakshinamurti Stotra

Foreward

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 1

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 2

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 3

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 4

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 5

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 6

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 7

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 8

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 9

Dakshinamurti Stotra Verse 10

Afterward

1^st – 14^th February, 2010