Mandala, Author At AHYMSIN

In Reverence to the Guru Parampara: South India Sangha

Posted on 26 July 20257 August 2025 by Mandala

Om Shri Gurave Namah!

Sacred days dedicated to the remembrance of the Guru offer a gentle yet profound opportunity for sadhakas to renew our resolve toward the spiritual purpose of life and the deepening of our sadhana. In the Himalayan Tradition, we also observe the 40-Day Annual Spiritual Festival leading up to Guru Purnima—a time our beloved Swami Veda Bharati guided as time to expand and refine one’s sadhana.

Our small group of initiates in the South India Sangha of the Himalayan Tradition held online satsangs during the 40-Days Annual Spiritual Festival. Shri Raghavedra Adiga Ji, an initiator and mentor in the tradition guided our group in refining our sadhana, japa and meditation. As most of our sangha members are balancing work and family life, regularity in meditation is often challenging. Those who attended the satsangs have found the discussions, contemplations and group meditations help them to stay on the course of sadhana. In the course of the satsangs, Adiga Ji spoke of the role of iccha shakti, the will-power in sadhana can only be practiced when the mind is calm and concentrated. In clarity of the mind, when one is completely relaxed it can focus on the goal and resolve. We were guided to maintain the resolve to meditate at the same time every day, even just for few moments a remembrance of the mantra is helpful in maintaining the connection with the Guru shakti. This Guru shakti was experienced vividly in meditations guided by Adiga Ji in our online satsangs.

This year marks two special milestones in our Himalayan Tradition, first of Gurudeva Swami Rama’s birth centenary and secondly the 10^th Maha Samadhi Anniversary of our beloved Swami Veda Bharati.

As a culmination of the 40-Day Annual Spiritual Festival into Guru Purnima, as our hearts joined in with the events and celebrations at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, we came together in an in-person satsang held at the home of Namita Sinha. In an intimate gathering of initiates and seekers, we chanted the sangha mantra Akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāram, meditated in silence and held discussion and reflections on the guru-disciple relationship, and how it was demonstrated by the lives of Gurudev Swami Rama and our beloved Swami Veda. An aarti and traditional south Indian meal was served on banana leaf as prasada, our stomachs and hearts full with loving grace of the Guru Parampara.

In continuation of the Gurudev Swami Rama’s birth centenary celebrations, we are holding a 100-Day online discourse inspired by two of Gurudeva’s books – A Practical Guide to Holistic Health and The Art of Joyful Living. The sessions will be led by Namita Sinha, an initiate and student in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition. The course is open for all interested sadhakas. More information about the course can be found on the link:

Inspirations from the Himalayan Master

All proceeds from the course will be offered as Dakshina to Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, in humble gratitude for the unbound love and grace of the Guru Parampara.

Vande Guru Paramparam!

Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Hungarian Sangha

Posted on 5 July 20257 July 2025 by Mandala

Hungarian sangha_2025 June (1)

Om,

Dear Sisters and Brothers of the AHYMSIN Family,

At the peak of an extreme drought on our lands in June, the stream carrying Swami Veda’s blessing has been growing into an ever-increasing flood. The 20th anniversary of the Hungarian Sangha halts us for a moment to joyfully celebrate a lively, active community where members are happy to meet each other, and even happier to contribute to the Guru’s plan through their seva.

As Swami Ji reminded us at the open day program, this celebration is a remembrance of our true Self, as it appears in Gurudev’s core teaching that he gave to us: Love, Serve, Remember.

We were more than honored to welcome Swami Ji for a series of events in June, which started with a Full Moon Meditation on 10th June at our Center. Right after that, on 11th June, those who had the chance to dive into a deeper inner journey embarked on the traditional one-week-long Silence Retreat led this time by Swami Ji as well as by Ashu and John. Those who were present received a concentrated and subtle flow of teachings on the fine levels of mantra practices. Swami Ji opened two seemingly different paths forward in our practice: first, one that leads to complete surrender and unity with the Divine, which is Ishvara Pranidhana, and the one which is the search for the immanent reality – Atma-tattva-avalokanam. As each year, we completed a 30-hour-long akhandajapa with our sangha mantra at the end of our retreat.

On 20th June, 16 new initiates received their personal mantra. The next day, on 21st June, we welcomed more than 230 people to the open day program. This event gathered those who were the pioneers of the Hungarian Sangha: the first people who visited the ashram in Rishikesh, invited Swami Veda to Hungary, founded the association, and organized the TTP in Hungary. Present were the former TTP students, sadhakas who engage in many duties and roles in the community. Moreover, as proof of continuity, we saw new faces — seemingly new people answered the call of an inner voice that drew them to the Tradition. We are glad to announce the new book release in Hungarian of You and Your Emotions by Swami Veda Bharati.

Finally, on 22nd June, the formerly graduated TTP teachers came together in the Center for light conversation and warm company with Ashu and John, followed by Swami Ji, who led a meditation for us. This occasion ended with a bhandara and served as the closing ritual of the celebrations.

By way of conclusion, let’s evoke the akhanda-mandala-mantra: may the Divine Mother’s beauty, which we honour and to whom we surrender, elevate our consciousness to a higher pedestal.

Dóra Máriási

Editor’s Note

You might enjoy this short video, which was taken at the Hungarian Sangha Gathering on 21st June 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS73jm7_YZA

“Live life as Meditators” – Impressions from the ‘Mantra and Meditation’ International Retreat

Posted on 28 June 20255 September 2025 by Mandala

Italian Retreat_May 2025 (1)

Camaldoli: a place where time seems to flow more slowly, measured by the daily commitments of prayer and work. Its wood is a living monument, a witness to many pilgrimages, and its majestic, ancient and silent trees are essential to the life of this thousand-year-old community that lovingly cares for them. Everywhere one breathes harmony and symbiosis between man and nature.

Everything seems an invitation to slow down, to enjoy slowly, to meditation and silence.

In this place of deep spirituality, like so many pilgrims, we gathered together for the “Mantra and Meditation” International Retreat, at the presence of Swami Ritavan Bharati, Spiritual Guide of the Himalayan Tradition: 115 participants gathered in a sanctuary of nature, enjoying this magical place and appreciating the strength and power of the Sacred Forest.

So many sadhakas who came from different parts of Italy and also from abroad (Hungary, Switzerland, Germany and China), new and experienced practitioners, students of the current Italian Teacher Training Programme, graduated teachers, all united by the same intention: to be gathered together in a Sangha and nourished by the simple, humble, precious presence of Swami Ji, and of the entire Himalayan Tradition to which we belong to, certain of the Guru’s love and strength among us.

Our being together, truly so heartfelt and full of participation, in such a special year – Swami Rama’s birthday centenary and Swami Veda Bharati’s Mahasamadhi tenth anniversary – reminded us of the international events we used to organise at the presence of Swami Veda Bharati, Swami Ritavan Bharati and other senior teachers in equally sacred places, such as La Verna.

Four intense days of sharing teachings, practices, meditations, initiations, chants and music, silence, presence and awareness, fragrances and sounds of the forest, listening, nourishment, emotion and commotion: an uninterrupted stream of knowledge flowing from the Source through the direct Guru-disciple relationship.

Swami Ji, with His sweetness in joy, at times truly moving, led us into “a bubble of magical silence”, that Silence that only Meditation allows one to experience.

And on this true pilgrimage to our Divine Shrine walking along the path of awareness, Swami Ji reminded us of the importance of the personal mantra: “The mantra is your guide. There are no words that your mantra is forming, it is only carrying you and it is merging into the universal prana flow.” “Mantra is that friend, that love one, who will never create loneliness in you, the mantra will never disappoint you, the mantra will help you when you seek solace and comfort, especially during those times in human life when loneliness and doubt exist.”

“Meditation and mantra are the two sides of the same coin.” “In Meditation the goal is to go beyond mind and experience that true Nature, that Atman, that Soul, that you are.”

“Prayer can purify the way of the Soul.” “In prayer open up your heart and speak openly and sincerely to the Lord.”

“Let your mantra be your prayer. Let your prayer be your mantra.”

“Meditation is experiencing the essential Nature as peace, happiness, bliss. The very Nature of the God: Sat, Cit, Ananda, Existence, Intelligence and Bliss.”

“Grow to love your personal mantra because it is the source of love that you will recognize.”

“Let your mantra become a feeling that becomes the wave of that joy within yourself.” “The joy of meditation that brings the feeling, bhava, of joy that too is sweet.”

“Meditation is my reconnection to that state of Consciousness.” “Meditation is beyond all your power.”

“Continue with that attitude I am not the Meditator. Let the breath flow as the prana Life Force. Invite the mantra to deepen into that feeling of that presence. Then you will experience that every cell of your body dances with that Life Force. That is your meditation. To dance with the Divine as One.”

And like a great Master, Swami Ji brings us back to the essence of everything: “Do Less, Be More.” “Live life as Meditators.”

Deep gratitude to Sister Myriam and her sisters, who hosted us in such a loving and careful way, a pure example of selfless service and of unity in diversity.

Immense gratitude to all those who have allowed this to happen.

Infinite Gratitude to Swami Ji and this uninterrupted flow of Knowledge of the Ancient Himalayan Lineage that wrap us in a shawl of Immense Love.

Some participants’ impressions:

“In a long, uninterrupted shared breath, the Himalayan Tradition, and its Lineage, call us back at the feet of our Master. In a flowing breath, the sound of the mantra invites every cell to dance to the life dance. Kindred souls are reunited; the crystalline laughter of children resounds in the practice hall in an explosion of pure joy that pervades all. In the infinite ocean of peace, light lives in us and we live in the light.“

“To meet again in a magic place like Camaldoli, to embrace great Friends, united by this great joy of research, of sharing, of listening to the Himalayan Tradition. Together, it is Love. And the Tradition, as always, has welcomed us and given us incredible gifts.”

“..to find, oneself, teacher and student, disciple, at the feet of the Master is a precious gift.”

“Joy, love, freedom and much more that only the Himalayan Family can infuse. Special occasions of beauty for the soul nourishment.”

Editor’s Note:

For more information, you may contact the Himalayan Yoga Institute of Florence directly at segreteria@himalayanyogainstitute.it or follow them on Facebook and Instagram. You may also visit their website.

Getting Rid of Negative Influences

Posted on 2 May 2025 by Mandala

What I have observed, and I’ve come to observe this well because my own family lives in two worlds, is the influence of modern society on our ability to be defenceless. My children live at home in a world which is my world of philosophy, scholarship, thinking gentle thoughts, meditation, and peaceful feelings. Then my children go to school and in response to peer group pressure, they have to build defences and cultivate aggressiveness to stay alive and survive, because gentleness and quietness does not work.

I saw a transformation in my children from what they were 6 years ago as young children and what they had to become to survive in school. I found them much easier at home in the summer when they were not going to school. They were much more difficult in the evenings after school because they did not know that they could make a transition from school to home, and then back again the next morning from home to school. Instead, they brought home all the assertiveness, the aggressiveness, and the defensiveness that they had to use in school. I must say that my wife and I could not figure out what our children were angry about, why they were so assertive and defensive. So, I pulled myself out of the situation, neutralised myself, and looked at it to see where the fault was. Was it in me? I found the children were in a separate world and did not know how to make a transition into the trust of our home.

This has happened in the life of almost everyone in the western world: your school, work, and political relationships are ones of high competitiveness. This constant watching out for your self-interest is brought into your personal relationships also. Recognise this fact and you will be a changed person, making a transition from your work and school relationships into your personal relationships. You have to recognise this fact that the values of the professional, economic and political society are ones of polarisation in which confrontation is a virtue, where being able to take care of yourself is what counts and where the fittest survive. You have formed mental habits along these thought patterns; created a psychological bondage and you express your emotions in those terms. You must remember that when you enter the gate, the doors of your house, literally or figuratively, you have to become the person you were as a child: defenceless, loving and trusting in your relationships. There is no other way. Otherwise, one confrontation leads to another and that one leads to the third one. Before you know it, the relationship has fallen apart. And then what? You fall apart.

People say, “But it is so difficult. It is so difficult to follow the advice you are giving.”

Whenever they say this, I ask one question, ‘Tell me what is easy? Is the present way of relationships easier? You are scared of things the way they now are. Try a new approach. If your present way is easy, then why are you here?’

Some people say, “But how do I make the transition. It’s easy for someone to say, ‘Don’t be afraid.’ But what do I do?”

You must learn to recognise the divine presence within you, that divine presence which you experience in moments of meditation. Some of you say, “I don’t experience anything, so where do I find this divine presence?” But you do. If someone were to say to you right now, “You are sitting in the light,” would you have otherwise realised that you are sitting in a light? Were you thinking about that fact? No, you take the light for granted; that is human nature. We always take divine things and things of light for granted. You never think they are remarkable, but the divine is part of your inner nature. When a little quietness comes to you, you say, “Oh that’s nothing remarkable,” because your nature is rediscovering itself. No matter how shallow a meditation you have, if you look you will find that you always come out of your meditation just slightly quieter than when you sat down. This means that you did experience some higher-presence, a state of consciousness beyond what you are involved with in the ordinary world. Take the optimistic view.

I said to my spiritual teacher some years ago over the phone, ‘I want to make progress towards freedom, and I want to be an enlightened being, but there seems to be two of me. There is one who stands up, gives good advice to everyone, and conducts meditations and so on. I am very happy when I am in that place. Then there is this other one of me that comes home and gets upset because my wife did not put enough salt in the dal. What do I do with this other one?”

He said, ‘Identify the divine aspect within you. Don’t identify with that person who quarrels, who gets upset and who is angry. Identify with your highest moments, those moments when you gave love, when you succeeded in bringing a smile. Know that you have that strength. Know that at that moment you did have that courage. Identify with that courageous one.’

Perhaps you have given love, shown strength and courage and nothing came of it. But then, when you fought, when you defended, when you were aggressive, when you wrote a 10-page letter full of poison, what happened? Go back to the moment that gave you the pleasure of trusting, the pleasure of having caused a smile, and of having given someone satisfaction. The origin of the word love is founded on the idea of pleasing-to have a pleasant mind, and to be pleasing and to give pleasure. Do that thing that brings out a smile in the other person. Don’t pursue that which upsets him or her and avoid that; it’s a negative effort. Instead, find out what pleases the other person, what gives him or her pleasure and what brings on a smile, and start with that.

Editor’s Note

This is an extract from Path to Successful Relationships by Swami Veda Bharati, pages 55-57.

Mantra is the means. Meditation is the method. – Remember

Posted on 29 April 2025 by Mandala

The mantra helps one to go beyond this process, creating a new groove in the mind, and the mind then begins to spontaneously flow into the groove created by the mantra. Finally, when the mind becomes concentrated, one-pointed, and inward, it peers into the latent part of the unconscious, and there, sooner or later, it finds a glittering light. The great ones like to keep their eyes partially closed, looking into the innermost light that shines within this frame of life. Mantra is the means. Meditation is the method.

My way of using the mantra is different from yours, however, because I do not want to fool around with the process. In my own practice I sit down and observe my whole being listening to the mantra. I do not remember the mantra or repeat the mantra mentally. Instead, I make my whole being an ear to hear the mantra, and the mantra is coming from everywhere. This will not happen to you immediately in meditation, but when you have attained or accomplished something, it will happen to you. Then, even if you do not want to do your mantra, it is not possible to avoid it. Even if you decide that you do not want to remember the mantra, it will not be possible. Finally, even the mantra does not exist; only the purpose for which you repeat the mantra is there; you are there. The mantra might still be there, but it exists as an experience that overwhelms your whole being, and is not separate from you.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Art of Joyful Living by Swami Rama, published in 1989, Himalayan Institute India, pp. 169-170

Only Way to Freedom is to Learn to Give – Serve

Posted on 29 April 202529 April 2025 by Mandala

Do the following experiment for just a day or two: Use that great power that is your inherent power—the power called love. Learn to express yourself in such a way that you don’t hurt, injure, or harm others. Learn to give. Often you hurt others merely for the sake of your own selfish ego. Yoga science makes the true meaning of love clear when it describes the practice of ahimsa (not harming, hurting, or injuring others). If you learn to practice ahimsa, then you are practicing love in your daily life, and the practice of love does not mean being selfish. How many times a day do you have the desire to give the wealth and bounty you have to others—even to those who are related to you? The ability to give to outsiders develops later on. Ahimsa should be practiced first with those close to you, and when you have learned to enjoy giving, a time will come when you can give without any reservation.

All the great men and women who have lived on this earth have been selfless and desireless; they lived to serve and help others. They knew that the only way to freedom is to learn to give. This is the law of life. So you should continue to do the experiment with yourself, and every time you do, you will find that you are growing and growing. Eventually your growth will lead you to a state and a height in which you are free from all desires that are selfish. The desire to help others, to serve others, to serve the nation and humanity— these are great desires. When all your small desires are swallowed by the great desires, then your life will be like that of a saint, and you will find that you have become entirely different.

A good person really lives. One who is not healthy or helpful for himself cannot be healthy and helpful to others. One who suffers from himself cannot love others, and cannot perform actions that are selfless. These people create a whirlpool for themselves; they cannot cross the mire of delusion that arises in their own mind or go beyond. They cannot rise. But in all the great cultures of the world there have been extraordinary men who can be examples for you. Sometimes they were crucified, killed, rebuked, or stoned, but always it was for the sake of others —never for themselves. Petty men die for themselves and for their own petty desires; great men die because they want to serve humanity. Both die, but there is a difference in their dying and their living.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Art of Joyful Living by Swami Rama, published in 1989, Himalayan Institute India, pp. 40-41

Selfless Love

Posted on 29 April 2025 by Mandala

Love is learning to maintain respect for others. Love is not that spontaneous thing you feel for someone that is merely sensual. That feeling is not love; it dies in only a few days’ time. Love is understanding; it is giving. When you love, you give and give and don’t expect anything in return. And when you learn to give, when you understand that the real law of life is giving, and that the more you give, the more you receive, then you will know that love is giving sincerely, not expecting things from the other person all the time. Your expectations are the mother of all your problems in life: you expect too much from each other; you fantasize about relationships and expect too much of them—and you are then disappointed. Once you realize this, you can adjust your expectations and create harmony in the relationship.

Those who cannot love are actually selfish. But the more selfless you become, the more you will find that you have a kind of freedom that cannot be imagined by your mere mind. In the modern world you learn to live only for yourself, and you learn to value the things that you have or want to acquire for yourself. This is one approach to living. But if you understand that you are meant for others, and if you want to serve others and live for others, that is an entirely different way of living. The first way contracts your personality; the other expands your personality—that is the difference. So far, you’ve formed the habit of being selfish, and you see only your own viewpoint and desires.

All the great people of the different traditions in the world have been selfless. Christ, the Buddha, and Krishna all attained the highest wisdom because they were selfless—but still they remained themselves. Selfishness is not needed; it will get in your way. If you are selfless, your outer individual shell will remain exactly the same, but your inner light will expand to universal consciousness. That individual flame of love will become a conflagration that will burn up the weed of your selfishness. Truth will automatically come to you if you learn how to love.

But don’t approach love in a merely external or superficial way; offering your body to somebody is not love; it is merely lust. I am talking of that kind of love in which you are completely selfless. In such love you want to give, and you feel great joy in giving, and you feel that this is something great for you to do as a human being. You need to learn to give and truly love.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Art of Joyful Living by Swami Rama, published in 1989, Himalayan Institute India, pp. 138-139

A Heart Expanding Experience with the Sri Lalita Sahasranaam Retreat

Posted on 8 April 202510 April 2025 by Mandala

I was ten years old when I wrote my first story.

Ever since that time, I have used writing as a way to understand myself and the world around me. I write stories to heal myself, to inspire myself, and to explore many different ideas. My latest writing project is called The Endless Sea. It’s a historical fiction trilogy; the first two books are finished, but the third was a mystery to me until last summer, when I was inspired to set the final book of my trilogy in 1925 India.

I’m telling you this because the reason I wanted to come to India was to do research for this novel. I would not have come otherwise.

I trust my characters deeply, so when a character said they spent time in an ashram, I knew I also had to spend time in an ashram, in order to write more authentically. There are many ashrams in Rishikesh, let alone India. I knew I wanted an ashram with a focus on meditation – I have practiced for nearly twenty years, but wanted to deepen my personal practice. I quickly found Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama online. With the pictures and the reviews, I looked at the ashram schedule online and found a special retreat – a 25-day Immersion into the Sri Lalita Sahasranaam.

The minute I saw this retreat, my heart told me, Jen, this is the one I want.

I trust my heart completely, but I still said: Really, heart? 25 days? How about seven or ten?

My heart replied: It has to be this one. Do it.

So I obeyed. I came to Rishikesh, to SRSG, to the Sri Lalita, and in one of our very first sessions with Rabindra-ji, he said that it’s by the grace of the Divine Mother that our small group gathered together. I completely agree. Mother’s hand clearly guided me in finding this retreat.

My heart soaked up all the teachings, as we went through each of the thousand names of the Divine Mother in class together. My heart burned and expanded as we completed daily havana, the fire ceremony with offerings to the Mother after each and every name. My heart sighed and relaxed each evening in meditation with the other sadhakas.

Day by day, my heart got bigger. How? Rabindra-ji taught us about the heart cave where the Mother dwells, and I excavated more space for Her there. I learned about my dharma, my potential in life, and how to align it with Her. I learned about karmic debts, and through physical and emotional purification, paid some of those debts, making even more space for Her in my heart cave. Day by day, name by name, offering by offering, I kept excavating that cave and found that my heart kept expanding, kept burning, kept being illuminated by that Divine light that burned from the sacred fire within.

We concluded the retreat with the nine nights of the Navaratri, learning about the nine forms of the Divine Mother. Within these ancient teachings I found a map for life, a map that has been inside my body, within my spine and chakra system all this time. Just imagine that, for a moment. All our outward seeking for this purpose and that fulfilment, success and pleasure and whatever else the mundane world offers, when everything we’ve ever needed for our liberation is within.

One name after another, these Divine forms of the Mother, rising from our root chakra up the spine, taking the challenges of life and rising to meet them with one-pointed awareness gained through meditation and our austerities, gaining self-confidence, opening our hearts, receiving strength to remain on the path despite obstacles and temptations, reaching the point of cutting all attachments even with death and time, all to become one with the brilliant radiance that is the Divine Mother, and thereby a fit instrument in Her hands.

I can scarcely express how I now feel. Reborn. Baptised by the fire of the offerings. Empowered yet humble, energised yet meek, determined to make my life my sadhana, giving back to Her whatever I can in small, soft, invisible ways, taming my ego’s desire for attention. Above all, to become a very loving, nurturing human being who creates as little burden as possible on the world, and who provides, through story and writing, a taste of the Divine Grace that is afforded each of us.

May the Mother’s grace come to you, wherever you are, may you also excavate more space in your heart cave, cleaning and polishing your windows so that Her light can shine through the house of your body. May you spend more time in meditation, in contemplation of her thousand names, and let those names imbue every aspect of your life. And may you find joy in all service given to all living beings, who are also the Divine Mother in her limitless forms. Namaste.

Editor’s Note:

In preparation for the auspicious Navaratri (9-nights) dedicated to the Divine Mother, a 25-Days Immersion into the Shri Lalita Sahasranaam was held at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama Ashram in Rishikesh. It was an immersive study of the Shri lalitha Sahasranaam (1000 names of Mother Divine). We had daily havana (fire offerings) with all 1000 mantras of the Mother from the Shri lalitha Sahasranaam, along with contemplations on the meanings of the 1000 names of the Mother. We also offered recitations of the Shri lalitha Sahasranaam Stotram each day.

The retreat concluded with the Navaratri celebrations that included the akhanda (non-stop) recitation of the Shri lalitha Sahasranaam for all the nine days and nights of the Navaratri, along with daily pujas and classes on the nine forms of the Mother Divine.

Swami Veda’s recitation of the Shri Lalita Sahasranaam:

Two Blood Cells

Posted on 7 April 202510 April 2025 by Mandala

Once upon a time two blood cells in a person’s body each developed into a genius. One became an inspired mystic and philosopher while one became a cynical scientist. The blood cell that had become a mystic stood by the walls of an artery and announced, “Fellow cells, harken! I must share with you a great vision I have been granted. We are not all apart, each cell having a separate life of its own. There is a great omnipresent being whose life force we share, from whom we are born, in whom we dwell, and into whom we each finally dissolve. Though the individual cell may die, life continues in that great being. That great one is so vast that billions of us all cannot fathom his greatness. None of us can comprehend all his thoughts, knowledge and action. This being is called man.”

The blood cell that had become a scientist scowled and jeered and taunted, challenging the mystic, and saying, “What a visionary you are, talking without proof! Where is this great being you call man? Look around you, fellow cells, do you see any such being? Mr. Mystic, can you show us this man?”

Is there any way the blood cells in that artery can see man? Could they imagine human activities such as writing this book or reading it? But even though each cell has a little life of its own, they all share collectively, by a thread unknown to them, in the life force of the person in whom they are joined. So it is with our individual lives in God.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from God by Pandit Usharbudh Arya, 1979, page 92.

Pandit Usharbudh Arya became Swami Veda Bharati, and the author of the book is sometimes listed as Swami Veda Bharati.

An Experiment To Try

Posted on 7 April 202510 April 2025 by Mandala

Do the following experiment for just a day or two: Use that great power that is your inherent power-the power called love. Learn to express yourself in such a way that you don’t hurt, injure, or harm others. Learn to give. Often you hurt others merely for the sake of your own selfish ego. Yoga science makes the true meaning of love clear when it describes the practice of (not harming, hurting, or injuring others). If you learn to practice ahimsa, then you are practicing love in your daily life, and the practice of love does not mean being selfish. How many times a day do you have the desire to give the wealth and bounty you have to others-even to those who are related to you? The ability to give to outsiders develops later on. Ahimsa should be practiced first with those close to you, and when you have learned to enjoy giving, a time will come when you can give without any reservation.

All the great men and women who have lived on this earth have been selfless and desireless; they lived to serve and help others. They knew that the only way to freedom is to learn to give. This is the law of life. So you should continue to do the experiment with yourself, and every time you do, you will find that you are growing and growing. Eventually your growth will lead you to a state and a height in which you are free from all desires that are selfish. The desire to help others, to serve others, to serve the nation and humanity-these are the great desires. When all your small desires are swallowed by the great desires, then your life will be like that of a saint, and you will find that you have become entirely different.

Editor’s note:

This is an extract from The Art of Joyful Living by Swami Rama, page 40.