Author: Mandala

Not Yet There, Not Yet

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I was first introduced to Swami Rama when I was on a yoga teacher training course in Nepal in 2016, with a yoga school from Rishikesh. Some of Swami Rama’s books were on the ‘recommended read’ list.

The purpose of taking the course was that practicing yoga at gyms with different teachers with varying degrees of experience, knowledge and approach wasn’t very satisfactory, and I wanted to learn it properly.  I had no concept of what the course might entail, and the science and philosophy of yoga opened an unexpected and wonderful new window for me, and I knew I wanted to continue learning.

In November that year I went to Rishikesh for the first time for a further course of teacher training and fell in love with the place.  I don’t follow any religion or political philosophy or ideology, or personalities of any colour and creed, my mind is too independently wired for that, but as I continued reading Swami Rama, it made sense to me. And apart from the fact that the writing style was eloquent, the message was clear and precise. I was convinced.

I believe I was a seeker even as a child, and in my teens, but work and life got in the way, and when I much belatedly set off on the path, I knew it won’t be quick or easy.  My many attempts at meditating failed, mainly because my over active mind that never stops throwing up obstacles, but also for lack of discipline.  I couldn’t fight my mind, so I decided to work on discipline.

Even before I decided to spend some time in Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG), Swami Rama had become a presence, and I thought there must be an ashram with his name on it, and there was, right in Rishikesh. I had never stayed at an ashram before, so I had no idea what to expect.

The gated grounds with rows of cabins (villas) surrounded by beautiful flowers of all kinds, some reminding me of my childhood, some unknown to me, was quiet and peaceful.  In the evenings the scent of sun-caressed flowers, bushes and trees, and specially an avalanche of jasmines was overwhelming. It was a heavenly atmosphere, maintained by the old Sikh gardener who was out every day with his men in the heat of the day diligently tending the gardens.

The daily programme was perfect for my purpose, getting up at 04:30 in the morning with the birds’ songs and starting a full day.   The classes were very well planned; yoga, meditation, pranayama and more, ending with the evening prayer, my absolute favourite, with the angelic voices of Geeta and others. The classes continued over the weekend, which suited me well.

I had been informed before going there that the initial stay would be for 2 weeks. But as I sat for meditation two hours a day I soon realised that it wouldn’t be enough to get me into a discipline. For a while it seemed that I won’t be able to continue my stay.  I pleaded with Swami Rama, ‘please… please, please, don’t turn me away from your door’.  He did not. And I stayed long enough to learn self-discipline.

Since my return home, I haven’t missed a single day of getting up early in the morning and sitting for meditation, no matter how I feel, and despite the fact that I’ve been busy with guests, including children. I can’t say I’m meditating, I’m not there yet, but I’m determined and I’m trying. And every time I feel a bit down-hearted, I remember Swami Rama’s smiling face and I hear his words, ‘……..some people come to me…….. practice, practice, practice’.

Transforming Thought Patterns

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The sages say that the only difference between you and them lies in the nature of your thoughts and your mind. If someone tells you that you are bad or have done something wrong you accept it, and you become bad. If you even think it, then you feel bad. You cannot forget that thought. You want to forgive yourself, but you have a habit of retaining such negative thoughts. Some people retain good and helpful thoughts, and others retain negative and passive thoughts. That is why the view of yoga is that those thoughts that are helpful should be encouraged, and those thoughts that are not helpful should not be encouraged. On the path of meditation you learn this process.

Suppose a thought comes into the mind that you should slap someone. The faculty of discrimination can tell you that it is not a good thing to do, and then the thought will diminish. An ordinary man retains the negative thought, while a sage allows it to pass away.

There is one issue that is very practical and concrete, and you should remember if you really want to practice meditation. Often a thought comes into your mind and you become absorbed by that thought because of your habits and lack of training. Then, after a few minutes or hours, you suddenly wake up; you wonder what has happened and why this thought has controlled you. You need to practice to be free from the strong grip of those thoughts that do that to you. If one thought comes and then another thought comes, and if this continues indefinitely, then what becomes of your mind?

Then your mind is a catalog of thoughts, which include desires, wishes, and wants, and you can put these into various categories, such as inclinations or sensations. You can certainly create a hell that way! Every individual makes hell for himself. You create hell wherever you go, because wherever you go, your mind goes with you. As we said earlier, the world created by you is the mind. When you use the word “mine” and emphasize your individual identity, you strengthen your sense of “I”. That is a mental habit: you strengthen that vibration by repeating and repeating “I”. But this sense of “I” is ignorance; it is what keeps you from expanding your sense of self. By taking off this shackle and barrier for yourself, you are beginning to understand your essential nature. You create this barrier of the ego out of insecurity.

But human beings have a tendency to blame others for their difficulties; first of all they blame nature, and then finally, God. They do not want to take the responsibility themselves. They do not think, “If I am ignorant, why should God be responsible for my ignorance?” Most human beings do not think that. If you are suffering, why should others be responsible for your suffering? In reality, you are the sufferer; you created suffering for yourself. When you take this sort of responsibility – the moment you understand that – you gain a new courage, and it is a courage and strength that you need.

At the lowest level of the human mind you have ignorance; then at the next stage you have control plus knowledge; and finally you have the perfection to be with the Eternal. Then that absolute Reality or eternity assigns you jobs. Do not think that you are presently assigned to a job: you are presently assigned to suffer, because you have assigned it to yourself. But at the highest level of human development, the sages see that human beings are not utilizing the eternal wisdom. They come to this plane and teach and suffer. The great people, like Christ, Krishna, Moses, and Buddha – all those people who led the masses and whom still today the masses love, respect, and follow – have come from the Source, from eternal infinity.

Editor’s note

This passage has been taken from the book Path of Fire and Light Volume2, pp 41 – 75, by Swami Rama (Rama, S., 1988. Path of Fire and Light Volume 2. Himalayan Institute Press.)

Was there a reason why Swami Rama taught us to start the relaxation from crown to toes?

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Question

I run a yoga center and 2 teachers are helping me voluntarily. They are good teachers of Hatha who are not from our tradition, and they do the relaxation exercises after the Hatha, starting relaxing from the toes going up.

During my class, being a certified Yoga Teacher I start from the forehead going down, as I have been taught.

I have asked them this morning to do it my way. But I am feeling bad. Was there a reason Swami Rama taught us to start relaxation from the crown to the toes? Please enlighten me. Aum, in service

Answers

Four have answered this question: Stephen Parker (Stoma), Swami Radha Bharati, Lalita Arya (Ammaji), and Pat Layton.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

Swami Veda addressed this question by saying that we begin from the head because we begin by relaxing from the seat of the mind.

Swami Radha Bharati

A few years ago Swami Veda gathered us together at SRSG and went over progressions of practice in meditation, shavasana, breath awareness, kundalini, and so forth. An excerpt from the shavasana portion is as follows:

2. Relaxation. Many schools start relaxation from the toes. We start from the head. We start from the mind, except in one place where Swami Rama has done from the toes and that is the Om Kriya practice.

Prasava and prati-prasava, sṛiṣṭi mārga and saṁhāra mārga and sthiti mārga; it is all connected with Śhri Vidyā and Sāṅkhya. Someday I will write, like the ‘Philosophy of Hatha Yoga, I will write when I am one hundred years old on ‘The Philosophy of Śhavāsana’. It is very detailed. All of Sāṅkhya and Śhrī Vidyā are applied in the relaxation practices.

• So relaxation can be in almost all cases from the head down but in some cases from the feet and in some rare cases from the hands. It is a different system that we do not teach. That is part of ‘sthiti nyāsa’ in Śhri Vidyā.

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

I remember SVB repeating this relaxation exercise from the head “as the seat of the mind” which (mind) has to be used to guide through the muscles, etc of the body.
The other exercises are from different practices.

Pat Layton

I was once in a class with Swami Rama who was asked why he started relaxation at the head and he said (I’m paraphrasing), first relax the brain, then the rest of the body relaxes more quickly and deeply.

Editor’s Note

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

Are the powers described it the book “Living with the Himalayan masters” still exist in the tradition?

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Question

Today I finished reading Living with the Himalayan Masters. For me, it was like reading a number of fairy tales, though I don’t deny the possibility of such “miracles” to happen.

My questions are:

  1. Do these powers still exist in your tradition? Or are they things from the past?
  2. In your tradition, are there practices that can be thaught for attaining such abilities? If yes, will I have access to this advanced science?
  3. As for the power of healing in particular, is there someone in your tradition who can heal chronic illnesses? I am asking this because I do have a chronic disease that is incurable by current medicine. Is there anyone that I can go to for healing, or any practice that I can do to heal myself?

Answers

Two have answered this question: Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral and Stephen Parker (Stoma).

Pandit Dabral

I am happy that you read Living with the Himalayan Masters written by Shri Swami Rama of the Himalayas.

Just to let you know that there more books on Swami Rama that you might be interested in reading. They are At the Feet of a Himalayan Master available at our ashram in Rishikesh [and other bookstores]. These books are based on students’ experiences with Master Shri Swami Rama.

Now in regard to your questions:

1. Your question is like asking if God still exists. The powers also known in yoga science as “Siddhis” are at the disposal of a YOGI (Who has mastered the entire yoga science).

These powers or siddhis are within all of us. “They” are powers of God Himself. Once one becomes realized (Realization of Self) then powers are experienced or siddhis are available to use.

By the way, just for information: Yogis ONLY use them to help others. So YES, ALL powers or Siddhis still exist.

2. Yes, indeed ALL the teachings are available in our tradition and they are taught to one who is willing to learn and who is ready to receive them.

It’s step-by-step training or teaching to reach a higher level. Just like a child is put into kindergarten and then gradually goes into grade 1 and then 2 and finally to university.

If you are interested in learning the teachings you are most welcome to come to our ashram in Rishikesh India or start from/in the local centre in your area. We have centers in most countries.

One can heal himself or herself as my Master used to say “Provided you let yourself be healed”.

Yes, there are lots of practices in yoga meditation for healing oneself… You will need to visit the ashram and talk to the teachers and they will guide you systematically into the path.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions, please feel free to write.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

Here is an additional perspective:

These things are only miraculous because we do not understand how they happen. Once our self-realization carries us deep enough, such miracles simply happen and one can also realize the many small miracles that we never recognized as such that have been happening all along.

1.) The abilities described in many places in the yoga tradition are described by Patanjali as “vibhuti,” natural varieties of being. In other words, these are normal human potentials in every person. The existence of these abilities to a small degree even in people who practice no yoga was demonstrated scientifically by Dr. Dean Radin in his book Supernormal: Science, Yoga and Scientific Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities. He also showed that these abilities manifest themselves to a greater degree in people who have more experience in meditation.

2.) It is not a matter of learning a certain technique. It is a matter of deepening your fundamental mindfulness and concentration to the point where these abilities occur. It is a very long-term proposition. These abilities are also not something that a yogi uses for his own purposes. They come through the yogi but they do not belong to him or her. Whenever he spoke of such occurrences, Swami Rama would say, “I do nothing; my master does everything.” And he meant it. He tells many stories of his master sending him to perform miracles he had no idea how to do in order to teach him this principle. If such a skill is yours, your ego gets attached to it and it becomes an obstacle in your progress towards liberation.

3.) Healing is a very delicate matter. It is easy to take on the suffering of others. The hard part is knowing what to do with that suffering energy when you have absorbed it. The energy has to go somewhere and if you don’t know how to handle it it will make you ill. I just talked to someone this weekend who did extensive practice of Tibetan tonglen healing meditation for several months and found himself with all kinds of physical and mental ailments. The best healing practice is to deepen your meditation practice and to follow through the emotional cleansing of the mindfield that is part of that deepening. Once you understand where in your mind your illness is coming from, you can let go of those issues and then your illness can start to heal. Again, it is a long-term proposition. Some people have a natural capacity for this healing based on their practice in past lives but, again, it is not a technique that one can simply learn without working on the depths of the mind and emotions.

Editor’s Note

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

A Song of Compassion

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At one time I was doing field work collecting Bhojpuri loka-geeta (folksongs) from five countries of Bhojpuri-speaking diaspora (Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad, Fiji, Mauritius). My collection from one of these countries (Surinam in South America) is in the archives of Leiden University in the Netherlands. The other recordings are still in my possession, looking for an archival home.

The contents of one of the songs I recorded often comes to my mind whenever I see or think of non-humans being killed. Here is a paraphrase of the song.

King’s huntsmen go out hunting in the forest.
They mercilessly shoot their arrows and kill off the leader of the herd,
a beautiful specimen of the deer kind.

They carry the corpse to the city, to the king’s palace.

The loyal loving doe follows at a distance, drawn by her helpless love.
She follows the body of her beloved spouse.

She knows how her beloved’s body will be devoured by the greedy humans.

She comes to the window of the queen’s chamber.

You are a woman — she pleads to the queen —
I, too, am a female of my kind.
You will understand my pain.

I know you will devour my beloved’s flesh
But, I plead and beg:
Let me just have his skin back
as a token of the memory of our love.
I will just hold his skin close to me and remember our days of lovingness.

No. No, Doe, you go your way.
Go back to your jungle – retorts the heartless queen.
The deerskin will be used to make a drum
that my young prince will play on
and entertain himself.

The doe hangs her head down in sorrow and departs.

Every now and then the forlorn doe
comes close to the palace walls,
stands there with her ears upturned,
listens to the sound of the drum
as though her beloved deer calling.

Dear Reader, would you still kill?
Would you still have no compassion?
Would you still eat of the corpse of someone’s beloved?

Editor’s Note

This passage has been taken from the unpublished works of Swami Veda Bharati.

Do Not Lie

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Be nice, be kind, be gentle, be loving. What is new about what you are studying, tell me? Have you read anything new anywhere? You have learned ten words for one word, is that improvement in your knowledge? Then what is that knowledge which we are trying to explore and understand today? My whole life, my mother, my father, grandfather, my teachers, everyone says, “Speak the truth,” and I do not know how to. That’s a very serious problem. I would like to speak the truth, everyone wants to speak the truth but nobody teaches you how. You see at home, children are spanked by their parents when the children lie. But after ten minutes, the child finds that Mommy is lying to Daddy, and Daddy is lying to Mommy. The child is confused, “Is it a rule for me not to lie?” So the child tells her brother, “We are not allowed to lie. They are grown up, they can lie.” We don’t find good examples in our childhood. All aspects of education are given by the institutions of the world, except one education called exemplary education, where you learn through example. We suffer on account of this lack of exemplary education.

Now, what is happening in your families? No matter how many lies you speak from morning till evening, you spank your children, saying, “Always speak the truth.” No matter how great a liar you are, you don’t want your children to lie. The father constantly lies, mother constantly lies, and child is confused. He thinks that my parents have a license to lie, but I’m just a kid, I don’t have that license. This is true. So he’s confused. How to practice truth? No mother or father ever teaches the children that. You don’t teach them how to speak the truth. This is the point because you do not know yourself. So, for ages there is this myth, “Speak the truth, speak the truth, speak the truth.” This is all nonsense, it’s a principle, it’s not practice. It happened with me. I was confused in my childhood. My Master never spanked me, but others spanked me and everybody said, “Hey, speak the truth.” I said, “Look, I am not what you think, don’t touch me.” But I was a kid. I said, “Tell me what is that truth.” Nobody ever told me that.

One day I was very upset and I told my Master, “You have ruined my life.” He looked at me and said, “I brought you up, I educated you, I gave you so much love. I don’t want to hear such a thing from you. Do you ever find me selfish?” I said, “It’s not a question of being selfish or not being selfish. My life has been ruined by you.” He said, “Why? What have I done to you?” I said, “I am still ignorant and a fool.” He said, “I tried my best to teach you, but you have not been able to learn.” I said, “What you are teaching me today, ‘Do this, do that, do this, do that,’ that’s the same thing that all mothers at home teach their children.”

I told my Master, “I know that I should speak the truth but I don’t know how to. Will you please teach me? Show me how to speak the truth.” He taught me that the simple way of speaking the truth is by not lying. If you do not lie, you are speaking the truth. But if you are trying to speak the truth and you do not know what truth is, then you are making your own truth. You say my truth is my truth and I am speaking the truth and you should listen to me. That is confusion. Do not lie. By not lying, you practice speaking the truth. Do not do what is not to be done according to your conscience. By not doing what is not to be done, you start doing what is right.

Practice is different from the principle. It’s easy to say, “Don’t do this, don’t do that.” Learn to practice. Don’t give up your practice. If you are defeated by others, it doesn’t matter; but if you are defeated by yourself, that’s a very bad thing. Then you are helpless. No one can cure you. There are diseases which cannot be cured by anyone when you become helpless. “No medicine is helping me, nothing is happening to me, I am going to die. The world is so gloomy.” When you become totally negative, you cripple your willpower. Don’t allow that to happen.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Conscious Living: A Guidebook for Spiritual Transformation by Swami Rama, Lotus Press, pages 106- 108.

Conscious Living: A Guidebook for Spiritual Transformation by Swami Rama is available as a paperback, in Kindle, or as an audio book (at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon).

How come a Swami is practicing external rituals?

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Question

How is it that a Swami is practicing external rituals?

Answer

Stephen Parker (Stoma) has answered this question.

Stephen Parker (Stoma)

A Swami is free. S/he is under no obligation either to perform or not to perform rituals. The point is whether one is attached to their action. A Swami, if a true renunciate, has surrendered all attachments into the fire of knowledge. If it serves his spiritual growth or his mission to serve others s/he may perform rituals. Śankara conducted his mother’s funeral to the horror of many other sannyasis because he had made that promise to her and he was her only son. She had also given her consent for his renunciation at the age of eight.

If one performs something by rule it is a failure of discipline. (SVB) If you can’t break a rule for a good reason and feel no guilt about having done it, then you have no discipline.

Editor’s Note

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

What is the role of the personal mantra in yoga?

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Question

What is the role that the personal mantra (the mantra that is received during initiation) in yoga?

Answers

Three have answered this question: Mrs. Lalita Arya (Ammaji), Michael Smith, and Carolyn Hume.

Mrs. Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

This is a good and normal question.

Anyway, the main function for the beginner is that the personal mantra helps the discipline of FOCUS … developing, training and maintaining focus – that is so important in the study of Y & M. When one is doing the mantra all else takes secondary importance and the mental repetition is all that matters – it also helps to remove ideas of ‘ego’ as it dwells only on sound. Once that concentration is mastered the other subtle reasons reveal themselves and there would not arise the question asked.

Michael Smith

There are Swami Veda’s three booklets:

  1. Mantra What & Why
  2. Mantra after Initiation
  3. Special Mantras

and his book Mantra and Meditation. (Sometimes Pandit Usharbudh Arya, Swami Veda’s pre-sanyas name, is the listed author of the book Mantra and Meditation.)

Also, in Pt. Dabral’s recent lecture he speaks a lot about the benefits of mantra practice . . . . You’ll be getting both the audio and the transcript of that lecture ASAP: “Deepening Your Sadhana”, in the February 2018 Ahymsin newsletter.

Personally, I like what Swami Rama said about mantra initiation: “When you receive a mantra, you’re given an angel.”

This is a personal speculation only (below):

In the Himalayan Yoga Tradition, the Diksha Mantra is the sound body of an Ideal, Archetypal, Dharmic Form.

A Mantra is the Sound-body (Ideal Form), an aspect of the Divine Essence.

A Yantra is the Light-body (geometric visual-body).

A Murti (Image) is the Material-body.

We are imperfect representations of our Archetypal Forms, so — as Swami Rama said — “When you receive a mantra, you receive an Angel.”

With Japa, our task is to super-impose an Archetypal (Angelic) Form over our mundane form – a Name (an aspect of God, a Deity, a Deva) – as a step toward the unmanifest God (Brahman), God without name and form.

A prayer in the East and the West is

“Dear Lord, make me over again according to Thy Divine Image.”
“Dear Lord, make me over again according to Thy Heavenly Form.”
“Our Father Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed by Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven . . . .”

Names, especially divine Names (Mantras) are vessels of extraordinary power.

In all religious texts, such as the Bible and the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs, again and again, homage is paid to the NAME, which is the LOGOS or the Word/Intelligence of God.

Carolyn Hume

Among other places, Swami Rama writes about mantra in the chapter “Meditation, Mind, and the Mantra” in the book Meditation and Its Practice and in the chapter *Understanding the Process of Meditation” in the book The Art of Joyful Living.

Also you may like to read the article written by Wolfgang Bischoff “Elaboration of Meditation as ‘Indwelling‘”.

Editor’s Note

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

Significance of Yajna

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Yajna, Homa or Havana or Agni-Hotra Fire Offerings Ceremonies

The first word of Rigveda is agni (Cp. ignes, igneous, ignite, ignition). It was due to the Buddhist influence that the Hindus began to sculpt images1. The Vedic religion was primarily that of worshipping divinities through the medium of fire. Very complex fire altars with geometric precision were built. What is now known as Pythagoras’ theorem is called Bodhayana’s theorem by many Hindus as it appears in Bodhayana’s text (14th century BC) on the construction of fire altars.

The Vedic worship through fire is different from the Mazdayasnian (=Zarathushtrian=Parsi) worship. In the Mazdayasnian religion the fire itself is the divine presence. In the Vedic, Agni is a divine being who not only receives offerings in his own right but more prominently is also the messenger of humans , carrier of the offerings of humans, to the devas, as well as the messenger of devas to humans.

The Vedic fire offerings remain at least half of all Hindu ritual and liturgy.

The fire altar is a pit of defined shape which is consecrated. The presence of Agni is invoked with mantras.

Samagree and ghee are burnt with mantric recitations. Samagree may differ from season to season and for different purposes that the yajamana (one for whom, by whom, or on whose behalf the service is being performed, Cp. Household that may request a special Mass to be said) may have in mind2.

Samagree is a mixture of as many as 36 (or more or less) barks, roots, leaves, herbs etc. mixed by traditional formulations and are supposed to have therapeutic and depollutant effect.

Ghee, the essence of anna (food) has many spiritual associations.

Dry samagree being burnt is very hard on the nose; ghee softens it, too.

A homa, or more commonly called yajna, may last from a few hours to many weeks.

One may choose to recite a mantra just 108 times or have it recited as many as 10 million times. The power of the intonation and the concentration of mind experienced is remarkable.

Each recitation is completed with the enunciation of the word svaha (all the way from Tibet to Japan, they pronounced the word as Soha). It is a potent word, difficult to translate, like OM. Roughly, I make this offering in truth and sincerity and surrender.

The phrase na mama or idam na mama is pronounced. Not mine. Not mine. I offer all my claims of ego as an offering of worshipful surrender. I burn all my desires and claims in the fire3.

Repeated 108 times. 125000 times. 10 million times. Each time the hand extending and pouring the fragrant offering into the fire.

This is the briefest essence of the fire ceremony.

On the last day, all remaining ghee etc. must be poured in holocaust.

Let me explain (not the Nazi brutality) the Greek holocaust. The Greeks also made ‘burnt offerings’ as did the Hebrews of the Old Testament. When an offering poured into the sacred fire was completely burnt it was understood that the gods have accepted the prayer; that was called holocaust by the Greeks. The Indian word is purna-ahuti: the offering of completeness, of perfection which is made with the mantra:

purnam adah purnam idam
purnat purnam ud-achyate
purnasya purnam adaya
purnam evava-shishyate

(The word purna means filled, fulfilled, complete, perfected, perfect as God).

That is purna; this is purna4.
purna is taken  from the purna.
Upon taking purna from the purna
what remains, too, is purna.

(The definition of infinity recited in the fire ritual – as above).

As to the pouring of ghee through long bamboo – just a convenience. When the final offering is to be poured it has to be ample – all that remains of one’s desires, actions, fruits thereof.

That much ghee makes for a very heavy blaze. To stand a little far away and still pour the ghee-offering the long bamboo is used, resting on two cross bamboo poles! Nothing mystical about it (although one can give a mystical explanation for anything!!).

Most Hindu philosophers and theologians state the concept of life as a yajna as the fundamental Hindu model.

A devout householder is supposed to perform five yajnas daily:

Brahma-yajna = daily meditation, offering into the interior fires of prana, mind and consciousness;

Deva-yajna = worship offering to the Divinities, through fire in the Vedic times, through fire and puja rituals in later Hinduism;

Pitr-yajna = offerings to ancestors, manes, and daily worshipful service to one’s living parents and elders;

Atithi-yajna = worship offering to guests (the word a-tithi means one who comes without making a date) (hospitality is not a social act but a worship)

Bali-yajna = offering to lesser beings, spreading sugar at ants’ nests, putting aside the first chapatti for the wandering cow, as well as putting aside daily, before cooking, some uncooked rice, daal, grain, flour, for giving away to the temple priest, monk, beggar (or orphanage nowadays).

Also please see Bhagavad-gita Ch.3, verses 8-17 that explain the philosophy of yajna, which essentially is: make yourself into a worshipful offering and pour yourself into the divine fire.

The fire offering you witnessed is an embodiment of all this teaching and the participants are actually very conscious of it.

1 Please abjure the missionary word ‘idols’. The Hindus commonly using it do not know how insulting it is.

2 Starting on my religious career in India, back between 1947-52 I often had the honour of serving as a chief priest because a knowledge of the Vedas is considered essential for this position. Many village council or groups would undertake a 7-day or 15-day homa for the purpose of invoking rainfall.  In my experience, the rains always came pouring on the last day.

3 Please see my summary translation of the sanyasa (the Swami’s Vows) ceremony, especially the parts in blue which relate to the concept of offering all one’s components into divine cosmic fire. [Editor’s note: A translation of the sanyasa ceremony by Swami Veda is in the booklet Yajña.]

4 “That” always refers to the transcendent and “this” to the tangible material, eminent universe including ourselves.

Editor’s Note

This is an article that was written by Swami Veda Bharati, and it has also been published as a chapter in the book Yajña,

Practice, Practice, Practice

Posted on by Mandala

The twin side of vairagya is abhyasa. Abhyasa means practice and practice means discipline and attention. The two are linked as night and day. A person cannot develop nonattachment or vairagya without abhyasa. Similarly, abhyasa without vairagya amounts ultimately to a waste of time.

These two, nonattachment and practice, are the most powerful vehicles for spiritual progress. Separately, they are like a boat with one oar. There is movement, but little progress.

In the preceding chapters the preliminaries to a spiritual life were discussed. These steps constitute the broad strokes on the canvas of your spiritual life. They are the essential background. The more refined strokes, from which the sharpened images and details come, are created by abhyasa or sadhana. Sadhana is spiritual practice, and usually refers to the specific practices of a tradition—hatha yoga, pranayama or breathing exercises, repetition of mantra, and so on. Abhyasa is a more encompassing term that includes not only practice of specific techniques, but the overall goal of life and the application of belief systems. In this book the two terms are used almost interchangeably.

To begin understanding abhyasa remember you are the citizen of two worlds—the outer world of family, community, and dharma, and the inner world you wish more fully to explore. Abhyasa begins with balancing these two worlds. Living in the external world, learning and growing, yet remaining above so the whispers from the inner world can be heard, is the sadhana of a person’s life. When a balance is achieved between the inner and outer worlds, the outer world can be used to gain access to the inner, and the inner world facilitates a richer and fuller life in the outer world.

Jesus was completely balanced. He was in the world but above it. He was both human and divine, as all human beings are. His great importance as a public spiritual figure was to show humanity that they are divine because they are human, and human because they are divine. Jesus demonstrated his divinity out of full expression of his humanity.

As the Kathopanishad suggests, humans are not so much bodies with souls as they are souls with bodies. The divine is immanent in humans and humans are inherently divine.

Living a spiritual life does not require escaping from the world. It is not useful to look at the flaws of the world and say it is ugly and sinful. Turning away from the world will not lead to spiritual happiness. Live in the world. By living fully in the world with all of its apparent imperfections one can attain spiritual perfection.

Along with the effort toward balance and non-attachment, practice selflessness. Selflessness is an art that requires much practice to perfect. Strength, non-attachment, love, and fearlessness grow from the practice of selflessness.

Make it a part of your daily life to do things for others without anyone knowing. To be selfless and attentive toward others is not so much an effort as it is a very natural way of being. At the same time, do not forget yourself. In the observances of yoga the first principle is ahimsa, non-harming. This principle is not meant to be applied only to others. Ahimsa should first be applied toward yourself. You should not harm yourself or allow yourself to be harmed by others. Be sensible in your non-attachment and love. While it is not helpful to be ego- or me-centered, it is also not beneficial to be exclusively you-centered. The Upanishads teach that all is One.

Approach your life wholeheartedly. Whatever you do, do with your whole heart and fullest attention. When you are with your children, be with your children, not your work. When you are at work, be with your work, not your children. Be in the moment at hand, not in the moment or day that has passed, or in the moment or day yet to come.

Be decisive. Exercise your buddhi, that aspect of your mind that chooses, makes judgments, and decides. It is a very powerful part of mind. Make the best decision you can, and take action accordingly, leaving the outcome up to the divine force. Choose your friends, activities, and livelihood wisely. All of them should be compatible with your higher goals.

Be gentle with yourself. This is a long and difficult journey. Your goals should be reasonable so as not to create frustration and disappointments. Be willing to crawl before you walk. Perfect each skill as you move along on the journey, and forgive yourself when you stumble, or even slide backward. Setbacks are temporary and meant to be instructive. Let yourself slide backward, observe what has occurred, get back on your feet, and move forward.

Editor’s Note

Reprinted from Sacred Journey, an HIHT publication.