Author: Mandala

One of my University professors used a lot of words I didn’t understand in his lectures, and I constantly had to look them up. I imagined he used those words to show off, and I didn’t like having to go to the dictionary so much. Because of this, I thought he was a bad teacher.

But, looking back, I believe I was mistaken in my assessment of him. His job as a professor was to get me to learn, and he did. I learned a lot of words I didn’t previously know; words I still know and use. And he motivated me to use the dictionary.

At that time I didn’t have a clear idea of what makes a good teacher. Since then I’ve had a many experiences with teachers, especially spiritual teachers, and I hope that I know a little more now. This article is to share some of what I’ve learned with the hope that others, who are looking for a true spiritual teacher, will benefit.

Many people, I believe, are unsure of how to find a great spiritual teacher. Just to be clear, I’m not talking about the teachers in yoga studios who teach the basics, such as postures and breathing practices. Rather, I’m talking about great teachers; teacher who can lead their students to transform their personalities and reach the highest goals of yoga.

Actually, finding spiritual teachers isn’t a problem. As my University professor would have said, there are a “plethora” (a large or excessive amount, an overabundance) of them. The difficulty is not in finding a spiritual teacher, but rather finding a true teacher. You’ve probably heard stories of teachers who make off with their students’ money, or lead their students astray. Far more common are teachers whose knowledge is limited or questionable. So out of this volume of apparent teachers, how does one find a true spiritual teacher who can lead a person out of his own maze and onto a path that enables him to truly grow?

A common way many people learn about teachers these days is through advertisements. Although advertisements might be helpful for finding products to buy, they are not the best way to find a spiritual guide. This is because anyone can make any claims they want in advertisements. My meditation preceptor, Swami Veda Bharati, once gave a lecture on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, and, in an aside, he asked those gathered before him what it takes to be a yoga Master. Then, answering his own question, he quipped, “a good marketing advisor.” He went on to say that there are so many “masters” these days but that most of them are masters of marketing rather than masters of themselves. True masters of yoga, he said, are extremely rare.

There are many teachers, made out to be masters by their advertising, who appear great. Often they are called master-this, or yogiraj-that. Some of these people may be true teachers. Others may be charlatans. A person newly on a spiritual path often does not have the ability to be able to distinguish between the two.

So, then how does one find a qualified teacher?

Traditionally, aspirants would seek a teacher who was part of a teaching lineage, where the teacher studied with, and has been authorized to teach by, a master. In such situations, at least we know that the teacher has some qualifications.

These days, however, many teachers are not part of a lineage, but are self-proclaimed. Some of these teachers may have much to offer. But, one must be circumspect in selecting self-proclaimed teachers. I still remember Swami Veda Bharati saying “if someone claims to be enlightened, they are either egotistical or lying.” To this day, although he inspires and guides hundreds, perhaps thousands of students around the world, Swami Veda Bharati doesn’t call himself a master and won’t allow his students to do so either.

Great teachers don’t advertise and they don’t extol their own powers or virtues.  Rather, people are drawn to them, like iron is drawn to a magnet, due to their immense love, selflessness, and wisdom.

Many years ago, when I was looking for a spiritual guide, someone suggested seeing Swami Veda Bharati (who, before he became a monk, was known as Dr. Usharbudh Arya). My friend told me that Dr. Arya was a great teacher, and I went to a talk he was giving. Once I met him, I felt immensely drawn to him.

But just being drawn to a teacher is not enough. The next step is to spend time with the teacher.

We do this to learn from the teacher. A true teacher has something to give; something that, if we practice it, will be life changing. Certainly that has been the case for me with Dr. Arya. My personality is very different now, in many positive ways, due to his influence. And, he used all sorts of tricks and means to get me to grow.

One time, I took him to visit a great woman saint, Shree Maa, who was then living and doing spiritual practice in what used to be a little warehouse that she called Devi Mandir—Temple of the Divine Mother—across the street from an oil refinery in Martinez, California. Swami Satyananda, who was always at Shree Maa’s side, liked to say that “On one side of the road oil was being refined, and on other other side, in the Devi Mandir, souls are refined.” When Dr. Arya and I entered the warehouse and Shree Maa greeted him, Dr. Arya fell on the ground in a pranaam at her feet and prayed to her for my growth. Sometimes he used tough love to teach me a lesson, and other times he drew me in with sweetness. A teacher’s sole aim is for his students to grow, and he’ll go to great lengths to make this happen.

As we learn from the teacher, we get to observe the teacher close up. Has he calmed his own emotions? Does he walk his talk? Is he a selfless servant or a selfish egotist? Does he teach from his own experience, or from a book? And, very importantly, am I able to learn from this teacher?

A true teacher treats her students with pure love. Now, and very importantly, this doesn’t mean she’s always nice. A teacher’s love can be very tough if that is what the student needs for his growth. At the same time, just because a teacher is tough doesn’t mean she is a true teacher. We must always exercise our discrimination to know whether the teacher is acting from love or ego.

One time, Swami Veda Bharati invited me to accompany him to the Indian city of Ujjain for the Kumbha Mela. But, I got fearful and asked him whether “there is malaria there?” A few minutes later, when I was standing in the courtyard outside his cottage, he came out of his door like a bull in rodeo, and marched right up to me. In front of all the people gathered around, in a loud harsh voice, he said to me, “You must get over your fear! It is harming your life!”

I was so embarrassed. After returning to my cottage to hide out, I got very angry at him, thinking how he spoke to me in public. But, as I sat in my cottage feeling my emotions, it became clear to me that what Swami Veda had done came from love. Fear was deeply rooted in my personality and it would take something very strong to get me to acknowledge the problem and to begin to take steps to correct it. At that moment, Swami Veda was like a surgeon, hurting me to save me from a disease. Many years later, I still have some fear, but I’m far more aware of it and able to deal with it than back then.

If we spend enough time with our teacher, in close enough quarters, we’ll come to know him or her very well, and then we’ll have a basis to decide whether to stick with the teacher for the long run.

Now, in assessing the teacher, we should not expect him to be flawless. Sometimes, what looks like a flaw to us may not be so in reality. Second, even great teachers are human and have their quirks. Yet, in general, true teachers stand above the level of the common person, with greater patience, less selfishness, and greater wisdom and love.

Also, with the passage quite a few years, we can apply the age-old test set forth in in bible, in Matthew 7:16, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.”

In the case of a teacher, the fruit we’re looking for is whether our association with this teacher is producing sweet or bitter changes in us. Are we becoming more stable emotionally? Are we kinder, gentler, and do we act with greater wisdom? Or, is the opposite true? If sweet fruits have not appeared, before deciding that it’s the teacher’s fault, we need to honestly assess whether our lack of progress is due to some failing on our part.  Have we sincerely and consistently practiced the teachings imparted by the teacher or not? The teacher can’t force us to grow. We have to do that.

We all want a great teacher, and despite our best efforts, we might not have found one. In this situation, it’s important to remember the wise saying that “when the student is ready, the master appears.”  Until that Master appears, the teacher right in front of us may be just what we need, so long as that teacher is helping us grow. Even with a flawed teacher, we can make progress. One time I read a line that a great yoga teacher, Baba Hari Dass, wrote on this subject. It went something like this: “Even if you have true faith on a trashcan as your teacher, you’ll grow.” The teacher is less important than your own devotion and willingness to learn. At the same time, I believe that a master is essential for transformative growth.

As we learn and grow from the teacher we’re with, we are preparing ourselves for the eventual coming of the Master.

Every one’s life is extra-ordinary and unique for what we cross as experiences reveal themselves after only some introspection and understanding of the meaning of life itself. It takes time, sometimes a lifespan, to accept what had brought us into such a life so rough, so difficult, so heavy and unable to comprehend why this had happened to us, till the day when suddenly, all becomes clear, logical, rich and we become able to laugh at ourselves about the Divine plan and His project about our growing up.

Whatever struggle is a necessity, whatever pain is our release towards liberation. Usually, one experience after another one brings some clarity.

For my concern, it seems that I had taken my life upside down. The sorrows and sufferings had built up the first two thirds of it. But there was something always, deep within, letting me know that life had another meaning. Fortunately I was born optimistic and never lost hope! Oh, I have also to add that I was born from an atheist family, brought up this way, but the adult has always considered me as a “mystic atheist”!
It is difficult to make a short cut or short story upon one’s life as the details seems to be more important than the story itself. Then, let me be as short as possible!

On April 25, 2015, Swamiji wrote me: “I have found quite often that periods of illness are opportunities for receiving inspiration and insight. Please start writing a journal in which you enter these inspirations.”

My first reaction was that, far away from being a model, and so many testimonies already in this favor, I had nothing new to unfold to help some others. But slowly his words were working on me. As I was translating in French The Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation, and being at the explanation of purash-charana, his words came back to me. Having been initiated a month ago, it took another meaning.

The Himalayan Tradition is that as everyone should pass some teachings, there is no need to wait to become a model first, before passing these little teachings we already picked up. We must pass our knowledge insofar we are able to do so. As I am living in my own created “monastery” (with only one other person!) I had no possibility to undertake this duty. And worst, as you can read in the June 2015 newsletter, The Pilgrimages (Françoise Paradot), for which I no need to write once more, this life span’s bonus had to be repaid by service to the others.

Then I am in debt! And all of these thoughts, (initiation, life span bonus, service, purash-charana etc…) brought me to the decision that I should do what Swamiji had suggested to me.

Now, let’s go back to the story, after these clarifications which I hope didn’t bring the opposite into your mind! And I’ll try to go to the essential for it should be short, not boring and helpful!

I am 67 years old now, a lady from France living in Delhi, and in India for more than 11 years. Let me just tell you how India came to me. On 1999, I was proposed for a “humanitarian mission” in Mali (Africa). As I rent my house for six months, I was expecting to fly soon there with my family. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the mission was postponed and we had to live in a camper during the full six months of winter in France. This was not to be “my “wish”, and some friends proposed us to go to India for another mission.

At once, I said:” India, NEVER!” Contrary to my generation, I had never wished to come to India. But I accepted due to some meeting with very great people. So during the first weeks of our arriving, I really wondered about what I was doing in such a country!

Nevertheless I succumbed to the country’s charm until, after a few years, I decided to settle there! Meanwhile, I was diagnosed with a breast cancer, making me realize in the second, that I was not leading the life I wanted to. It had been such a powerful discovery and a new birth. Every day I was like climbing on a ladder despite the treatment. And, of course, as I knew pretty well that it had happened not to put my life in danger but to change my lifestyle, at the end of the year, I celebrated my recovery. But more than this, it was time to decide what I wanted to do with my life!

Being unable to attend one’s daily work and duty when we are bedridden, due to accident or illness, I understood quite quickly that the meaning for such a stop in our life is not to suffer or to blame life for what is happening. My certitude developed another concept: why do we have to make this forceful stop? What might be its benefice? Why do we have nothing else to do but just think about our life? What might be the meaning of it? What is beyond the sufferings? What life is trying to teach us?

And at this point started a life’s retrospection. And its many a questions. But one only could lead me toward my relief: Was I living the life I wanted to? Did I fulfill it? And of course, each and every answer was: No!

There I was, under chemotherapy, not blaming any fate but myself alone. Why was I living a life I didn’t like? What was in it that I didn’t’ like? What could I do to find a cure? The chemical process was on to cure my body, and the spiritual one was on its way. Then, I found some responses to any of my questions. Day after day, I was climbing the Jacob’s ladder and, despite my body sufferings, it was wonderful.  The doctors didn’t understand why I was feeling so happy, of course. And even, the one surgeon who had a reputation of being so distant, used to come in my room at the hospital, before going back home, just to recharge his own battery! As I had brought some music, mantras and different things in my hospital’s room when I had surgery (except for the incense sticks due to the fume’s detector!) he used to choose some CDs to make copies and then bring them back the day after. Before going to the operating theatre, I asked the anesthetist to give me a few minutes to have a short meditation, thought I was a real novice, my faith was huge. And I woke up like a fresh flower and was able to leave the hospital very shortly. And still, every day, some meanings about life were revealed to me and I did accept everything with great joy and relief. My spiritual healing was on its way, I was starting with a life anew. I was getting ready. And I understood that this time being a forceful rest, was nothing but a time to readjust our life when we are too far away from the real life, the life we should understand, the life for which we had this rebirth, the life for which we should give back our soul in a better understanding than when we received it. One can choose to be a victim and nothing will get clarified during one’s life span. Or one can choose to be an insider and every possible is at hand. I had chosen the second option. Why should I stay a victim of a life I didn’t enjoy as I wanted to?

I am not a learned one, and I had no books at hand. All my understandings came from within, as if each and every cell of my body had already the answers. It was an intuitive knowledge and I had no one to help me to find out the answers. What I didn’t know at this point, is that, for sure, I had some invisible help, but my ego took a long time to accept it.

So I had recovered from the body illness and I had taken the decision to change my way of life, for my new understandings and also as I knew that the cancer could come back if I didn’t make a change.  It had taken a few months to analyze the pros and cons of any decision. I still had a 14 years old son to take care of and he had hated his previous travel to India. But I was strong enough to let my intuition guide me. I will have to go settle in India as I felt this wonderful country had something to teach me! And both of us left and settled there. Not to mention that I got separated from my husband, due to his terrible and unjustified reactions while I was in basic need due to my illness.

And a new life started here, but the spirit of India didn’t unveil at once. A few months later, I slipped on little water in my house and got a skull fracture, which left me with terrible giddiness for a decade. I do remember, when I felt all the way down on the floor, and when the crack of my skull made such a heavy sound, my first words, when I was lying down were: “I had made a puja with my head!” For, maybe the first illness was not enough to break down my resistance, I had, once more, to be bedridden and, once more, had time to realize what I was living for! Though, I never forgot my previous extraordinary experience, life slowly had brought me back into its daily burdens.

And it was true, new opening, new consciousness. Again I felt that such disease or accident is nothing but bringing time to readapt our life, to have time to think about and to make up decisions. Another chance.
At this time, not suffering but being very handicapped, I had once more the opportunity to realize about my life. Settling in such a new country I had lost a little myself in the understanding of traditions, way of life of India. It was time to rectify. Then, incidentally, I met my first master. And once more I started to climb the ladder and not to ever forget about the meaning of life.

And from that moment, I ever cease to learn, analyze, correct. First thing India taught me was patience, then came acceptation, then sacrifice. I crossed each and every boundary with joy and suffering, till the moment I had to shift to Delhi and realized how much my health was deteriorating. It was around November 2014 when I had suddenly a terrible pain in my head. Just a few seconds, but enough to understand that something was wrong. After some medical tests, everything became clear, one artery in the brain was almost blocked and there was nothing to be done in this area.

There comes the moment when one realizes that life can be shortened! But more than this, the question arising for me at this point was: “Will I be enlightened before my last breath? What should I do now to fulfill the meaning of this life?”

And it was a tough time, not that I was frightened by death, but by the work I still had to accomplish and for how long I will have time to go on? And it was a fantastic program. From one day to another, all my goals changed. But there was a big problem. I had no energy at all; I was not even able to cook or to do my homework.

When, one day, as I was talking over the phone to my son in France, and telling him that I was reading once more the inspiring book of Swami Rama Living with the Himalayan Masters, I was at the same moment trying to search for its translation in French on internet, to be able to send him. There was nothing. I couldn’t find any French translation! Why did I tell him that I will translate the book, not even knowing if I had the capacity to do so?

The next morning, as I was still so feeble, I started the translation. As if there was emergency, as if something was pushing me. This is how I started to spend more than twelve hours a day, baring in the first few days such a pain in my back and shoulders. But I had to go on. Finally, one week later, the pain had vanished and amazingly I found my energy back. I did realize then, that I was not translating: I was pushed to do it. And I realized also that I had been given a bonus, some more time to live to accomplish this work.

The happiness, the lightness I felt were so great, and it was such a pleasure to wake up in the morning to continue my duty, till it was time to go to bed, happy to have fulfilled my day. And it went on and on, day after day, the lightness, the happiness and the feeling of being helpful. After one month, the work was over, and at once, I continued with another book with still the feeling of this bonus.

Then, another thought came to me: “Is not it a little restrictive to translate for my kids only? Should I not propose the translation to the ashram?” Meanwhile, I think I had already translated three books. Then I sent a letter to Swami Veda, explaining why I was translating and asking if it will be of any help for the ashram to have these translations.

A few days later, I received a phone call from Caroline, who was visiting the ashram. She told me that she had opened a center for the teaching of the Tradition in France, and that she would be happy to read the translations.

By the way, my health was better, but some more problems came, due to the same issue and sometimes I had not that much energy. But the happy and lightness never left me. As I am still continuing some more translations, the life force is always meeting me when needed. And If I feel totally exhausted, I know the way to get some energy.

The Gurus are sitting next to me, near my table, and unless I am not giving up, I find their lovely care showering me. But as I said previously, and out of the last translations, when I read and come to know about purash-charana, I know that this time bonus was linked with service. I forgot to tell you that I had an intuition when 2013 was ending, that 2014 was my last year, though I didn’t know how much affected was my health at this time. Kind of intuition?

Why and how this need for translation did come to me? I never had this idea before. My link with the Himalayan Tradition was very lean, and I had visited the ashram in Rishikesh only once, where I met Swami Veda, but whom I didn’t really know about. I can only say that from the moment I settled in Delhi, I bought many books about Himalayan Masters and they inspired me very much. Then how did this link came through me? But for sure, just after Swami Veda had left for a better sky (actually the night he left his body) I felt a strong desire to go and visit him. Even if he was not anymore in the body we knew, I felt his presence and humor, especially during my first initiation.

This was another urge, another emergency: to be linked with the Himalayan Tradition. And for two reasons. The first one is to be sure to safely reach the other shore when my last breathing. The second one, to be reborn into the Tradition.

The love, care, and patience of our Gurus are without limit. For sure, I had lived with the strong desire of realization but even when I was stumbling again on some stone I didn’t see, they had always been next to me, unfolding my path the way it had to be. Nowadays, I am “working” on the ninth translation, things seem to open for the teachings to be spread on French territories. I am the instrument through which this work is being done. And I love it. I can’t spend one day without opening one book, for my teaching as well as for the teaching it will be for the others. And still, when my health is flickering, I know that if I want to feel better, I just have to sit next to my table and continue my duty. And I forget everything that is bothering me. I feel the strong presence and love of the masters, pushing me to continue, their strength accompanying me.

And so, as I was telling you at the beginning, I feel that I had never really searched anything but that they came to me as intuition, manifestation, adjustments. Fortunately, I had always been grateful and hopeful about my life, thought it was not always easy. But I never lost hope about it; I always felt something different and some different motivation. I had not identified with worldliness, nor did I feel I should identify with the way people were running after materialism. I had never missed the essentials and I never had too much. Maybe my faith had helped me with the support of such great sages. In my youth I used to identify myself as a mystic atheist. For sure I was a mystic in search of the Reality. As my life unfolded, the experiences taught me to be always confident.

So now, my next question arousing is:” Am I doing enough for my service?” Being alone for the most part of my last ten years, (my “monastery” but this is another story about my life!) how could I reach people to pass on the teachings? I never thought that these translations will come up to me as a lovely gift from the masters but, maybe this is my way of reaching people. Maybe the silence has to surround me for my better understanding and growing up. Nothing happen by coincidence!

So my life is extra-ordinary as is yours. Never lose hope and remember that no one knows when the last breath will be coming up. We need always to be prepared for the understanding of death is the understanding of life. I wish you many extraordinary moments. Life is a play, play it well.

All my love and May your life be as rich and extra-ordinary. May the Gurus manifest themselves into your life. May we be always grateful for their love, care and never failing patience.

Often I have asked myself if I have been guided through my life. Many people have said that we all are. According to their particular religious and cultural background and, most generally, according to their own views, different people believe themselves to be guided in various different ways. Some—directly by God; some— by their ancestors or by a guardian angel; and others think that they can channel the answers to their problems or meditate on their dilemmas. No one can be sure about the way another person is guided. Sometimes, we might even imagine that we have been given answers to our questions by a higher power, while in reality we have created those answers in our own desperate minds. And yet, it is undeniable that sometimes we are guided. I myself have felt this way, on and off, throughout my entire life.

Recently, I started thinking more carefully about the question how I have been guided. I was prompted to ask myself this question because I was in panic. My spiritual teacher, Swami Veda, had left his physical body.  I had been able to ask him for guidance, and I had been blessed to receive it only for a short time – a few years. But now I could no longer ask anyone to advise me, to help me, to teach me. “Was that really true,” I asked myself. I played back the instances in my life when I was desperate or even in danger. How did I deal with things? When I was young I believed that I was guided by the teachings of a great Master, Beinsa Douno, who had left our world a few years before I was born. Later, after my father passed away, I thought that he kept watching over me. Often, I have simply prayed, and I was sure that my prayers were answered. But now, at this point of my life, after I had finally found the one living person who could answer my questions definitively, with the authority of wisdom itself, I had lost him. Or have I?

Being sad and missing my teacher made me practice meditation in an even more disciplined way. It was the only thing that could bring me back into the world he gave me. Then I noticed that I was getting advice, answers, suggestions, or comfort in various other ways too. I would get an e-mail and it would contain a very precise answer to a certain question I had been struggling with; I would receive a message from another follower of my teacher and her message would get into a dialogue with my thoughts about something that was making my brain and my stomach burn. Sometimes, I would read a portion of some text—in a book or a newspaper— and that text would call my attention to an alternative solution to a problem I had, and so on. I felt as if the whole world was in a dialogue with me and this was making me stronger and more confident.

The simplistic interpretation of all that might have been a conclusion that my teacher was helping me in my earthly life. In fact, I am absolutely certain that he is helping me. However, I believe that there is a lot more to it. Sitting in meditation and practicing a one-pointed mind more frequently makes us more focused and more perceptive in general. Our capacity to observe, to analyze, and to draw conclusions, increases. In other words, we become more alert. The awareness we practice when meditating becomes partly our state of mind outside the time of meditation too. We become more sensitive to everything, including to the voices of wisdom coming to us from all around. In the calm of a meditative state, in which we try to eliminate the random noises of our daily lives, we train our mind to attune to a more universal awareness, applicable on every possible mental level. Thus, we begin to see wisdom in daily life itself, or… we see guidance.

That is not to say that our guidance comes from our own minds alone. Nor does it come from a guardian angel or an ancestor, or from a spiritual teacher alone. Guidance seems to come to us from everywhere, in many different ways, and it is mediated through different means. Apparently it is the way the universe operates. There is guidance in every single vibration. But it is only the well trained, focused, one pointed mind that can be aware of the guidance we receive in life—not sporadically, not by chance, but most of the time. If we have a question or a problem and we sit to meditate on it, there is a high risk our own mind might produce an illusory answer, something like the kind of a dream that Freud called “a fulfillment of a wish.” If, however, we shut down the loudspeakers of the incoming noise—our thoughts, wishes, memories, feelings, desires, etc.—then, through our meditation practice, we can become aware of the wisdom of the universe which might speak to us through a teacher or another beloved person from beyond, through a higher being, or through a headline in a cheap tabloid; then we could be more certain that we have awareness of reality and we will not have to rely on the figments of our wishful thinking.

Early Morning Complaint Interrupted

I awoke early feeling a rough edge with someone, an old friend, and someone also loved by my teacher and master. Then somehow I stumbled onto this online, that, today, September 17, 2015, was the Jaina Day of Forgiveness. I reflected how important forgiveness was to Swami Veda, not just during this one period of time, but always.

Then I learned that according to other sources, Kshamavani, the Jaina Day of Forgiveness, falls on September 27, 2015.  Some even say that it is on September 28th. To many Jainas today is the day.

A Confession to 2 Friends

Atithi is a Sanskrit word for guest. I remember how Dr. Arya opened one more entryway into another world when he said that in India, guests are revered, that the literal meaning of the Sanskrit word for guest is he who comes without notice.

Thus it was that the warm smiles of two wonderful friends appeared at my door this afternoon. I was telling them about how my early morning grumbling session opened up into the Day of Forgiveness when one of them said “Yes, it is the Jaina Day of Forgiveness. I just received a message from a Jaina friend, who asked my forgiveness for ever hurting me with thoughts, words or deeds.”

Choosing the High Road

Swami Veda had more than once spoken about Kshamavani, the Jaina Day of Forgiveness. A few years ago I took his words to heart and, almost miraculously, was able to make a silent resolve of unconditional forgiveness here, now and forever toward two particular individuals. It was long overdue. To my pleasant surprise, this lifted a huge weight off my shoulders, gave me a modicum of confidence and peace. I admit that there have been slips on my part regarding one of these people but I go back to the resolve again and again.

A Request and a Confession

If you who are reading this have ever in any way, direct or indirect, been hurt by me, please forgive me. If ever in small mindedness I have been hurt by you, I endeavor to forgive you. It is not my mere wish. It is the wishes of the entire Lineage and beyond. There is a line in a song from my youth which says it all.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me….

May it be so.
With the blessings and grace of our own selves, of the Guru of all great traditions and of God, may we embrace and forgive one another and all those whom we may have hurt or been hurt by.

If you are so moved, please do the same with others. I think somewhere Swami Veda called the universe the Uni-Verse—as in one poem–the One we all are.

I wrote asking forgiveness and granting unconditional forgiveness to the person I had been grousing about. It was within the period of time called Brahma-muhurta, literally “Hour of God,” in the very early morning long before dawn, a time considered ripe for prayer and meditation– not for complaining. This is my confession.

I am sharing it with you:

Dear (I would prefer to not name the person),

I just saw that today is the 9th day of Paryusan—Kshamaapana or Kshamaavani . The Jaina Day of Forgiveness.

With all my paltry heart, I beg that in trust you can forgive me.

and now….
I forgive you unconditionally with all my heart in all my capacity and in the infinite loving heart of the guru I do beg your forgiveness for all the times I have in thought, word or deed, been ungenerous with you or hurt you or distrusted you, my own guru’s own child.

Past present and future.
Though in the mind of God and Guru it is all happening all at once. There is no time in the truth of that One Mind. I do not perceive it as such but I believe it.

Besides, how could I ever aspire to less than love, even for a moment, one who has looked at the eyes of the loving teacher we have loved for so many lifetimes.

Aspiring, arising, ascending in the Guru’s own efforts for us all….

With love,
Joanne

September 17, 2015

A Little Road that Takes Me Home

When I write I often get into trouble going off on tangents that take the rider (reader) to a different destination. This is one such tangent that becomes a main thoroughfare.

I wanted to tell you about “Atithi: guest” in a different context. Indulge me.

Dr. Arya, later Swami Veda, engaged deeply with language, and sometimes in the middle of a lecture a word itself would feel like the chief guest and there it was hovering and quivering like a breathing being. He would often tell us a word’s origins and its cognates, connecting not just words and languages but whole histories of disparate peoples and distant times with the present.

Atithi is a Sanskrit word for guest.  I remember when he said that a guest is one who comes without notice, that this was the literal meaning of atithi. With one such stroke, he opened an entryway into another world.

This was just one way that he opened worlds for us. The room where we sat with him became an accordion and we were the notes. One moment the cosmos was where we were. The next, you were alone with him in a deeply intimate space, almost like an infant folded into a mother’s lap, as the rest of the room, the rest of the world fell away. I am sure many of us felt this even in a crowded lecture hall. He once told us that when his master looked at a student he was capable of seeing only that student and nothing else. Many of us had experienced this with him ourselves.

We were each one of us alone with him in the vastness and alone with him in a rocking chair, safe and loved, and, often, everything that had made no sense now made complete sense. He was a living treasure. One minute there was pindrop silence and the next the room roared with laughter. He was a delight. This brilliant, private man would let you in. He seemed to do this with abandon.

But no, he was a master architect. Once, before a lecture series I had coordinated for him, someone came up to me with a letter for Dr. Arya. I gave it to him and after he left, that person came to me to thank me for bringing Dr. Arya to our little town. The man said that he had asked the same burning question to many people and that this was the first time he felt that it was finally resolved. He explained that he did not realize that Dr. Arya was, step by step, building an answer to his question until the last lecture when he saw the total picture. On day one it was as if Dr. Arya had laid the foundation to a house. On day two, the walls and beams went up. And on day 3, this edifice of an answer was as complete as a house you could live in. (not his exact words but his meaning)

Sometimes I had the distinct feeling that Swami Veda was the ultimate chess master, peering out into your possibilities many lifetimes hence. Of course, I am not privy to his innermost thoughts. But sometimes it did feel like he was very patiently guiding a person with a view to lifetimes hence. Maybe he already knew who that person would become. Maybe he was a part of that world bubbling into existence, the bubbling evolution of one of his thousands of spiritual progeny many, many years into the future. It was as if he was dotting the dots between constellations in the sky, calling stars into existence to complete a larger picture. And no, I am not imagining things. I always say that though, even when I am asleep in a deep dream.

 

The venerable Lama Doboom Tulku, Founder and Managing Trustee of the World Buddhist Culture Trust, on September 4th, presented Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) with a bhandara, a special feast, and a concert “in cherished gratitude for the communion with the beloved Swami Veda Bharati.”

The Rinpoche is very interested in music and its profound spiritual effects. He believes that there is something in music that transcends and unites. The sign posting the event said “chanting of mantras and verses is important in many spiritual traditions. They are believed to have a special power on people in relieving anxiety, tension, depression and diseases. And when chanted en masse it is thought that the power multiplies….and has a soothing effect on people and helps in generating compassion and wisdom. Faith plays an important part in achieving benefits from mantra chanting.”

Lama Doboom Tulku said that, back in 2014, he had selected a few Buddhist mantras with the guidance of Swami Veda Bharati in pronouncing the Sanskrit words correctly. It was after an evening meditation together with Swami Veda and the Rinpoche in the Meditation Hall that we all stayed back while some SRSG residents chanted these together with Ashish Kukreti and Shivananda, both of Rishikesh, who arranged the chanting in the Indian musical style.

Friday’s concert began with a few words from the Rinpoche. He said:

This evening I invoke the blessings of the Buddha and all enlightened beings, particularly of my very close kalyana mitra, close spiritual friend, Swami Veda Bharati. Swami Veda is my closest kalyana mitra because we share the intention not to follow a narrow path. [It is] a path that leads us to full enlightenment and there can be many levels of enlightenment.

I feel even more satisfied to see the blessings of Swami Veda Bharati in the presence of Swami Ritavan Bharati. We are all together, staying together following the path together. I see Swami Veda’s quality in you, Swami Ritavan, which is a rare quality, of a compassionate attitude and humility.

Then a slideshow followed of photos of the 2007 sangha event at SRSG when Lama Doboom Tulku came here with many Buddhist monks to give prana pratishta (to bring alive with mantras) to the large white Buddha in the foyer of the main building. Lama Doboom Tulku stood at Swami Veda’s side at that auspicious 2007 event.

Following the slideshow, we chanted along with the DVD with the help of the English transliteration of the mantras projected onto a big screen.

An Interview with Lama Doboom Tulku Rinpoche

Afterwards. Chungkey, Rinpoche’s assistant, distributed free DVDs with the visuals and audio of the Sanskrit words we chanted so that we could easily chant these mantras later with friends. The next day the venerable Rinpoche kindly granted me an interview to clarify a few things.

Q: Can you tell us a little about these mantras?

A: The contents of this DVD are Buddhist verses and mantras containing two verses from Bodhicaryāvatāra,  a text written by India’s Acharya Shantideva  of the 8th Century  and two sets of four Buddhist mantras.

Q: Why are those particular mantras significant?

A: The first set of four Buddhist mantras consists of name-mantras of Avalokiteshvara, Manjughosha, Vajrapani and Aryatara. They are the sacred beings who represent enlightened qualities like compassion, wisdom, energy and action respectively. The second set of four Buddhist mantras is the mantra of Prajñāpāramitā, mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni, mantra of Uṣhṇiṣhavimala and mantra of Pratitasamudpada. They represent universal truth.

Q: In what way is a sacred word or a mantra a form of communication and communion?

Are they a language beyond language and a part of the continuum of natural language?

A: Mantras bring energy waves which affect oneself, others and the environment. They become more effective if they are done with sincere motivation, with the intension of benefiting others and with the idea of the ultimate nature. When they are repeated mentally or verbally they become even more effective with more repetitions. For example some people may do a mantra a million times and they become even more effective.

Rinpoche also said that chanting them with others also increases their effects. He went on to say:

It is known now through some scientific analysis that if you say certain words repeatedly it brings a certain effect on an object. [as shown in a study where the subjects spoke kindly or unkindly to plants ]

He spoke of studies done with flowers. Scientists experimented on two flowering plants, repeatedly telling the first one, words like “you are beautiful” and to the other plant words like “you are ugly”.  Both the plants were given equal care and nourishment. However, the first plant remained fresh while the second slowly shriveled up.

Q:  Could you say something more about the Maitreya Prayer and the Maitreya Festival?

A: Maitreya is regarded as the future Buddha. The real meaning of this concept of future Buddha, in my opinion, it means that the Maitreya is loving kindness. Only by such love, compassion and tolerance can humanity be saved from the ultimate disaster. Hence, Maitreya is the savior of human kind. The Maitreya prayer is one among many texts in the Buddhist canonical scriptures. It is very popular amongst Buddhists, particularly in the Tibetan Style of Buddhism. Maitreya Festival is observed in Tibet and also in Mongolia. This festival is to make connection with the Maitreya who is eventually to come down to earth to save the humanity.

The first Tibetan Buddhist center in America, the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center  in New Jersey, founded in 1958 by a Mongolian [Geshe Wangyal, trained in Tibet and Kalmykia  who once spoke at a Himalayan Congress hosted by H.H. Swami Rama in Chicago in the 1970’s], now managed by Joshua and Diana Cutler, celebrates this festival every year.  I was invited this past summer to the centre to give an oral commentary on Maitreya Prayer.

Then, after this I went to San Francisco where my Chinese friend, Terese Tse Bartholomew, who is a scholar of Buddhist iconography, now retired from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco [which was initially part of the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and has now relocated to a larger venue in the city of San Francisco] presented me with a statue of Maitreya Buddha of about 6 inches and it is in the Tibetan style. It is twisted and bent from the waist towards the left. Normally the Tibetan Maitreya is sitting straight but this one is twisted. It is clear that the statue had been put to destruction during the Cultural Revolution [as with other Tibetan sacred images that were banned]. I then remembered the statue I saw of the Chinese style of Maitreya at SRSG which is twisted. My friend said that this [statue] is at least 15 centuries old and if I liked I could go to a goldsmith and have it straightened to its original form.

I prefer not to do this because first, it shows the history of the object and, not only that, it also represents the particular form of Maitreya that is in the Chinese style.

We have learned so much from Lama Doboom Tulku. We have been blessed by his humble presence and also that of Chungkey, his cheerful and friendly assistant, in the SRSG dining hall at lunchtimes, at the September 4th concert, and at SRSG’s celebration of Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna on September 5th.

Nothing is Free

After having distributed the chanting DVD without charge, Lama Doboom said, smiling at us, but nothing is free. Now you have to chant and share these with others.

But it wasn’t until early the next morning that I realized what Lama Doboom had already told us the evening of the concert.

Two voices echoed in my mind. The first was that of Lama Doboom when he said that some mantras are even repeated a million times and have deep and far-reaching effects.

The second voice was that of Swami Veda Bharati and how he told us many times that a mantra is more than the sum of its parts and far beyond the mere dictionary meanings of a mantra’s various words. The mantra, he had said, could be found in deep absorption in the totality of the mantra, in the vibration of the entire mantra as one piece, not its parts. I remembered also that Swami Veda had once spoken of a very great wealth, a wealth beyond that of this physical world—the wealth of one who has silently recited a mantra many, many, many times.

As with the great beings of all great traditions –both in mantras and in living forms—they give infinitely, no-strings-attached. Long after the blessings are given, the giving only grows and multiplies as we water the plant with loving remembrance. What a gift of peace we may know after many thousands, billions, trillions of such mantra recitations!

While they are with us, their gentle, deep smiles and glances fill the room and carry us home. Long after they go, we can feel their blessings and how they grow exponentially. Whether silently, said or sung—alone or together—such gifts go not only to you but also to all of life around you and beyond.

More about Lama Doboom Tulku

In 1998 Lama Doboom Tulku began work on the World Festival of Sacred Music that travelled worldwide. The main event of this festival took place in Bangalore in 2000 where 650 artists from all over the world including 108 Buddhist monks and nuns from various Tibetan lineages assembled in the presence of H.H. the Dalai Lama at the inaugural concert in Bangalore , one of 13 cities worldwide where the Festival took place, the last being in Berlin.

He was born in the Kham region of Tibet in 1941 and recognized as the incarnation of the previous Doboom Tulku. At the age of 12, he joined Drepung Monastery in Tibet. He came to India in 1959, and studied in a monastic college in West Bengal. Then, under the auspices of Sanskrit University, Varanasi, he studied Buddhist philosophy and received a Geshe Archarya degree in 1972. He worked in various academic and cultural institutions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for almost 40 years. In 1999 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Buddhist Studies by the Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University of Bangkok. He is the author of The Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, Gyalwai Chotsul, Words Well Spoken: Maxims of Ocean and Moon and Words Well Spoken: Maxims of Earth and Stone. While here, he was writing a commentary on the Maitreya Prayer.

He mentioned Shantideva and also Tsongkapa who wrote about the importance of the Middle Way, compassion, the Bodhisattva vow and bodhicitta, among other things. When asked why Tsongkapa was important, Rinpoche said that Tsongkapa talked about the path to enlightenment, that his philosophy is based on Maitreya (Compassion) and the Middle Way. “Walk in the middle,” he said. “Don’t go to the two extremes or you may fall down. Similarly, eat what the body needs, not too much or too little. The same with sleep—not too much, not too little.”

Here at SRSG, we have basked in the holy presence of this gentle, humble lama and look forward to his next visit.

Each time we take our meditation seat, we can be sure that thoughts will arise. This is a given. Because of the nature of how the mind works, it cannot be avoided. However, through the practice of meditation it is possible to increase our awareness of the thoughts, and eventually slow them down. With practice we can more quickly become aware of when the thought pulls us off our point of focus. Each time it pulls us off point, we can bring our attention back gently, steadily, patiently, and gratefully.  Each time we bring our attention back to the task at hand, it is a celebration of our capacity to wake-up. It is something for which to be thankful. Over and over again, it is done with gratitude to acknowledge the accomplishment.  Every time we do it, it is a small victory.  It is a small awakening. It is one small step on the path to Enlightenment.  Enlightenment is held up as something lofty and rare. For most it is a process that unfolds naturally over years (or perhaps lifetimes) of disciplined practice.  But each time we become aware that our mind has wandered and it is brought back to the point, it is showing us our potential.  It is showing us that enlightenment is possible.  That is something for which to be immensely grateful.  It shows us we are capable of increased awareness.  Every time we take our meditation seat, we can see this possibility.  When a thought is brought back to the point of focus it can be exhilarating, knowing that we are on the road to freedom.  It may be a long trip, but it brings us one step closer.

We know that many thoughts can pass through the mind in a short period of time.  When someone first starts practicing meditation, it is common to lapse into 5, 10, 15 or more minutes of daydreaming, regrets, and worries. If someone can learn to relax enough to stop censuring, suppressing, or repressing the thoughts, often it can be emotionally shocking. Many people who try meditation drop their practice before they can get beyond this initial experience.  The barrage of thoughts and unexpected emotions can cause someone to get up and run away. I had this feeling many times and did run away a few times.  But so far I have always come back to sit again.  If we are determined to effortlessly bring our mind back to the point of focus each time we notice a thought, it is another small step up the mountain.  Eventually we can become aware sooner when a thought occurs.  We begin to notice the thought after a cycle of the breath, a half breath, or sometimes the very next instant.  That is progress and is something to be acknowledged and be grateful for.

Even if you have 1000 thoughts in an hour meditation session, it is something for which to be thankful.  It is 1000 more opportunities to wake-up!  If you are able to bring your focus back to the mantra or breath after you become aware of the thought, the practice time has been well spent.
__________

Daniel Hertz (E-RYT 500) is an award winning teacher and counselor in the Minneapolis Public Schools and is on the faculty of The Meditation Center. He is the author of two Yoga-Meditation related books that benefit SRIVERM, the school in the remote Himalayas founded by Swami Hari.  Please see www.DanielHertzBooks.wordpress.com  for more information.

Even if the trip was already planned – I’ve booked the plane ticket on 29th April – during the process when it has realized, I felt that there is a great bliss beyond the planning. I am grateful to my mother and to my friends for their support as well.

I was preparing to practice 10 days of silence during the Guru Purnima Celebration. My plan was to turn inward mostly, to face with my divorce and get conclusions if it’s still needed, and I also wanted to know where am I standing now in my life.

Of course, almost everything happened differently…

As we hear a lot from our beloved teachers: We always get what we need mostly, and sometimes it does not correspond to our plans or to our desires…

Our beloved Swaimi Veda Bharati passed from his body and took his Mahasamadhi 14th July. A wonderful article from Joanne Sullivan’s experiences about those days: The Mahasamadhi of Swami Veda Bharati (click on title).

Three days later, 17th July the ‘Jal Samadhi’ happened, which is sinking the body to the bottom of the Holy Ganges River. JP Bahuguna captured the moments as well with unique sense and keen eye: Swamiji’s Maha Samadhi July 17, 2015(click on title).

I could hardly stay here in my Hungarian home after Swamiji’s ‘transformation’, my Indian heart was pulled by my home over there.

His presence became incredibly strong and loving. I felt his presence even stronger than before. Several people shared similar experiences later here and there as well.

I didn’t know what kind of experiences to expect. I was afraid it was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster that bundle hidden in my soul; and at that time the extreme weather was worrying too. Meanwhile, I was sure: I have to go, my place is there, no matter what happens, everything is going to be alright.

Two days after the ‘Jal Samadhi’, on the 19th, with a smooth and gentle flow, with ambivalent emotions, full of excitement, with my open heart and love, I arrived home from home.

Geographically, this place is a tiny area of the ​​North-India, of Rishikesh. For me an island of peace and treasure which embraces the whole world. In February 2011, I was initiated and merged here into one with the infinite and pure source of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition.

One day was enough to get used to a local rhythm. I dropped in to Laxman Jhula for a few hours to get some gifts. Cleverly negotiated with the drivers on prices, which is part of the local tradition. It was a surprising experience that the strong sunshine and high humidity combination was pretty well bearable. For the entire truth, it could happen because the air conditioning in my room maintained a pleasantly cool temperature as well… 😉

Next day I’ve started the well planned 10-days of silence practice. Let it be!
I did my own daily routine: asana practice, nadi shodhanam, meditation with an internal dialogue, mantra japa and journaling. I joined also in the 16-days memorial service – Shodashi.

As part of this, I was attended on common meditations, the Gayatri Japa chanting; the offerings –and fire ceremony – Puja and Purna-ahuti Yajna; the evening gatherings, and on 29th the final tribute ceremony and special meal service – Shradhanjali Samaroha and Shodhashi bhandara; and finally on 31st the Guru Purnima Celebrations.

During this time I dived into quiet and peaceful depths, and also let the swirling emotions to emerge in front of me. I observed the waves of my mind and the old memories, and all my practices helped me to let everything go. In parallel a space opened for the compassion, for the sorrow and pain, and for a releasing joy and love.

I let go the outer frame of the 10 days of silence. On the sixth day I’ve started to connect to the beautiful souls around me, and they fascinated me with their pure, kind and loving presence. I became richer with new relationships. I experienced how to keep the inner focus and at the same time keep the connection openly. Deeply touched by both kinds of togetherness, the quiet and the talkative too. I’m very grateful for all of you and thankful to all of you!!!

The farewell event on 29th of July was well organized. Everyone knew where they had to be, what to do; it was a smoothly flowing event. Content and happy smiles reflected on the faces at the end of the day. It was a very special and moving experience on that day:
Love, acceptance, support and honor to Swami Ritavan from the Swami community and from the international Himalayan family as well.

Wonderful to experience Swamiji’s presence and his heritage as one! His presence has been taught a lot to me, about the death as well. This period has also great teachings. How strong and deep is my faith? It’s time for certainty.

It feels good to remember the words of Stomy Persaud – one of the daughters of Swamiji – with which she beautifully expressed:

Swamiji’s mission alive and keep flowing through us. Let’s continue the mission that we’ve started!!!

And let it be as Swami Ritavanji reminded us:

“Please keep his intention in your mind – ‘Let every person feel loved’”

with much Love and Light,
Monaji