‘Oh I am sitting in beautiful posture.
Look how I am doing it properly.
Incense is smoking.
Candle is glowing.
Visions are coming.
Is this not samadhi?’

No, this is not Samadhi.
Samadhi is not in this room,
This body, this mind. Samadhi
Is not such a thing.

– Swami Rama to Doug Boyd in the book SWAMI p.33

Can I have samadhi? Can I have samadhi by the year 2024? Can I have samadhi now?

This will be the theme of our whole Sangha gathering in 2016 February 21st to 26th.

Since my childhood I have heard and read from the yogis that if you can sit absolutely still, without the slightest flicker, for 3 hours and 36 minutes you will enter samadhi. Gurudeva Swami Rama has also confirmed the same many times.

I can imagine that some who are reading this will now start to attempt to sit still with the determination that ‘I shall not move for 3 hours and 36 minutes’. But then after 25 minutes what to do with that horrible itch in the nose and twitch in the knee and whew, I have got to scratch my mind’s itch as well. ‘Oh it didn’t work today but I am going to try tomorrow again’.

The question is not “Can I have samadhi?” The question to ask is what goes into enabling oneself to sit for 3 hours and 36 minutes.

Even if you do not get to massage your knees or put on that anti-itching cream, just a suave (the word used here in its French and Italian sense) mind will do it.

But more details on that when we meet for the 2016 sangha gathering.

We will also start on steps to practice so that you can begin those itch-and-twitch-free meditations.

• There will be sessions about preparations.

• There will be long sittings and meditations.

In the meantime homework:

• Continue with the 5 year homework that was given in 2013

• Try to achieve even 21 breaths, or however many you can, without a pause between exhalation and inhalation.

• Give all your leg muscles, right from the hips down to the toes a thorough and deep oil massage everyday to be able to sit long.

• Do joints and glands exercises

Who knows, someone may even be able to sit absolutely still for 3 hours and 36 minutes. I will wish you success.

Since our motto is “YOGAḤ SAMADHIḤ” let us get serious.

However, there will be some interruptions in your pursuit of samadhi as there will be Elections of Ahymsin so that a place to take samadhi in can be maintained.

Do bring everything that is needed to give your mind a suave look, and leave behind all that mars the beautiful suavity of your mind.

• This time upon your arrival a special small meditation rug would be made available to you for you to use in the ashram and then back at home. Please secure one as soon as you arrive, from the bookshop.

These days our ashram gets overfilled for all events. We are having to turn people away for lack of accommodation. Please make your interest be known as early as possible by writing to ahymsin@ahymsin.org

May you continue to be sweet-minded, madhu-manah.

Swami Veda Bharati
An incomplete human being still being baked in the Guru’s oven where disciples are baked.

April, 2015