Category: Dear Yoga Mentor, My question is

Question

I really want to learn yoga and fulfill my purpose in this life time. I really do not want to be reborn again.

This is where my doubts come in: I really like finance as a subject. I also like yoga, spirituality, philosophy and nutrition. Is it normal to want to do both yoga as well as finance/business? Can I fulfill my purpose?

Also I love my family and would like to live with them. I would like to get married and have children myself. Is it possible to go on the journey of self-realization by being with your family, being married to the one u love and having a family? Is it necessary to give up family life to focus totally on spirituality and self-realization?

Answers

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

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

Here are my comments.

1. You are to be complimented as you seem to be a true, persistent if a little confused seeker. We all are when we start searching, and what are you seeking? – you named it – “My PURPOSE (my caps) in this lifetime.” To me Life is a gift. Gifts are given for a purpose like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Why were you given this Life Gift? Seek the answer…there is always a Path…sometimes it’s not so much the Doing as the Being.

2. Life is Whole – so long as we are not hurting others whatever path seems fulfilling to your Purpose of Life may be followed diligently. Yoga encompasses All life – while try to separate anything. Yoga guides.

In the Himalayan tradition, an Ideal life style is divided into four sections – Brahamacharya – Celibate Youth (for studies), Grihasta – Marriage (companionship, family, etc), Vanaprasta – Literally Forest Dweller but in these modern times more like a Trial period of learning de-tachment in preparation of the last period of Sanyaasa – Renunciation.

In history there are many Yogis. Rishis who continued to live a life of togetherness with their partners while pursuing Self-Realization. Then there are also those who chose to abandon that life style and go it alone. However, they are NEVER alone in the regular workings of the world depending on their path of service. Some retire to caves – Swami Veda (Dr. Arya) spent 40 days in a cave while he was still married. So it is all encompassing.

Clear the mind, become an initiate (if you are not yet one) and you will be guided by the entire line of Guides, who promise just that.

All the best in your search, blessings, Ammaji

Michael Smith

Swami Rama has said many times that a householder can attain moksha and cites Rama, Sita, many married saints, sages and highly evolved spiritual persons, such as Gandhi. Mohan Swami’s address at the last Sangha Gathering is worth reading.

Carolyn Hume

Swami Rama has taught in The Essence of Spiritual Life:

“You can live in the world and yet be spiritual. It is not necessary for you to renounce the world. Wherever you are, stay there. Simply follow two formulas. One formula is for living in the external world:

All the things of the world that are given to me are given to me by the Lord. They are meant for me and I have the right to use them, but I don’t have the right to possess them, for they are not mine.

All things will become means in life if you have this attitude, instead of, ‘This is mine, this is mine’. You are afraid of losing what you have; you are afraid it will decay and go to decomposition. You should learn to use the things of the world without being possessive. As St. Bernard said, ‘Love the Lord alone. Use the things of the world as your means.’

In addition, you should do your actions selflessly, lovingly, and skillfully.”

Living in the world allows us to fulfill karma and also provides circumstances that allow us to learn things we need to learn. Sadhana is not confined to the meditation seat, to the asana class, etc. Family life can provide means for transforming personality, for spiritual growth. Marriage and family life have the potential to help us open our hearts and increase our ability to love and share ourselves with others. Swami Rama urges us to learn to love, to learn to give without expectation, to learn to give selflessly, to learn to distinguish between love and attachment. You may like to read the book Love and Family Life by Swami Rama.

If you have not done so, I would recommend that you take a series of classes that introduce, orient and share the foundation practices and philosophy of the Himalayan Tradition. This can be done at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) in Rishikesh, India, or at one of our centers. And then incorporate these teachings and practices into your daily life. Also Self-Study Readings, Recordings and Videos of Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati can be found at this link: http://ahymsin.org/main/himalayan-tradition/standard-reading-list.html

As Ammaji has said, “…become an initiate (if you are not yet one) and you will be guided by the entire line of Guides…” The classes and study materials mentioned in the previous paragraph will help prepare you for this.

In one of his Guru Purnima messages, Swami Rama said,

“In our tradition there have been many, many sages. If you find any obstacles on the path, there will be help. Always you will be guided by the spiritual beings, those who watch your progress.

I want you to faithfully tread the path of light and life by doing your duties selflessly, lovingly and skillfully in the external world, and punctually meditate. Meditation is one method that helps you fathom the internal sates, those levels of life that are not normally understood by the human being. And in meditation you should be patient with yourself. You should gradually go ahead. Nothing is lost inside, everything is lost outside.

It is not external method; it is an internal method. It is a journey within you. When you go from your gross self to your subtlest self of life, when you know yourself, you can relate well to the world.

Don’t ever miss your meditation. Meditation is helpful in understanding yourself and knowing yourself. And the same meditation helps you in action in your daily life. While doing your duty in meditation, you remain aware of the Reality all the time.

This day is a day of determination. When you determine, you do your sankalpa, you decide that I will devote my time and energy towards enlightenment and that I will attain enlightenment in this lifetime. Determination is one of the greatest powers, gifts, given to the human being by Providence. That sankalpa shakti should not be broken, should not be scattered. The more your mind becomes one-pointed and inwards, the more you will find yourself. Sankalpa shakti, determination must be developed.

Be punctual. Learn to sit in meditation and do it systematically. See that your body is in a state of steadiness and is not uncomfortable. Learn not to move in meditation. Learn to have physical stillness first. Then make your breath serene without any noise, without any jerks, without any pause, and then you will find your mind becoming calmer. And whenever thoughts rush from the unconscious mind, learn to let go. This sort of introspection will lead you to a deeper state.

A day will come when you can go beyond the mire of delusion created by your mind, and you will have control. Meditation, contemplation and prayer should go hand-in-hand. I pray to the mighty Lord to help you. I pray that you all will be happy and enjoy, and let the flower of your life bloom so that you can serve one another and help others. Enjoy all the time. Be happy. Learn to be happy.

Let me tell you something. If you learn to do human effort sincerely, then that ascended power suddenly comes in touch with descending power that is called Kripa, blessings, as the grace of God, the grace of the highest, the grace of the Absolute One.

So, human effort is Sadhana. It needs the grace of God. When you are doing your sadhana, you are bound to receive the grace from Providence, from the Highest Level.
May God bless you. I love you. I will continue praying for you. That is my wish for the Guru Poornima Day.

I revere this day because I too have a Guru. The spiritual path can’t be tread with-out kripa, Guru’s graces. But if you want to have the Guru’s grace, you would have to have your own grace. You should make sincere efforts, and then the grace of God will come. Let you be graced today, the day which reminds you that you have to follow the path of enlightenment, loving all and excluding none. That is the way to the Divine.

Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi. May God bless you.”

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

Swami Veda Bharati has written, “When you will have exhaled inwards and inhaled outwards twelve breaths without pause, you will have entered the Great Reservoir.” Anyone would like to explain please?

Answer

Michael Smith

Over the years Swami Veda often quoted the classic texts on Yoga in which there were quantitative prerequisites given for attaining samadhi.

One text said that if a person could sit ABSOLUTELY still for such-and-such a period samadhi could be attained. Swami Veda wrote, “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.”

This seems like one of those quotations; however, I do not know the source.

What he is talking about, though, is samadhi coming from “effortless breath retention.”

At the 2001 Teacher Training Retreat in Milwaukee he said this:

“I have done several sessions from time to time about the meaning of closing the gap [in the transitions between breaths]. You have a tape from your center, and Ananta would have it. Actually I explained that in South Africa in Johannesburg. Then I did one session on that in Rishikesh and one in New Jersey.

“Kevala-kumbhaka, the sahaja-kumbhaka, the effortless retention occurs when you have learned to close that gap. Then, at a certain point, without any antecedent practice, without any follow-up, spontaneously, the breath will become . . . so subtle that it would seem to stop, and you will think that you’re not breathing. And you continue with that, and then it will actually stop.

“And the difference between this kind of sahaja-kumbaka or kevala-kumbaka and the sahita kumbaka, [is that] sahita-kumbaka is where you train your breath, where you train your breath, where you have to train for retention. But all the saints sing of sahaja-samādhi bhali that which just . . . happens, by itself. And that, there is no training for it; there is no preceding practice, no preparation. It just happens, because the mind has become so . . . tenuous. The mind has become so tenuous. The kleshas have become attenuated – second Sutra of the Second Chapter.[1] The kleshas have become so attenuated, so thinned down, that the breath that is the barometer of the states of the mind automatically responds to that tenuousness of the mind-thread.

“And that is sahaja-kumbhaka or kevala-kumbhaka – easy retention. And it can happen before rechaka or before puraka or after rechaka or after puraka or in the middle of rechaka or in the middle of puraka. Just . . . there you are! In your breath, in your mind – it just happens! And that is a sure entrance to samadhi. That’s why I keep emphasizing – Swami Rama has repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly said, ‘Learn to master the pause between the breaths. Learn to master the pause between the breaths.’

“So teachers, learn to master the pause between the breaths, if you want to be a master of the breath. [There is a break in the recording here.] . .. entrance to samadhi, learn to master the pause between the breaths. The mastery of that pause is almost synonymous with kevala-kumbhaka, also known as sahaja-kumbhaka. And what is the other kumbhaka, the one with the effort? That is called sahita-kumbhaka. Sahita-kumbhaka and sahaja-kumbhaka. And where the Ganga and Yamuna of exhalation and inhalation meet, what happens? Kumbhaka! The Kumbha Mela occurs there. I haven’t included that in my paper on the Kumbha Mela. Okay? You become a full pitcher – kumbhaka. Kumbha means ‘a full pitcher.’ Alright.

“Do you understand the difference between sahita-kumbhaka and sahaja-kumbhaka? Sahaja-kumbhaka is also known askevala-kumbhaka. Kevala: ‘alone,’ related to kaivalya: ‘becoming solo.’ It is something that happens just solo, which is the real ‘solitude.’ And some years back, Joanne Sullivan dug out for me from the Oxford English Dictionary that the word “celibacy” is also derived from this ‘celes,’ related to kevala, related to ‘solo.’ [Celibate — Latin caelibatus, fr.caelib-, caelebs-, unmarried; akin to Sanskrit kevala alone] So you might want to call it ‘celibate breath.’”

[1] Yoga-sutras II.2 – Samādhi-bhāvanārthaḥ kleśha-tanu-karaṇārthaśh cha. “[Kriyā-yoga is practiced] for the purpose of developing and nurturing samādhi and for attenuation [and elimination] of afflictions.”

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

I have seen all popular Sannyasis getting referred to as taken Mahasamadhi. Is it a word used to refer to the death of a Sannyasi?… When it comes to Sannyasis, use of Samadhi appears to be a fashion. Those who die in surgery in USA are also brought back to India and put in a sitting posture to declare Samadhi. Why such a thing of dishonesty is happening with the spiritually luminous Sannyasis?

Answers

Two have answered this question: Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma) and Lalita Arya (Ammaji).

Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma)

Mahasamadhi is the yogic process of consciously leaving the body at the moment of death, having gathered the pranas in the heart center and then utilizing the udana-vayu to conduct the pranas from the body through the “solar gate,” the brahma-randhra at the crown of the head. Such a yogi returns to rebirth only by choice. One can never really know for certain whether someone who dies in surgery or in some way other than the formally witnessed mahasamadhi, with witnesses seated before the yogi, has actually taken that path. Many times I suspect they do, even from surgery (because a genuine yogi remains aware even under anesthesia). I’m sure there are other times when this is indeed wishful thinking on the part of disciples. It is not our place to judge them or to know their subjective experience. Let us accept these gestures on the part of disciples as a last loving wish and blessing for a beloved teacher.

Remember also that a true sannyasi is not always the one wearing orange or white. Bhagavad Gita gives a beautiful account of the nature of true sannyasa. Sometimes it can be very challenging to discern who is whom. Few sannyasis of recent history exceed the renunciation and spiritual attainment of the great householder yogi Shyama Charan Lahiri (Lahiri Mahashaya) of the Kriya Yoga tradition. Formal sannyasa is not a badge of spiritual attainment; it is the adoption of a lifestyle that allows a total focus on sadhana. Many sannyasis are total beginners on the spiritual path. The true yogis are rare in either group and many times delight in hiding to all but their close disciples. Jesus said, “Those who have eyes to see, let them see; those who have ears to hear, let them hear.”

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

Thank you Stoma for giving your time to explain some of the technicalities involved in the system and tradition of sanyaasa.

What I would like to comment on is the apparent arrogance a lot of us assume in what we think we know of the Sanyaasa tradition at least where this questioner is concerned.

Let me quote from the question:

First – “I have seen all popular Sannyasis getting referred to as taken (taking) Mahasamadhi..” Really?

Have you actually seen them “all”? Please be more specific. Maybe you have actually “seen” some or read about some.

Second quote – “Those who die in surgery in USA are also brought back to India and put in a sitting posture to declare Samadhi. Why such a thing of dishonesty is happening with the spiritually luminous Sannyasis?”
“Dishonesty” is a very strong accusation here about a system and tradition about whose intricate and sometimes very private rules non-sannyasis know nothing about. And Yes, the Sanyaasa tradition does have its own rules, rites & regulations. We do not know them all; some of what we do know we may not agree with. Sometimes there are students who are thrilled with the idea of becoming a swami, but like most systems, you do not know what it’s going to be like until you are in it – maybe like marriage.

I seek forgiveness if I seem to be harsh in my comments – but I do want to add that while we are all trying to know the TRUTH and we are all seeking, if we are in a meditative tradition, we need to practise the first teaching of Awareness – in our thoughts, in our speech or written words and in our action. True seekers exhibit humility with awareness to find the Right Path.

I agree that all teachers are not true. Some seek fame, some seek wealth, but fortunately some just seek dedicated students.

Question

Is it possible for a human being who is absolutely full of determination, will power and patience, who is willing to dedicate his entire life, and who meditates using the right technique to attain Samadhi without having any guru?

Answers

Two have answered this question: Lalita Arya (Ammaji) and Michael Smith.

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

How does this student know what is the “right technique”? A guru – teacher is an earned blessing who guides us according to our status in life toward the path best suited to the individual seeking ‘samadhi’. Even if the guru does not appear in person when the student is ready the Guru/Teaching will guide.

Guru is not necessarily a separate physical being. Understanding the connection/immersion of the self with the greater Self is important as there is no separation when realization occurs. Guidance happens then when the connection is made because Ego disappears and that is what samadhi is about.

Michael Smith

“Guru,” in the highest sense of the word, is not a person. Words are difficult to come by, but maybe “Universal Intelligence” or “the Teaching Spirit of the Universe,” which can flow through an especially “graced” person, would give an idea.

With this understanding, here is an excerpt from an article by Swami Rama:

“The first stage in guidance is in initiation into a specific mantram. Then the aspirant may be given concentration on a particular sound or light or chakra or center of integration, whereby the spiritual energy of that center is awakened and the blocked channels of subtle energy (nadis) are opened. They cannot be accomplished by the aspirant on his own, but is possible only through the initiatory power of a Guru. The Guru is a channel with the power flowing down the long line of Gurus dating back many thousands of years. There are more advanced stages of initiation beyond this until the aspirant reaches full realization of his Divine Nature through the grace of the Guru.

“In meditation a conscious, voluntary attempt is made at stilling the activity of the conscious mind. Through withdrawal of the senses and concentration, one-pointedness of mind is achieved. Then, like a continuous flow of oil from one vessel to another, concentration flows into meditation. The uninterrupted flow of the mind leads to timelessness, and intuitive knowledge dawns. The transition from the one-pointedness of the conscious mind to expansion into superconsciousness is possible only through the grace of the Guru. Without such grace, the aspirant, through concentration, stills the conscious mind and then becomes aware of the murky depths of the subconscious . . . . Concentrations may be mentioned in detail in books, but they do not take the aspirant very far unless they are prescribed by the Guru.” (from “What is Meditation” by Swami Rama from “The Theory and Practice of Meditation – Dawn Series 1,” Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science & Philosophy of the USA, Glenview, Illinois [1975], pp. 11-12.)

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

Please tell me about sun gazing in the morning/evening as a practice of Tratak to improve steadiness of mind.

Answer

Panditji Dabral has answered this question.

Namaste to ALL,

Sun gazing is not the only practice to make one’s mind steady; rather it may be harmful or may not be helpful at all.

In the Himalayan tradition Trataka practice is done in steps where one starts the Trataka practice by gazing a reflection of a flame. Trataka practice is only done when one has learned basic breathing practices.

Hope this info is helpful.

Yours in service of Gurudeva,

Panditji Dabral

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

It is said that the touch of the grace of the Guru (shaktipata) is given through physical presence. For many years, Padmasambhava had guided me though i was aware of it, but not totally in the comprehension of the real Self. Then, a few years ago, in a library, i found, (or he found me) the books of Swami Rama, and later i met once Swami Veda Bharati in Rishikesh who was already in his silence. We exchanged some mails but He is no more in his physical presence now.

So, to which Guru am I linked? Do we need a physical presence to be guided, to receive eventually shaktipata when, of course we are ready?

I had been initiated on July 31, 2015, by Swami Ritavan Bharati and received a mantra initiation.

Answers

Three have answered this question: Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma), Lalita Arya (Ammaji), and Michael Smith.

Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma)

A physical presence is not required. According to Kularnava Tantra, shaktipata can be given by a touch, a glance or a thought. There are quite a few examples of people receiving such initiations in their dreams, although sometimes it can be tricky to distinguish a merely psychological dream from such a superconscious dream. It is clear that both Swami Rama and Swami Veda remain present and very active despite being without physical bodies.

The Guru is a force of consciousness (cit-shakti) that moves through people because we need form in order to comprehend. It is the same Guru that moves through Swami Rama, Swami Veda or a regular yoga teacher to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the degree of emotional purification and the degree to which there person can move their ego out of the way. In our tradition, it is Swami Rama that gives the mantras.

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

The inquirer’s questions are –

1.  To which Guru am I linked? – We are not linked to any special Guru, we are absorbed into the Lineage of the Initiator from whom the mantra was received. This initiator has been trained in that Lineage that was first introduced in this Family of Meditators in a physical body – known as Swami Rama.

2. Do we need a physical presence to be guided? – It is not necessary to have a physical presence to keep guiding us. The example you give yourself by finding the books by Swami Rama and Swami Veda. However, we are physical beings and we want that physical connection, which helps – to answer questions, for guidance, etc. Later as one progresses it might not be necessary.

3. Shaktipaatha – Since you have been initiated the Guru shakti is already with you. When you are ready, you will be touched. Just meditate for now.

Hope this helps.

Michael Smith

Swami Veda and Swami Rama have talked numerous times about the Guru not being a person, but “Universal Intelligence,” which can come in many ways and many forms.

In a nutshell, Swamiji said many times, “Don’t mistake absence for presence.”

Swami Veda in #2 of the Rishikesh Series of Talks (1991):

Whoever heard of anyone ever kindling the lightning?
The Teacher-within teaches without donning a personality,
As God in our sleep without word or voice sings.
Seek no more anyone to en-soul your own soul.
Do not imagine partitions in partless Absolute Whole.

Do not imagine partitions in partless Absolute Whole.        
Do recognize, pay homage when, wearing Absence’s garbs,
Presence wanders into your heart, mind, person
To visit with you and in you to dwell.

Let not Absences, wearing fabrics of illusion,
Play for you Presence’s role,
As nothing short of Infinity
Remains ever your only goal.

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

Why full moon meditation is given so much importance??? If possible can you explain to me please.
Then how does one manage the terrible mood swings during the full moon … why do most of us go little off balance during the full moon … i have been noticing the effects on me …  And i am most angered during the eve of the full moon … i sit n Meditate every full moon sangha … but it’s not helping me. .. and i conveniently blame the full moon.

Answers

Two have answered this question: Michael Smith and Carolyn Hume.

Michael Smith

I thought it is pretty clearly explained on the AHYMSIN Website (please see http://ahymsin.org/main/practice/full-moon-meditation.html), but would share this:

“Yoga Philosophy views the mind as Universal field; its waves passing through us and becoming our individual minds. This Universal mind is a radiant force and is also known as a Universal Guru within.”

“When all sit together at the same time even in different parts of the world, they connect to the Universal Guru mind and generate a strong field, like so many magnets being joined together and forming a much stronger magnet; the strength of each then equals the combined strength of all.”

–  Swami Veda Bharati

Carolyn Hume

Swami Veda Bharati established the practice of Full Moon Meditation in our tradition.

In addition to what Michael has written, here are some thoughts below.

One needs to remember the basics at all times whether it is the full moon or not. And sadhakas are encouraged to sit for meditation daily, not just on full moon days.

Here is a link to “Beginning Meditation” by Swami Veda Bharati at http://ahymsin.org/main/Swami-Veda-Bharati/beginning-meditation.html. It is a good review even for those who have an established meditation practice. “If the mind wanders off, because of its usual habit that has been given to it over many lifetimes, straighten your spine again; relax quickly again; re-establish diaphragmatic breathing; continue with the awareness of the flow and touch of the breath in the nostrils.”

The two minute meditation can be helpful; please see http://ahymsin.org/main/practice/2-minute-meditation.html.

Diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness, and other techniques can be helpful when dealing with emotions. Purification of thoughts and emotions is a component in the Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation.

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

“smera smera stimita” is very lovely. But how can you differentiate between a spiritual condition and say some psychosis states? Seeing the misery around and the compassion, can a spiritually illumined man in his awareness go on smiling? How can a realized soul escape the empirical realities before him to be in a smiling condition? How can it be different from psychosis where the people loss the touch with reality?

Note: Please read Smera Smera Stimita by Acharya Chandramani at http://www.swamivedablog.org/smera-smera-stimita/

Answers

Three have answered this question: Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati, Michael Smith, and Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma).

Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati

Hari om friends,

Yes indeed, “smera smera stimita” is indeed a beautiful phrase; I use it frequently, yet I understand the Question perfectly. Our world is in peril to an extend … as never experienced before. How can we smile, is the smile on our face not hypocrisy in the face of the suffering of all, earth, environment, animals, humanity. Well, all the answers to that are enfolded in Swami Rama’s book, Call to Humanity. He calls us to wake up, do not retreat in books and caves … but become active, be engaged and alleviate the suffering of the world. He writes: we cannot reach spiritual fulfilment/enlightenment… if our neighbour is hungry or in pain.

He extends that to include not just humans. He calls, in other words, today’s spiritual seeker, to become, what is now know  as a spiritual activist.

He talks about in a world of mass media … we are affected by the world’s misery… not just with neighbours but the world at large.

Once we know that all is energy, divine energy , that we all are ONE – the energy of the violence (Syria/ISIS), the misery of the refugees and migrants (Africa and now  of Europe) the hunger  in Africa and many places of the world, is touching us, each one.. we cannot escape it, if we really understand that all is One, that we need to be inclusive not exclusive;  Energy moves, like Air…and Water… it affects us, affects our bodies, our mind … our capacity to evolve on the spiritual path.

Swami Rama is very clear on this.

I have, however, to apologize, for theses quotes are my memory, as I am travelling at the moment, and can’t check the exact words in my library. I am sure the reader can do so him/herself. Furthermore I encourage the get the old version of the book, published when Swami Rama was still alive, as many changes are there in the new edition.

With love and respect, Swami Nitya

Michael Smith

I think this is great question: “What should be the attitude of a person of good conscience to the suffering that is part of the world condition?” …  and many people, sages, saints and scholars throughout the ages have tried to answer it.

Swami Veda said once that universal sadness and compassion is a sattvic emotion because things are seen with the utmost clarity and completeness: yoga-pratyaksha

I asked Swami Rama once, “What can we do in the face of the wide scale environmental devastation on the planet,” and he said, “Clean up your mind.”  I asked, “MY mind, personally?” “Yes!” he said emphatically.

On March 3rd at the Sangha Gathering in 2013 Swami Veda told us to do the same thing:

“There are these stations in many different dimensions, not just in just one dimension. A one-dimensional growth is incomplete. The multidimensional growth that I will describe for you, whether it takes thirty minutes or whether it takes three lectures, you will keep with you, and you will learn to recognize those stations. Some of them are very interesting stations. When we did here the study of the Shiva Sutras, we came across a phrase. A few of you were here; most of you were not. Can anyone remember that phrase that we popularized? Smera, smera stimita. Does anyone remember from that course? Can you say it? It has a very nice musical sound. Smera, smera stimita. Smera, smera stimita. Smera, smera stimita. And the commentator who is writing on the Shiva Sutras says that as you come to these stations, you smile in amazement; you smile and you will become stilled. It is not that you become all excited. It is not that you become a dancer. Stimita: you become stilled, stopped in amazement. That is, the effect of those stations at times in your spiritual progress is this smera, smera stimita.

“I can tell you, there is no journey more interesting than your spiritual journey. For your worldly journeys you need to pay for a sea cruise, you need to buy airline tickets, you need to service your car, but for this journey: free of charge. Everything is free of charge. The whole cosmos: free of charge. And I don’t know why people don’t take the offer. It’s a free lunch. The spiritual universe is a free lunch. Don’t you want to enjoy this transcendental free lunch? Learn to enjoy it, and wait for that smera, smera stimita. At every revelation a smile, your mind smiles and goes further – stilled.

“So, enjoy whatever little smile of the mind that comes in your view, comes in your way, and every moment of whatever relative stillness and amazement that touches you. You know, sometimes you see that you are amazed and for a moment you are stopped still. That is the way it is in your spiritual journey. You are stopped still. And if one of those moments – Don’t ask me when; there is no clock; ask my guru – if it once happens and Mother Infinity reveals her glimpse and all her cosmic music pours into you, if even for a fraction of a second, even that fraction of a second, which is a fraction of a second by your worldly clock, feels like an infinity passed, because Infinity showed one of her multiple faces.

“These are not false promises. This is not a pep talk. That is the way it goes. And there begins to come in you gradually, gradually, gradually, a sense of fullness. And wherever there were empty quarters in your personality, in your heart and in your mind, they begin to fill and you begin to sense the fullness. Then what do you do with that fullness? It pours out of you to others, and you become a teacher; you become a healer. You don’t get a teacher by getting a teacher training certificate; you become a teacher because there is this fullness in you, and this stillness is overflowing and touching the hearts and minds of others, and you cannot help it; it’s just there.  And the more you progress to the next smile, the more you progress to the next station in stillness, the more it pours into you and overflows from you. Don’t waste it; be creative with it; channel it. Don’t waste it; be creative with it; channel it.

“‘Bahu-jana-hitaya, Bhau-jana-sukhaya.’ When the Buddha sent his first batch of monks to go teach in the world, he said in the Pali language in which he spoke: ‘Charatha bhikkavo charikam bahu-jana-hitaya, Bhau-jana-sukhaya.’ ‘Wander, O monks. Wander a great wandering for the benefit of the many, for the comfort of the many.’ If your spirituality does not benefit many and if it does not comfort many, what is the difference between a worldly material, selfish life and a spiritual life? So: ‘for the benefit of the many, for the comfort of the many.’ In your stations of progress, this will arise in you naturally. You don’t need to try. You are helpless. You cannot help it. If there is a space under a tree, you will sit under a tree and, like Socrates, people will gather around you, because they are thirsty and you have the potion of elixir, or water. That depends on how diluted your elixir is. Dilute it less and less and less over time. Dilute your elixir less and less and less over time and serve it in its purest forms.

“Many times I spoke to my master and I said, ‘Master, I am very jealous of all those great yogis who sit in the caves.’ He said, ‘Tell me of what benefit are they to the world?’ Of course, that is his way of answering. I know of what benefit they are. Sitting there, they are of greater benefit at times than shouting and yelling like me here. But something will happen in you. And if there is space under a tree, you will fill people there, or whether you sit under a tent, or you sit in a palace or an ashram or a monastery or wherever, this teaching will flow from you, healing will flow from you – healing of minds.

“One of the things that begins to happen is that the mysteries of the universe begin to unfold before you. You begin to understand the principles and the laws by which the whole universe operates. There is a meta-science about which I have indicated in one of my writings [on Sri Vidya], the science of sciences by which all the sciences operate.”

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“How shall I help the world?”
“By understanding it,” said the Master.
“And how shall I understand it?”
“By turning away from it.”
“How then shall I serve humanity?”
“By understanding yourself.”
(Fr. Anthony de Mello, SJ)

The day that people will be able to roll up the empty sky like a leather scroll,
on that day, without knowledge of the Self, there will be peace.
(Svetasvara Upanishad)

In adolescence I aimed to change the world — to right the wrongs of humanity on a global scale.  I envisioned an end to war, oppression, injustice, and strife. Soon I realized that I would have to change my own community first. Only after succeeding here, could I hope to impact upon the world. So I set out to improve education, mediate quarrels, and introduce proper priorities into local politics. Finally, I saw that my real work was with my family. I must begin by changing and perfecting those closest to me — my wife and children. Only later did I see that my true focus of effort must be myself — that to become a kind and decent human being was a life’s worth of work. And if, with the grace and assistances of G-d, I could succeed in this most difficult of tasks, I would be making the greatest of all possible contributions to my family, community, and even to the world.
(Rabbi Yisrael Salanter)

If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character.
If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home.
If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation.
If there be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
(Confucius 551-479 B.C.)

Through Hunkapi (A traditional Oglala Sioux ceremony) a three-fold peace was established.  The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka (the Great Mystery), and that this center is really everywhere; it is within each of us.  This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this.  The second peace is that between two individuals, and the third is that which is between two nations.  But above all you should understand that there could never be peace between nations until there is first known that peace which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.
(Black Elk)

“People are often worried that taking time to meditate is being selfish.  The most unselfish thing you can do in your life is to know the Self and then act.  Rather than reacting, acting from the center within.  The light of meditation is good because it make us good, makes us good in the sense that we come out and become more gentle, more compassionate, more sensitive, more relaxed, more joyful in our relationships with other living beings.”
(Swami Veda Bharati)

“A man who has attained samadhi is a blessing to society.  If humanity is to achieve a better civilization, it is possible only through the growth of the inner being.  The entire life of a man who is established in samadhi is a spontaneous expression of the unhindered flow of supreme consciousness.
(Swami Rama of the Himalayas)

“Your own self-realization is the greatest form of service you can render the world.”
(Ramana Maharshi)

Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma)

My response to the question is a bit simpler. As a person makes spiritual progress, their mind becomes more joyful in a permanent and unshakeable way. The joy is not coming from their ahamkara, their self-(mis)identification, but from the real source. That joy is not disturbed even when their heart feels the pain of others through compassion. For this reason their mind remains clear and they remain free to respond out of love rather than out of suffering. Pain in life is inevitable; suffering is a choice. And the choice is whether to keep your mind in the experience of ahamkara where “I” suffer or to remain mindful of the greater Self whose experience that “there is suffering” does not eclipse basic joyful awareness.

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

I have encountered a problem when I meditate: I generate too much saliva. I focus too much on the position of my tongue which eventually makes me tense unconsciously the muscles of my jaw. I would like to know the right position of the tongue when meditating and also how to approach this problem to solve it.

Answers

Two have answered this question: Lalita Arya (Ammaji) and Michael Smith.

Lalita Arya (Ammaji)

Anything that causes distraction before or during meditation means that the person is not meditating as the thoughts are on the distraction. Try practicing the various postures for sitting in meditation – when NOT meditating. While doing any acts that do not require use of tongue – trying keeping the tongue rolled back as often as possible so eventually this becomes as natural as possible. This will take some time, be patient.
If and when it does still become distracting – pay attention to the distraction until it goes away, but relaxation is VERY necessary. The whole idea of meditating is to relax BOTH body and mind.

Michael Smith

I’m going by my memory of what Swami Rama said or wrote someplace about the tongue and salivation . . . maybe it was at a lecture or on an audio.

The main instruction is to relax the mouth, lips, tongue etc. In beginning meditation, the mouth is gently closed without any tension in the jaw, tongue or root of the tongue. The teeth gently touch and the tongue rests gently at the roof of the mouth (the soft palate).

When I go to the dentist, the dentist says that I salivate a lot. It might be because of nervous tension, or that my mouth is open, or that I’m holding my tongue in a tense way.  Maybe the salivation would diminish if I relaxed my tongue.  The next time I go to the dentist, I’ll make a point to consciously relax my tongue and see if that makes a difference.

Maybe it was on an audio recording. I could not find much in the usual books, such as Meditation and Its Practice, but in that book, in answer to a Question about disturbances, such as the body itching, the head tilting to one side, the eyes tearing up, the need to swallow, etc., Swami Rama said, “Such disturbances occur during the preliminary stages of meditation. If one does not overeat, learns to keep the mind free from preoccupations, and observes the body, these things can be checked easily.” (p. 84).

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Editor’s Note

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

Question

I need your advice and guidance regarding attending a three day spiritual retreat in Bodhgaya in Buddhist Mahayana Tradition. I am an initiate in our Himalayan Yoga Tradition, and soon planning to start my TTP.

Swami Veda Bharati

One should taste of all paths but keep to one only as one’s permanent path.

Mahayana has many paths and each of the Mahayana paths has a sub-path.  Then there are other Buddhist paths.

I have not yet come across any path that is not included in Patañjali’s system but like all paths we emphasize certain aspects to start with and move on to other ones as a sadhaka is ready for those systems. I have also taught at our ashram Pali language original texts of Vipassana, which is another Buddhist path.

I send you all blessings for your three-day retreat at Bodh-gaya.  If you see any leaves fallen under the Bodhi tree, please pick up a few (if that is allowed) and mail to me.  I had collected some last time I was there.

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Editor’s Note

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