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“We all dream of the possibility of living in a peaceful world. This aspiration can be realized only if we first provide to our very soul, the self, atman, a peaceful home in the mind inside which it lives. That is the essence of our spiritual journey; that is yoga; that is meditation; that is peace in the family, which, then, extends to becoming world peace. We need to keep a diligent vigil, to keep this mind pure and peaceful and clean, to make it progress towards becoming the environment suitable for an enlightened soul. There needs to be sense of continuous progress in us so the world may progress towards peace.” – Swami Veda Bharati
You are invited to participate in the Annual 40-Day Spiritual Festival which starts on 7 June 2019 and continues until Guru Purnima, which is 16 July 2019. Each summer during the 40 days that precede Guru Purnima, sadhakas are invited to participate in the 40-Day Spiritual Festival, to expand and refine one’s sadhana. This festival was started many years ago by Pandit Usharbudh Arya/Swami Veda Bharati, and one observes it wherever one is. Please click here for more information and for ideas on how you might be able to deepen your practice during these 40 days.
International Day of Yoga is 21 June 2019. Swami Veda urged, “All our initiators, teachers, centres should plan something each year.” To read his “Message for International Yoga Day, June 21” please click on title; it can serve as a guideline for any observance you may make. For those of you who plan events or observances for this day, will you please send photos and a short account to ahymsin@ahymsin.org, "attn: Medha"
With the 3 year mantra practice, Swami Ritavan Bharati requests that sadhakas do a few repetitions of Akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāram Mantra at the beginning and/or end of the Saumyā- Tārā recitations. To review, the 3 year practice, please click on “Three Year Mantra Practice, 2019 to 2022.” Audio files are given for both mantras in the article.
Two New Videos on YouTube. Please click on title(s) to watch.
HYMS Tokyo celebrated their 20th Anniversary 17 – 19 May 2019. Congratulations! Iida Fuku serves as center leader.
Retreats and workshops in Taiwan and Korea with Swami Ritavan Bharati, Stephen Parker (Stoma), and Ashutosh Sharma recently took place. Photo from Taiwan by Phoebe Chang, and photo from Korea by HeungMin Baik . More photos from Taiwan can be seen here and here. More photos from Korea can be seen here and here.
We invite centers and sadhakas to share what is happening in your centers with us so that your news can be shared with the larger global family; we can learn more about one another and can strengthen one another in our sadhana. Please write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org, attn: AHYMSIN Newsletter.
You may want to be active in a centre in the region of the world in which you live. There are centers that offer regularly scheduled classes, retreats, workshops, and satsangs. Please see AHYMSIN Affiliated Centers and also Websites, Newsletters, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter which has some listings in the “Other Links” section.
International Yog Festival 2019, 1 – 7 March 2019 in Rishikesh, India, featured Swami Radha Bharati as one of the presenters. This mission of this event: “Our mission is to create such a platform where all traditional and modern styles of yoga can come together and learn from each other.”International Yog Festival 2019 was organized by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) and Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) at Ganga Resort, Muni Ki Reti (Rishikesh), Uttarakhand. Photo by Tatyana Miskova.
Events at SRSG have been updated and now include the Superconscious Meditation – Level One retreats, Guided Beginning Level Silence Practice retreats, International Yoga Day Hindi Retreat, Guru Purnima Retreat, 4th Anniversary of Swami Veda’s Mahasamadhi, Vande Guru Paramparam – Swami Veda Bharati Mahasamadhi and Guru Purnima Hindi Retreat, Mantra and Meditation - Retreats for Non-initiates, Yoga Hindi Retreat, Spiritual and Meditative Approach to the Ramayana Retreat, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Retreat, Mantra after Initiation - Retreats for Initiates, ongoing retreats for pilgrims, Breath and Pranayama Intensive Retreat, teacher training sessions, and ongoing sadhaka retreats
Please see the Upcoming Events or contact ahymsin@ahymsin.org for more information about these and other programs at SRSG.
We invite you to share what is happening in their centers and your experiences, insights, and questions. With such sharing, we can learn more about one another and strengthen one another in our sadhana, becoming a true “sangha”. We welcome your articles. You can write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org
Please click here to view this month's Ahymsin May 2019 Newsletter in your browser or click one of the article "Read More" links below.
[This passage has been taken from the booklet titled “Unifying Streams in Religions” by Swami Veda Bharati, published by Himalayan Yoga Publications Trust.]
It must be admitted, not tongue-in-cheek, but without hesitation and with conviction, that there are forces besides human ones that are the fountainhead from which all urge to worship proceeds, and which further teach all ‘chosen peoples’ in all centuries and all nations even the way to worship. It is their presence that is the unifying stream among all our religions. It is not mere Jungian theory we reiterate; rather we are emphasising the deep personal spiritual experience that has guided all branches of humanity in tandem and in parallel streams throughout history. It is because of this common source in the Divine Forces that so many symbols, forms, rituals, and verbal or art forms are shared among religions. Homage to these Forces of No-names and All Names!
[This passage has been taken from the book Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, pp 19 – 20, by Swami Rama, published by Himalayan Institute Press.]
The first task for a seeker of trust is to understand the words “coordinated effort.” This means that one should always follow the dictates of his conscience. When a normal human being considers doing something, his conscience helps him to choose what he will do by placing the consequences of his actions – good and bad, helpful and damaging, right and wrong – in front of him. And if he has a firm will, he will be able to carry out the action he chooses. Samkalpa shakti (will power) is a powerful force in the human being.“How to Do Long Mantras in Less Time” by Swami Veda Bharati is now available for purchase as an audio download.
© Copyright - Swami Veda Bharati / Ahymsa Publishers (193428917491)
Audio download available on CD Baby; please click here.
This excellent 35-minute lecture/practicum by Swami Veda could very well be entitled “how to deepen your meditation”. It is appropriate for initiates who have been meditating for a while and are ready to extend their practice. It is helpful for deepening all meditation practices, but is especially helpful for those undertaking the practice of long mantras like the Gayatri or the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra.
Swami Veda explains that when properly done a mantra vibrates faster, at higher frequencies, as the meditator goes to deeper and deeper levels of the mind.
[This is from a transcript of a session with Stephen Parker (Stoma) at the 2019 Sangha Gathering at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama. This is Part 2 of 4 parts. Part 1 can be read here.]
So, we take our meditation back to that level and then things really begin to change; we begin to make contact with the deep silence. The natural state of the mind can also be described as a state of silence. Swami Veda often said, ‘The deepest meditation has no experiences. As long as you are having experiences, you are not there yet.’ And when you get to that great silence of asamprajñāta samadhi that is when you are really reaching the goal. And so we do these practices of silence which are one of the really characteristic things that distinguish our tradition from many other traditions. It certainly is our speciality here. It is such a wonderful experience. I think of it as my home. I think of it also as heaven even though sometimes in the process of getting to heaven you have to go through a little hell. Anybody who has been on a longer silence retreat will understand that period of cleansing that goes on in your mind, in your emotions. But eventually you reach a place that is just extraordinary.
I used to crack a joke that by the completion of the HYT Teacher Training Program the students are expected to attain samadhi. Now I’m not so sure it is a joke.
There is the pedagogical side of the course where you are taught how to teach and there is the more subtle aspect of adhikari which teaches self-criticism and to know what you know clearly so you can communicate it both rationally and intuitively. There are levels of adhikari all the way from developing confidence in oneself as a teacher to communicating from mahat. So the TTP does more than teaching how to teach, it teaches adhikari by the development of sadhana for personal transformation. This adhikari is given a boost on one’s own in silence practice.
I had spent twenty days silence under the direction of Swami Ma Radha and a further twenty days left to my own devices. I was busy: three meditations; a purashcharana of 125 000 japa; Joints and Glands; relaxation exercises; Yoga Sutras study. I had read the Samadhi Pada commentary by Swami Veda previously and listened to the recordings of his lectures. Reading it again in the ashram was quite different as I had no interruptions and with the support of the other practices it spoke to me a bit more clearly.
This year, the March retreat of our Teacher Training Program happened to be just following our very successful Sangha gathering. We welcomed students from all over the world of another great HYT-TTP Level-1 & 2 retreat here at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) in Rishikesh, India.
23 participants representing 9 countries took part in the levels one and two. They came from: Canada, Mauritius, Lithuania, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, China, Sri Lanka as well as from many states of India (Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu). All these students shared the many wonderful and fascinating ways in which they found out about our unique Tradition.
Sometimes students have written to or asked Swami Veda Bharati, Swami Ritavan Bharati, and other senior teachers in our tradition questions about practice. This is one such “Question and Answer,” or Q&A.
How many people do Agnisara and Ashwini mudra and 2:1 breathing? And its benefits?
We invite you to share what is happening in their centers and your experiences, insights, and questions. With such sharing, we can learn more about one another and strengthen one another in our sadhana, becoming a true “sangha”. We welcome your articles. You can write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org
Also, Toronto "Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Society of Ontario" members meet at 9:00 pm (local).
Yours in service, — Ahymsin Office
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