Dear ,
Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas
~ Swami Rama
The knower, the known and the process of knowing comprise the three-fold nature of the drive to action. Instrument, activity and event are the three-fold components that accomplish action. Each of these three divisions is in accordance with the three qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas. The universe contains many beings. Each being is unique. Variety is the nature of the universe. In this diversity, one feels the presence of oneness; this is due to sattva-endued knowledge. The site of the undivided reality is known because of sattva. For example, the ocean has many waves and they are distinct from one another, yet they are all made from the same water. To see the same water in different waves is sattva-endued knowledge. Gold is made into various ornaments, but the presence of gold is common to them all. To see this oneness in different forms is sattva-endued knowledge. There exist in the world many religious faiths – Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, etc. Yet in spite of this multiplicity, one can see in them all a oneness of being and can accordingly relate in one way towards all of them. This results from sattva-endued knowledge. Human beings, birds, beasts, and insects are all different, yet they possess the one life principle in common. To regard them all as alike is due to sattva-endued knowledge alone.
Rajas-endued knowledge enables one to realize division and variety of forms. The variety of aspects in each object is seen by rajas-endued knowledge. This sort of disposition which fastens on diversity alone is due to rajas. It frustrates all efforts towards seeing unity in diversity.
Tamas-endued knowledge actually obscures the relation of causes and effect and is completely unable to reveal Truth. It is the cause of attachment to a part as if it were the whole. It is the cause of ignorance which confuses cause and effect. It is false knowledge, sheer ignorance, and impure ideas, and is contrary to enlightenment. This is the defect of tamas-endued knowledge. Tamas-endued people take a part for the whole and attach themselves to that part. They even lead themselves to destroy the whole. This level of knowledge leads to destruction and attachment.
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Illness and Meditation
~ Swami Veda Bharati
In the common languages of India, in all the languages of India, the word for someone in good health is sva-stha, and the word for health is svaasthya. Sva-staha: someone who is dwelling within sva, within one’s Self, within one’s own nature, and, then that condition, the abstract noun, which comes from that adjective is svaasthya, “health.”
So, for illness to be changed to a healthier condition, this mental condition of being sva-stha, dwelling within one’s Self, in one’s true nature, not the alterations of nature, dwelling within That. And, I would say a fourth benefit, which is incidental, which simply happens, is that one goes beyond the surface pains. One understands the nature of pain, without having to study basic neurology.
What exactly is physical pain? It’s simply a message from the outposts of the body, to the headquarters that there is an invasion, or there’s a breakdown, a breakdown caused by an external invasion, or breakdown caused by something internal to the body.
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Invitation to the
Decade of Loving Transformation
~ Swami Ritavan Bharati
Our dear Swamiji has often told us, “One must run one’s life by a spiritual plan.” Swami Ritavan now invites all to engage in listening to the inner call of the Self during our ‘Decade of Loving Transformation’. Swami Ritavan has described the process and purpose of Transition and Transformation, and has lovingly offered the below message to all the AHYMSIN sadhakas world-wide.
Swami Rama has said in “Sadhana, the Path to Enlightenment”, that when a person is on the path of self-transformation (Sadhana), she/he comes in touch with the higher potentials within. Throughout life, the lessons one has learned are a process of refining the personality. This preparation through discipline and practice awakens the inner urge of moksha-enlightenment. The signals for these life-transitions and transformations come in many forms.
For all the students, initiates, and devotees of this great Lineage, who are in the student (Brahmacharya) or householder (Grhastha) stage of their life:
Prepare a spiritual plan for your life. As Swami Veda has said, “Examine your life, examine your choices in life. Plan your spiritual life as you plan your worldly life. You plan for your finances; you plan for your business; you plan for what kind of house you will buy; you plan for what kind of car you will buy; you plan for what kind school you will send your kids to; you plan what kind of clothes you will buy for Christmas or Diwali; [now] plan for your spiritual life.” Plan in your own way, in a very practical way, what you can do out of compassion to purify yourself. You have duties and you have needs for financial earnings.
As Swamiji has said, “During [this] time what can you do spiritually? How much time you can spend? When will you go to a silence retreat? When will you go to an ashram? Which day of the week you will keep half a day of silence? Which particular day of the week you will keep more intensive meditation, will put aside if you are sitting only half an hour maybe on that day of the week you will sit for two hours? Normally that day is either Thursday or a Sunday or full moon day and the day of the new moon or the first day of the lunar fortnight.”
Think about what spiritual texts you want to study in the next 10 years. Which mantras you will have done how many times in the next 10 years. Plan how much japa you will finish in these 10 years. Plan for how you can increase the time you sit for your daily meditation. Take it seriously.
Swamiji has emphasized again and again, the importance of creating a personal spiritual plan, - “The spiritual plan means study, japa, or spiritual practices, silence, reduction of sensuous involvements, calculating them, controlling them. Swami Rama always spoke of four fountains of life. Mastering the sensuality, not abandoning it but mastering it so it will be in your control. Mastering sleep. These are all part of your spiritual plan and the most difficult, emotional purification. Hard job. Your angers, your impatience, your jealously, your vengefulness, your criticizing others, your getting upset all the time over small things. So, which one of your weaknesses you will take in hand and start really observing and controlling them? Some of these carry on all the way through life but at least start on the short term. Include that in your journaling, in your self-analysis.”
For the senior members of AHYMSIN Global Family, those who have been blessed with mantra initiation a long time ago, are getting ready for their aging years…:
Swami Veda has very lovingly guided us, “Plan for when you retire. There is no end to worldly involvements. If you live to be a hundred, you will still be worrying about how you are babysitting your great grandchildren. Enough, done. Serve them, help them, guide them but don’t be so attached. So, what you will do, what spiritual work you will do on yourself.”
To begin this decade of Transitions and Transformation, you may commit to purpose-filled living and request to receive a vow of Vanaprastha for a period of 1,3,5 years or a lifetime period. Please share your contemplations remembering the source of your question can be found within. Share a paragraph of your renunciation-diary with us so that we can share the inspiration as a way of nurturing the call of your inner-self now in your aging years of life.
Your entries on sadhana and life transformations serve a purpose for internal dialogue, reflection, and introspection and can be used to measure one's progress on the spiritual path during this decade-long aspiration and sankalpa. Plan now for what spiritual improvements you will make in the next 10 years. If you need help, we can help. Our goal is to help one in making decisions that form a life-plan and take the next step and enter their stage of life with purpose. Over these coming years, you will be inspired to make choices and decisions with regard to non-attachment, aparigraha, renunciation, and other ways of spiritual progress.
Send your emails to: SwamiRitavanBharati@gmail.com and they will be replied to and if selected for sharing, added to our Decade of Loving Transformation Blog.
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Aapo Deepo Bhava –
2023 AHYMSIN Sangha Gathering
~ Swami Ma Tripura Shakti Bharati
The last time I was sitting somewhere here, you were all on that [Zoom] screen, but this is different than having an empty space and a camera. Thank you, all my brothers and sisters, for these tremendously beautiful weeks of spending (time) together. I so enjoyed all my brothers speaking. I have, beyond worth, respect for you, Swamiji [Swami Ritavan Bharati], and for them and same with you and everyone else that we have been able to get together for these two weeks.
Each of these days I was just in awe with how, throughout the weeks, these moments were created in which the sacredness of life was invited in all these different ways — in the silent days, in the pujas, in the havans, in the aartis, in the music! Every moment was to give you the opportunity to get in touch with that light — through people speaking and these attempts to make life sacred, to make life special, to make every movement an opportunity to, not reconnect, but to uncover, (to) be, (to) remember.
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And the theme of this [is] Inner Light! Sometimes it appears quite weak. Sometimes it appears even lost. But let’s see if right now, here, as you’re feeling the physical temple [while] sitting, as you’re feeling the prana and the breath cleansing and nourishing this temple, cleaning it — as your thoughts are allowed to go, whatever they are, good or bad doesn’t matter, and the mantra somewhere is roaming around there too, reverberating in the inner temple in the sanctuary — that right here, in the depth, in the core of being itself, this Light is.
As Swami Veda said in the title of the book that we all shared, [in] many languages, the poem of his, it is like ten thousand suns. And even if you feel it right now just a little — like a little flame, something is whispering, something is calling you, like a little Deepak in your heart — can you be with it right now? Can you be in awe of it? Can you hold it in as best as you can in your awareness right now, as the most precious thing that is? But it is not even a “thing” — please forgive my language. It is not whatever; [it is] the most precious existence!
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A homage to our beloved Swami ji -
South India Sangha
~ Namita Sinha
This 24th March, 2023 marked 90th birth anniversary of our beloved Swami Veda Bharati. To share the love he bestowed on us and how it had inspired our lives, we held an intimate virtual gathering of initiates residing in south India.
Among us was a diverse group who had received initiation in the tradition from as early as 1990 to as recent as 2022. We are blessed to have Shri Raghavendra Adiga ji among us, an initiator in the tradition. We began with an adoring Guru Vandana chanting in dedication to Swami Veda and the Guru Parampara by Shri Adiga ji.
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Japan Workshops in March 2023 – Spreading Seeds of Love
~ Yuko Metsugi
This is an article about the recent workshops conducted by AHYMSIN Japan – Yuko, Atsuko and Yumi.
  
A fresh breeze of spring brought the Himalayan Tradition to Japan to convey the love, teachings and the wisdom of the Himalayan sages, which gave us a way to find Love & LIGHT within.
COVID hit upon Japanese communities very hard like every other community in the world, which has led fears and insecurities in people’s mind. To share the opportunities of studying Yoga Meditation, and to reconnect with each other, AHYMSIN Japan had hold several online workshops between 2020 and 2022, which more than 100 people from Japan as well as from other countries had attended. Yet, there had been a sense of stagnation in the Japanese society wanting a breath of fresh air. It was at that time when Rabindra Sahu from Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) ashram had agreed on traveling to Japan to share the teachings of the Himalayan tradition and gave us an opportunity to gather together and study the teachings of Yoga Meditation.
During the two weeks of March, we had four workshops in Okayama, Saitama, Kanagawa and Tokyo. Since the communities needed gradual steps to return to a normal life, along with the still-going on COVID measures across the country, we had kept numbers of participants to minimum in each workshop, which actually helped to have like-minded people who wished to deepen their studies and understand themselves in deeper levels. Many of the participants had practiced Yoga Meditation before while most of them were new to the tradition.
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A Winding Path
~ Daniel Hertz
Thirty years have passed since the first time I walked into The Meditation Center in Minneapolis. I didn’t come to the Center for spiritual enlightenment or self-realization. I came because I was at a dead end. There was nowhere else to turn. The memories of that day in May of 1993 are still very clear in my mind. I was thirty-five years old and had been grieving the death of my mom for two years. The heavy grief had turned into numerous body pains. I tried everything to alleviate the intense discomfort, including homeopathy and chiropractic adjustments. Nothing helped. Many times, I cried out for a solution, but heard no answer. I didn’t think there would ever be an end to my suffering. Then I saw an article in the newspaper about how yoga could help people with back problems. Shortly after that, while visiting an osteopath for treatment, I mentioned that I was thinking of trying yoga. He told me that because of all my injuries, I should try a gentle type of yoga like they offered at The Meditation Center. At my first class we learned the Joints and Glands exercises. The long healing process began.
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Long-term Residential Opportunities
at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama
Swami Rama Dhyana Gurukulam
Admissions Open for 2023-24 Session
We are so delighted to bring this news to you all. We are now able to accept Gurukulam students from our entire global family. Applications are open for the one-year long Gurukulam program that begins on the Vijayadashami (Ashwina Shukla Dashami/Dusshera) 2023, which would be on the 24th October, 2023.
The ‘One-Year Residential Program in the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition’ will harmoniously hold an integrated study and practice of all the paths of yoga, including bhakti, jnana, karma, and raja yoga. The students will be taught the philosophy, science, and practices of hatha yoga, breathing awareness and pranayamas, subtle body relaxations, and meditation. Ancient scriptures including selected Prakarana Granthas, selected sections of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, the Samkhya darshana, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali will be taught. All students will also be taught Sanskrit and Vedic Chantings.
Medium of Instruction: English and Hindi
Cost/Fees: A loving and committed heart. Donations/Dakshinas towards one’s stay are welcome.
Eligibility: All seekers, irrespective of religion, nationality, gender, caste, etc. who can commit to a year-long stay at the Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama ashram in Rishikesh, India.
Age Limit: 25-35 Years
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Volunteer Opportunities at SRSG
Our residential volunteer opportunities comprise a work-study format where all the residents are expected to follow a personal sadhana at the ashram, while offering seva according to one’s unique skills and talents. Our Seva-Sadhakas come from all over the world and India. One’s time and energy are offered towards the growth of the AHYMSIN mission and towards furthering one’s own journey on the spiritual path.
All Seva-Sadhakas would get the benefits of room and board, have a chance to join and participate in the Ashram’s daily classes of Joints & Glands exercises, Hatha Yoga, breathing exercises, and silent meditations, as well as joining in the special programmes and seminars taking place at the ashram.
We are now looking for long-term full-time resident Seva-Sadhakas for the following work areas and skill sets:
1. Front Desk Managers (2 positions): Assist guest students (visiting sadhakas) with their accommodation, arrival/departure, program related queries via phone, email and front desk.
2. Website and Social Media Managers (2 positions): Website management, digital content management and social media content management.
3. Graphic Designers (2 positions): Creative visual designs for book covers, ebook covers, communication materials, posters, etc.
At this moment, we are looking for a minimum commitment of one year. The positions are only being offered to those who have received mantra initiation within the Himalayan Tradition. The applicants must be fluent with both written and spoken English.
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Global Meditation Reminder
Full Moon Meditation is on 5 April 2023
You are invited to sit in meditation for an hour wherever you are, in your home or with friends. Total beginners and longtime practitioners, non-initiates and initiates are welcome. If you cannot sit for the entire hour, sit as long as you are able; as Swami Veda has said, “Let the quietness of the mind continue even after you rise...”
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New Moon Meditation is on 19 April 2023
Swami Ritavan Bharati, the Spiritual Guide of AHYMSIN and Ashram Pramukha of Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, has shared that the New Moon Meditations will continue in 2023 as before. We will continue to use the Saumya-Tara Mantra for the New Moon Meditations.
Swami Ritavan will join the New Moon Meditations at 6 PM IST from Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama. As much as possible, you are invited to sit for your meditation and connect with Swami Ritavan, members of the AHYMSIN Spiritual Committee, the Ashram community, and others at the same time.
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Yours in service, AHYMSIN Office
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AHYMSIN
Contact Us
AHYMSIN, Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama
Virpur Khurd, Virbhadra Road, P.O. Pashulok Rishikesh 249203, India
Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama
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