Om. Come to the awareness of your being. No conditions, forms, no past, no future.

You, the pure being, sitting now in that presence where body remains – head, neck, and trunk straight – breath flows. A gentle breath, deepening, smooth out that flow, where mind and breath now flow as a single stream of awareness. That stream thereby merging, that stream thereby submerging, finding that depth that is beyond the waves, experiencing those currents that are beyond the feelings, where at the riverbed, all that is flowing becomes still.

Enter that stillness.

And gently open your eyes, remaining in that presence.

We talk about presence, but what is presence other than this solitude, a stillness within the movement, a solitude that has brought the dualities and multiplicities into some essence of a wholeness, a wholeness that is the reflective joy of your true nature. In the anandamaya kosha, that sheath of your personality that is really so near and dear, the sheath of your being, by way of a personality that carries a joy, that carries a sense of that joy that is not conditioned by the waves. So, I am so happy to be no longer surfing. The waves are there, no doubt, but you are starting to dive and you are going deeper and you are finding nothing. That’s the best way.

But you are finding your answers. Because you have come here with a question and most of you, with many questions because life is life. Every day the questions of what to do, how to do, when to do, who to do it with, you are now diving into a depth of, yes, that is life. But there’s something to me that has this solitude, this beautiful sweetness of life that is beyond these waves, where it has a depth, and it’s beyond even these currents that you feel of a sense of depth by way of feelings. Because the feelings shape the thoughts and the thoughts shape the actions. So, you’re going back from the actions and the reactions, no doubt, to the thoughts that have preceded, to the feelings that have nurtured those thoughts by way of now a deeper aspect of the feelings in your habit patterns, your samskaras, that which you’ve already put in yourself as an experience. The pleasures of life are many, but also are the pains. So, we are taking them both as a reality. Yet in solitude, those realities merge each night, each morning, to taste the solace.

Anyone taste it yet? Such a beautiful merging of all these personalities, all the flavors and colors, the shapes of personalities as that silence, that no doubt has its own range of experience by way of, yes, your samskaras. So, you are just tasting those samskaras when you are trying to meditate.

But not to worry, you have planted those seeds, you have started growing those flowers, but when you thought you had an apple seed, you have an orange. So, you have to be careful what you are planting and nurture that as your spiritual way of living.

Swami Rama talked about identifying the fears of your life. Those are the things that are binding you, holding you. Meditation unbinds and releases the holds of those habit patterns. So, in that sense, ‘Freedom from Fears’ is the first message. And the second message from the Himalayan sages is, ‘Be Aware of the Reality Within’. Now this has become our theme for the Sangha, the Vasudeva principle, and we are approaching it in various ways so that you find the doorway that you can enter.

Taking a moment to once again dive deep.

Simply no movement, no change within the context of the present moment. That is your doorway. That which takes you through that doorway is the breath, breath awareness.

And at the threshold of that doorway, you realize the tensions now in your shoulders and in your lower back or in your legs by way of body conditions. Breathe through those areas where the stress and strain is felt. An exhalation through that area releases, unties the knot. An inhalation through that area rejuvenates and revitalizes.

So, at the very threshold of that door, full body awareness, full body breathing, to which the breath has opened the door, has taken you through that state of concentration called body relaxation. And within that space, the body occupies, full of prana and vitality and life force, to which there’s a gratitude, svaha, to which there is an understanding of letting go, letting go, letting go, namaha.

Now you’re ready to receive the word, the mantra as a word, the thought that comes from that flow, that flow that in the depths as pure illumination carries the message of your soul. Carries the Atman as atma tattva avalokanam, I am that Atman.

And in this samadhi state you maintain. Now open your eyes.

Samadhi is not just a word in a text called Yoga-sutras. It is you, your natural state of mind, your most natural state that is ever present of your mind as the samadhi state, the harmonized unified state of consciousness. So let go of your efforts and identity as the doer. Rest your awareness in being. And, now in this transition of Being to Becoming, develop the tools to be skillful in this becoming. First, recognize this tool of entering the waveless flow. And in that submerging you enter the oneness that is always present. And you recognize the true nature of that ananda, that beauty, joy, and love. But we forget, and we forget often, and we become upset that we are forgetting. And we become depressed because we are upset. So, there is a chain by way of the samskaras of these habit patterns of mind. So, what to do?

You came from many places, so your view of the world was vast. So why not start with your spiritual understanding with this vastness? Everything is God. So, you are understanding that this expansive understanding of the spiritual nature of being is vast. It is said in the scriptures,

ब्रह्म वेद ब्रह्मैव भवति

brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati

– Mundaka Upanishad, 3.2.9

One who knows the expansiveness of this self, the Brahma, becomes that Self.

So, yes, you identify, but you are simply picking and choosing, and that becomes the associations, that becomes a relationship that shapes your identity. But if you are holding the view that all this is the Lord, all this is the manifestation of the Lord, and I too am that manifestation. When you truly start to understand and believe that you too are that manifestation, then that inward looking, antar-mukha, that now is the doorway for your spiritual life. For life, let’s say, because it is the spiritual nature. In that spiritual nature, as I said, the most intimate, subtlest personality of yourself is the Ananda. And Ananda is pure love. So, remember that love is first. The beloved is found later. We are searching because we are bahir-mukha, looking outward. I am saying be antar-mukha; look inward. So, you realize that love, and I am love, and I am the source of love. And others love me and I love them as that expansion, by way of the Ananda, nature of your being. You may seek joy, which is also the synonym of love. Love, joy, and silence are the synonyms of God. So, seek this basic meaning of any one of those, and the rest will be found.

We understand that love is not just a feeling. It is a force, palatable force. Joy is not a temporary sentiment. For, as a force, it wells up and fills you from within. Now it’s the internal stimuli that seek external alambanas—objects, supports. It is the internal stimuli that is seeking something to be expressed to as an object, the alambana, the support, or a prop, or something to hang on to, or something to reflect back that love.

Many attachments arise from an inner stimuli that is called love. But we have mistaken love for the attachments. When we realize that such pleasures are temporary, that they are subject to change, then we seek a different way to find that which is unchangeable, that which is a continuum. Yes, we want love and seek joy that is unconditioned. But we are searching outwardly. We must search inwardly through silence, introspection, and prayer, contemplation, and meditation. These are powerful tools for spiritual life.

And in that way, you will discover that intensifying the prana force within yourself will be that which then continues to lead you inwardly to that source of love and joy. So again, that’s full circle. The inner stimuli has reached outward, however, trace it back to the intensified prana force. Return to the source of the stimuli, in the prana and mental forces. A force called ‘yearning’ that has come from that pure source of love, and joy. This is the process called bhakti.

You will hear this word bhakti and devotion as we focus on our inner path by way of the Vasudeva principle. The way in which the divine forces become identified through the path of bhakti. On this path, you will find beautiful ways connect and merge into the subtle relationship of God and the Lover-of-God. Through bhakti, devotion, it is said that love is God and that a name for God is called Prema, which means love. Also, joy is God. And so, the word ‘anandam brahma’ is the joyful God.

In the Vasudeva principle, we come to understand that the outward projections are simply calling you to come inward to ‘you’, the ‘lover’. And you find how easy that is, in this very moment. That moment is the doorway. That urge opens the door into the breath flow. That exhaled breath flow is the release, the unattached state of letting go. The letting go opens the horizons of an unconditioned mind, a joyful mind, and loving heart in the moment, this moment, this moment. And the inhalation as the filling and fulfilling gift of awareness. These twin principles are the actual first verse of the Isha Upanishad –

ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं

īśā vāsyamidaṁ sarvaṁ

– Isha Upanishad, v. 1

Remembering at all times that the Lord of life is sarvam, everywhere.

In this inclination of outward looking, bahir-mukha, you begin to recognize the inward looking mind, antar-mukha, by way of the same inclination. When you remember that all things have been given to you as gifts, and what God has given, it is always perfect. That’s why there is that beautiful verse, “All this is perfect.” Yet that which is actually taken as perfect from the perfect remains perfect in its fullness and in its parts as perfect. These gifts are life’s flavors, colors, and sensations. All such stimuli are calling out, ‘please recognize me, realize me’, I am the Lord, I am the inward pulling God that wants you to recognize me, hold me, cherish me, love me, because I am you and you are I. Thus life become beautified in the God-given gifts of beauty, goodness and truth. Thus, remembering God in each moment and enjoying each situation, letting your mantra, your remembrance, carry that state of union into each moment.

Now seeking the happiness of others is another stage, another step. Otherwise, it turns to selfishness. “Oh, I am just self-aware.” But the self-aware becomes, “I only will accept what I want, what I do. All this “me and mine and I’s” are desires of a selfish nature for it is conditioned by the ego. Practice allows the transformation of ego through sharing, giving, and that you are the instrument of divine will. To understand the other and the self to be one in the continuum that is God, that is pure Joy.  “If we can share happiness with others, we can transform the modern world and take civilization to its next level” in the words of Swami Rama. He inspired us to seek the happiness of others, thus transform the modern world and take civilization to the next level.

With such inspiration we take up an expanded awareness to practice. Yes, practice, practice, practice. Practice is the self-transforming prescription. If you prepare yourself to know the higher knowledge, and if you prepare yourself to receive the gift of higher knowledge, then you are deserving. Then you are deserving, not that you will get it. But you will be open-handed, open-hearted, open-minded to receive. And When? When you are deserving, that is the perfect time, and you will receive.

What does deserving mean? To deserve means to increase your capacity. So, if you practice to create this understanding of deserving, then that too is giving you the understanding I am practicing to increase my capacity. So, you start with sincere efforts. You start to practice. You will find that guidance on the path. There is always guidance, like a light, illuminating the path for the next step. Put your foot there, then leave that step for the next, the next step that guides you from within. The light of consciousness is within you and will guide you.

Swami Rama would remind to us not to be disappointed with our failures, for it causes weakness. He would say, ‘it’s like a rubber ball that gets depressed and has no bounce to it.’ The rubber ball, he used that analogy. You are a rubber ball, you must bounce again, respond with inner confidence and faith.

As life provides these lessons, you develop the capacity to deserve. To accept is to be humble enough to be deserving, and the light will show the way. If you ignore the inner light and simply look to the external, you will not understand the messages that are coming from that subtle [inner] source. And even if you find that satisfaction in a teacher, you’ll be projecting your wants, your desires on that teacher, and not listening to the message that is coming through that teacher. Not in their external appearance, but in their teaching. They are only the instrument for you to recognize, “is this truth? Does it resonate with eternal truth.”

So be aware that we are learning and loving to enjoy life. Life as the unifying principle of our life. And in that way, searching for a unity that is beneath the diversity, a harmony that resonates the Oneness. Our Vedas and the Upanishads keep reminding us of the one unifying principle, whether it is called the One God or Brahman, Atman, and that realization is always present. Through our mistaken identity we, have forgotten and thereby suffer, for you have forgotten the truth. Yet the moment that you become aware of the truth, you are free. This awareness alone gives you freedom. And this alone will guide you to realization by way of awareness and by way of your constant practice.

[Swamiji stops speaking and is silent for one minute]

Was that an effort? That one minute of silence? Was that a practice? Practice is not limited to methods. Practice is that taste, the taste of the eternal, or the taste of love and joy. You are that love. You are that source of joy. You are that eternal One.

Editor’s Note:

• Vasudeva Principle was the theme of the AHYMSIN Sangha Gathering in 2026.
• To learn more, kindly read the Vasudeva Principle by Swami Veda Bharati
• Swami Ritavan Bharati, the Spiritual Guide of AHYMSIN, gave the Vasudeva mantra (ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय। Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya) to the AHYMSIN Sangha on 4th March 2026 as the Sangha practice, and will be practiced by all the members of the AHYMSIN Sangha for the duration of three years, until the AHYMSIN Sangha Gathering in March 2029.