sanga-particies-inner-img

golden_leaf
AHYMSIN Sangha Practices

A Spiritual Family; A Mindfield of Community

AHYMSIN is a group of initiates within the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition, who come together for the purpose of attaining spiritual liberation. Being initiated within the unbroken spiritual tradition and lineage of the Himalayan Masters, we are members of a greater spiritual family, the Guru family. Swami Veda Bharati called this spiritual family as the sangha, a Mindfield of Community and he taught us that “with a stable mind, you can stabilize all external circumstances.”

“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.” – Swami Veda Bharati

Thus, to serve this mutual goal, groups and individuals from across the globe support each other as kalyan-mitras (friends on the noble path), beyond the boundaries of religion, caste, race, gender, etc. for the purpose of stabilizing our individual minds and the Universal Mind.

When Gurudeva Swami Rama “started pretending to be absent” [after Swami Rama took Mahasamadhi in 1996], Swami Veda Bharati called upon the entire initiate community to undertake special mantra practices.

For the first few years, it was the Saumya Mantra and later the Saumya-Tara Mantra “to give the mind a moonlike peace that was much needed at that time, and it is still needed”, following which the initiates dedicated the practice of the Mahā-mṛtyuñjaya Mantra for Swami Veda’s health and long life.

As the global initiate community came together in February 2007 at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama Ashram for the founding of AHYMSIN, Swami Veda initiated our Guru Family into a three-year practice of the Ityukta mantra for the purpose of creating a Mindfield of Community – a Sangha.

“Let us use the word sangha, for it is a term used for a spiritually-oriented community. You are all aspiring and part of this global network of spirituality in the Tradition.” – Swami Veda
Swami Veda has further said, “If the individual minds are not stabilized, the individual lives do not become stabilized. If there are instabilities in life, they are so, not because your circumstances are unstable, but because your minds are unstable. With a stable mind, you can stabilize all external circumstances.

So the chain is as follows:

  • When you stabilize your personal mind.
  • Your personal lives become stabilized.
  • People thus stabilized become part of a larger mindfield.
  • A mindfield thus stabilized is called a Spiritual Community or a sangha.

A community is a single mindfield in which the stabilized personal minds, the stabilized lives of individuals, are as soft, gentle ripples in the calm lake.”

Why Would Anyone Want to Join AHYMSIN?

Why would any group or individual want to join AHYMSIN? Swamiji’s answer to this:
“They don’t join AHYMSIN, they receive an initiation. AHYMSIN is a group of initiates for support. How can groups or individuals help the greater family in a spiritual sense? This evolves from time to time if we can succeed in developing a sentiment of Sangha.”

संघे शक्ति कलौ युगे
Sanghe shakti kalau yuge
(saṁghe śakti kalau yuge)

In Kali Yuga, a group that has clarity of purpose and a unified vision has tremendous power.

What is AHYMSIN

~ Shi Hong, Mantra Initiator & President, AHYMSIN

Dear Swamiji. Good morning fellow seekers, friends, welcome to the Sangha Gathering of 2019. I was given the task of saying something about what is AHYMSIN.

What is AHYMSIN? To a lot of people it is a rather obscure name, and in fact even within our family sometimes we also will question “What is AHYMSIN?” because when we go outside we put up the board that says “AHYMSIN” and people come up and say: “Oh, what is this? Can you explain to us?” So we went through some soul searching. Should we have a secondary title next to AHYMSIN explaining who we are, what we are, and what is it stands for? We had some sessions discussing this. In the end, we decided that nothing can be added.

This name was given by Swami Veda, and he intentionally incorporated this entity, registered in India as a society, to organize the disciples, fellow sadhakas, globally. So he gave this name AHYMSIN. What is in the name? A name is the same object that it refers to, especially for someone like Swami Veda. He who is a rishi. A rishi does not give a name randomly. A rishi gives a name that has meaning in it. So AHYMSIN, as Swami Ritavan ji just explained, his plan for us, stands for Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International. That is a long name. Whenever I translate that into Chinese language, it is almost impossible to translate it succinctly. You have to say a very long line and then still leave AHYMSIN untranslatable. So we always go through this process of explaining to people what it means. But, in a way it helps because it is a way for us to introduce ourselves to complete strangers. People come in and we start with AHYMSIN.

Swamiji [Swami Ritavan] had told us it’s the global body of Swami Veda. He created this. AHYMSIN has seven letters and stuck in the middle is the “M”. M is not just a mantra word, it stands for meditation. And that is the first and foremost means of practice in this tradition. And so Swami Veda deliberately put the “M” in the name. Otherwise he could have called it the Himalayan Yoga Tradition as it has been referred to for many decades before he created AHYMSIN; so the justifyis the main focus of this lineage.

Last December I was in Beijing having a sharing session with a group of people who are pretty much new to our tradition. Before we started the session, the night before, we had like a session open to the public. So anybody who is interested can just walk in. So I was there doing the usual thing about the Himalayan Yoga and why we were there and what we were about to share during the next two days. At the end of the session, there was a lady in the audience, apparently very well informed, exposed to yoga, and a very good speaker in the English language. She turned out, as I was informed subsequently, to be a professional translator for the yoga industry in China. There are so many foreign teachers. Yoga teachers go into China, but there is a language problem. You cannot just pull somebody or an English major student come out and translate yoga. This lady made a name somehow for herself as a professional translator of the yoga science. So she had translated for many, many different yoga traditions for many, many different yoga teachers. At the end of this public session, she put her hands up and asked: “There are so many yogas. This yoga that yoga. What makes you so different?” I was taken aback. What makes us so different from all these other traditions?

I paused a little. So I stood back and then a thought came to my mind. I said I cannot really say how we are different, but may I put in a way that I say why we are the same? We are not different. If in your yoga tradition the primary means of practice is meditation, and all these asanas, pranayamas, study of the texts are ways to facilitate a better meditation, then we are not different. We are the same. If your yoga tradition has as a mission, to set out to relieve the pains and sufferings in the world and bring people to recognize the divinity within, then we are the same. If your yoga tradition comes from a long long long tradition handed down by guru to disciple, guru to disciple for thousands of years nonstop, and is not a recent invention by a suddenly enlightened being, then we are the same. If in your yoga tradition there are classes to be taught and each of those classes is an inspiration, some kind of an initiation, and it is not just a transmission of techniques, it is not just a transmission of intellectual knowledge, then we are the same. So I told her in conclusion, I could go on for quite a few more “similarities” but I think that is probably enough to tell how we are not that different from the other yogas, provided that the things I have just expressed are also what you believe in. If so, then we are the same. We are not that different.

So that is in a way, to summarize my personal take of the tradition that is long established, following flowing down all the way from the Hiranyagarbha to Patañjali, to Vyasa to Swami Rama. And then to Swami Veda who founded AHYMSIN in 2007 and had it registered in India. He served as the first Spiritual Guide. And in 2015 when Swami Veda left his body, he left instruction very clearly that Swami Ritavan is his successor of AHYMSIN, as the Spiritual Guide. So this is the lineage, this is the tradition that we follow and please do not deviate from that. Let’s keep it, this purity. Let’s not digress into something very fancy but not true to our lineage or not true to the pure yoga tradition. For instance, one of the things Swami Veda has left as a standing instruction to all of us is he said: ‘When I am not in the body, please do not make the ashram into a therapeutic or ayurvedic centre. Do not make this ashram into a stress management or sleep enhancement kind of institute. No. Keep it pure.’ Hopefully, during the time we are all here, we can sense that purity of this lineage, of this tradition. And hopefully when we go back we bring it back with us and we spread it around with our friends, with our family, with fellow seekers.

Having said that, I remember it was in 2010 when I was asked to join an AHYMSIN meeting in Malaysia, and at that meeting Swami Veda said: ‘What makes us different?’If you want to say, you can say three things.

One is three-minute meditation. Do not underestimate the power, the effectiveness of a three-minute meditation. This is what we emphasize a lot.

Another unique feature of our lineage according to Swami Veda is the full moon meditation. Please keep it as much as you can and encourage your friends to join because that is the opportunity where all sit together at the same time. We may be physically apart, but we all sit together at the same time. Previously it was Swami Veda who would always sit with us, and now it is Swami Ritavan who will sit with us at each and every session globally.

And the third thing Swami Veda said makes us different is silence. He is a master of silence. If you look through his lectures, there are so many materials, so many sessions, so many teachings he gave about silence. Now that is an irony. He spoke so much about silence, and we already came out with one book, a very lengthy book which takes a lot of many hours to read. That book is called Silence. And the next book on silence, Silence II, is on its way. So, it is a way for Swami Veda [to] say, keep it with us, make sure that we do understand and do appreciate silence as a practice. So do set the time regularly during the year, during the month, even during the week and make that a silence moment. That is the moment that truly belongs to each one of us, to yourself, to myself.

So finally, I would just like to share is that we are all here for one purpose and one purpose alone, that is our own spiritual progress. And hopefully we can all reach the destination of moksha. It is all about each and every one of us. Swami Veda again and again said ‘Your personal progress is of the utmost importance. But, you will progress more if you will help others progress. You will progress more, and that is how we achieve progress, and that is the teaching Swami Veda has given to us specially in that little orange book called Sadhana in Applied Spirituality. The real sadhana, he taught us, is in everyday life, and it is not just sitting for fifteen, thirty minutes, one hour, two hours a day with eyes closed. We have to apply the teachings and apply those into our daily lives. He said, ‘That is the real sadhana.’ and I would very much encourage you if you do not yet have a copy of that book, please do get a copy of that book. I have many friends, many friends, who had told me personally, they said sometimes they went through a problem, an issue, they did not know what to do, and so they went to that book to turn the pages and unexpectedly the answer was right there. Very pertinent to the situation the person was in at that moment. Previously they glanced through ‘ya, ya, ya right, that is nice.’ But at that very instance, they turned a page and said, ‘Ah’. And that is his / their ah-ha moment, and that is the blessing Swami Veda always gives us. He said ‘May your problems not be answered. May your questions not be answered. May they be resolved.’ And I struggled very hard when I translated that line into Chinese for my friends. He did not use the word ‘dissolved’; he said ‘resolved’. So how we resolve the question? It is the grace that he has given to us, the blessing that he has given to us.

And with that, I conclude my short address. Thank you all for coming and hope you will enjoy your stay here…

Editor’s Note

This is a transcript of the opening talk on 25th February 2019 at the 2019 Sangha Gathering at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in Rishikesh, India.

Gaṇeśa Mantra (2023-25)

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ।

Om Gaṁ Gaṇapataye Namaḥ ।

Salutations to Lord Ganapati.

Gaṇeśa Mantra Recitation by Pandit Priyadarshan (Pierre Lefebvre)

Editor’s Note

The Ganesha Mantra was given by Swami Ritavan Bharati, the Spiritual Guide of AHYMSIN, on the Mahashivaratri of 2023 (Feb 18, 2023), and will be practiced by all the members of the AHYMSIN Sangha for the duration of two years, until the Mahashivaratri of 2025.

To read more about this AHYMSIN Sangha Practice, kindly read the “Transitioning from Ganesha Gayatri to the essential Ganesha Mantra” by Swami Ritavan Bharati.

Q: “Can non-initiates, who do not have their personal mantra, undertake this practice?”

Swami Veda’s answer: It is best that you consult with the closest spiritual adviser…

Now, two principles about any observance:

For this do read my little booklet: Special Mantras.

You begin your practice with this saṃkalpa, resolve, “I undertake this observance so that by Guru’s grace I may attain mokṣa, liberation.” You will do this practice with this intention, with this purpose.

One addition: “May I attain mokṣa, liberation, by having my wisdom impelled and inspired” – so that all your acts come from deep wisdom, all your words flow from the depth of wisdom, and in all your communications and relationships that wisdom makes its presence felt, so that the entire AHYMSIN family also, as your own personal family, may be guided by that divine wisdom.

Previous Sangha Practices

Saumya Mantra (1997-2000) [1]

सौम्या सौम्यतराशेष सौम्येभ्यस्त्वतिसुन्दरी ।
परापराणां परमा त्वमेव परमेश्वरी ॥
saumyā saumyatarāśeṣa saumyebhyas tvati sundarī,
parāparāṇāṁ paramā tvameva parameśvarī.

She, of the lunar aspect, moonlike, peaceful and kind, is even more beautiful than all lunar-like forces and peaceful entities combined in the entire universe.
Thou are the supreme Lady. Thou alone art the supreme Lady who transcends all transcendent realities and immanent forces.

Saumya-Tara Mantra (2001-02)[2]

श्रीं
सौम्या सौम्यतराशेष सौम्येभ्यस्त्वतिसुन्दरी ।
परापराणां परमा त्वमेव परमेश्वरी ॥
तारे तुत्तारे तुरे स्वाहा ॥
स्त्रीं
Shreem
Saumyā saumyatarāśeṣa saumyebhyas tvati sundarī,
parāparāṇāṁ paramā tvameva parameśvarī.
Tāre tut tāre ture svāhā.
Streem

She, of the lunar aspect, moonlike, peaceful and kind, is even more beautiful than all lunar-like forces and peaceful entities combined in the entire universe.

Thou are the supreme Lady. Thou alone art the supreme Lady who transcends all transcendent realities and immanent forces.

I prostrate to the Liberator, Mother of all the Victorious Ones.

Mahā-mṛtyuñjaya Mantra (2002-07)[3]

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे
सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्
मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
Om Tryambakam yajaamahe
Sugandhim pushti vardhanam
Urvaarukamiva bandanaan
Mrityor mukshiiya maamritaat.

Unto Him who is one with the Three Mothers (shaktis of Will, Knowledge and Action); the dweller of ajna and the sahasrara chakras, we offer our very selves in sacrifice unto Him who awakens our shakti right from the muladhara chakra, thus activating fragrances in our body, prana and mind, unto Him who nourishes all our shaktis, strengthens our devotion by his grace, and makes us advance into the spiritual dimension. As a melon drops from the vine upon ripening, so, may I, upon the ripening of the fruits of our actions be released, attain moksha from bondage that is death, and thereby may I never again be parted from the immortality of atman, the Spiritual Self or parama-atman, the Supreme Self.

Mahā-mṛtyuñjaya Mantra Recitation by Swami Veda Bharati

Ityukta Mantra (2007-2010)[4]

इत्युक्ता सा तदा देवी गम्भीरान्तःस्मिता जगौ ।
दुर्गा भगवती भद्रा ययेदं धार्यते जगत् ॥
ity-uktā sā tadā devi gambhīrāntah-smitā jagau
durgā bhagavatī bhadrā yayedam dhāryate

Thus addressed, the She, the Divine Mother, who is difficult to reach, who is the blessed one with all blessing, who is the very embodiment of bene, with a deep interior smile, with a smile in her deep interior, singingly said.

Who said? She by whom this whole world, whole universe, is upheld and sustained. What she said — is not mentioned in this mantra. What she says to you inside — you have to listen.

Ityukta Mantra Recitation by Swami Veda Bharati

Extended Gayatri Mantra (2010-2013)[5]

अखण्डमण्डलाकारं व्याप्तं येन चराचरम्।
तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥
akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāraṁ vyāptaṁ yena carācaram |
tat-padaṁ darśitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ ||

To that glorious Guru my homage, who has shown me that state which is identical with the unbroken full orb of the sun, which pervades all things moving and unmoving.

ॐ भूः ॐ भुवः ॐ स्वः ॐ महः ॐ जन ॐ तपः ॐ सत्यं
ॐ तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्
ॐ आपो ज्योतीरसो अमृतं ब्रह्म भूः भुवः स्वः ॐ
āūṁ bhūḥ āūṁ bhuvaḥ āūṁ svaḥ āūṁ mahaḥ āūṁ janaḥ āūṁ tapaḥ āūṁ satyaṁ
āūṁ tatsavitur vareṇyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pra-codayāt
āūṁ āpo jyotīraso amṛtaṁ brahma bhūḥ bhuvaḥ svaḥ āūṁ

Om. In Earth, Sky and Heaven, I do meditate on, and sustain in myself, the beautiful brilliance of God who shines in the splendor of the sun.

Extended Gayatri Mantra Recitation and Guidance by Swami Veda Bharati

Shiva Sankalpa Sukta (2013-2018): Practice for the Next Five Years and the Rest of Your Life[6]

तन्मे मनः शिवसङ्कल्पमस्तु॥
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

May that, my mind, be filled with beautiful and benevolent resolves.

Saumya-Tara Mantra (2019-2022)[7]

सौम्या सौम्यतराशेष सौम्येभ्यस्त्वतिसुन्दरी ।
परापराणां परमा त्वमेव परमेश्वरी ॥
तारे तुत्तारे तुरे स्वाहा ॥
Saumyā saumyatarāśeṣa saumyebhyas tvati sundari.
Parāparāṇāṁ paramā tvameva parameśvarī.
Tāre tut tāre ture svāhā.

She, of the lunar aspect, moonlike, peaceful and kind, is even more beautiful than all lunar-like forces and peaceful entities combined in the entire universe.

Thou are the supreme Lady. Thou alone art the supreme Lady who transcends all transcendent realities and immanent forces.

I prostrate to the Liberator, Mother of all the Victorious Ones.

Saumya-Tara Mantra Recitation by Pandit Priyadarshan (Pierre Lefebvre)

Gaṇeśa Gāyatrī Mantra (2022-23) [8]

ॐ तत्-पुरुषाय विद्महे
वक्रतुण्डाय धीमहि ।
तन्नो दन्ती प्रचोदयात्॥
om tat-puruṣāya vidmahe
vakratuṇḍāya dhīmahi ।
tanno dantī pracodayāt ॥

We seek to know that supreme divine person.
We meditate upon the one with the curved trunk.
(The curved trunk represents the base of consciousness as seen in the writing of the letter OM)
May that one who has one tooth inspire us.
(the one tooth represents the principle whereby dualities are merged into oneness)

Gaṇeśa Gāyatrī Mantra Recitation by Swami Veda Bharati (108 times)

Gaṇeśa Gāyatrī Mantra Slow Recitation by Pandit Priyadarshan (Pierre Lefebvre)

Mother Gāyatrī Prayer Recitation by Pandit Priyadarshan (Pierre Lefebvre)

Editor’s Note:

[i]For more information on the Saumya Mantra, kindly see –

[2] For more information on the Saumya-Tara Mantra, kindly see –

[3] For more information on the Mahā-mṛtyuñjaya Mantra, kindly see –

[4] For more information on the Ityukta Mantra, kindly see – “Ityukta Mantra Meaning by Swami Veda Bharati”

[5] For more information on the Extended Gayatri Mantra, kindly see –

[6] For more information on the Practice for the Next Five Years and the Rest of Your Life, kindly see –

[7] For more information about the Saumya-Tara mantra practice, please see:

[8] For more information about the Ganesha Gayatri mantra practice, please see: “Guidance on the Ganesha Gayatri Mantra – 2022 New AHYMSIN Sangha Practice” by Swami Ritavan Bharati.

Q: “Can non-initiates, who do not have their personal mantra, undertake this practice?”

Swami Veda’s answer: It is best that you consult with the closest spiritual adviser. A list of those has been circulated to you. And the spiritual adviser may advise you to just do the simple Gāyatrī if you have never done it before. Now, two principles about any observance:

  • For this do read my little booklet: Special Mantras.
  • You begin your practice with this saṃkalpa, resolve, “I undertake this observance so that by Guru’s grace I may attain mokṣa, liberation.” You will do this practice with this intention, with this purpose.

One addition: “May I attain mokṣa, liberation, by having my wisdom impelled and inspired” – so that all your acts come from deep wisdom, all your words flow from the depth of wisdom, and in all your communications and relationships that wisdom makes its presence felt, so that the entire AHYMSIN family also, as your own personal family, may be guided by that divine wisdom.