Category: Swami Ritavan Bharati

Jyoti Bhava: Illuminating Joyful Living

“We are members in the spiritual body of the Gurus. Their life-force, their grace flows through us. Our own minds grow in this grace only when we remember that in all our work we are serving as members, as organs, of that Spirit.” – Swami Veda Bharati

As constituents of this Sangha, connected by the radiant presence of the Guru, we aspire to come together regularly to tread the path towards spiritual enlightenment. Gathering with reverence, we contemplate our individual paths, plan our future steps, and fortify our resolve for profound dedication to our spiritual practices and to the Guru’s Mission we serve.

I am thrilled to extend my personal invitation to all members of the Guru family to join us at the beautiful St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, USA from July 25th to August 3rd, 2024, as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of our inaugural Sangha Gathering at this very location with Swami Veda Bharati.

Recognize the source of yearning, and listen to the pleading of your soul. Listen to the inner call and receive the blessings of the Tradition deepening your sadhana during this unique gathering of like-minded seekers. Through daily yoga and meditation sessions, and inspired teachings, you will renew and transform your knowledge, and experience the deepening silence of introspection and contemplation enhancing the clarity of your spiritual journey.

Our theme for this special gathering will be ‘Jyoti Bhava: Illuminating Joyful Living’. There will be daily presentations by senior members of the Tradition offering valuable insights into the practice of Mantra Sadhana (japa & ajapa japa), the eight limbs of yoga, upayas (spiritual practices), chitta-prasadana (purification of consciousness), and ishwar-pranidhana (surrender to the divine). These teachings serve as a guiding light, inspiring participants to embrace joyful living and cultivate a deeper understanding of the Self.

“May all the lights you see remind you of your self-luminous soul. That Divine Force pervades and permeates everything, animating all living beings. Seated in the lotus of the heart, pray to that, the source of light, love, and happiness.” – Swami Veda Bharati

Editor’s Note:

To read more about the upcoming AHYMSIN Sangha of the Americas, kindly see – https://www.ahymsin.org/event/ahymsin-sangha-of-the-americas/

For more information, kindly email: info@himalayanyogatradition.com

You may be interested in this article regarding the American Sangha gathering: https://www.ahymsin.org/why-i-will-joyfully-attend-the-sangha-of-the-americas/

[Swami Ritavan completed a weeklong seminar on Intensive Meditation that was well received by those attending where he introduced the importance of rasana-buddhi. Through mindfulness and meditation, the experience of any perception can be transformed through entry into the subtle body and experiencing the sacred in buddhi. This art of joyful living will be the subject of the upcoming 10-day Entrance to the Subtle Body seminar at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, Rishikesh from 25th February through 5th March.]

Entering the subtle realms of Mind in the Buddhi

There is a word in the Sanskrit language. The word is RASA. The word, rasa means a juice, the flavor, as the essence. Rasa means that essence as the experience. That which you taste, not merely the object of taste but the object of taste, the process of tasting, and the experience of tasting.

The object of taste, the process, the interaction that occurs between the one who is tasting and that which is being tasted, and the experience of taste itself. The sense and the experience of the juice. The sensation of the experience and the juice of what you are tasting all combine together – not as divided ideas but as a singularity that is called RASA. And, when you know the art of tasting, the art of experiencing the juice, the flavor, the subtlest possible essence, then you know the art of life.

We have lost the art of enjoying life. In the ancient texts of the meditative tradition, there are some passages; and in the Bhagavad Gita 4:24, the verse Brahmar Panam… That (Brahman – God) is rasa. Brahman is the flavor, Brahman is the essence of everything. All pleasure that flows from Brahman, and Brahman alone remains. When any pleasure becomes an experience of Unified Consciousness- a Divine presence, then you are experiencing, you are enjoying, RASA. The yogi lives in the mental field of that RASA, that essence, that ecstasy, that flavor, that juice of universal existence — becomes so blissful. When you are enjoying your food, when you go to its subtle-most essence, you are then enjoying that omnipresent God which being omnipresent is also in the food.

People try to derive pleasure by paying attention to the object of enjoyment. The term RASA implies that you concentrate on the experience itself, not only on the object.
There are two sources of pleasure.

1. One source is restraint so that you engage slowly with awareness from moment to moment.
2. The other source of pleasure is concentration itself, absorption of the experiencer, the object of the experience, and the process of experiencing.

Moment to moment concentrate on the smallest, the littlest taste bud that has been touched. The RASA is the essence, revealing the universal principle, Brahman – God, the ever-present omniscient consciousness.

Then you have understood how to enjoy in the totality principle and this is the art of enjoying.

A yogi, whose awareness rests in atma-artha operates from the rasana-buddhi and is called a RASIKA — the enjoyer. It is a term used in the ancient literature as the enjoyer. The yogi’s game is the whole universe. He plays with universal consciousness as a game called reality. He can change water into wine, or feed a multitude out of five loaves. What a game, what a play, what ecstasies he enjoys and experiences.

The entire essence of the experience of body and mind is hidden in the subtlest faculty of buddhi. When the sattvic buddhi is filled with light, the rasa – enjoyment of this sublime illumination, becomes the flavorful juice(amrita) that assimilates into the entire personality. This nectar of immortality-rasa drop by drop is introduced throughout the body and mind as the experience of aliveness. The essence of our entire sense experience becomes a light, drop-by-drop, sent forth through every possible cell of the body. Then one enjoys not only the objects of senses but that faculty of mind from which enjoyment proceeds. His joy is not in the sensual pleasure of the physical act. Only the novice is aware of that enjoyment in a physical object. He is the master who enjoys the very principle that enjoys. That principle is rasana-buddhi, and that rasana-buddhi is the reflective mirror of the Atmartha, where Atman remains Brahman as pure Consciousness.

It is with that experience within the buddhi that the modification or alternations may occur through the practice of mindfulness and meditation. By imbuing any particular experience with something more pleasant, virtuous, sacred that the experience changes. Rightly or wrongly, by whatever samskaras and associations the experience changes. When you put the spiritual, the atmartha into that same normal ordinary meaningless experience, which caused attractions and aversions, the experience is transformed and now becomes a holy act.

To apply this principle in your life, there are two steps in your introspection, in your spiritual observation, examination, and analysis.

First ask yourself: “Does this emotion lead me to the sublime? Examine the feeling. and if not, then discard it for it is not worth pursuing. Next, ask yourself, does my present emotion lead others to the sublime?

These two questions are the basis of your examination and analysis: does it lead me to the sublime, and does this state of mind emanating from me lead others to the sublime? If not, discard it, It is not worth pursuing. When you have cultivated a sublime emotion within you, that sublime emotion becomes so filling, makes you so full that it overflows, you become so full, that you overflow with that- sublime emotion and carry everyone along who is near you into the flood of that emotion. Cultivating such a sublime emotion is an art; then you learn to learn this art of entering the subtle body and enjoying life.

(Adapted from HSP #2506 – 06-07-1984 from Yoga concept of God: Rasa – the Flavor of Essence by Swami Veda Bharati)

A – U – M the eternal pauseless transition moment-to-moment, year-to-year, life-to-next life, created, sustained, dissolved, reflected in the Transcendental Breath. The gift of life is light, the infinite’s delight. The gift of light is love, received in your sadhana as knowledge, devotion, and selfless actions.

This theme, “Aapo Deepo Bhava”, “Light thy own Lamp” has been our contemplation throughout the year. The theme of our Sangha gathering in Rishikesh was also the theme for the regional sangha retreats in Taiwan and Thailand. The light of mantra in meditation, the light of contemplation in the silence retreats of Europe and America, ignited the heart-flame of our initiates across the globe.

Far too often we remain hurried and worried, burdened and buried in habit patterns of desires and possessiveness. We seek freedom from this ignorance of hurt, harm, and hate, but we are unable to discover our innate goodness to support the qualities of non-attachment, forgiveness, sincerity, and truthfulness. This year we have searched our hearts for answers to free ourselves from the limitations of temporary distractions.

Let us resolve to consciously weave the fabric of life through the illumination of our sadhana that ignites hope in reforming and transforming our thoughts, speech, and actions. Resolve to use the inner eye that ‘sees’ with the light empathy and understanding to experience peace and harmony in our relationships.  We are blessed with the firmness of the Ganesha mantra to remain steady in our faith, and through prayer, meditation and contemplation, we continue on the path.

Sadhana ‘lights’ our intellect to reveal our samskaras and vasanas, and illuminates the path with intuition and inspiration from the higher force of Atman. We are continually reminded, from this Centre of Consciousness, to live with the light of purpose and attain the highest goal. Our sadhana remains our path to freedom, to train our intellect, and to reorganize our lives and transform our personalities.

With the Blessings of Gurudev, we are reminded to meditate, thus attuning to the inner light that cultivates a mind-culture of peace, harmony, and love. May your contemplations reveal this truth that the whole world is One family through our intention of loving-kindness and compassion. In this coming New Year, resolve to live in the world selflessly and effectively, becoming resourceful and enjoying the inner light that guides our lives in service of humanity.

With Blessings of the Lineage,
srb

[Swami Ritavan Bharati, Ashram Pramukha and Spiritual Guide of AHYMSIN, taught a class on ‘From Darkness to Light’ at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama on 23 november 2023. You may watch a glimpse of the session by clicking on the video below.]

A ray that is a person starts their search, to understand why they are bound by this darkness. They pass through many states of development, from darkness to light, for an inner light to understand oneself.

In so doing, eliminating the false identities, the pulls and pushes of that which holds you in ignorance, eliminating and moving on into progressively higher, subtler, more intense experiences that radiate that joy. Emerging from this that is of a small nature, a limiting nature and seeking the greater, the good, the beautiful & the joyful. And then you unite the separate parts into a progressive fullness, wholeness, a continuum that seeks union as the infinite. You cross the boundaries, having loosened the boundaries and the bondages that tie you. And thus, you realise this universe without and the universe within are all one of a divine recognition, and of a divine origin.

To live life as light. To live life as light of freedom, joy and experience, the ever-present Ananda—Sat-chit-ananda. Know yourself to be that.

The darkness of the untrue will only lead to a fear of death. Thus, we say, asato ma sadgamaya, lead me from darkness to light and lead me from mortality to immortality, for in light there is no fear. In that light there is no doubt, for you recognise yourself to be that ray that has come from an infinite source. Thus, there is no ending, having also understood that there has been no beginning, simply recognition of a journey.

Our Gurudeva Swami Rama always talked about how we are ancient travellers. From eternity to eternity, we take on this material nature, out of compassion and love, to once again connect to those suffering souls of humanity, and to bring that pleasantness to those minds. So today in the kingdom of stillness and silence that is your meditation that you will enjoy, make a resolve and set the intention to remain awake and realise the purpose of life. Resolve to continue by way of your meditation to dissolve the darkness of illusion and ignorance so that each meditation is simply a revelation of light and love.

Om; Year by year, a blessing arises that becomes an opportunity of pilgrimage.

Recently, myself and Acharya Rabindra, following our Shringeri pilgrimage some years ago, continue in the footsteps of our Parampara and as Adi Shankaracharya made a visit to Nashik, we too went on another pilgrimage to the Shri Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple[1] and the Shri Kalaram Temple[2] in Nashik.

The following is a reminder of the true meaning of pilgrimage.

For uncountable millennia certain places have been dedicated only to prayer, to worship, to meditation. Such sacred places are places where there is a particular concentration, a vortex, of an unnamed spiritual energy. It is a holy place of pilgrimage where manifestation of divinity took a form that conferred grace upon an ascetic, or revealed the divine word, where thousands gather and scatter flowers, offer worship, offer charity, receive healing, have their wishes fulfilled. An adhikarin, a worthy one, fulfilling the qualifications, s/he may receive the rarest privilege of the darshana of Shiva.

Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple in Nashik

Kalaram Temple in Nashik

A pilgrimage may be undertaken with many different spiritual goals in mind. It may be an act of Pashcattapa, acknowledging to oneself one’s failures, misdeeds, acts of hurt, dishonesty, or violence. One then wants to be freed of the burden by undertaking a Prayashchitta, an act of atonement and purification. These acts of atonement can take many forms. After completing the pilgrimage one forgives oneself, feels lightened, unburdened, ready to make a fresh start with a clearer heart and a cleaner mind. It becomes a transition from past burdens, fixations, obsessions, and self-repeating habits, towards shaping for oneself a new personality and a fresh plan for sculpting one’s thoughts and sentiments.

The mystery of sanctity is such that the spot identified was dug and an icon was found there, buried centuries ago. Such icons are called svayam-bhu, the self-manifested ones. Thereafter a temple may be constructed at the holy place.

The pilgrim makes the resolve to thank the Divinity for the opportunity of being at a place where the Lord of the Universe at one time made Her/His playground and wrought miracles and uplifted and liberated the souls from misery, granted grace to an ascetic, and revealed the Divine Word. “May I succeed in these acts of renunciation and self-purification” – prays the pilgrim before leaving his/her accustomed place for shores and conditions unknown.

During such a pilgrimage, an inspiration may arise in one’s mind that one has been freed not only from death, but from fear of death (which is the true cause of all death principle) and now one feels ready to enter the life of a renunciate. It was at that time I felt an electric current rise up into me, that whirled around me three times and then subsided. It was an immersion into a holy river of light, flowing from the mind of Brahma, the feet of Vishnu, from the hair-locks of Shiva, through countless generations of Himalayan Masters.

(excerpted & adapted from the booklet: “What is a Pilgrim” by Swami Veda Bharati)

Footnotes:

[1] The Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple is an ancient temple in the Trimbakeshwar town in the Nashik District of Maharashtra, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve jyotirlingas.

The word ‘Jyotirlinga’ means the ‘Pillar of light’. This divine Jyotirlinga is the only Jyotirlinga in India that represents not only Lord Shiva (Triymbak-raj) but also Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma. The linga has three faces, which represent the Trinity or Trimurti (i.e., Lord Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) who are considered as the Creator, Preserver, and Destructor of the entire universe.

[2] The Kalaram Temple is a temple in Nashik district in Maharashtra, dedicated to the Lord Shri Rama. The Kalaram temple derives its name from the black statue of Lord Rama. According to ancient epic of the Ramayana, Lord Rama was sent in exile for 14 years. After the tenth year of exile, Lord Rama along with his brother Lord Lakshmana and his wife Goddess Sita, lived for two and half years on the northern bank of the Godavari near Nasik at a place known as Panchavati.

Our beloved Swami Veda Bharati’s 90th Birthday (24 March 2023) comes as a moment of loving remembrance and marks the beginning of a new era for all of Swamiji’s devotees, initiates and students. Swami Ritavan Bharati has named this new era as the ‘Decade of Loving Transformation: 2023-2033’, until Swamiji’s centenary birthday celebration in 2033, which would be marked by a large gathering at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) ashram.

Our dear Swami Veda 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 for our life, – “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 Loving 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.

In loving service to the Lineage

Swami Ritavan Bharati

The look on your faces seems to give me the impression that you are examining & questioning the fruits of your Sankalpa-vow, the one year of the many thousands upon thousands of Ganesh Gayatri that you recited in mind & heart. Question only – have I deeply felt something? Examine only – have I observed some changes in myself.

Let us look again and remind ourselves once again of the purpose of the mantra, and the vow of your one-year dedication and efforts.

Lord Ganesha, the divine force who is the remover of obstacles in our life, in our sadhana; and provides the physical and emotional stability that we all aspire for by removing such obstacles, resistances, and conflicts enhancing our clarity and spiritual understanding lighting and enlightening our path of sadhana.

Lord Ganesha represents firm determination. Whenever our mind is resolute, it is also fearless. By letting go of fear all our obstacles are systematically overcome.

Ganesha, the lord of the ‘Adhara’, allows the Muladhara to form a stable platform, an essential foundation for your personality, thus establishing inner strength and conviction for all your choices, all your decisions, and a base of intelligence.

Your practice, your meditations, become regular and consistent and carry prominence in your daily routines. Meditation makes time for itself. Through this deepening awareness and the depth of this stabilizing force, your transformation is self-inspired through the fruits of divine light, innate wisdom unshakable faith, and the grace-filled presence of the divine force,

The ajapa-japa of the Ganesha mantra provide an abundance of grace, by way of purification leading to pacification along with determination and aspiration that leads to Self-Realization.

The global sangha mantra contributes to the collective intention. Last year with the Ganesha Gayatri japa and this year with the essential Ganesha mantra we are bought together into the collective mindfield of our Tradition. That collective heart of hearts in which the Gurus of our living tradition will “speak” when we choose to listen and embrace the Ganesha mantra with full faith, sincerity and humility. Let Go of expectations, fears, and anticipations, and let the Guru-Light of Love shine on your Buddhi as you become still and silent.

You have prepared the soil nicely through the past year’s japa of Ganesha Gayatri. This has been the test for soil well-nurtured, mind well prepared and polished by the ajapa-japa. Your purification has transformed your buddhi through refining your inclinations and redefining your habits in more sattvic ways.

Please Remember and let me remind you:  there is a deeper natural inclination – the inclination for Moksha – far deeper than any instinctual urges, far deeper than any emotional needs and desires is that burning determination of knowing thyself and thereby lighting the lamp of buddhi to reflect the pure Self-Atman. Your meditation IS the very reminder and the very act of lighting the lamp. And thus experience the most natural state of your mind as enlightened, the Samadhi state.

The theme of this sangha, Aapo Deepo Bhava, reminds you to recognize the journey, recognize the goal. Let your japa become your journey and your ajapa-japa become your goal. And thereby recognize that which is ever pure, ever wise, and ever free as the most natural state of your being. Through the grace of God, Guru and Self, you now recognize yourself and the true Self of your pure Being. You have nothing to “do”, nothing to achieve, other than letting go. Just “Let Go”.  Swami Rama reminded us again and again, “All you need to do is let go and re-attach here. Let go of the attachments of this shore and simply reach the other shore.”

And we will use the mantra as a vehicle for this coming year, along with your personal mantras, plus honoring the commitments you have made as the purascharanas of your specialty mantras.

So, as we prepare, bring your mind’s awareness into the meditative state. Prepare the inner eye and look within. Prepare with a pure heart, to empty and thereby to receive from within. And now, return to the source. Follow the spoken word that becomes the thought, the thought that becomes the wave, the wave of that feeling, the immersion of that awareness into the unified consciousness.

Breathing out and breathing in where that life force is measured by the flow of this prana stream. Regulating that flow as the pillar of our personality, a pillar-like stream of light as the central-stream, the sushumna awakens. Let it flow from the very crown of your head to the very base of your spine and the aadhara.  In that sushumna stream, in that flow, the light of wisdom is revealed. Your entire being becomes an ear, becomes an eye, so as to open our hearts and invite, open our minds and embrace that light of grace as our diksha.

The essential Ganesha mantra is given:

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ।

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ।

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ।

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah…

And now: nonverbal speaking with only the tongue with lips sealed;

Now, tongue stilled observing the words in the mind as a mental recitation;

now, that flow of the mind, mantra, prana and breath: inhaling thinking the mantra, exhaling thinking the mantra; inhaling & exhaling, inhaling & exhaling, breathing in and out, maintaining the mantra in the mind along with your breathing.

And now as a wave of memory-like thought flowing, again and again in your mind where the mantra is no long a cognitive thought.

Now, the wave that was a memory, a semblance of cognition, now subsides into presence, the unified field of awareness and remains still and silent. Where each fiber of your body, each strand of your personality, now echoes that vibratory quality of your mantra as unity, harmony, stability, and strength.

Remaining the observer, remaining the witness, returning to the pillar of light and from the crown of the head to the base of the spine, breath, mantra and mind’s awareness flow as that illuminating central stream of the sushumna flow.

Receive guru’s grace as the illuminating quality-prakasha, as the mental state of your mantra.

Slowly make your transition, feeling the gentle movement of your navel region, as you mentally recite –

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ।

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah

Gently open your eyes, yet the mind remains attuned to Om Gam Ganapataye Namah, as you now pay tribute to the long lineage of sages and resolve in your mind that each mental recitation is a blessing of Lord Ganesha, providing stability and illumination to your buddhi to reveal your true nature, transform your personality and guide you throughout this year of 2023.

Let me simply remind you of our renewed sankalpa that we have taken with the Ganesh Gayatri now absorbed into this essential Ganesh mantra.

Collectively, as the Sangha, we vow towards a pillar like stability and stillness in mind and emotion, perseverance in asana, daily meditation (same time, same place), removal of obstacles in sadhana and in daily life and in relationships, purification of buddhi, resolved on enlightenment, harmony with Mother Earth with a resolute commitment to Ahimsa and non-violence, protection, and security through freedom from all fears and their evolutes. What are the evolutes of fear? They are such dangers as: worries, anxieties, anger, hatred, bitterness, envy, prejudice, revenge, and so forth. We resolve again that this mantra is a spark, an illumination of the spirit which has been gifted to us.

As with all mantras, we begin with the invocation. This invocation was given to us by Swami Veda and can be recited or simply remembered as a way to prepare the mind for japa.

This is the invocation of Mother Divine, as the source of all mantras by way of Nada and Hiranya-garbha.

गायत्री मातः। हे गुरो। श्री गुरो।

सद् बुद्धिं मे प्रयच्च।

चित्तं मे निर्मलं शान्तं प्रसन्नं भूयात्।

सर्वे मे भावाः शुध्यन्ताम्।

मैत्री भावनया क्षमां याचितुं आत्मबलं मे देहि।

ॐ तत्सद् ब्रह्मार्पणम् अस्तु॥

gāyatrī mātaḥ | he guro | śrī guro |

sad buddhiṁ me prayacca |

cittaṁ me nirmalaṁ śāntaṁ prasannaṁ bhūyāt |

sarve me bhāvāḥ śudhyantām |

maītrī bhāvanayā kṣamāṁ yācituṁ ātma balaṁ me dehi |

om tat-sad brahmārpaṇam astu ||

Mother Gayatri, Oh Gurudeva, Shri Gurudeva

Grant me pure buddhi.

May my mind become immaculate, quiet, peaceful, clear and pleasant.

May all my emotions be purified.

Grant me the spiritual strength to ask for forgiveness with a sentiment of amity.

Om. That (alone is) Real.

May (all this endeavour) be (accepted as my) surrender and offering to Brahman.

For your purascharana, you will complete four malas per day, four hundred recitations per day over period of this year. The mantra is shorter no doubt. So, put this japa into the routines of your daily practice and also give it some extra attention throughout your day. During times when emotional stability is needed, this divine force will help you. As you become familiar with it, the speed, the rhythm and frequency will become more subtle and within 15 minutes you can easily recite your 400 mantras. Remember to make the offering na-maha, not me and not mine. I surrender the fruits of this mantra for the Sangha members, for the sake of humanity’s suffering, for the sake of humanity seeking kindness and compassion. Resolve that through the blessings of this mantra there will be a refinement of buddhi and in your emotions that will be reflected in the transformation of my behaviours and attitudes with my family, friends and with others.

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah,

In service of our Himalayan Lineage,

Swami Ritavan Bharati

Editor’s Note:

October marked the inaugural opening of Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama for all our family members from around the globe. Swami Ritavan Bharati, our Ashram Pramukha and Spiritual Guide, used this occasion, following the pandemic years, to gather an international audience with the theme of Yoga Nidra.  The weeklong retreat offered many themes and practicums on Yoga Nidra along with special meditations guided by Swami Ritavan.

This meditation was adapted from the archive of meditations by Swami Veda Bharati. The practice below is shared to offer the initiates of the Tradition a glimpse into the vast collection of special meditations guided by Swami Veda. If you would like to incorporate this meditation within your daily practice, you are requested to kindly reach out to your mantra initiator and/or the AHYMSIN Spiritual Committee for personal guidance.

Swami Ritavan also shared an audio recording of a guided meditation on “Om-jyoti”, which can be heard here:

OM; Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya…Lead me from darkness to light, lead me from darkness of ignorance to the to enlightenment! Let this become a prayer encompassing your entire heart and mind; an affirmation: jyotiraham, jyotiraham, jyotiraham. I am light, I am light, I am light!

Sit in your meditation posture. Your spine is the central mountain of the Universe. The central pole of the universe. The point from where you and the universe begin and end. Fix your spine – steady, motionless, erect. Bring your awareness to the asana, the seat you’re sitting on. Worshipfully surrender this seat and offer it to guru parampara, to guru lineage – may they come and meditate on this seat.

Your body, a temple of God, constructed of configurations of light. Know it to be thus. Learn to worship in this temple that is made of light – the divine light of divine Consciousness, the emanation of your Atman, your spiritual Self.

Let all your muscles & joints, your neuromuscular system relax so that no tension is blocking the free flow of light.

Established the breath from the seat of prana, at the navel center, with deep diaphragmatic breathing.

Your breath Deepening and Expanding flowing gently, smoothly, unhindered through the entire body.

The whole body breathing from the crown to the adhara and asana, this seat, and from your adhara to the crown, through this entire body.

This space, your body occupies, becoming a configuration of light.

Your breath awareness flowing through this illumined space.

Where now, within that illumined space, a resonance begins silently resounding with Om Jyotihi, Om Jyotihi, Om Jyotihi,

The sound, breath, light, filling this sacred chamber of your being.

‘Om Jyotihi, that Light’, this entire chamber as light and resonance, a single presence of illumination-Jyoti as mantra and breath flowing as one……. keeping to this dharana, moment to moment.

Now, gather this awareness of Jyoti as light and resonance into your field of prana life-force in the nabhi [navel centre], your Manipura chakra.

Within this navel center of consciousness, observe this awakened illumination as mantra-filled breath, breathing through the naval center.

And, now from the navel center to the nasagra [the point where the base of the nose bridge meets the upper lip] and upward to the center between the eyebrows.

This beam of light as mantra and breath flowing from the nabhi chakra, the navel centre to the Ajna centre [eyebrows centre] and back again.

The flow as a beam of light & soundless mantra, the jyoti-mantra ascending and descending as a streak of lightning between the nabhi chakra [navel centre] & the Ajna chakra [eyebrows centre] without a break.

No longer a body with limbs and organs, your consciousness resting in pure awareness, as the flow of this celestial and divine stream. Continue with ajapa-japa [effortless remembrance of the mantra]: OM JYOTI, OM JYOTI, OM JYOTI.

Let this kriya be easy and natural, maintaining the dharana for as long as one may.

May the guru parampara continue to bless you.