April-2010 (Foreign) Final - Prajnana Mission

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Sthita Prajna

Guru Vandana

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Pratah sirasi suklabjedvinetram dvibhujam gurumVarabhayapradam santamsmaretannamapurvakam

Guru Gita verse 53

In the serene hours of dawn, let one meditate on theguru preceptor residing within the white lotus inside thehead. This supreme Guru has two eyes and two hands,is peaceful, and is the bestower of blessings andfearlessness. Let one forever remember his name.

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Printed and Published by Swami Achalananda Giri on behalf ofPrajnana Mission, Printed at Graphic Art Offset Press,

at Nuapatna, Manglabag, Dist : Cuttack (Orissa) and published atPrajnana Mission at Nimpur, P.O. Jagatpur, Cuttack-754021, Orissa.

Editor : Swami Samarpanananda Giri

CONTENTS

VOLUME 10 ISSUE 3

Sub Page No.• GURU VANDANA 3• EDITORIAL 5• MESSAGE FORM THE MASTER 6• PRAJNANAVANI 8• DATES TO REMEMBER 12• IN GIVING WE RECEIVE 13• PRACTICAL SPIRITUALITY 15• TEACHINGS OF THE MASTERS 18• MYTHS AND METAPHORS 19• PARIPRASHNA 22• BIRTHDAY OF GURUDEV 23• VALUABLE VOLUMES 24

• MANIPURA CHAKRA 24• LIFE’S ESSENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS 31• GREETING OTHERS 34

• STORIES TO LIVE BY 35GRANDMOTHER AND THE MYSTERIOUS CABBAGE

• MAHASAMADHI DAY OF 36SWAMI BRAHMANANDA GIRI

• MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES 37• ATMA-VIDYA - PURSUING SELF KNOWLEDGE 38• MAHA SIHVARATRI 41• AROUND THE WORLD 43• BOOKS & PUBLICATION 46

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FROM THE EDITORS :

Human life is a gift from God. We the children of Godhave great potential divinity. Through selfless service ourhearts will open, the bud of life will blossom, and we will beworthy children of God. Paramahamsa Prajnanananda

In our spring issue “Message of the Master” talks ofthe role of heredity and culture in yogic evolution.

In “Prajnanavani”, Paramahamsa Prajnananandajitalks of memory and the aids to help developing a goodmemory.

Rama Katha takes us to the story of Shabari and Rama’sfriendship with Sugreeva. Pari prashna answers questionson Gurudev’s childhood.

Kaiivalya Upanishad our series on Self Knowledgeemphasizes on concentration, purity of the mind and completetrust in god, as the key factors for gaining Self Knowledge.

Relevant excerpts from some of ParamahamsaPrajnanananda’s seminal works, The Universe Within andthe Changing Nature of Relationships, continue elaboratingon the chakras and balanced mind. The significance ofbowing is explained.

Practical Spirituality is a feature article on desires andhow to overcome them.

We bring you the news of the annual Gita programs,the International Intensive Kriya Yoga Seminar.Mahashivaratri at the Gurukulam was of special significancewith many monks and Brahmacharis initiations under thedirection of Baba Prajnananandaji.

We hope you enjoy this issue and those to come.

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MESSAGE FROM THE MASTER

YOGIC THEORY OF EVOLUTION –ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE

In the thirteenth chapterof the Gita, the soul representedby Lord Krishna, clearlyteaches Arjuna who symbolizesthe condition of all human beingsthat a good environment whichis a realized teacher, andfollowing a teachers instructions(such as Kriya Yoga technique)allows a sincere seeker toperceive that the twenty fourgross elements are activatedonly by the soul.

Furthermore everyperson must also seek goodculture, which is the constantsearch for the indwelling selfboth in meditation and in allaspects of practical life.Whatever aspect of culture youpursue whether you are an

artist, scientist, factory workerand so forth, you must seekinner self within that activity.Then you will automaticallyrecognize that your body is aprecious body, a divine body, notan evil body.

A verse in the Gita says,as fire is obscured by thesmoke, as dust covers a mirroror a child remains hidden in thewomb of the mother, so thestrongest desire and passionsurround and obscure Selfconsciousness and spiritualknowledge. – Gita III::38

If you do not meditate,you will feel that God is veryfar from you. You will beabsorbed in delusion, illusion anderror. If you live in delusion you

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cannot see your real face.Delusion, illusion and error andstrong ambition for worldlyobjects cover the human mindwith darkness, just as a mirroris covered with dust. On theother hand, when you meditate,you will rise from lower centersto the top and realize that youand He are one, and havealways been one. With thisillumination, you see that yourown face which you do notposses, belongs to the soul. Youno longer see your face in themirror-you see the face of God.If you take the advice of yourGuru preceptor and practiceyoga, it is like cleaning thesurface of the mirror.Automatically your real facebecomes visible.

Until you meditate deeply,you cannot see the fire that iscovered by smoke, or youcannot see the divine living babycovered by the womb of themother. Spiritual power

removes the veiling power ofdelusion and bringsenlightenment.

With spiritual knowledge,human ignorance, which is likea covering of dust on a mirror,is cleansed. The more you livea spiritual life, the more yourpower rises into higher centers.Then you can comprehend God.Your third eye would be opened.The ignorance of every humanbeing disappears when spiritualknowledge, the light of God,flashes.

There are three steps ofmeditation for God realization,karma-work, jnana-knowledgeand prema–love for God. Themore your delusion disappearsand you come up nearer thesoul, the more you will perceivethe divine movement sensationand hear the divine sound withinyou. Through this you will findprema, love for God and divineecstasy.

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“Paths are many, but the goal is one.Religions are many, but God is one.Scriptures are many, but Truth is one.”

– Paramahamsa Hariharananda

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PRAJNANAVANI - THE VOICE OF WISDOMMEMORY- THE INNER INSTRUMENT

Developing a Good Memory

Developing a goodmemory can greatly enhancethe quality of your life. Memoryis vital to human existence –we live, we work and we movewith this memory. Whereverwe go, our memory comes withus. One might say that memoryis just like your backpack; youcarry it with you. Suppose youare a businessman arriving atyour office; if you do not haveany memory of what you didyesterday, and what you haveto do today, you cannot do yourbusiness effectively.Unfortunately, one of the biggestdetriments of modern times is

that we keep our memory inthe computer’s hard drive;instead of using our brain, werely on the computer to storeall our information. Hence, wehave traded in our God-givenhuman brains for man-mademachines. If you ever travel toIndia, you will likely comeacross many old monks who arenot modernized – by choice.These monks have memorizedmany scriptures and teachings,and when they speak, the wordsjust flow from them like asacred stream. During abrahmachari training course afew years ago, we had thegreat blessing to listen to some

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talks given by an elderly monk,a Dandi Swami. This monk hadno belongings – no clothes, nocomputer, no books. Afterlistening to his talk, we were allvery inspired by his exceptionalmemory.

Techniques for improvingmemory

Now I will give you sometips for developing a goodmemory. The first tip is verysimple but one that few peopleknow: Memory is affected bythe food we eat. Memory andfood are related: good foodpromotes a good memory. Oneshould eat simple, pure, blandfood; food which excites orstimulates too much is notbeneficial to the memory. Alsoa great tip in maintaining thememory is to develop calmness.When the mind is peaceful, onecan remember more, if it isagitated, one easily forgetsthings.

Our memory must beused in order for it to remain ingood condition. Thus, it is veryimportant that we begin to relyon our brain more than anotebook or computer. I got myfirst telephone while I wasstaying at our Jagatpur Ashramin India. At that time I was not

yet a monk, I was still workingat a job. I telephoned a friendof mine, a beautiful, spiritualman, who is a famousdermatologist, and I informedhim that I now had a telephoneconnection. He said, “What isthe number?” So I told himand we talked for a fewminutes, then we hung up. Alittle while later the telephonerang. When I picked up thephone and asked who wascalling, the doctor replied, “Me.”I asked him if everything wasalright, since we had just talkeda few minutes ago. He said,“Yes, everything is fine. I didnot write your number down,and I just wanted to verify mymemory.” It is no exaggerationto say that this doctor hasmemorized thousands oftelephone numbers without everwriting anything down in anotebook. Just think –thousands of telephonenumbers. At that time he wasin his late sixties. So, a goodpractice that really works is toquit using your notebook andstart using your memory.

Reading something aloudis a memory technique that wefrequently give to children butit works just as well for adults.

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When you read some text, andthen repeat it loudly, three senseorgans are workingsimultaneously. However whenyou silently read something, itonly requires one sense organ.For example, suppose I read averse from the Gita and chantit out loud: I first have to lookat it with my eyes, say thewords with my mouth, thenlisten to my voice with my ears;thus, there are three senseorgans working simultaneously.This is a practical and easytechnique to improve yourmemory skills. If you have achild who is unmindful or hasattention deficiency or aproblem focusing, this practicewill be very beneficial to them.

Recalling the names ofpeople you knew in the past isa great way to improve yourmemory. For example, you cantry to remember formerclassmates and friends fromyour school days. Or you canalso try to remember eventsthat happened on a particularday. Doing this will make yourmemory more active anddynamic. However, a word ofcaution to anyone using thistechnique – do not try torecollect negative memories.

Remember, negativeexperiences from the pastshould be buried and neverreceived. On the other hand,memories that are happy andpositive should be rememberedand shared with others.

There is a story in theMahabharata about a newborngirl who was abandoned by herparents and raised in thehermitage of a great rishinamed Kanvo. Two vulturesthat were hovering in the skywere the ones that initiallydiscovered the baby. Thefemale vulture swooped downand covered her with its wings,to protect her from the sunlight;then the male vulture flew to anearby hermitage and beganpulling on the clothes of ameditating rishi urging him tocome and help. The rishibecame both the father andmother of the child, and shelived with him in the hermitage.The years quickly passed andin time that little girltransformed into a beautiful,young woman. She married aprince and thus beganpreparations to live in herhusband’s palace. The morningshe left, the rishi stood in thegateway of the hermitage

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watching her disappear downthe pathway, his heartoverflowing with love. Formany years it had been his joyto watch this angelic child frolicin the woods surrounding theAshram.

Suddenly he began to callout, “O trees, O plants, Ocreepers, she is going to herhusband’s palace; you shouldbless her. Like a loving motherand father, you have shelteredher under your shade andprovided for her needs, and she,in turn, has so graciously caredfor you. You are one family, andthrough God’s grace you allgrew healthy and strong. Sobless this child that her life maybe filled with love and peace.”And it is said, as that youngwoman walked down thepathway, the trees bent downand touched her head, blessingher, and a gentle shower ofleaves and flowers softly fellupon her.

Although this story mayappear to be just fiction, itactually happened. The youngwoman who married the princegave birth to a very famous son,Bharata for whom the countryIndia was named. You may bewondering what relevance this

story has in regards to our topic,but if you contemplate it for amoment, you will see it dealswith the memory. In the story,the rishi was recollecting thedays of the young lady’schildhood and he was alsoinvoking the trees to do thesame.

The Higher Purpose ofMemory

We know that memoryis a constitution of our mindwhich is useful for our day-to-day worldly living, but it servesan even greater purpose in ourspiritual life – to remember ourtrue Self within, to rememberGod. Chanting or singing thename of God is a practice usedby many spiritual seekers toremember Him. In Kriyapractice, the disciples are toldto remember God in everybreath; in doing so, there willbe a continuous remembrance.

In the same manner, weshould also remember that thiscreation is mysterious andbeautiful, and even though thereare many things here that welove, it is only a temporary abodeand one day we will have toleave. Do not think thatremembering this life istransitory will make you

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DATES TO REMEMBER

April 1 : Birthday of Lord Rama

April 2 : Mahasamadhi Day of Swami Brahmananda Giri

April 13 : Hanuman Jayanti

April 26 : Birthday of Jagadguru Sankaracharya

May 6 : Buddha Purnima

May 10 : The Birthday of Swami Shriyukteshwar

May 17 : The Foundation Day of Prajnana Mission.

May 27 : Birthday of Gurudev Hariharanandaji

: Birthday of Swami Gurupremanandaji

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unhappy or sad. This will nothappen if your attitude is right.If you are spiritual, it will inspireyou in a positive manner bymotivating you to give us muchas you can while you are here.Those who do good work onEarth will receive a promotionwhen they leave, and they willcontinue to do good work on ahigher plane. So, rememberGod. Remember who you reallyare. Remember this world is abeautiful creation and we cancontribute something good andpositive to it. Remember timeis passing; therefore we shouldnever waste our time. Andabove all, remember your divine

potential and boldly go forwardin your life, forgetting allnegative memories of the past.

Repeat this prayer fromthe depths of your heart :

“O God, out of Yourinfinite kindness, You broughtme to this world. I will try tolive a better life, contributinggoodness everywhere.Everyday I will adorn my facewith a smile; it will serve as aninvitation to my friendship andlove. I will always strive tomake myself better, which inturn will inspire others to do thesame.”

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IN GIVING WE RECEIVEParamahamsa Prajnanananda

(Excerpt from a talk in Bangalore printed in Deccan Herald)

Dec 6, 2011

It is in giving we receive– the statement contains aconcept that at first may strikeus as counter intuitive. This isbecause we normally expect toget something from otherswithout having to give themanything in return. While weourselves like the idea of gettinga free lunch for example wewould rather not be the onesproviding others the free lunch.

We forget that whateverwe may do we will reap theresult and that the result willcome back to us many timesover. If you plant a seed, thatwould grow into a tree bearingmany fruits. Similarly just doinga little good work could give usmany good fruits. However afew bad deeds may also bringus many bad fruits.

What goes aroundcomes around is the law oflife. We expect everything togo well for us but do we everreflect if the things we do arein the spirit of goodness.

Life consists ofrelationships that are all about

give and take. Whatever yougive you receive accordingly. Aman reaps what he sows-(Galatians 6:7)

But we hear many whosay, “I have done so many goodthings in my life and why arebad things happening to me?“Remember, when you sow aseed, it takes some time for atree to grow and bear fruit. Theresult of what you do now maybecome evident much later inlife depending on thecircumstances. With somethings we do, the result may beinstant while with some otherthings the result may not beapparent for quite some time.Just like planting spinach seedscould give you some spinach ina few weeks but an apple seedwill take a few years beforebearing fruit.

When you help someonein trouble out of genuine desireto be of assistance, youexperience inner fulfillment atthat moment. Here the result isinstant. When we wonder whywe are not receiving the benefit

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of our good actions, we mustremember that what ishappening to us could be theresult of our past karma thatwe no longer remember.

Ultimately we do reap aswe sow, and whatever we dogood or bad will eventuallycome back to us in this life oranother. St. Francis said it is ingiving that we receive. If weunderstand this law of life weshould not invite any badimpressions into our minds byentertaining negative thoughtsabout others.

Nothing is permanent.We live in this ever changingworld and we should acceptwhatever comes our waywithout being worried, agitated,or emotional. If something has

happened and you can changeit then go ahead and do it. Ifyou cannot do anything tochange it then accept it. Evenwhen something bad happenswe should try to maintain apositive attitude and rememberthat we are experiencing thefruits of our past karma. Weshould be grateful that ournegative karma is beingexhausted through our sufferingand we would be free fromsome bad karma.

Do not get too excited atyour good fortune. You shouldremind yourself that you havejust enjoyed the return on yourkarmic investments and nowmust reinvest in your karmicsavings account by doingsomething good.

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Matru Ashram Foundation Day

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PRACTICAL SPIRITUALITYENDLESS DESIRE

Jyothi Bathina

The day beforeThanksgiving, I went to workwith the children in a small townin California to get their storiespublished. I knew the childrenwere poor and disenfranchised,but I had no real idea how theylived. Their teacher offered togive me a tour of the area afterour session and I happilyagreed. It was a heart-wrenching half hour of drivingthrough wretched poverty anduntenable living conditions. Itwas hard to believe I was inthe United States in the 21st

century. We traveled overunpaved dirt roads throughnarrow lanes where scruffychildren squatted and played inthe dirt surrounded by stray dogsand puppies. Two or threefamilies crowded together intotiny shacks and whole familiestook shelter in outhouses thatwere being used as homes. Thetown was rife with crime, drugwars and gang violence. Ireturned home sickened by theterrible cruelty of such povertyand its effect on these younghopeful minds. I found it hard

to give thanks for all I had whenI knew so many had so little.

The next day we droveto the bay area for a familythanksgiving. We gathered forthe bountiful feast and ate tillwe were nauseous. Thewomen sat around an iPadadmiring the jewelry worn at arecent wedding. I found thewhole thing repulsive. I wasangry at the consumption andthe greed, angry at women whobought $50,000 pendants andmatching Coach Bags for everyoccasion and angrier still at thewomen who spoke of them withadmiration.

I thought of the childrenin their shacks and feltphysically ill. When I left theparty it was with a sense ofoutrage and moral superiority. Iwould never waste my timedrooling over jewels, or longingfor designer bags. I would neverspend obscene amounts ofmoney on matchingaccessories. I was a goodperson. All I wanted was tohelp the less fortunate, to makea difference.

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A week later, when mymoral indignation had subsideda bit, I thought carefully aboutits source. I turn my nose up atthose who crave jewelry andfancy clothes. I scoff at womenwho spend their days planningoutfits for the next party. Butwas I really so different?

We all seem to besearching for something. Thehousewife seeking attention, themusician seeking fame, theresearcher seeking solutions, thepolitician seeking power, theeducator seeking to spreadliteracy. We want seeminglydifferent things yet at bottomthey boil down to the samething. We are seekingfulfillment, seeking satisfaction,seeking happiness throughvarious avenues. Everythingwe do is ultimately selfish andis designed to bring ussatisfaction. For one, this maybe jewelry, for another worldpeace. But ultimately, it is desirethat drives us and desire thatcauses us grief andunhappiness. If I go running toschool district after schooldistrict, implementing bookprojects and putting on booklaunches, it is because this givesme satisfaction. I have a desireto work with children, a desire

to publish their work, a desireto see them flourish.

If my friend runs fromparty to party, buying newoutfits for each one, andflaunting them on face book,she is also driven by her desire,to see and be seen, to enjoylife, to be young and beautifuland admired. You may arguethat one desire is far superiorto the other as I did. But in allhonesty, desire is still desire. Itcan never be quenched andcontinues to feed itself, burningas a constant fire within andcompelling us to act, to do, tostrive.

Not that this is a badthing. If the alternative is sloth,then action, even that fueled bydesire, is infinitely preferable.For most of us, moving fromselfish action to moreuniversally beneficial action isa laudable goal. It is after allkarma yoga, worship throughduty and action and service.However, in order to move pasteven this type of desire and theconstant need for action, wehave to rise above desire itself.We have to stop searching forways to quench desire and startseeking a desire less state. Howdo we do this? Is such a goaleven attainable in this day andage?

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I try to envision what adesire less world will look like.Criminals will no longer steal,politicians will no longer exploitand manipulate, and wars willno longer be fought. These areall good things. On the otherhand, art and music will ceaseto exist, service will come to ahalt, and the world will standstill. How can this be good?

Lord Krishna said toArjuna, “Perform action withoutbeing attached to the fruit ofyour actions.” But can we actwithout being fueled by desire,which in turn breedsattachment? Won’t we all endup sitting in our prayer roomsand meditating on the onenessof being?

Perhaps the challenge tothose of us who are nowherenear liberation is not to eliminateall desires but to become awareof them. Certainly there aredifferent levels of desire. Thereare those desires that whilegratifying us, cause harm toothers. Theft, war, revenge, isall fueled by such desires. Thenext level of desire is that whichonly gratifies us. Materialpossessions, fame, power,

wealth, come under thiscategory. At a slightly higherlevel is a desire that whilegratifying us, also benefitsothers. Community service,charity, scientific research,artistic endeavor, creativepursuits, all come under thiscategory. Finally there is thedesire less state where we wantnothing. Since I am not evenclose to approaching that desireless state, I can only examinethe desire that lies behind eachof my actions and judge whichcategory it falls under. I canimmediately squelch any desirethat harms others, and try mybest to move from selfishdesires to selfless ones. And ifI continue this practice, day byday, hour by hour, desire bydesire, perhaps I will ultimatelyreach that state where I willwant for nothing and realize thatall I want is already within me.In the meantime, I must learnto be tolerant, to not turn mynose up so quickly at whatseems to me to be selfish, andunderstand that we are all inthis together, in a desire drivenworld, we are each learning andmoving forward, one desire ata time.

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“To attain enernal happiness, one must gowithin.”

Paramahamsa Prajnanananda

“Anger is the greatest enemy of man.”Paramahamsa Hariharananda

“My only teaching is : Love all.”Swami Satyananda

“Do not be attached to the passing dreams oflife. Live only for God and God alone.”

Paramahamsa Yogananda

“Control of the senses by Karma Yoga or KriyaYoga is preferable to indifference to thesenses.” Swami Shriyukteshwar

“Behold the light in yourself with aconcentrated mind.” Lahiri Mahasaya

“To renounce the world is not easy. Whereverman is, the world clings to him.”

Mahavatara Babaji

“Forbearance is the best policy in life.”Sanyal Mahasaya

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MYTHS AND METAPHORSRAMAYANA

Sri raghavam dasaradhatmajamaprameyamsitapatim raghukulanvaya ratna dipam.ajanu bahum aravindadalayataksham

ramam nishachara vinashakaram namami

Salutations to Sri Rama, the son of Dasaratha,the jewel of the Raghu lineage, of long armsand beautiful eyes like the lotus petals, thehusband of Sita, and the destroyer of therakshasas.

The Story of Shabari

On their way Rama andLakshmana came to theAshram of Shabari near thelake of Pampa. Shabari was ayoung tribal girl who ran awayfrom home on her wedding dayunable to tolerate many animalsbeing slaughtered for herwedding feast. She reached thehermitage of Matanga Rishi andspent her time serving him.When the monk was old andabout to leave his body, hetaught her to pray and meditateand said one day she would seeGod incarnated as Rama andto wait for Him.

She took the words of herMaster very seriously. So,expecting that God will cometo her any day, she cleaned theroads in the forest that led to

her hermitage. This ismetaphorically cleaning ourmind and making it pure as Godcomes to only those who arepure. She collected fruitseveryday, so she could offerthem to him and waited for himeach day. She became very oldbut still did not stop cleaningthe road and bringing the fruitsand waited patiently. This ispatience.

When Rama withLakshmana stood at her doorshe recognized who Rama was.In great joy she offered himsome fruits. Sri Rama acceptedher hospitality. She washed thefeet of the brothers and said toRama, “I have no more desireto live. The purpose for whichI was waiting is fulfilled today.I am thankful and I am in bliss.

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Lord, I am of low caste noteducated or of high intellect.The only thing I have is my lovefor God. Your grace andcompassion are boundless thatyou have accepted myoffering.”

Lord Rama assured herthat devotion is the only thinghe needs. All scholarship andother skills are subsidiary topure love. Without that pureunconditional love all otherpractices are useless.

Then, Sri Rama withgreat love enunciated to her thenine types of devotion as-service to the saints and sages,listening to the stories of thosewho experienced divine love,apprenticeship in the service ofthe teacher, singing the gloryof God, chanting the name ofGod, regulated life style andfollowing a chosen ideal,perceive God’s presence in theuniverse, being content and notpointing at others faults, to bepure and simple and dependenton God. He added, “Shabari,these are the nine types ofdevotion and if one followseven one of these withconsistently I am pleased. Youhave followed all these ninesteps consistently, until the end.There can be no one higher

than you in spiritualattainments.”

In great joy, Shabari fellat the Lord’s feet and throughthe inner fire of yoga she burntherself to ashes, her breathmerging with Sri Rama.Shabari is the symbol ofpatience. She waited all her lifepatiently with complete trust andsurrender and her patiencefulfilled her life.

Friendship with Sugriva

From there Rama andLakshmana continued theirjourney and reached a mountainname Rushyamuka. On themountain lived a king namedSugriva in exile with his fourministers. Looking at Rama andLakshmana dressed as asceticsbut holding bows and arrowsSugreeva was scared and senthis foremost minister Hanumanto get information. Hanumantook the form of a Brahminbrahmachari and approachedthem and bowed down withdeep love and devotion.Lakshmana and Rama lookedat him and asked, “Who areyou?” With tears in his eyesHanuman answered, “It is easyfor an individual to forget “Whoam I?” But I know who youreally are. How could youforget who I am and you are

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asking me? A child might forgetthe parent but the parents couldnever forget the child.” Abeautiful conversation followedand Rama said to Lakshmana,“this person is a master oflanguage and grammar. He isconversing in such a polite wayusing such befitting and precisewords of wisdom. He is also aself-disciplined person.”

The name of Hanumancomes from hana dhatu – tokill, eliminate or destroy. umeans with strength orknowledge. What is to beeliminated or killed with strengthand knowledge? maana meanspride, ego, vanity and limitationor respect. Hanuman is onewho has destroyed ego, vanityand pride. Hanuman is an egoless person.

If you study the spiritualtexts, the Ramayana and theMahabharata there are twopersonalities who are the sonsof the wind God. They areknown as the vayuputra orpavana putra . The windoutside is the breath inside. Sonof wind means breath control

through which one gets lot ofstrength. Hanuman alsorepresents the human mind.Mind is like a monkey jumpingfrom one branch to another. Butyou can see that whenHanuman is sitting near RamaHanuman is peaceful. Thatmeans when mind is in Godconscious state mind is calm andquiet. When it is not then themind is restless.

Hanuman took Ramaand Lakshmana to Sugreevaand they made a pact offriendship with Sugreeva withfire as the witness. Sugriva-means a person with a goodvoice. Good voice does not justmean a person who can singnicely but a person who canthink of god, speak of God andsing of God. An ear is goodwhen it is fond of listening tothe glory of god and a mouth isgood when it can speak of God.

This section ofRamayana is known as theKishkindha Kanda. It is thefourth stage of the spiritualgrowth.

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Swamiji, Can you speak tous about your childhood.

I grew up in a village ina nice big family. We wereeleven brothers and sisterstogether and had very lovingparents. We were taught howto share with each other andhow to love each other rightfrom our childhood.

My parents were veryspiritual people. They taught mehow to pray and meditate.Prayer and meditation, singingand became a part of ourchildhood. My parents spent alot of time in puja and ritualschanting and meditation and Ihad the opportunity to observewhat they were doing. Mychildhood was more motivatedby my mother from whom Ilearnt many inspiring spiritualstories. I learned discipline earlyon from my father who was astrict disciplinarian. My brothersand sisters were also veryloving, and I learned manythings from them. I consider allmy family members as my goodfriends and also teachers.

What kind of play or gameswere you interested in as achild?

As a child I wasdifferent from the otherchildren. While the others werefond of play, I liked to spendmy leisure time praying. I likedto spend time with my parentswhile they were doing puja. MyParents prayed to Mother Kaliand Mother Durga and I learntmany prayers from them. Iliked making images of thedeities with clay and decoratedthem with pieces of cloth.Prayer, loving God, learningnew things and wanting to learnmore were my childhoodfavorite pastimes.

What qualities of yourmother influenced you?

My mother taught mehow to be humble and how toserve. She served everymember of the family frommorning to night without fatigueor grumbling. Her family wasnot limited to a few members.She considered the whole villageto be her family. She was very

PARIPRASHNA

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kind and helped anyone in thevillage who was in need. Shewas soft spoken and was like aflower with beauty, purity andtenderness. My mother had astrong impact on my life and Iwill never forget hercontribution to my growth.

What qualities of your fatherinfluenced you?

My father was verystrict, punctual, and had a wellplanned lifestyle. All thesequalities greatly influenced me.As he was a good astrologer,he knew my future. Heprovided the right environmentfor my spiritual growth more

than for my other brothers andsisters. So he is also my Guruand my guide. My father alsotaught me astrology andpalmistry. He also had goodknowledge of traditional andmodern medicine, and taughtme how to help people with thisknowledge.

I was a shy and introvertand was not verycommunicative. My fathertaught me how to be a publicspeaker. He also taught me howto examine my own faults andhow to eradicate them. Myfather has helped me a lot inmy spiritual path.

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The Birthday of Gurudev, BabaHariharanandaji will be celebrated at allAshrams and centers around the world withspecial worship, prayers and meditations.

BIRTHDAY OF GURUDEVPARAMAHAMSA HARIHARANANDAJI

May 27, 2012

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The Manipura chakraor the navel center is locatedbehind the stomach in the spineof the human body. Manipurain Sanskrit means jewel center.The presiding deity is Surya, thesun. The sun is the ultimatesource of all activities and thecause of life on this planet. Themoon shines by reflecting thesun’s light and has a stronginfluence on the mind. In asimilar way, food which isdirectly affected by sunlight alsohas a strong influence on themind. People chant mantras likethe Gayatri to get the divineillumination of the sun. The twosense organs controlled fromthis center are the eyes and thefeet. The eyes are active insensory perception from thevery moment of our birth. Webecome very quickly attachedto names and forms, even as

VALUABLE VOLUMES

IN THIS ISSUE WE HAVE EXCERPTS FROM

THE UNIVERSE WITHIN AND THE CHANGING

NATURE OF RELATIONSHIPS BY

PARAMAHAMSA PRAJNANANANDA

MANIPURA CHAKRA (From THE UNIVERSE WITHIN)

infants. We smile at those werecognize, and burst into tearswhen confronted with theunknown or strange. And evenas we grow, we tend to makejudgments based solely onappearance, always seeking outthat which is pleasing to theeye. The beauty industry thriveson this tendency, luring us tospend small fortunes onproducts which will make usmore pleasing in others’ eyes.Fashion as well, depends on ourslavery to the sense of sight, asdoes the fitness industry, theentertainment industry, thetourism industry and almostevery consumer based marketin the world today. If, insteadof being attached to names andforms, we were able to see thebeauty of God in every thing,all these multi-million dollarindustries, as well as their dire

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byproducts such as eatingdisorders and depression, woulddisappear overnight.

It has been scientificallyobserved that the eyes of arestless person or a mentallydepressed person move veryquickly and blink frequently. Inthe desperate urge to drink inmore and more stimuli, webecome confused and mentallyanxious. The eyes of those whomeditate blink less. They havea detached look. By graduallycontrolling the mind throughmeditation and deep breathing,we are able to gain detachmentfrom the sights which surroundus, thereby avoiding sensoryoverload.

By focusing on the navelcenter during meditation we cangain control over thisrestlessness of the eyes, anddirect our vision toward higherthings. In effect, we learn toturn our vision inward to theimmense beauty within and theprofound spiritual truths to befound there. When we do lookat the world, we learn to seebeauty everywhere, in God’screation, in the people aroundus, in the situations whichconfront us. We learn toappreciate our surroundingswithout becoming overly

attached and can enjoy theworld without becoming itsslave.

The feet as well, lead usinto all kinds of situations. Theurge to move here and there,never sitting still, is merely aphysical reflection of the mind’sinability to focus and remaincalm in one place. People travelall over the globe on themistaken assumption thattraveling thousands of miles willsomehow bring us happiness.Or there are those who cannotstay at one job for very long,they need change, excitement,variety and are soon bored withtheir current environment. Theydrift from job to job, town totown, constantly seeking anelusive fulfillment. On a morebasic level, we may havenoticed how many people aresimply unable to sit still. Theirlegs are moving even when theysit on a chair. They tap theirfeet or shake their legsconstantly in a nervous need formotion. Meditation enhancesthe ability to sit in one positionfor an extended period of time.When the mind is tranquil, thenso is the body.

Meditating on theManipura develops our abilityto remain still, to direct our

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every movement for a usefulpurpose. Rather than lookingeverywhere for satisfaction andfinding it nowhere, we are ableto progress in any direction wechoose with the concentrationand energy gained from thiscenter.

Food and Temptation

There is a story in theHindu epic Ramayana, whichillustrates the power of food onthe mind, and how it can leadto temptation. They say theway to a man’s heart is throughhis stomach. This story provesthat old adage to be true.

There was once a greatsage called Vibhandaka, whounderwent strict austerities andengaged himself in deepmeditation in order to achieverealization. One day, tempted bythe beauty of a celestial nymph,he lost his concentration andself-control and had a child,whom he named Rushyasrunga.Having learned from bitterexperience that the hiddendesires of the mind could causespiritual downfall, he decided toraise his son far from the luresof the world. Rushyasrungagrew up in the forests underthe strict guidance of his father.He was always engaged inmeditation, study and other

spiritual practices. He wasbrought up totally unaware oflife’s luxuries, including deliciousfood and drink and the beautyof women.

At this time, there was asevere drought in the nearbykingdom. The distressed kingconsulted his advisors, who saidthere would be rain if the youngsaint Rushyasrunga whopossessed great spiritual wealthand purity, entered the kingdom.No one knew however, how toget him away from the strictsupervision of his father. Theproblem was solved when abeautiful courtesan namedJarata offered to undertake thetask. She asked the king for aluxury yacht, equipped with agreat variety of delicious foods,and beautiful damsels dressedin the finest clothes and jewelry.

Docking at a distance,she waited for his father to leaveand then approachedRushyasrunga. The beautifulwomen fed him delicacies hehad never tasted in his life. Theyreturned each day, bringing himnew and tasty concoctions totempt his palate. Having eatenthis rich food, the young mangradually developed bodyconsciousness and thenattachment to his body. One

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day, the courtesan invited himaboard the yacht. Once he wasaboard, they set sail for thekingdom. The moment he setfoot on the ground, the raincame pouring down, ending theterrible drought. The king askedthe young saint’s forgiveness forthe ruse and offered him hisdaughter in marriage.

The old sage Vibhandakaaccepted the inevitable, realizingonce again that however far wemay run from temptation, unlesswe cultivate inner strength, wecannot resist the lure of thesenses. Food is one of thestrongest of these lures,tempting us like the bait temptsthe fish, all the while containingan iron hook within.

We Eat Food and FoodEats Us

The eyes and the feet arecontrolled by the Manipurachakra, which is the digestivecenter. Therefore the food weeat has quite an effect on ourtranquillity. Our food isused in three ways. Themajority is excreted, while someis used to nourish the body.However, of what is used, asubtle part influences the mind.If we eat a lot of yogurt, forexample, or meats, our mindswill be dull and lethargic, since

most of our energy is used indigesting heavy proteins. On theother hand, if we drink toomuch coffee or other caffeine-filled drinks, our minds will benervous and agitated.

Not only what type offood we eat, but in whatmanner we eat it also influencesthe mind. That is why in ancienttimes, sages warned that wemust look carefully not only atthe cleanliness of the dishes, andthe freshness of the ingredientsused, but equally carefully atthe person preparing the food.They firmly believed that theemotions of the people cookingthe food seeped into thepreparations themselves, so thatthe consumer would be affectedby the chef’s anger or sadnessor joy. In this age of fast foodand dining out, such a carefulapproach is next to impossible.Although many more people areturning to vegetarianism for thesame reasons, the fear ofcontamination as well as theinflux of hormones released byfrightened animals at the timeof their death, eating out is stillan integral part of modern life.Even if one is a vegetarian, onemust be careful about thequality and the quantity of thefood they eat.

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The Deluded Saint

There was a wanderingmonk who did not have anyattachment for belongings, whowas always travelling stayingwith people who invited himaccepting their hospitality. Oncehe stayed with a rich man fora couple of days. On the secondday at midnight he wasawakened by the jingling soundof a bell. On waking up andinvestigating he found out thatit came from a small bell thatwas tied around the neck of thecow which was in the yard. Hethought it would be nice to havethe bell to use it in his worship.The thought became so overpowering that he went out intothe yard secured the bell andhiding it in his bag sat down tomeditate. His mind was soagitated and restless that at firsthe could not concentrate but ashe tried harder he becamefocused and realized what hedid. He was ashamed andsurprised how being a monk hecould do such a thing as stealingwhich he had never donebefore. As he searched for ananswer for this strange behavioron his part it became apparentto him that it might be the effectof the food he had taken. Hereturned the bell to its place and

next morning as he was leaving,he called the host aside andasked him by what means heearned his money. The rich manbecame silent for some timeand then confessed that hismeans were not honest orrespectable. Taking food that isnot earned in the right way andnot prepared with a clean mindcan cause such effects.

Food and mind arecausally connected. Food canmake the mind calm and tranquilor restless and agitated.

When I say food eats us,I am referring to the variousdiseases caused by foodconsumption, whether due tocontamination, unwholesomefoods, or overeating, which inturn eat away at the body andits health. While some foodscause cancer, others causeheart attacks and highcholesterol. Every day, the listof unhealthy foods gets longer.The safest bet given moderncircumstances, is to offer ourfood to God before we eat. Thetradition of praying beforemeals was originated not onlyto give thanks to God for whatHe had provided, but also toask Him to receive the food andmake it safe for consumption,assimilation and better health.

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The Fire of Illumination andElimination

Fire has two qualities. Itis a source of light to otherswhile being illumined it self andit burns resulting in heat andenergy which eliminates anddestroys things. The navelcenter symbolically is the placeof food and drink. One can getbrilliance in mind and body fromthe digestive fire and at thesame time the unwanted thingsare eliminated from the bodythrough digestion andcombustion. The digestive firein Hinduism is considered to besacred, and the Bhagavad Gita(15-14) states that God Himselfburns as the fire in the navelcenter, so what we eat isnothing more than an offeringto Him. If we eat in that spirit,accepting food as a gift,choosing healthy and nutritiousfood, prepared in a clean andtranquil environment, andoffering it back to the Giver,then we can come to no harm.By developing the navel center,we can enjoy the food we eatand its effect on us will bewholly beneficial.

The Creative Knot

The Muladhara ,Swadhishtana and Manipurachakras together make up what

is called the Brahmagrandhior the creative knot, as allcreative activities areaccelerated through thesechakras. But this knot becomesa barrier for spiritual evolution.We have to penetrate or cutthis knot in order to evolve andgo higher spiritually. We needfour things to be able to do this.We have to have a strongdesire, firm determination,immense patience, andsustained self-effort. If ourdesire for spiritual evolution isstrong enough, then nothing canstop us. If we analyze a day’sactivity we can observe howmuch time we spend in eachchakra. We need to strive forbalance in the chakras, neitherignoring them completely norspending inordinate amounts oftime on any single one.

While trying to evolve,we sometimes come acrossfailure. At this point, manypeople lose their patience anddecide that whatever methodthey are trying is not for themand try something else. This isa disease of the modern mind.We need to have the patienceto pursue our efforts and besuccessful. Keeping the goal insight is extremely important anddetermines the benefits we gainfrom our endeavors.

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The Inner Pilgrimage

For example, people goon vacation to beautiful resortsor mountain hideaways. Theyspend a lot of money, take timeoff from work and go away,hoping to relax and enjoythemselves. They indulge instrenuous activities likemountain climbing or skiing orhiking and end up being moreexhausted than when theystarted. Even on weekends,people fill their itineraries with“fun” activities, and end updragging themselves to workMonday morning, barely able tofunction.

In India, until recently,people took time off forpilgrimages rather than holidays.Even now, even those who canill afford it, save money and taketime off to visit holy shrines inplaces like Tirupathi or Puri orKedarnath in the Himalayas. InIndia, shrines and temples areusually close to the sea or highatop a hill. People climb thesehills to reach the temple. A tripto places like Kedarnath orAmarnath in the high Himalayasis quite strenuous and involvesa lot of climbing but at the endof the climb pilgrims are

rewarded with the vision of thetemple and the holy vibrationsof the sacred place. So call it aholiday or a pilgrimage, theprocess is the same. The resulthowever is entirely different.While tourists come home tiredand spent, pilgrims come homewith rejuvenated strength, apeaceful mind, and thesatisfaction of having attainedtheir goal.

Only if the goal is fixedwill we progress on the path ofliberation. The spiritual journeyis a continuous journey that wecan stick to only if we have afixed purpose, patience andeffort. After having conqueredthe three lower centers, wehave to put in some extra effortin order to penetrate the knotand proceed upwards. Inmeditation, when weconcentrate and go from theMuládhára to theSwádhistána and then theManipura, we gradually gaincontrol over the senses and gopast all three to the Anáhataor heart center. Whileconcentrating in these centers,one experiences spiritual energyand the play of divineconsciousness there.

***

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THE BALANCED MIND

The body is given to usfor our own growth andevolution and the opportunity tofulfill many of our desires. Asthe body is the product of ourpast karma and the genetictransmission of our parents inthis life, the same logic appliesto our mind. We must usediscrimination between the seenand the seer. We have alreadyestablished that the mind is anobject which constantly changesdirection. Once we bringcalmness over our mind, we areable to exercise control anddiscipline.

Not only does the worldchange, we also evolve inoutlook, approach and emotions.With the passing of time allrelationships are transformed.The main culprit is the swervingnature of the mind which hasan enormous influence overour life.

The body is a physicalentity that can be touched andseen, smelt and tasted but themind is subtle and much moredifficult to separate from ourinner self. Our body is only lento

LIFE’S ESSENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS(From THE CHANGING NATURE OF RELATIONSHIPS)

us for a lifetime, but the mindmakes a continuous journeywith us, from life to life.

The human mind takes animpression of every little thing,and carries the heavy weightof memories, emotions andinteractions, which occurredlong ago, and continue toinfluence our present life. Eventhough the precise memorymight have receded, and wecannot remember why such athing happened, we look at itwith the same mind.

The mind is much moreuseful than the body, but wemust learn to use it properly andbring it under control. When anemotion stirs up in our mind, itis expressed by a thought. If aperson is rash and impulsive,there is an immediate reaction.Only through meditation, bymaintaining some distance overour emotions and thoughts, canwe bring balance and harmonyinto our life. Physically we mightgrow, but it is more importantthat we mature emotionally andintellectually. Animals areinstinctive, but human beingsshould always be rational.

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The scriptures tell us thatthe mind is like a piece ofclothing, which we can chooseto keep dirty or clean. Clothesare nothing but threads,arranged in a certain way. Themind is a bunch of desiresinterwoven together, whichcriss-crosses our personality,and runs in all directions.

While the body itself isinert, with little life of its own,the mind is a bundle of activities,constantly jumping from oneemotion to the next, from onethought to another. Even whilewe try to sleep, the mind playson in our dreams. The mind istricky and loves to play; its aimis to regulate our physical andemotional being. Any emotionaldysfunction always has themind as a source. Wemisunderstand our mind due toits strength. Mind can, withrigorous discipline, become awell-trained servant, but has atendency to be a very badmaster.

If we do not keep ourmind in a state of balance andharmony, we will never get theinspiration, or theencouragement needed tomaintain healthy relationships.

The mind is the crucialinstrument that determines our

relationships with the worldoutside. If, to begin with, wecannot have a healthyrelationship with our own mind,how can we aspire to have ahappy, healthy relationship withothers? Our relationship withthe external world is a reflectionof our state of mind. A rose isalways there, but if the mind isdepressed, the beauty of therose will go unseen. Negativethoughts and emotions infect ourmind with debilitatingweakness. The mind is at theroot of all suffering andunhappiness.

Yogis view the mind asa child that must be kept clean,and nourished with inspiringthoughts. Meditation is the bestway to rest the mind; it is evenmore beneficial than sleep itself.

The mind should neverbecome a burden, it is just auseful tool to enhance ourpassage on earth and make itmore enjoyable. We must liveintelligently and now allownegative emotions to disturb theharmonious rhythm of ourflowing thoughts, to draw usaway from the real goal of ourjourney.

‘The body is the chariotand the soul is the charioteer.’ The Upanishads

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The body is the chariot,the soul is the driver, the sensesare the horses and the mind isthe harness. It is of paramountimportance that we are awareof the goal of our life. If thegoal is clear, we will reach ourdestination faster. A balancedmind can train the senses andguide them firmly with a lighthand, not with excessive force.Horses, like the senses, needgood management; they shouldbe fed with measure, but notstarved.

The mind shows thesenses the way, so that just as

in the case of well-trainedhorses they can find their wayhome, even in the dark, bystepping gingerly overobstacles. The senses need tobe properly regulated. Withdiscipline, a well-kept carriage,a strong harness, perfectlyschooled horses and anenlightened driver, we will besure to reach our destination.The relationship between thebody, the senses, the mind andthe soul is a determining factorin reaching the goal.

***

Smruti Mandir, Bhisindipur

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When we see someone,we get up from our seat, walktowards the person and receivehim or her with a smile. This isknown as abhivadana. In theWest, people greet each otherwith a hand shake, hug or kiss.A common Indian practice is tofold the hands and bow.

Folding the hands(putting two hands together) isa symbol. It symbolizes that“you and I are one.” The twohands together make thebeautiful posture or mudra(position of hands) symbolizingoneness or unity. Two handstogether also show that everyone of us has two aspects, bodyand soul, and the body and soulare united together just like twohands. The mudra is a symbolof yogic philosophy that we allare united in God. Furthermore,on two hands there are tenfingers, which symbolize all theten sense organs existing andworking together for yourservice.

The Taittiriya Upanishaddeclares: atithi devo bhava,“Consider the guest as God.”It means that we should have

GREETING OTHERS :OPENING THE HEART AND SOUL

(From MYSTICISM OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS)

the attitude that all our senseorgans, mind, intellect andeverything belong to God asguests.

In India people fold thehands to greet a person, keepingthe folded hands near the middleof the chest or near themidpoint of the eyebrows.Keeping the hands in the middleof the chest symbolizes “myheart” – I greet you in my heart,I love you in my heart, I bowto you from my heart, I receiveyou from my heart. This is theintegration of the heart andhands. It is not just an emotionalexpression, for the handssymbolize action. It is thesymbol of love and actiontogether.

In yogic practices, it is awell known fact that themidpoint of the eyebrows is theplace of the soul. It is the soulcenter and the ajna chakra.Holding folded hands near themidpoint of the eyebrows is acomplete welcome or greeting.It means that I greet you frommy heart, from my soul, frommy body, from my life.

***

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One day mygrandmother in our native villagewas introduced to a strangevegetable that she had neitherseen nor heard of before. Itsname was cabbage. Mygrandfather had just returnedfrom a trip to Calcutta with twobig cabbages for her to cook.Unfortunately before he left todo some errands he forgot toexplain what this vegetablewas and how to prepare it.

Grandmother has seennice white heads of Cauliflowerbefore and she assumedcabbage was pretty much thesame. So carefully she startedopening the leaves of thecabbage –first one layer, twolayers, and three layers andsoon all the cabbage leaveswere spread out in front of her.“Hmmmm” she thought whileinspecting the leaves hoping tofind at least a remnant of thevegetable. “Perhaps thiscabbage is not a good one, letme try the other one” Beforelong both the cabbages hadbeen completely dissected andthe leaves examined but not

STORIES TO LIVE BYGRANDMOTHER AND THE

MYSTERIOUS CABBAGE

even a trace of the anticipatedvegetable was to be found.However grandmother was nottoo disappointed. She wasrelishing the opportunity to breakthe news to grandfather that hehas been cheated. Instead ofbuying a nice tasty vegetablehe has wound up with a basketfull of leaves. As soon as mygrandfather entered the house,he was confronted by myanxious grandmother, standingthere with her arms crossedand smiling.”What is thatstrange vegetable that youbrought home?” she said witha sense of delight.”I am sorryto inform you that when Iopened it to prepare it for you,I discovered there was nothingthere. You were tricked.”

Grandfather thought “OhGod!”Then he asked, “Haveyou thrown it away?” “No, no,I kept it to show you that thisnice cabbage that you broughtis nothing more than a bunchof leaves.” Then she ranquickly into the kitchen andbrought the basket with theleaves.

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Now it was thegrandfather’s turn to smile.Looking at the basket helaughed “It is a good thing thatyou did not throw the leavesaway. The leaves are thecabbage.”

REFLECTION

Searching for God ismuch like the example of a

cabbage. First you remove onelayer,then another layer and thenanother layer. Where is thecabbage? Everything is thecabbage. Similarly in spirituallife , one who goes back to thesource the origin – discoversthat God is in all and I am inall. All are in me and I am ineverything.

***

As we observe the 6th

Maha Samadhi day of ourbeloved Swami Brahmanandaji,let us intensify our Kriyapractice in his loving memory.

A beloved disciple ofGurudev, a sincere and silentseeker of Truth, a humble andloving teacher known for hissimplicity and compassion,Swami Brahmananda Giri,devoted his life to Gurudev forover three decades. His sincere

MAHASAMADHI DAY OFSWAMI BRAHMANANDA GIRI

April 2, 2006

service to kriyavans inparticular, and to humanity atlarge, still inspires all of us.

A humble monk ofprofound wisdom, Swamijitoured many Kriya centers inIndia and in Europe spreadingthe message of Kriya Yoga.Swamiji was active as the vicepresident of Prajnana Missionuntil his physical departure onApril 2, 2006.

***

***

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ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW GATE, FOR WIDE GATEIS THE GATE AND BROAD IS THE ROAD THAT LEADSTO DESTRUCTION, AND MANY ENTER THROUGH IT.BUT SMALL IS THE GATE AND NARROW THE ROADTHAT LEADS TO LIFE AND ONLY A FEW FIND IT.

MATHEW 7:13-14

MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ENTER THROUGH THENARROW DOOR BECAUSE MANY I TELL YOU, WILLTRY TO ENTER AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO

LUKE 13:247

THROUGH INITIATION THE MASTER PURIFIES THEBODY OF THE DISCIPLE, OPENS THE KNOT OFIGNORANCE AND BONDAGE AND IMPARTS THEKNOWLEDGE OF THE ABSOLUTE.

YOGINI TANTRA

HE WHO HOLDS EQUAL IN BLAME AND PRAISE, WHOIS SILENT AND CONTENT IN EVERYTHING IS DEARTO GOD. BHAGAVAD GITA 12:19

FOR LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF ALLKINDS OF EVIL.SOME PEOPLE EAGER FOR MONEY,HAVE WANDERED FROM THE FAITH ND PIERCEDTHEMSELVES WITH MANY GRIEFS. 1 TIMOTHY 6:10

AMONG THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, A FEW STRIVE FORPERFECTION AND OF THOSE WHO STRIVE ANDSUCCEED SCARCELY ONE KNOWS ME IN TRUTH.

BHAGAVAD GITA7:3

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVESTHE SPIRITUAL PATH

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SubstanceWhen men of meditation

with the help of Uma, meditatingupon the all pervading supremeLord go into the world of theelements they live like thepeaceful three eyed Nilakantha,as the witness of all beyond thedarkness.

CommentaryThis mantra creates a

little confusion or littledifference in opinion. Simpletranslation refers to Lord Shivaand his wife Parvati. So thereis a form. Some commentatorssay it is meditation on the formof Lord Shiva with blue throat,three eyes etc together withParvati. So it is form andformless together.

We have seen that themeditation has two aspects.One with eyes closed andsenses withdrawn to experiencethe truth and the other with eyesopen to be in the world and see

ATMA-VIDYAPURSUING SELF KNOWLEDGE

KAIVALYOPANISHAD

that truth in everythingeverywhere. Then your life isreally spiritual meditation has nobeginning and no end. It is acontinuous process. Ordinarilypeople do their meditation infront of the teacher and pray inthe temple but once they comeback to work they are not inthat state. A serious seekershould not feel the differencethere should be no difference.In the previous mantra we haveseen that with the eyes closedwe go to the state of nirgunawithout attributes and with eyesopen we see the saguna withattributes that help to perceivethat one presence of God andthere is really no difference.Ishavasya midagam sarvamsays the Upanishad. All formsare his

We will understand in alittle different way consideringthe inner meaning. Meditationcan be of two types- one is withthe eyes and all the senses open

Mantra 7uma sahayam parameshvaram prabhum

trilocanam nílakantham prashantamdhyatva munirgaccati bhutayonimsamasta sakshi tamasah parastat

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and another with the eyesclosed and the senseswithdrawn.

Sant Kabir said,

ankh na mundu kan narundhu –I will not close myeyes, I will not close my ears

kaya kasht na dharu- Iwill not torture my body

pheri nayana me tererupa dekhum-With open eyesI will see you

jaha taha niharu-whereever I look

santo sahaja samadhibali –dear one, natural Samadhiis better

uma sahayam - Uma isordinarily understood as parvatithe wife of Lord Shiva. Onename of Shiva is soma – sahauma is soma. God and hisenergy cannot be separated.We will look at a new meaningof uma. a-u-m makes Om. u-m-a consists the same lettersin a different order. u-a-m ispronounced as vam which is thebija mantra of Shiva. uma isknowledge and uma is alsosound. uma sahayam meanswith the help of knowledge.When you come down with eyesopen with the help ofknowledge, strength, and divinesound you will seeparmeswaram- the supreme

Lord manifested everywhere.Uma can also understood as themaya shakti of the Lord andunless one overcomes that onecannot get the experience of thedivine.

Let us look at the wordstrilochana, nilakantha,prashanta- literally they mean,three eyed, blue throated andcalm which are the attributesof Lord Shiva. According to themythological story when theGods and the demons churnedthe ocean of life using a snakeas the rope to get treasure alongwith the treasure poison cameout of the snake and Lord Shivaswallowed the poison andcontained it in his throat withoutswallowing it or emitting it toprotect the creation and as aresult his throat became blue.Living a balanced life withoutcomplaining or spreading havocis the life of nilakantha.

Now trilochana or thethree eyed one, is one who usesthe third eye .what is the thirdeye? The Lord is described ashaving three eyes – the Sun,the Moon and the fire. The thirdeye is the eye of the fire ofknowledge. Jnanagni dagdhakarmanam- says the BhagavadGita. When the jnana netra orthe eye of knowledge is openedone goes beyond the name and

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form. This meditation could alsobe taken as the meditation onVishva rupa – if the eyes arethe Sun Moon and fire, thethroat is the sky or the akasha,and the wind becomes thebreath. That is why we havenamo brahmane namastevayu. Padosya vishvabhutani says the purushasukta- the feet are the earth.

Vishva rupa is again theformless aspect. It is furthersaid such men of meditation goto bhuta yoni- the source of theorigin of all beings

In the Bhagavad Gitachapter II – 56-57, Arjunaraised some questions about thequalities of a person who isrealized and in the state ofsamadhi, which is not too muchout of context here.

He asked how does aman of realization see, walk, talkor behave?

It appears contradictory.How can one established insamadhi be walking and talking.That is why we talk of twoaspects of meditation.Meditation with eyes closed iseasy but with eyes open yousee things you like and thoseyou don’t like. In this world howdoes a man of meditation live?

The last lines of themantra say men of mediation

when they go to the manifestedworld look at everything like awitness or sakshi. Let us lookat this word sakshi. Supposetwo people are quarrelling andyou wanted to stop the quarrels– can you be a witness. Theydid not stop and later went tocourt. If you are called in as awitness can you be a witness?No. First you were a witnessbut when you went to stop thequarrel you became a mediator.A witness is one who onlywatches without gettinginvolved. Witness is one whowatches being detached.sakshat vikshate iti sakshi-only seeing with no involvementor reaction is witnessing.samasta sakshi tamasahparastat- he remains as awitness all the time in the lightbeyond the darkness . Evenbeing in the world he isunaffected by it.

In spiritual life there isan equation that is of sa andaham. Sa is he or that andaham is I. Previously what Ithought God to be, now Iexperience that I am that. Wewill now see some mantras thathave sa , sa ,sa or he, he, heand later some mantras willcome which use aham , aham– I , I.

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“Danda kamandaludharana matrena naronarayana bhavet” -Just byholding a danda andkamandalu a human beingattains godhood.

In a most auspicious,sacred, grand ceremony,Brahmacharya and Sannyasadikshas were performed atHariharananda Gurukulam withsixteen initiations intoBrahmacharya and thirty threeinitiations into the glorious pathof Sannyasa on, Mahashivaratriday, Feb 20th, 2012.

With ParamahamsaPrajnananandaji in residence,the Gurukulam was busy andcolourful with theBrahmacharis, Brahmacharinis,Vanaprasthis and Monks inwhite, yellow and ochre colourswho have come together fromIndia and abroad for thedikshas on the Mahashivaratriday. It was a great globalreunion of all brahmacharis andswamis of all our ashrams afterthe last initiations on theMahashivaratri day of 2009.

Orientation classes wereheld for those to be initiatedfrom the 15th of Feb throughthe 18th. Baba Prajnananandaji,talked about spiritual sadhana,the Guru disciple relationshipsand the goal of the life ofBrahmacharya and Sannyasa.There were also classes onspirituality, Ashram managementand team work by SwamiShuddhanandaji and AshramMonks and Brahmacharis. Theinstruction and interacting of thestudents and the teachers andthe question and answersessions were a great learningprocess for preparation for thenew life.

The two day ritual on the19th and 20th was a beautiful,powerful and sublimeexperience. Preparatory ritualsfor those to be initiated startedon the 19th, beginning withworship and fire ceremonyfollowed by other rituals. Aftera night long vigil spent inmeditation, prayer anddevotional singing theceremonies continued on the

MAHA SHIVARATRIINITIATIONS AT THE GURUKULAM

Feb 20, 2012DIKHAS AT THE GURUKULAM

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20th. The dikshas wereperformed with all details of theauthentic Vedic procedures andincluded some threadceremonies, abhishekas (holyanointments), a few fireceremonies, mantra dikshas,receiving the new colouredclothes, danda, kamandaladharana, and finally ending withthe new initiates receiving theirnew life and names from theGuru. Assisted by other monksthe Paramahamsaji conductedmost of the ceremoniespersonally attending to each andevery initiate.

The day ended with thenew initiates visiting Guru

Mandir, Karar Ashram andJagannath temple along withthe Guru and mahaprasadsevana. It was a day of greatrejoicing and the blessings ofGod and Gurus were felt inabundance.

The Maha Shivaratricelebrations continued late intothe night and early hours of themorning at our Deva Mandir.

Another great milestonein the history of Kriya Yoga itwas a great spiritual event thathas enriched our spiritualtreasure with the addition ofsixteen Brahmacharis and thirtythree monks into the Giri orderof our great lineage.

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AROUND THE WORLD

INDIAH a r i h a r a n a n d a

Gurukulam was a scene ofintense activity with BabaPrajnananandaji in residence.Many Swamijis from otherAshrams visited our Ashramand met with Baba andsometimes satsangs were held.

Besides our regularAshrams programs, BabaPrajnananandaji was also aninvited speaker at many spiritualevents held in Puri and also inBhubaneshwar and Cuttack.

He was the keynotespeaker to address the hugegathering of over ten thousandpeople at the annual conventionof the devotees of SriNigamananda Saraswati held atBirtung.

Baba had alsoparticipated in The Gitaparayana event held at theTirupati Mandapa atBhubaneshwar with GajapatiMaharaja presiding.

Another significantreligious event was theConvention on “Awareness ofJagannath culture “ that washeld in Puri from the 9th to 14th

of Feb attended by several

monks from all over India inwhich Prajnananandaji took anactive part.

Calcutta Program Jan 1-3

The annual Calcuttaprogram was well attended withseveral initiations and satsang.

Gita Jnana Yajnas at Cuttackand Bhubaneshwar, Jan 7-12

The Gita Jnana yajnas byParamahamsa Prajnananandajiheld at Bhubaneshwar andCuttack drew large audiences’.The unique metaphoricalinterpretation of the Gita andthe question and answersessions at the end of eachlecture were especiallyenlightening. The venue forinitiations at Bhubaneshwarwas the Shivananda Ashramwhere several people wereinitiated into Kriya Yoga.

The 14th InternationalIntensive Kriya YogaSeminar.

The annual IIKYS hadinspiring talks by Baba and themany invited monks and guestspeakers who enlightened theaudience. The question andanswer sessions wereespecially educative. Dailyguided meditations enhanced

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the practice of the many kriyadisciples.

The Students ofBalashram thrilled theaudiences with theirperformances of music, danceand drama. There were alsoother cultural programs byrenowned artists. The Seminarwas attended by many disciplesfrom home and abroad.

Saraswati Puja Jan 28

Saraswati puja was agrand event at the Gurukulamwith worship and fire ceremonyat the Deva mandir.

The Children ofBalashram were blessed tocelebrate Saraswati Puja in thedivine presence of BabaPrajnananandaji at theBalashram.

3rd Foundation day ofHariharananda MatruAshram at Arua, Jan 29-31

The third foundation dayof Matru Ashram was a grandthree day event filled withmany activities from 29 of Jan,ending with the main foundationday celebration on the 31st ofJanuary with ParamahamsaPrajnananandaji presiding.

Matru ashram has beeninvolved in conducting specialsatsangs for women to educate

them in importance of the roleof women in the family andprograms for children of thevillage schools to promote andspiritual values.

The program includedcompetitions for children ofBalashram and other schools ofneighboring villages in variousfields to promote a healthycompetitive spirit and toencourage learning from eachother.

A special satsangexclusively for mothers washeld on the 30th with SwamiGurukrupanandaji presiding.Swami Manyanandaji andSwami Divya SwarupaChaitanya of the Divine LifeSociety were the guestspeakers. Hundreds of womenand children from Arua and theneighboring villages attended themeeting. The talks of theSwamis and the Brahmachariniswere inspiring and educative.

The actual foundationday on the 31st started with anearly morning nama kirtanthrough the village of Arua andlater a fire ceremony andmeditation at the Ashram. Manymothers of the village joined ourBrahmachrinis with greatenthusiasm.

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There was a specialsatsang in the evening withBaba Prajnananandaji presiding.Swami BrahmanandaSaraswati was the chief guestand the speakers included Smt.Manorama Mahapatra, retiredprofessor of Economics, whowas also the editor of thereputed News Paper‘Samaj’and Smt SulochanaDash, also a retired professorof Ravenshaw College inCuttack. The talks focused onthe great role of mothers inbuilding of strong families anda strong nation with right values.The efforts of Matru Ashramto educate women along theselines were greatly appreciated.

A special Souvenir,Matru Prerana was releasedin this connection whichhighlights the activities of theMatru ashram and has inspiringarticles from home and abroadon women’s role in social andspiritual fields.

Bhumi Puja for a SmritiMandir at Bhishindipur

Feb 2

P a r a m a h a m s aPrajnananandaji was at ourBhishindipur Ashram in W.Bengal for the ground breakingceremony for a temple to be

erected in memory of GurudevBaba Hariharanandaji andSwami Narayana Giri on theAshram grounds. The temple isdesigned to have three sections-the center one dedicated to theGurus and with deities ofMother Kali and Lord Krishnaon either side.

Punyatithi of SwamiGurupremanandaji, Feb 5

Special worship andmeditation at the Samadhi siteand a Sadhu Bhandara markedthe 3rd anniversary of Mother’spunyatithi day.

Amrakantak Program

Feb7-9

Our beautiful Ashram inMadhya Pradesh in closevicinity of the holy riverNarmada celebrated itsfoundation day. Resident SwamiParipurnananda Giri along withSwamis Shuddhananda Giri,Samarpananandagiri andArupananda Giri conducted thethree day event with manydisciples participating.

EUROPEThe following retreats areheld in Europe

March 7-12 – HigherKriya Retreat, TattendorfAustria

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AMERICASThe following retreats areheld

April 18- 22 HigherKriya Retreat

M a y 4 - 6 – D e n v e rRetreat.

Visit our web site:

www. prajnanamission.orgFor current information.

E-mail : [email protected] / [email protected]

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

For available Books onYoga, Philosophy & Spirituality.

Please visit our websites.

For India – www.prajnanamission.orgFor USA – www.kriya.org

For Europe – www.kriyayoga-europe.org

May 11- 13 MidwestRetreat –Kriya VedantaGurukulam, Joliet

May 26-May 30Gurudev’s Birthday CelebrationSeminar, Homestead FL.