Ah, such lovely days we have in the Fall, do we not? "Fall" -- it has a less than hopeful sound, doesn't it? "The Fall of Rome" .... "the Fall of mankind" or "Legends of the Fall"
Are we perhaps more in tune with the season wherein we were born? Perhaps. But "my" season has always been the sweet melancholy of the Fall.
In my previous article I wrote about the importance and different forms of self-acceptance. What I didn't include was the common regret "Youth is wasted on the young"....."for if I only knew then what I know now......""" Like all regrets a waste of time; too few inspire fresh efforts and iron-willed resolutions to improve.
Ah, sweet regrets! Like memories they are a inexpensive indulgence but, like all such dips into unreality, they can leave us empty and merely sad.
Fall is not sad for me because the twinge of melancholy is but a reminder that only here and now lies the pearl of great price. What I seek is not a mental image, dredged from the past and refurbished to look better than it actually was: it is a dynamic, life-giving, life-loving embrace beginning at a point of singularity (me), and extending out or in as far as I can feel until all simply vanishes and I AM remains. Fall inspires in me the best and to see in the rest only their best.
You see, normally the seasons trigger but human moods. Each of them will tend to push our minds somewhere else. The intensity of summer activity keeps us at our periphery; the ever hopeful expectations of Spring keep us looking to the future; the dark night of winter inclines us to seek merriment and fellowship to keep the darkness at bay. And, yes, Fall invokes memories and nostalgia for the past.
It just so happens that Fall fits my "mood" like an comfortable old coat. It's not for everyone. Some prefer their cup of life full, active and dynamic; others, brimming with beauty and hope; others, are deep inside themselves, their thoughts unseen like an underground river.
I will further indulge myself by commenting on the fun fact that my grandson, Jay Matlock, was born on my birthday one year ago. At that very moment I and many of my dear friends, were meditating in front of the crypt where Yogananda's body is interred at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, CA. A buzzing text message stirred me from my meditations and my joy was such that I made an instant announcement! Was little Jay saying, "I'm back?"
A Fall reflective "type" cannot but wonder what that coincidence means for the two of us in our unfolding evolution as souls. No amount of reflection has revealed to me an image, whether past or future, from the dark, limpid pool of self-reflection. Yet I continue to marvel on the simple fact of it. I wish little Jay the best and quickest route to soul awakening and freedom, guided by the masters of Self-realization and the inspiration of many gurubhais (including his soul awakened parents). What help I may be to him in this way I cannot nor likely will ever know but I offer it when and how I can.
The waters beyond my window here at the Hermitage on Camano Island are a deep, pastel blue: not a ripple disturbs their quietude. Above them, the majestic volcanic peak of Mount Baker rises serene and undisturbed by human activity. The green of summer lingers in the evergreens as the deciduous trees begin their silent transformation to fire, flame and burnished gold.
A gentle jog into a nearby forest park played the scintillating light of a fading summer sun on my shoulders and onto the ferns and greens spread around me. My all but silent footfall felt like the angel of my soul's final destiny gently urging me along the path of life to the goal. The droplets of time are fading, hurry along now, don't tarry at the beaver pond to reminisce, or at the crude wooden bench in that magic, light-filled meadow.
Quoting one of my favorite affirmations written by my teacher, Swami Kriyananda, "be strong in yourself; complete in yourself; the joy of the universe awaits discovery in your inner being."
And to conclude with the nayaswami song I wrote a week or two after my ordination: "I am strong in my Self, I am free; complete in my Self, I seek Thee; in pleasure or pain, come loss or come gain; be praised or be blamed, I remain just the same; for nothing and no one is mine; for anger nor pride have I time. I seek God alone, only Thee; in Thy love and Thy joy I am free."
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda
Showing posts with label meditation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meditation. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
Self-acceptance vs self-acceptance! All life is a play
Note: today, September 26, is the anniversary date in 1895 when the great yogi, Yogavatar, Lahiri Mahasaya (Shyama Charan Lahiri) left his physical body in the conscious exit known as "mahasamadhi" of a great saint. To ready about his life and service and spiritual attainments visit the newly created website: www.Lahiri-Mahasaya.org.
In a few days I will have attained the ripe old age of 66! Fortunately for me, 66 is the new 56 (or younger). What I find characterizes this stage of life is the need for self-acceptance.
Actually, there is a need for both self-acceptance AND Self-acceptance.
During one's middle life, working-type years, one is constantly pushing and striving. For most people that effort is to acquire material possessions, human love, family, success, health and recognition of one sort or another. Nothing wrong with these goals up to a point, as they are both natural and necessary for the development of character and maturity for most people.
It's like walking against a strong wind in your face. You lean into the wind, head down, pushing with all your strength and effort. If, after hours of struggle, the wind were suddenly to abate, you might even fall flat on your face! Certainly you'd feel some relief but also some disorientation.
When fighting a battle it isn't the time to assess the costs or other consequences. Only when victory or defeat becomes a fact, do we stand up, take a deep breath, and view the result.
So it often is with life itself. There comes a point where "effort ends in ease." Let me explain: first, not for everyone, of course, nor am I talking about the classic point of one's retirement from active, working life. Nowadays with 66 - 76 being the new 56-66, it is common for many to want to continue working, even if they don't need to. Why? Because being still healthy and creative, and even at the pinnacle of one's skills, there's simply no desire to step down and do what......exactly?
Nonetheless, therefore, even for those who continue an active, service-full life, there will likely be a shift in consciousness. One finds stories from one's past popping into your head and speech (only in later years do they start repeating themselves with little or no prompting or context!!!!)
One begins to reflect upon one's life and experiences naturally and spontaneously. The metabolism perhaps slows, wisdom flows naturally as do opportunities (and the need) for mentoring or guiding others, perhaps one's future successors.
But something else is likely to happen, and, even before what I describe above is in full force: the "chickens come home to roost." This means that unfulfilled desires, perhaps shoved aside in the process of making life choices, such as marriage and family, and contending with life's middle-aged duties and obligations and intense activities, raise their flag as if to say, "Remember me? The clock of your life is ticking and little time is left to fulfill your 'bucket list'"!
This is not dissimilar to a "mid-life crises" and in fact that may even be when these chickens return to roost. That's why I say this stage is likely to happen BEFORE the reflective stage.
In this crises of self-examination and self-awareness, we may stumble a bit with moods, depression, anger, frustration and even some pretty dumb things done or said impulsively.
For those who set about emptying their bucket list, they may be simply postponing the stage of self-acceptance or perhaps their adventures in pursuing their list is an active form of self-acceptance.
Whether self-acceptance takes the form of contentment, calmness and wisdom or the somewhat more active form of pursuing one's not-yet-achieved dreams (travel, e.g., being typical), the process is more or less the same though I am speaking more of the reflective stage than the active stage (which by necessity is short-lived usually---due to health, money or a list that is finally completed).
Reflectively, like the wake of a speed boat whose waves slow and spread out as the boat comes gradually to a stop, we now begin to see our life and our personality (habits, tendencies, and even our now aging appearance) in a clearer light and perspective (than when, during middle life, we were constantly in motion pursuing fulfillment in the future tense of life).
No doubt we won't like everything we see. A variety of emotions will surface: denial, anger, grief....the usual litany.....all leading (one hopes) to self-acceptance. Self-acceptance leads to contentment. Contentment to reflection and reflection to wisdom. This is where most people stop.
For the yogi and the devotee who seeks Truth, who seeks to know God, joy, the light of the soul or eternal freedom in infinite bliss, self-acceptance leads to Self-acceptance.
As a grandfather I find it natural to delight in my grandchildren's innocence and childhood even as I reflect on their budding traits and their possible evolution and challenges as they grow towards adulthood.
As a yogi, these flower-buds of traits are but a sampling of the infinite variety of traits, experiences, attitudes, and lives our souls can pursue.
It is natural therefore to step away from identification with my own life story and personality and re-affirm more deeply and with greater interest (as the clock of life is ticking away) my soul's call to awaken in the perfect bliss of God.
"The drama of life has for its lesson that it is but a drama," Paramhansa Yogananda stated. At this stage of life, that's all life seems to be: a drama. Whether this year's politics, last year's wars and catastrophes----all a great play wherein tears and laughter, pleasure and pain alternate like actors changing costumes and roles.
The lesson in this insight is to turn away (not in rejection but with contentment and gratitude for having been part of a good show) and climb the spiral staircase (of the spine) to the "heaven (as Jesus put it) that is within you." We must now more soberly contemplate that, for us, the play is in its final act(s). The time is coming when we must "exit, stage right."
Joy and grace upon a sun-kissed Seattle day whose hidden melancholy whispers that "winter is coming."
Swami Hrimananda
In a few days I will have attained the ripe old age of 66! Fortunately for me, 66 is the new 56 (or younger). What I find characterizes this stage of life is the need for self-acceptance.
Actually, there is a need for both self-acceptance AND Self-acceptance.
During one's middle life, working-type years, one is constantly pushing and striving. For most people that effort is to acquire material possessions, human love, family, success, health and recognition of one sort or another. Nothing wrong with these goals up to a point, as they are both natural and necessary for the development of character and maturity for most people.
It's like walking against a strong wind in your face. You lean into the wind, head down, pushing with all your strength and effort. If, after hours of struggle, the wind were suddenly to abate, you might even fall flat on your face! Certainly you'd feel some relief but also some disorientation.
When fighting a battle it isn't the time to assess the costs or other consequences. Only when victory or defeat becomes a fact, do we stand up, take a deep breath, and view the result.
So it often is with life itself. There comes a point where "effort ends in ease." Let me explain: first, not for everyone, of course, nor am I talking about the classic point of one's retirement from active, working life. Nowadays with 66 - 76 being the new 56-66, it is common for many to want to continue working, even if they don't need to. Why? Because being still healthy and creative, and even at the pinnacle of one's skills, there's simply no desire to step down and do what......exactly?
Nonetheless, therefore, even for those who continue an active, service-full life, there will likely be a shift in consciousness. One finds stories from one's past popping into your head and speech (only in later years do they start repeating themselves with little or no prompting or context!!!!)
One begins to reflect upon one's life and experiences naturally and spontaneously. The metabolism perhaps slows, wisdom flows naturally as do opportunities (and the need) for mentoring or guiding others, perhaps one's future successors.
But something else is likely to happen, and, even before what I describe above is in full force: the "chickens come home to roost." This means that unfulfilled desires, perhaps shoved aside in the process of making life choices, such as marriage and family, and contending with life's middle-aged duties and obligations and intense activities, raise their flag as if to say, "Remember me? The clock of your life is ticking and little time is left to fulfill your 'bucket list'"!
This is not dissimilar to a "mid-life crises" and in fact that may even be when these chickens return to roost. That's why I say this stage is likely to happen BEFORE the reflective stage.
In this crises of self-examination and self-awareness, we may stumble a bit with moods, depression, anger, frustration and even some pretty dumb things done or said impulsively.
For those who set about emptying their bucket list, they may be simply postponing the stage of self-acceptance or perhaps their adventures in pursuing their list is an active form of self-acceptance.
Whether self-acceptance takes the form of contentment, calmness and wisdom or the somewhat more active form of pursuing one's not-yet-achieved dreams (travel, e.g., being typical), the process is more or less the same though I am speaking more of the reflective stage than the active stage (which by necessity is short-lived usually---due to health, money or a list that is finally completed).
Reflectively, like the wake of a speed boat whose waves slow and spread out as the boat comes gradually to a stop, we now begin to see our life and our personality (habits, tendencies, and even our now aging appearance) in a clearer light and perspective (than when, during middle life, we were constantly in motion pursuing fulfillment in the future tense of life).
No doubt we won't like everything we see. A variety of emotions will surface: denial, anger, grief....the usual litany.....all leading (one hopes) to self-acceptance. Self-acceptance leads to contentment. Contentment to reflection and reflection to wisdom. This is where most people stop.
For the yogi and the devotee who seeks Truth, who seeks to know God, joy, the light of the soul or eternal freedom in infinite bliss, self-acceptance leads to Self-acceptance.
As a grandfather I find it natural to delight in my grandchildren's innocence and childhood even as I reflect on their budding traits and their possible evolution and challenges as they grow towards adulthood.
As a yogi, these flower-buds of traits are but a sampling of the infinite variety of traits, experiences, attitudes, and lives our souls can pursue.
It is natural therefore to step away from identification with my own life story and personality and re-affirm more deeply and with greater interest (as the clock of life is ticking away) my soul's call to awaken in the perfect bliss of God.
"The drama of life has for its lesson that it is but a drama," Paramhansa Yogananda stated. At this stage of life, that's all life seems to be: a drama. Whether this year's politics, last year's wars and catastrophes----all a great play wherein tears and laughter, pleasure and pain alternate like actors changing costumes and roles.
The lesson in this insight is to turn away (not in rejection but with contentment and gratitude for having been part of a good show) and climb the spiral staircase (of the spine) to the "heaven (as Jesus put it) that is within you." We must now more soberly contemplate that, for us, the play is in its final act(s). The time is coming when we must "exit, stage right."
Joy and grace upon a sun-kissed Seattle day whose hidden melancholy whispers that "winter is coming."
Swami Hrimananda
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Joy or Sorrow? Cup half full, or, half empty? Eeyore or Tigger?
This evening we celebrate the Harvest (both moon and equinox) at Ananda in Bothell, WA. It's a popular and celebratory event led, this year, by the staff of Ananda Farms on Camano Island.
Tomorrow's Sunday Service theme revolves around intellect vs intuition. It has often been said that "There are two kinds of people in this world...." For those of us with a bent toward "eastern philosophy" and its doctrine of duality, we find this common dichotomy fairly useful, even if sometimes humorous and generally superficial. Such, then is the "half empty or half full cup" of life.
There are the Eeyore's of the world (the somewhat melancholy and doubtful donkey from the tales of Winnie the Pooh) and there are the Tiggers (the unfailingly bouncy, optimistic "tiger" in the same series).
We are often asked which are we? Which do we aspire to be? (One does imagine there are some other choices, but, well, never mind!)
But life, like you and I, are unendingly a mixed bag: both within our moods and consciousness, and, in the circumstances that befall us. We can no more banish sorrow than we can manufacture happiness by affirmation alone. Rather, the question becomes at what latitude do we normally live: at the frozen poles, the temperate zone, or the equator?
The great sage Patanjali, author of the "Yoga Sutras," the "bible" of meditation and higher consciousness, defined the state of yoga (unbroken joyful contentment and God-realization) as the result of a permanent state of being which is unaffected by the flux of nature and the flow of opposites (whether sensory or mental).
In medieval times, the cup was half-empty. The emphasis toward this state (whether in eastern or western philosophy) was on endurance; fortitude; forbearance; self-discipline; and faith. These were the means to overcome the exigencies of the flux of nature and life.
I have long been deeply inspired by a 20th century mystic who embodied the "path of the cross" so beautifully: Padre Pio. (A friend gave me a book on his life, though I have many times studied Padre Pio's life.) Having been raised a devout Catholic during the '50's, this "path" is familiar to me and not entirely off-putting. The cross of suffering that he accepted, he accepted with calm acceptance and joy. His sense of humor was delightful. His guru, Jesus Christ, enabled and epitomized this stoic path of even-mindedness amidst pain and suffering long ago for the benefit of the West. While Jesus is depicted historically as a "man of sorrows" how could he have attracted hundreds if not with what we all want: joy? Nonetheless, the path of the cross is a true path.
"For us now the payment has been exchanged for calm acceptance and joy." These words from the Festival of Light ceremony which we conduct every Sunday, in turn, reveal the new dispensation of truth that has dawned upon humanity at the beginning of a new age of awareness. The Festival of Light continues saying, "Thus may we understand that pain is the fruit of self-love, whereas joy is the fruit of love for God."
It is the ego that experiences physical pain, or the pangs of self-mortification and discipline. "The ego hates to meditate; the soul loves to meditate," taught Paramhansa Yogananda (author of "Autobiography of a Yogi"). Yogananda taught that Jesus' suffering on the cross, for example, was not for himself but for the ignorance and suffering of those who rejected him. That he experienced a moment of the "dark night of the soul" when divine consciousness fled from him on the cross shows not his spiritual weakness but the final exam each soul must face before the resurrection of his soul's realization that "I and my Father are One." He demonstrated this test for those who would follow him and take up their cross.
Yogananda stated that he came to proclaim this new dispensation of greater understanding. No longer does endurance and rock-like faith alone characterize spirituality in this age; no longer does that "way" inspire true devotees. Instead, the joy of seeking Him and sharing Him is the "way" for our times.
We Americans and the West are "tiggers:" optimistic; upbeat; eager to overcome obstacles that a better way of life might be found. "Eventually, eventually? Why not NOW?" This was how Yogananda delightfully described the American culture which he so admired.
But both "ways" are valid and true; each must be balanced and embraced. In the life of Swami Kriyananda, we see the joy of his soul overcoming tremendous obstacles such as physical pain and suffering, persecution, misunderstanding, financial hurdles and restrictions, and the obstinacy, ignorance and unwillingness of some who professed to support his public work and serve with him. Despite enormous challenges, Swamiji's productivity spiritually and creativity would have been the work of four Swami Kriyanandas in most people. Spiritually he helped inspire and uplift countless souls; creatively he authored many books, a new genre of music, and a worldwide network of intentional communities.
He explained to us that although Yogananda was known publicly as charming, magnetic, loving and a charistmatic spiritual teacher, to his close disciples he emphasized both attunement and the necessity to "carry one's cross." He himself took onto his body physical suffering for the sake of his disciples' karma saying that "astral entities" (Padre Pio might say, "devils" or "demons") were attacking him. He pointed out that the agony of the cross lasted three hours but that his own (and others') suffering lasted much longer.
Swami Kriyananda, thus, too carried many crosses throughout his lifetime. Yet, the grace of divine attunement to God and gurus manifested as light and joy, even-mindedness and energy, that outshone the darkness of challenges. To give birth to Ananda worldwide, he performed years of "tapasya": the redemptive and creative power of accepting suffering with faith and equanimity.
My "zen" way of putting this goes like this: "You can't get out alive!" Meaning: to achieve Self-realization, the ego must die. What seems like "death" to the ego is nothing more than the alchemy of transformation. In God, nothing really dies or is lost. (How can infinity exclude anything?) But we are made to believe that by the hypnotic power of the delusion of separateness (one of the definitions of "kundalini") we will "die." This is the final test: the dark night of the soul.
Infinity is BOTH-AND. We must untie the knots of past, bad karma AND find the joy of the soul as the guiding light of action.
Now: raise your cup and drink it to the lees and beyond!
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda!
Tomorrow's Sunday Service theme revolves around intellect vs intuition. It has often been said that "There are two kinds of people in this world...." For those of us with a bent toward "eastern philosophy" and its doctrine of duality, we find this common dichotomy fairly useful, even if sometimes humorous and generally superficial. Such, then is the "half empty or half full cup" of life.
There are the Eeyore's of the world (the somewhat melancholy and doubtful donkey from the tales of Winnie the Pooh) and there are the Tiggers (the unfailingly bouncy, optimistic "tiger" in the same series).
We are often asked which are we? Which do we aspire to be? (One does imagine there are some other choices, but, well, never mind!)
But life, like you and I, are unendingly a mixed bag: both within our moods and consciousness, and, in the circumstances that befall us. We can no more banish sorrow than we can manufacture happiness by affirmation alone. Rather, the question becomes at what latitude do we normally live: at the frozen poles, the temperate zone, or the equator?
The great sage Patanjali, author of the "Yoga Sutras," the "bible" of meditation and higher consciousness, defined the state of yoga (unbroken joyful contentment and God-realization) as the result of a permanent state of being which is unaffected by the flux of nature and the flow of opposites (whether sensory or mental).
In medieval times, the cup was half-empty. The emphasis toward this state (whether in eastern or western philosophy) was on endurance; fortitude; forbearance; self-discipline; and faith. These were the means to overcome the exigencies of the flux of nature and life.
I have long been deeply inspired by a 20th century mystic who embodied the "path of the cross" so beautifully: Padre Pio. (A friend gave me a book on his life, though I have many times studied Padre Pio's life.) Having been raised a devout Catholic during the '50's, this "path" is familiar to me and not entirely off-putting. The cross of suffering that he accepted, he accepted with calm acceptance and joy. His sense of humor was delightful. His guru, Jesus Christ, enabled and epitomized this stoic path of even-mindedness amidst pain and suffering long ago for the benefit of the West. While Jesus is depicted historically as a "man of sorrows" how could he have attracted hundreds if not with what we all want: joy? Nonetheless, the path of the cross is a true path.
"For us now the payment has been exchanged for calm acceptance and joy." These words from the Festival of Light ceremony which we conduct every Sunday, in turn, reveal the new dispensation of truth that has dawned upon humanity at the beginning of a new age of awareness. The Festival of Light continues saying, "Thus may we understand that pain is the fruit of self-love, whereas joy is the fruit of love for God."
It is the ego that experiences physical pain, or the pangs of self-mortification and discipline. "The ego hates to meditate; the soul loves to meditate," taught Paramhansa Yogananda (author of "Autobiography of a Yogi"). Yogananda taught that Jesus' suffering on the cross, for example, was not for himself but for the ignorance and suffering of those who rejected him. That he experienced a moment of the "dark night of the soul" when divine consciousness fled from him on the cross shows not his spiritual weakness but the final exam each soul must face before the resurrection of his soul's realization that "I and my Father are One." He demonstrated this test for those who would follow him and take up their cross.
Yogananda stated that he came to proclaim this new dispensation of greater understanding. No longer does endurance and rock-like faith alone characterize spirituality in this age; no longer does that "way" inspire true devotees. Instead, the joy of seeking Him and sharing Him is the "way" for our times.
We Americans and the West are "tiggers:" optimistic; upbeat; eager to overcome obstacles that a better way of life might be found. "Eventually, eventually? Why not NOW?" This was how Yogananda delightfully described the American culture which he so admired.
But both "ways" are valid and true; each must be balanced and embraced. In the life of Swami Kriyananda, we see the joy of his soul overcoming tremendous obstacles such as physical pain and suffering, persecution, misunderstanding, financial hurdles and restrictions, and the obstinacy, ignorance and unwillingness of some who professed to support his public work and serve with him. Despite enormous challenges, Swamiji's productivity spiritually and creativity would have been the work of four Swami Kriyanandas in most people. Spiritually he helped inspire and uplift countless souls; creatively he authored many books, a new genre of music, and a worldwide network of intentional communities.
He explained to us that although Yogananda was known publicly as charming, magnetic, loving and a charistmatic spiritual teacher, to his close disciples he emphasized both attunement and the necessity to "carry one's cross." He himself took onto his body physical suffering for the sake of his disciples' karma saying that "astral entities" (Padre Pio might say, "devils" or "demons") were attacking him. He pointed out that the agony of the cross lasted three hours but that his own (and others') suffering lasted much longer.
Swami Kriyananda, thus, too carried many crosses throughout his lifetime. Yet, the grace of divine attunement to God and gurus manifested as light and joy, even-mindedness and energy, that outshone the darkness of challenges. To give birth to Ananda worldwide, he performed years of "tapasya": the redemptive and creative power of accepting suffering with faith and equanimity.
My "zen" way of putting this goes like this: "You can't get out alive!" Meaning: to achieve Self-realization, the ego must die. What seems like "death" to the ego is nothing more than the alchemy of transformation. In God, nothing really dies or is lost. (How can infinity exclude anything?) But we are made to believe that by the hypnotic power of the delusion of separateness (one of the definitions of "kundalini") we will "die." This is the final test: the dark night of the soul.
Infinity is BOTH-AND. We must untie the knots of past, bad karma AND find the joy of the soul as the guiding light of action.
Now: raise your cup and drink it to the lees and beyond!
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda!
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Am I spiritual?
What does it mean to be spiritual? This question is similar to the one that asks, "What is good art?
As open ended as such questions are, it doesn't mean there's no answer that is helpful.
When speaking about atheists, agnostics, or stoics, we can say that being spiritual (for them) is having good "spirit".... being compassionate, kind, loving, having high ideals, personal integrity, energetic and creative, cooperative, and so on.
But neither can we deny the ordinary meaning of the term ("spiritual") nor especially its true and deeper meanings. For, virtue alone is not enough. It has been well said that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Good deeds create good karma, but good karma accrues to the ego which is ever unreliable because its most basic instincts are self-protection and self-assertion in the face of life's inevitable tests and trials. Eventually good karma simply gets used up and you either succumb in the other direction or at least start all over again. Ultimately, no matter how successful or happy in human terms a person becomes (and how few do), it will never be enough. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee," St. Augustine warns us.
Divine consciousness is not simply earned by will power alone, but is won by devotional and conscious self-offering. Why is this? Because superconsciousness is MORE aware than the conscious or subconscious mind; it is by definition transcendent of ego consciousness. One doesn't slide into higher consciousness by actions initiated solely by the will of ego alone. At some point, influenced by the higher spiritual vibrations of saintly souls, high spiritual teachings and true and sincere spiritual teachers, our soul is touched and inspired to seek "the pearl of great price: God alone!"
Reality is infinite: whether in time or space or in consciousness itself. Thus, the ultimate spirituality is to seek attunement and immersion into Infinity itself. This requires recognition of the inadequacy of ego and, ultimately (at least), a supreme act of what appears, to the ego, to be self-annihilation but which in fact is Self-expansion towards bliss. The ego rebels and is frightened and wary; but the soul thrills at the prospect. In God who is Infinite, how can anything be lost? What else is infinity if not every-thing, material, immaterial, or conscious. Described millennia ago, this state, which is called many things and no-thing, including God, is "Satchidanandam," ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss.
Love of God is paramount and is therefore both the alpha and omega (beginning and end) of true spirituality. This simply cannot be denied. The steps toward perfecting this love is what Jesus meant, and he pulled "no punches," when he "be thou perfect, even as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect!" (Why? Because in our souls we are already perfect but haven't realized this fully.)
Most ordinary, Sunday-going religionists obey the rules; go to church; try to be good and honest and all the things which in the yoga teachings comprise the most outward aspects of the first stages of spirituality called yama and niyama (do's and don'ts). I don't mock these for all of us must learn these lessons. They are the foundation stones, the house, of spirituality. Paramhansa Yogananda called the church the "hive" and the living experience of God's presence the "honey." He said BOTH are needed.
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" Jesus chided his critics. The Jews of his time, like so many at all times, need to work from the outside in and can, at first, only see the outer trappings, the husk but not the kernel of religion. Obedience to rules is a good start but is secondary. Performance of rites and rituals or attendance at church, similarly, is also secondary but woe to he who thinks he is above this. Time proves all. If self-sacrifice and devotional self-offering is the ultimate price, you'd better start right now and if for you, child of Spirit that you still are, need to demonstrate that by going to church on Sunday to show that you are willing to give your all to the quest for Self-realization, then so be it! Do it, however, with Joy or you will gain nothing!
Study of and knowledge of scripture, though helpful, is also not the essence of spirituality. Yogananda's guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, said of such (pundits and theologians), "They smell unduly of the lamp (kerosene)." A finely honed definition is not a substitute for superconsciousness. On the other hand, quoting Yogananda, "Stupid people will never find God (until their brains mature)." In my book, this includes dogmatic people. Study of spiritual teachings should bring one to a universal view of all life and all sincere striving. Love and kind acceptance are the fruit of true wisdom inclining as it must toward superconsciousness.
Selfless service is perhaps the most important because high thoughts and devotional feelings must be purified in the white-hot crucible of direct but selfless, ego-transcendent action. Even prayer and meditation are but (refined) action. Both true devotion and true contemplation find fulfillment in silent, inner communion. Action without personal desire, serving God with devotion and true understanding within and without in the fulfillment of one's rightful duties in life, are the surest path to God.
One could therefore say that spirituality is directional. Here, below, I offer a more or less random description of typical stages of spiritual growth. Such are necessarily suggestive of the precept of reincarnation:
1. Virtuous behavior, moral integrity, and right living are the foundation
2. Belief or, better, intuitive awareness of God or a higher power.
3. Study and practice of religion and religious attitudes.
4. Adherence to religious discipline.
5. Increasing holiness, self-sacrifice, calmness, joy, and peace.
6. Prayer and meditation with increasingly deeper inner experiences of superconsciousness
7. Appearance of tangible evidence of sanctity recognized by others.
8. From here, the stages are internal to one's consciousness, the supreme goal of which is Oneness with God (using whatever terminology is appropriate to one's tradition).
It would be absurd to insist that spirituality must take these stages literally in its unfoldment. Yet, there is a recognizable direction and logic to the steps described above. I do not intend that these steps be rigid or tightly defined. They are merely suggestive of the general idea.
Maybe some day I'll write about "good art," though this isn't my "field." Art as a Hidden Message is a book by my teacher (and founder of Ananda worldwide), Swami Kriyananda, brings clarity to the messy and subjective field of art and art appreciation. Art for art's sake is revealed for the fallacy it is, for art communicates.
Blessings to all, from Camano Island Hermitage,
Swami Hrimananda
As open ended as such questions are, it doesn't mean there's no answer that is helpful.
When speaking about atheists, agnostics, or stoics, we can say that being spiritual (for them) is having good "spirit".... being compassionate, kind, loving, having high ideals, personal integrity, energetic and creative, cooperative, and so on.
But neither can we deny the ordinary meaning of the term ("spiritual") nor especially its true and deeper meanings. For, virtue alone is not enough. It has been well said that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Good deeds create good karma, but good karma accrues to the ego which is ever unreliable because its most basic instincts are self-protection and self-assertion in the face of life's inevitable tests and trials. Eventually good karma simply gets used up and you either succumb in the other direction or at least start all over again. Ultimately, no matter how successful or happy in human terms a person becomes (and how few do), it will never be enough. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee," St. Augustine warns us.
Divine consciousness is not simply earned by will power alone, but is won by devotional and conscious self-offering. Why is this? Because superconsciousness is MORE aware than the conscious or subconscious mind; it is by definition transcendent of ego consciousness. One doesn't slide into higher consciousness by actions initiated solely by the will of ego alone. At some point, influenced by the higher spiritual vibrations of saintly souls, high spiritual teachings and true and sincere spiritual teachers, our soul is touched and inspired to seek "the pearl of great price: God alone!"
Reality is infinite: whether in time or space or in consciousness itself. Thus, the ultimate spirituality is to seek attunement and immersion into Infinity itself. This requires recognition of the inadequacy of ego and, ultimately (at least), a supreme act of what appears, to the ego, to be self-annihilation but which in fact is Self-expansion towards bliss. The ego rebels and is frightened and wary; but the soul thrills at the prospect. In God who is Infinite, how can anything be lost? What else is infinity if not every-thing, material, immaterial, or conscious. Described millennia ago, this state, which is called many things and no-thing, including God, is "Satchidanandam," ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss.
Love of God is paramount and is therefore both the alpha and omega (beginning and end) of true spirituality. This simply cannot be denied. The steps toward perfecting this love is what Jesus meant, and he pulled "no punches," when he "be thou perfect, even as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect!" (Why? Because in our souls we are already perfect but haven't realized this fully.)
Most ordinary, Sunday-going religionists obey the rules; go to church; try to be good and honest and all the things which in the yoga teachings comprise the most outward aspects of the first stages of spirituality called yama and niyama (do's and don'ts). I don't mock these for all of us must learn these lessons. They are the foundation stones, the house, of spirituality. Paramhansa Yogananda called the church the "hive" and the living experience of God's presence the "honey." He said BOTH are needed.
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" Jesus chided his critics. The Jews of his time, like so many at all times, need to work from the outside in and can, at first, only see the outer trappings, the husk but not the kernel of religion. Obedience to rules is a good start but is secondary. Performance of rites and rituals or attendance at church, similarly, is also secondary but woe to he who thinks he is above this. Time proves all. If self-sacrifice and devotional self-offering is the ultimate price, you'd better start right now and if for you, child of Spirit that you still are, need to demonstrate that by going to church on Sunday to show that you are willing to give your all to the quest for Self-realization, then so be it! Do it, however, with Joy or you will gain nothing!
Study of and knowledge of scripture, though helpful, is also not the essence of spirituality. Yogananda's guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, said of such (pundits and theologians), "They smell unduly of the lamp (kerosene)." A finely honed definition is not a substitute for superconsciousness. On the other hand, quoting Yogananda, "Stupid people will never find God (until their brains mature)." In my book, this includes dogmatic people. Study of spiritual teachings should bring one to a universal view of all life and all sincere striving. Love and kind acceptance are the fruit of true wisdom inclining as it must toward superconsciousness.
Selfless service is perhaps the most important because high thoughts and devotional feelings must be purified in the white-hot crucible of direct but selfless, ego-transcendent action. Even prayer and meditation are but (refined) action. Both true devotion and true contemplation find fulfillment in silent, inner communion. Action without personal desire, serving God with devotion and true understanding within and without in the fulfillment of one's rightful duties in life, are the surest path to God.
One could therefore say that spirituality is directional. Here, below, I offer a more or less random description of typical stages of spiritual growth. Such are necessarily suggestive of the precept of reincarnation:
1. Virtuous behavior, moral integrity, and right living are the foundation
2. Belief or, better, intuitive awareness of God or a higher power.
3. Study and practice of religion and religious attitudes.
4. Adherence to religious discipline.
5. Increasing holiness, self-sacrifice, calmness, joy, and peace.
6. Prayer and meditation with increasingly deeper inner experiences of superconsciousness
7. Appearance of tangible evidence of sanctity recognized by others.
8. From here, the stages are internal to one's consciousness, the supreme goal of which is Oneness with God (using whatever terminology is appropriate to one's tradition).
It would be absurd to insist that spirituality must take these stages literally in its unfoldment. Yet, there is a recognizable direction and logic to the steps described above. I do not intend that these steps be rigid or tightly defined. They are merely suggestive of the general idea.
Maybe some day I'll write about "good art," though this isn't my "field." Art as a Hidden Message is a book by my teacher (and founder of Ananda worldwide), Swami Kriyananda, brings clarity to the messy and subjective field of art and art appreciation. Art for art's sake is revealed for the fallacy it is, for art communicates.
Blessings to all, from Camano Island Hermitage,
Swami Hrimananda
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Breathlessness is Deathlessness!
What does "counter-intuitive" mean? Sitting on an airplane, ready for take-off, how many of us have wondered to ourselves: how can this thing, weighing 300 to 400 tons, possibly fly? And, yet it does: thousands of flights everyday, filled with hundreds of people, fuel, baggage and the airplane itself! But is this truly "counter" to our intuition? Or, is it counter to the experience of the senses?
Intuitively, in our dreams and aspirations, after all, flying is possible for us. Without the aspiration, fed by intuition which is the "knowing" that we can fly, we wouldn't even attempt it. So, instead of being counter-intuitive, it is really counter to our sensory experience! It wasn't until 1978 that two men climbed Mt. Everest without additional oxygen. Their feat may have defied (then) common sense, but it wasn't "counter-intuitive."
In this ascendant age of science and technology we are each day, each month, each year transcending limitations which, heretofore, would have seemed impossible. Some day, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of "Autobiography of a Yogi") predicted, we would figure out how to span the light years that separate us from distant planets and galaxies without paying the limitations imposed upon us currently by time and space.
Consider, too, our experience with illness, old age, death and all manner of suffering, including emotional and mental. When these things strike us, loved ones, or others, we know intuitively that this is NOT who we are; we knowingly separate ourselves from them, even when we accept them, at least calmly, as our present, but not permanent, reality.
It's not that we can't see these things are a fact of life for everyone. But at the same time we "know" that health is who we are and we know what is our true nature: happiness, freedom, goodness......all these are ours on an intuitive level.
Our intuitive knowing is the soul's power to fly and to seek freedom from all limitations. Our creative thoughts write novels, and plays, and make movies of past centuries and cultures; we imagine the life on earth in the future or on other, as yet undiscovered, planets. Every day in so many ways, we affirm our freedom from all limitations even if just in our thoughts, our desires, our fantasies.
In the past, breathing meant you were alive: the first breath of a baby, and the final exhalation of the dying signaled the appearance or disappearance of life. Yet the yogis tell us that "breathlessness is deathlessness." This is counter to our sense impressions; it is repudiated by the subconscious mind, which includes the body's autonomic system, for these are efficiently designed to keep us in the body and breathing. And this is a good thing from a common sense and daily living point of view. But we also posses an innate, intuitive sense of our immortality whenever we contemplate the mystery of death or encounter its stark but physical reality.
For a long time, lack of breathe meant a person was dead. That was disproved with the onset of CPR. In more recent times, it was said that lack of brain activity is certain death. That, too, has been disproved. One example is of a boy who drowned in icy water and had no signs of life for over an hour and a half. By intelligent and sustained efforts of the medical staff, he walked out of the hospital three and half days later.
Death, while at the same time a socially taboo subject in both family and medical circles, is yet a new frontier for science. A well known meditation researcher is investigating a phenomenon known in Tibetan circles as thukdam. A monk, knowing of his coming death, enters a deep state of meditation. All bodily and biological functions cease, yet, his body remains without decay or other signs of death for periods of a week or more. When does death actually occur?
Humanity, having descended to the nadir of what is called "Kali Yuga" (the dark or lowest cycle of human consciousness) around 499 AD and having, from that point, begun slowly our 12,000 year upward journey to greater awareness, has lost many of the treasures of the wisdom of higher ages. Even in the science of yoga, e.g., we've inherited from the relative ignorance of Kali Yuga cycle the association, almost universal around the world in today's cultures, between the term "yoga" and the physical body. Ananda Yoga, taught as a prelude to meditation, is viewed, as if almost unique, and is considered by others as "spiritual yoga." This is ironic because the term "yoga" is refers to the highest state of spiritual consciousness (and to the concomitant techniques to achieve it).
Another example from the science of yoga is the term Prana, or life force. During Kali Yuga this term became associated with the physical breath and with physical breathing exercises. Its original and correct meaning is a reference to the movements of intelligent energy that inhabit the physical body and which comprise the essence of the astral body. Physical breath is but the grossest, most outward evidence of life force in the body. Kriya Yoga, one of the world's most sought after and advanced meditation techniques, emphasizes awareness and control of these subtle currents in and around the astral spine, even if it, too, utilizes the physical breath as a doorway to the subtle, astral breath.
In the declining yugas of the BCE era, as humankind increasingly lost touch with its ability to contact divine realms and consciousness, priests of the cult of Osiris performed a ritual reenactment of the entombment and resurrection of Osiris by going into the Great Pyramid and placing the new pharoah or high priest into a coffin and sealing it with wax for a precise number of minutes. By this ritual, they would attempt to induce a near-death experience for the new pharoah so that he could experience higher realms and claim his kinship with Osiris and his lineage! A crude and dangerous ritual, to be sure, and a desperate attempt to reenact the lost mental and spiritual powers of a higher age and induce an experience of superconsciousness.
Julian Jaynes, author of "Origins of Consciousness" (1976), studied ancient traditions and writings, e.g., the Iliad, and concluded, somewhat crudely, that in former times humanity claimed to have had access to divine consciousness and "heard voices" in our heads that guided our actions. He termed this "bicameral" thinking. Thus it is that ancient scriptures, including the Old Testament, do NOT emphasize the kind of personal, egoic, existential angst and burden of personal decision making that we take for granted today. The author's view of this may not exactly coincide with our own, but it is an interesting observation. Yogananda wrote (in his autobiography) that "thoughts are universally, not individually rooted." A saint is a saint for having attuned his consciousness to divine consciousness. As the Old Testament put it, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." But a saint speaks and acts with divine attunement. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that we who think we are the Doer (and the Thinker) are deluded for all creation is a manifestation of God, whether wisely or ignorantly.
Medical scientists are studying how to induce a kind of hibernation level so as to slow bleeding in trauma victims, to give time for heart surgery patients to regain normal function, and to resuscitate people who might even have been without a heartbeat for several hours.
Life without oxygen is possible! The wealth of testimony from the studies of near-death experiences (NDEs) shows a consistent pattern of experiences about a state of awareness never before thought possible. One study showed that a group of NDE'ers had very accurate and precise descriptions of the procedures performed on their otherwise "dead" bodies (while being resuscitated) compared with a survey of a group of medically savvy people who were nowhere near as accurate or successful when asked what procedures would likely be performed under such circumstances.
Returning now to the subject of breathlessness, quoting Chapter 26 (Kriya Yoga) of Paramhansa Yogananda's now classic story, "Autobiography of a Yogi," he wrote:
Kriya Yoga is an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened,” Sri Yukteswar explained to his students. “The ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. This is India’s unique and deathless contribution to the world’s treasury of knowledge. The life force, which is ordinarily absorbed in maintaining the heart-pump, must be freed for higher activities by a method of calming and stilling the ceaseless demands of the breath.”
In Chapter 12 of his autobiography, his guru gives to him an experience of cosmic consciousness. Entering this state, he describes it thusly: "My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms."
Intuitively, in our dreams and aspirations, after all, flying is possible for us. Without the aspiration, fed by intuition which is the "knowing" that we can fly, we wouldn't even attempt it. So, instead of being counter-intuitive, it is really counter to our sensory experience! It wasn't until 1978 that two men climbed Mt. Everest without additional oxygen. Their feat may have defied (then) common sense, but it wasn't "counter-intuitive."
In this ascendant age of science and technology we are each day, each month, each year transcending limitations which, heretofore, would have seemed impossible. Some day, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of "Autobiography of a Yogi") predicted, we would figure out how to span the light years that separate us from distant planets and galaxies without paying the limitations imposed upon us currently by time and space.
Consider, too, our experience with illness, old age, death and all manner of suffering, including emotional and mental. When these things strike us, loved ones, or others, we know intuitively that this is NOT who we are; we knowingly separate ourselves from them, even when we accept them, at least calmly, as our present, but not permanent, reality.
It's not that we can't see these things are a fact of life for everyone. But at the same time we "know" that health is who we are and we know what is our true nature: happiness, freedom, goodness......all these are ours on an intuitive level.
Our intuitive knowing is the soul's power to fly and to seek freedom from all limitations. Our creative thoughts write novels, and plays, and make movies of past centuries and cultures; we imagine the life on earth in the future or on other, as yet undiscovered, planets. Every day in so many ways, we affirm our freedom from all limitations even if just in our thoughts, our desires, our fantasies.
In the past, breathing meant you were alive: the first breath of a baby, and the final exhalation of the dying signaled the appearance or disappearance of life. Yet the yogis tell us that "breathlessness is deathlessness." This is counter to our sense impressions; it is repudiated by the subconscious mind, which includes the body's autonomic system, for these are efficiently designed to keep us in the body and breathing. And this is a good thing from a common sense and daily living point of view. But we also posses an innate, intuitive sense of our immortality whenever we contemplate the mystery of death or encounter its stark but physical reality.
For a long time, lack of breathe meant a person was dead. That was disproved with the onset of CPR. In more recent times, it was said that lack of brain activity is certain death. That, too, has been disproved. One example is of a boy who drowned in icy water and had no signs of life for over an hour and a half. By intelligent and sustained efforts of the medical staff, he walked out of the hospital three and half days later.
Death, while at the same time a socially taboo subject in both family and medical circles, is yet a new frontier for science. A well known meditation researcher is investigating a phenomenon known in Tibetan circles as thukdam. A monk, knowing of his coming death, enters a deep state of meditation. All bodily and biological functions cease, yet, his body remains without decay or other signs of death for periods of a week or more. When does death actually occur?
Humanity, having descended to the nadir of what is called "Kali Yuga" (the dark or lowest cycle of human consciousness) around 499 AD and having, from that point, begun slowly our 12,000 year upward journey to greater awareness, has lost many of the treasures of the wisdom of higher ages. Even in the science of yoga, e.g., we've inherited from the relative ignorance of Kali Yuga cycle the association, almost universal around the world in today's cultures, between the term "yoga" and the physical body. Ananda Yoga, taught as a prelude to meditation, is viewed, as if almost unique, and is considered by others as "spiritual yoga." This is ironic because the term "yoga" is refers to the highest state of spiritual consciousness (and to the concomitant techniques to achieve it).
Another example from the science of yoga is the term Prana, or life force. During Kali Yuga this term became associated with the physical breath and with physical breathing exercises. Its original and correct meaning is a reference to the movements of intelligent energy that inhabit the physical body and which comprise the essence of the astral body. Physical breath is but the grossest, most outward evidence of life force in the body. Kriya Yoga, one of the world's most sought after and advanced meditation techniques, emphasizes awareness and control of these subtle currents in and around the astral spine, even if it, too, utilizes the physical breath as a doorway to the subtle, astral breath.
In the declining yugas of the BCE era, as humankind increasingly lost touch with its ability to contact divine realms and consciousness, priests of the cult of Osiris performed a ritual reenactment of the entombment and resurrection of Osiris by going into the Great Pyramid and placing the new pharoah or high priest into a coffin and sealing it with wax for a precise number of minutes. By this ritual, they would attempt to induce a near-death experience for the new pharoah so that he could experience higher realms and claim his kinship with Osiris and his lineage! A crude and dangerous ritual, to be sure, and a desperate attempt to reenact the lost mental and spiritual powers of a higher age and induce an experience of superconsciousness.
Julian Jaynes, author of "Origins of Consciousness" (1976), studied ancient traditions and writings, e.g., the Iliad, and concluded, somewhat crudely, that in former times humanity claimed to have had access to divine consciousness and "heard voices" in our heads that guided our actions. He termed this "bicameral" thinking. Thus it is that ancient scriptures, including the Old Testament, do NOT emphasize the kind of personal, egoic, existential angst and burden of personal decision making that we take for granted today. The author's view of this may not exactly coincide with our own, but it is an interesting observation. Yogananda wrote (in his autobiography) that "thoughts are universally, not individually rooted." A saint is a saint for having attuned his consciousness to divine consciousness. As the Old Testament put it, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." But a saint speaks and acts with divine attunement. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that we who think we are the Doer (and the Thinker) are deluded for all creation is a manifestation of God, whether wisely or ignorantly.
Medical scientists are studying how to induce a kind of hibernation level so as to slow bleeding in trauma victims, to give time for heart surgery patients to regain normal function, and to resuscitate people who might even have been without a heartbeat for several hours.
Life without oxygen is possible! The wealth of testimony from the studies of near-death experiences (NDEs) shows a consistent pattern of experiences about a state of awareness never before thought possible. One study showed that a group of NDE'ers had very accurate and precise descriptions of the procedures performed on their otherwise "dead" bodies (while being resuscitated) compared with a survey of a group of medically savvy people who were nowhere near as accurate or successful when asked what procedures would likely be performed under such circumstances.
Returning now to the subject of breathlessness, quoting Chapter 26 (Kriya Yoga) of Paramhansa Yogananda's now classic story, "Autobiography of a Yogi," he wrote:
Kriya Yoga is an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened,” Sri Yukteswar explained to his students. “The ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. This is India’s unique and deathless contribution to the world’s treasury of knowledge. The life force, which is ordinarily absorbed in maintaining the heart-pump, must be freed for higher activities by a method of calming and stilling the ceaseless demands of the breath.”
In Chapter 12 of his autobiography, his guru gives to him an experience of cosmic consciousness. Entering this state, he describes it thusly: "My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms."
Rather than the materialistic view that matter has produced consciousness, the ancient teachings of a much higher age aver that consciousness has produced matter. God has become the universe by vibrating His consciousness to create an illusion of separateness.
Scientists debate whether the mind has an independent existence apart from the brain, More and more evidence is piling up to suggest that it is so. But the mind, then, would need a source of energy. The yogis say that this is source is the source of all things, all life and is called, in Sanskrit, prana, or Life Force. This intelligent and divine life source is both macro and micro: it is the essence of all creation and the manifestation of our individualized consciousness.
Yogic techniques are emerging than can show us how to safely and naturally transcend the slavery of our mind to the body. Yogananda taught a mindfulness technique (watching the breath), taken from ancient times, using the mantra "Hong Sau." He called this the highest technique of concentration.
The breath is the single most obvious barrier to concentration: when we need to focus on something, we automatically quiet the breath, or even hold it temporarily. At the same time by focusing one-pointedly upon the breath, it begins to calm down and, with proper training in the technique itself, we can relatively easily experience moments of cessation of breath. It is therefore the natural focus of our meditative attention.
The respiration rates of humans and of various animals shows that the faster the rate, the shorter the life expectancy. Scientific studies are all ready showing that meditation can slow, and even reverse, the effects of aging. Though it may seem counter to our natural, biological instincts, breathing less gives us more life; more awareness; greater health; and sustainable joy.
Certain techniques (kapalbhati pranayam, double breath exhalation, and others) can produce momentary experiences of breathlessness: not unlike the training of astronauts in weightlessness when they are taken up in an airplane as high as they can go and then begin a rapid descent during which weightlessness occurs for a brief time.
Centering one's inner, visual focus through the forehead (the point between the eyebrows....the "kutastha") can also instantly bring breath and heart to a near standstill. This, combined with other advanced meditation techniques, is powerfully effective. No such techniques should be attempted on one's own, however. Not because they are dangerous so much, as why waste time doing something worth doing but doing it ineffectively?
As explained in Chapter 26 of the "Autobiography of a Yogi," Kriya Yoga introduces an "extra atom" of oxygen to bring the metabolism into stasis and reduce the need to breathe and thus gradually become acclimatized, like those who climb Mt. Everest without oxygen, to the rarefied "atmosphere" of breathlessness.
As we approach "absolute zero" of stillness of breath, the sense of separate identity, aka the ego, begins to dissolve. Not surprisingly, the ego is sustained by the autonomic system and sometimes balks at the possibility of its own dissolution in breathlessness. A meditator might experience momentary fear, or with the very thought "I'm not breathing," the heart and lungs kick back in.
Gradually, over time and with practice, we overcome this hesitation. The key to this is NOT however the psycho-physiological description I've offered above. Higher consciousness is not, or should not be, a "circus." These realms are for those who sincerely, and with deep devotion and self-offering of the ego at the feet of the Infinite Spirit, seek the "truth that shall make us free" (of all limitations of ego and body). This is not for the faint of heart or for those whose wounded egos require extensive surgery: we cannot offer back to God that which, we, ourselves, do not yet possess. To become Self-possessed we must first become self-possessed!
Our hearts must be cleansed and purified by right action and right understanding. Breathlessness is, itself, only a doorway to the Divine Presence. In fact, without proper training and guidance, breathlessness can descend into lower forms of subconsciousness, including trance states, which offer to us no pathway to enlightenment whatsoever. One can, I am told, press on certain nerves and induce trance-like states. There are chemical means of inducing states of hibernation or feigned death. None of these is what this article is about.
Think of lifting your arms up high in celebration! Imagine lifting your eyes as if at the sight of a awesome panorama! Even in such simple and ordinary acts, the mind becomes instantly still and the heartbeat can become immediately quiet. "It left me breathless!" Even human love, in its deepest forms, is silent and still. In addition to the yoga science, each of us can practice "breathlessness" at any time.
May your breath be taken away in blissful, divine ecstasy!
Swami Hrimananda
For some follow up reading you might enjoy:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/dying-death-brain-dead-body-consciousness-science/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialAds&utm_content=ngm-deathconsciousness&utm_campaign=Membership&kwp_0=159471&kwp_4=724566&kwp_1=365650
also: "Closer to the Light," by Melvin Morse, M.D.
May your breath be taken away in blissful, divine ecstasy!
Swami Hrimananda
For some follow up reading you might enjoy:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/dying-death-brain-dead-body-consciousness-science/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialAds&utm_content=ngm-deathconsciousness&utm_campaign=Membership&kwp_0=159471&kwp_4=724566&kwp_1=365650
also: "Closer to the Light," by Melvin Morse, M.D.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Can Yoga Trump Politics?
Well, it seems America has safely got past both political parties'
conventions. What a time we live in! The voices of America are at fevered
pitch, shouting irrational imprecations from all sides. It seems the Western
world is having a spasm of liberal regrets; our egalitarian principles strained
under the dark clouds of fear, envy, violence, and hatred as if uninvited
"guests" are attempting to crash the gates of a formerly decorous and
homogeneous "party." The civil niceties of public debate, once secure
in white shirts and club ties, have abandoned themselves to the jostling
rainbow crowd! (ok, a slight exaggeration: democracy has always been messy,
noisy, and rancorous!) Globalism, once the great "white hope" of
liberalism (free trade, freer movement of peoples) is now under attack for it
is seen to benefit the few at the expense of the many and at the cost of
legitimate national interests.
A yogi is committed to the summons of Patanjali (of the "Yoga
Sutras") to seek the calm center within: where likes and dislikes,
opinions and emotions, subside into the bliss beneath all seeming.
On the left, the yogi finds "ira" (the upward moving channel in the
astral spine--associated with inhalation) which can be expressed outwardly, as
the power of love and compassion; on the right, the "pingala" channel (downward moving away from
outward involvement--cause of the exhalation), expressing non-attachment and
acceptance of the law of karma! Mercy and justice: two sides of a coin.
What's a yogi to do?
Paramhansa Yogananda aligned himself with the (political) party of
Abraham Lincoln! He declined to express his thoughts, except as
"concerned," regarding FDR: the father of social security, progenitor
of how government can help people in need, and, in later decades, manifested as
Welfare entitlements; more recently, Obamacare! Yogananda put it this way (as
many have also): while it's fine and good to feed someone hungry, it is better
to give him a job and better yet an education.
Jesus Christ, too, actually said these words: "The poor ye
shall have always...." Yet the Bhagavad
Gita avers that the yogi
feels "the pangs of sorrow and joy of all men." When Jesus Christ
stated that "those who have, more will be given; to those with little,
what they have will be taken away" one might think his words were a plank
in the Republican platform! In all fairness, yet apropos in any case, is
Paramhansa Yogananda's explanation for Jesus' strange sounding words: those who
put out energy will receive energy back in spades; those who do not, will lose
what little they have. Or, as one hears so often with a twang and a smile,
"Da Lord helps dems who helps demselves!" And Jesus also said
that as often as we feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit those in prison,
etc. we do it to Him!
How, ever, can a yogi reconcile these seemingly opposite
principles and precepts?
Life would be unbearable if we did not believe in and understand
the law of karma: cause and effect. If one cannot believe that he can improve
his life, he will sink into despair. Spiritually as well as materially, one
must put out the effort and the energy to lift ourselves. Even if, in the end,
and in response to our efforts, help comes from "above" (whether
divine or governmental), no one can put us through school against our will; no
one can make us healthy against our will; no one can do an excellent job except
ourselves. The cycle of initiative creates a magnetism that draws a universal
and supportive response--from whatever source(s). This is the basis for yoga
(and meditation) itself. [Dogmatic Christians sometimes excoriate yoga practice
as being presumptuous citing St. Paul, "Not by works alone...but by
grace." Common sense and experience show us, however, that by our efforts
we can attract success: material AND spiritual!]
And thus we find (yet again and again), how the truth lies, often
hidden, in the middle. The art of compromise is the art of life itself. Mercy
and justice must, like Queen and King, rule together the kingdom of the body
politic.
The party lines of both parties have their own, internal
justifications, even as they possess their own delusive, unexamined biases or
agendas. On just a few of the issues being shouted consider such pairs of
opposites as:
America, as any other country, must have control over who enters
it. Yet we benefit from the influx of other peoples. At the same time, and
given the chaos and hatred in the world, we surely have a right to exclude
those who intend or would do us harm.
In the past two centuries, successful groups of immigrants have
integrated into the culture of America by learning our common language and
respecting and integrating some of our (better) customs even as they honor and
preserve their own.
Other industrialized countries surely by now, a half century after
the last world war, and decades after the so-called "fall" of
communism, ought to contribute to the cost of their own defense (assuming they
do not, for I don't really know the facts.)
America's many adventures into places like Vietnam, central
America, Afghanistan, and the Middle East have been less than successful and
too often self-serving, peppered with the all-too-often corruption of values
that war provides opportunities for. Even if you believe that we "meant
well," violence begets violence and should be employed sparingly and with
mercy. That we have ignited a push back, and even hatred, in playing the
"Great Game," is hardly surprising.
Examples of what I view as our past mistakes (owing perhaps to our
hubris, naivete, or hidden, self-serving motives) include: while it was our
duty to track down Osama Bin Laden, did we really have to take on the Taliban
(we still haven't won that war); Saddam Hussein! What a tragedy that under the
guise of "weapons of mass destruction" we convinced ourselves (as a
nation and our entire Congress) to go after the guy. Countless, endless and
continuing suffering has been the result. Never mind the billions or trillions
of dollars of added national debt. Was this adventure to finish what the (then)
president's father didn't? Was it to secure oil that subsequent years have
shown we don't actually need?
Vietnam, as with Iraq, Afghanistan and other adventures, had for
its failing that the locals didn't want our "help" (destroying their
country and their people). In most cases, in fact, they haven't
"deserved" being rescued, having their own scores to settle with each
other. Yes, it's hard to watch others suffer under corrupt regimes, I agree.
Communism fell for three reasons: one, the West had the strength to
confront it on its own terms, making war a poor choice for both sides; two, our
very prosperity and freedom (our ideals) are in tune with righteousness and
with the age in which we live and thus proved far too magnetic; and three, it was based on false (and godless) precepts. If we had
applied these principles to contain and confront the injustices of Saddam, Bin
Laden, Ho Chi Minh and others, while yet offering an attractive alternative to
their suffering peoples (providing aid, refuge, education etc.) we would have
won the only thing worth winning: people's hearts and minds.
Of course we must defend ourselves from those who hate and who
attack us, yet have we examined honestly the reasons we are so hated? On the
other hand, do not the peoples of other nations vote with their feet in wanting
to come here, even if they, like ourselves, take issue with the political or
military past actions or policies of our country?
And yes, Hillary, we should be hopeful and positive! Our nation
and its ideals give to us strength in righteousness, prosperity in our creative
energies, and joy in our freedoms. "Greatest nation on earth" is
rather boastful for my tastes, but the influence of America, for better or
worse, upon the rest of the world is undeniable. The lure of success and
freedom is irresistible. These are our strengths. We should live them here at
home, first; their example is, and has always been, the beacon of light and
hope to others. But they, like we, must earn their freedom by their own
self-effort.
I prefer compassion over the strict justice of karma but I
question how much and how long western societies can offer extensive and
liberal safety nets and entitlements in the face of the energy, creativity, and
ambitions of other nations who are "coming up" and who, as a result,
are equalizing prosperity around the world. Our standard of living is, so I am
told and so it seems to me, declining as that of other nations is rising. It
all has to balance out (to zero). Do entitlements help people or do they force
a resented dependency upon them?
I'm certainly in favor of the idealistic society that enjoys
prosperity and health for all but the question here is the issue of
"idealistic." How productive must an economy be to afford the
"ideal" safety nets? Even if it were to be achieved, would the result
itself prove to be "idealistic?"
You see, in the final analysis, it is not governments that create
a prosperous, secure, and healthy society, but individuals: their hard work;
creativity; initiative and ability to work together for the common good.
Government acts as a moderator and fulcrum that provides protection, justice,
and balances the seemingly opposing interests of people or groups of people
with shared interests. (Think the classic capital vs labor!)
If a nation becomes so materially successful that it can offer the
perks of universal health care and guaranteed minimum income, well, fine but
these things, like personal health, are never guaranteed and must never eclipse
self-effort and personal responsibility for one's life.
And, they have their own cost. Becoming dependent on government
largess and the promises of politicians is a recipe (long-term) for revolution:
for passivity breeds resentment and there is no joy in it beyond going to sleep
or enjoying an uneasy comfort. By contrast, initiative, even in the face of
hardship or disadvantages, may take courage and commitment, but in putting out
energy for self-improvement we experience confidence, satisfaction and joy. I
remember an Ananda T-shirt years ago with the slogan: "Energy and Joy go
Hand in Hand."
As a yogi for whom the lessons of India's beloved scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, is taken to heart one of its
initial precepts is that we must fight the "battle of life."
Sublimating our lower, passive nature into an upward flow of energy towards
Self-realization: this is the hue and cry of Krishna to those waking up to
life's realities. It's message does not include pretending we can attack
everyone else's injustices around the world using brute force.
Returning now, for a moment, to the current elections, we yogis do
not separate the "energy," the intention, or the consciousness of the
individuals who seek to represent us from their stated aims. The message cannot
be separated from the messenger. The extent to which "the end justifies
the means" is forever humanity's dilemma. Voting for character (nobility,
compassion, universality, acceptance, intelligence and goodwill) should be the
ideal yardstick by which we weigh our minuscule role as voters. Both Republican
and Democrat ideals are, in principle, true and worthwhile: each holding the
other in check. I'd rather have a president with intelligence, goodwill and
integrity, regardless of political affiliation because in our country effective
power (I prefer "influence") is subject to checks and balances and
requires compromise.
Life, being by its nature "dual," a mixture of good and
evil vying constantly for supremacy, demands that we remain ever awake to do
what is right and just, as well as merciful. Would that prosperous nations
place more emphasis on helping other lesser fortunate nations even as we
protect ourselves from their destructive tendencies. A new "Marshall
Plan" would do this ravaged planet some good and there would be work
aplenty: from healing nature to healing wounds and educating minds, there is no
lack of positive outlets for humanity's creative energies. It is not hunger or
ill health that is life's scourge so much as lack of a creative and
productive outlets for one's energies. I think of the millions of under
employed and unemployed youth worldwide and despair for the lack of
opportunities to engage their imagination, creativity and commitment. And yet,
there is SO much to be done: reinventing agriculture; enlightened self-interest
for business; holistic education; educated and self-care driven health care,
nothing less than a revolution in both life style and consciousness awaits the
awakening of our courage and wisdom.
Whether donkey or elephant, we must share this nation and this
planet and so let's look for the positive and the truth in one another's firmly
held precepts even as we commit ourselves to living our ideals. Personalities
are but stand ins for the consciousness that animates them.
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda
Monday, July 4, 2016
July 4th Reflections
This note was first given as a note to residents of Ananda Community in Lynnwood. It has been adapted for the larger audience of members and friends of Ananda Sangha in the greater Seattle area and is reproduced in its entirety here in this blog.
Dear Friends,
Students, Members and Ananda Supporters:
Padma and I are at
Ananda Village: Ananda’s very first and largest community founded nearly fifty
years ago: 1969. On July 4th
each the community here celebrates its anniversary for it was July 4th
that the first parcel(s) of land in Nevada County (northeast of Sacramento, in
the Sierra Nevada foothills, just under 3,000 feet elevation).
The early years of
Ananda World Brotherhood Village (its formal name) were in the height of the
back-to-land movement at the dawn of the Age of Aquarius (so-called). Oh, how
the movement of Ananda has grown: 9 communities including India and Italy! Yoga
and meditation students by the thousands!
Padma and I are here
on “leave” to help our daughter Gita with her two young children. Gita (and her
brother, Kashi) were born and raised here at Ananda Village. She now directs
the Development Office for Ananda nationwide. Her husband, Badri Matlock, is at
our community in Italy (outside the medieval and sacred town of Assisi) at the
first conference of future leaders of Ananda. He is involved with the
management of the Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village and is the
understudy lead trainer for Yoga Teacher Training. So Gita asked if we might
come and give her a hand. Two little ones are a handful! “Early to bed, early
to rise, run around until your demise!”
On Saturday, a panel
of speakers from the early “pioneers” of Ananda (which includes: Jyotish and
Devi Novak who were recently visiting us in Seattle, and others) spoke of the challenges
and joys of the early days of Ananda. It was quite fun and inspiring. Our
Ananda "story" is a story of faith, will power and attunement
accomplishing the impossible: "banat, banat, ban jai" (doing, doing,
soon done)
The “good ‘ol days”
are recreated with each generation. In Seattle, in the last few years we’ve
started the Camano Farm, finished the temple, constructed the Yoga Hall, moved
East West Bookshop, started the Thrift Store, and are now in the process of
moving the Living Wisdom School. We already have lots of stories.
The committed members
of Ananda worldwide have access, by attunement, to the power and grace of one
of the spiritual giants of the new age: Paramhansa Yogananda. Ananda is blessed
to have been given birth by one of Yogananda’s most prolific and committed
disciples who, at the Beverly Hills garden party, July 30, 1949, was the only
one (of 800 present) so stirred to his depths at Yogananda’s powerful message of the need for
intentional communities to have actually manifested not just one, but nine (so
far).
Our biggest challenge
hasn’t, then, been the energy and courage to do what we are asked (internally
or externally) in our service of Yogananda, it's more likely to remember that
God is the Doer. Our frustration, self-doubt, and stress arises only to the
degree of our own self-involvement.
Surveying the
craziness around us in America and in the world, we either also become crazy with
frustration, worry, or despondency, or we affirm and feel that this is God's
world; we agree to do our part, such as it is, but that we have to let the
drama unfold in its own mysterious, and sometimes cuckoo, way.
It's difficult to
hurrah much about July 4th this year. Yogananda says our country has
good karma, despite our not so good karma. The craziness we see in the body
politic can only help wake up snoozing souls of goodwill, the silent majority
of good hearts, to resurrect our nation's ideals. We must do our part, too.
Skepticism and giving up will not help. This is a time, more than ever, for
each one of us to make our “ideals practical:” these are Yogananda’s words when
training the young monk whom he called “Walter” (aka Swami Kriyananda).
Ananda represents and
symbolizes both in our communities and in the ancient but timely precepts of “Sanaatan
Dharma” (the ancient name for the Vedantic ideals) the unifying principles so
needed in the world today: cooperation, respect for all, and the intuitive
understanding (especially based on regular meditation) that we are One:
children of our One, Father-Mother, Beloved Friend, God! While far from alone
in today’s world among the millions of individuals and other organizations
espousing peace and freedom, each of us should feel the inspiration and
obligation to align ourselves with others of like mind. Believing is not
enough!
Krishna in the “Bhagavad
Gita” reminds us that doing nothing will not free us, nor bring us happiness.
We are compelled by our very bodies and very nature to act. Only by action can
we become free from the compulsions to act; only by action (which includes the
act of meditation) can we achieve the transcendent state of the soul. One saint
in “Samadhi” pours more peace and enlightenment into thirsty hearts and souls than
all the books and lectures combined. (Of course, BOTH are needed in this
relatively unenlightened world.)
Let us celebrate the
ideals of our nation’s founders. It is our nation's destiny to spread of the higher
aspects of a new age of freedom: liberty balanced by enlightened self-interest
(cooperation), respect for the rights of all, and a sincere interest in the
greater good of all.
Not a year goes by
when I don't appreciate ever more deeply the significance of these intentional,
spiritual communities as models of integration of all races and nations in
harmony and cooperation. If you visit Ananda Village in California or Ananda in
Italy, you will find every imaginable race, religion, and culture represented
there. The significance isn’t that all people should live in such communities
but, rather, it is the example that it is possible (indeed, necessary for our
survival as a race).
America was founded in
the name of freedom. There is no greater spiritual principle and destiny than
this. It does not matter that freedom has been defined primarily in terms of
personal self-interest because ours is an ascending age of greater awareness. Spiritual
growth and human evolution towards maturity is always directional, never
absolute.
So let us celebrate
the ideals of freedom for all souls; equality of all souls as children of the
One, Father-Mother, Beloved Friend, God.
Hriman and Padma
…
Monday, June 27, 2016
Finding Peace in a Peaceless World
(Note: This will be sent to members and students of Ananda Seattle)
Paramhansa Yogananda’s guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, published only one book in his life: “The Holy Science.” In its introduction (written in 1894), he made a number of predictions for the 20th century and into the future based on a very technical analysis of astronomy using ancient Indian teachings and science. Among those predictions included the prediction that the average life span of humans would soon begin to increase. Another similar prediction relates to the average height of humans.(1)
The National Center for Health Statistics says that in 1907 the life expectancy for men was 45.6 years; by 1957 it rose to 66.4 years; and, in 2007 it reached 75.5.
Quoting from the website Our World in Data (org), it says that average height over the last two millennia hovered around 170 cm. “With the onset of modernity, we see a massive spike in heights in the developed world.”
But the most important prediction Sri Yukteswar made was that humanity would very soon discover that all matter is, in essence, a condensation of energy. That year was 1905 and the person who did that was Albert Einstein. Einstein proved that energy and matter are interchangeable! At its most elemental level, we call this the dawn of the Atomic Age. (1)
As humanity reaps the windfall (both blessings and curses) of this discovery, it has, and continues to rapidly convert the “matter” of fixed ideas and customs (politics, religion, science, art and culture) into a maelstrom of high energy potentials! The pace is not about to abate any time soon, because Swami Sri Yukteswar further predicted this trend would continue for some two thousand years! We can only hope, for the sake of everyone, that the rate of change will gradually diminish.
This shift of awareness is upending and challenging traditional attitudes, customs, and power structures. From the “hard” view that matter (including our bodies and ego) are the bedrock reality to the “soft” view that we are all connected and interchangeable, is a rough and tumble journey generating conflict and confusion everywhere.
We see the past vs the future; haves vs have nots; sustainable living patterns vs destructive ones; racial conflicts; gender revolutions; international, national and local conflicts; global vs local interests; religious conflicts; personal liberties vs social mores or responsibilities; political upheaval; and on and on! Paramhansa Yogananda warned audiences that future conflicts and catastrophic events precipitated by the transition from one epoch of human awareness to a higher one would have to come first before a prolonged period of peace born of the new awakening.
The practice of meditation, supported by hatha yoga, was brought to the West in 1920 by its foremost proponent, Paramhansa Yogananda . “Divine vision,” Yogananda wrote in his classic life story, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” is “center everywhere, circumference nowhere.” In a world view of billions of galaxies with no discernable center, we can discover that “the kingdom of heaven” is “within you.” There is no certitude or safety in money, position, reputation or talent. The source of our calmness, strength, and happiness lies in the “portable paradise” of peace within us.
If you want to walk with courage, confidence, and calmness amidst the “crash of (our) breaking worlds,” meditation is for you.
Take the time, therefore, each and every day, to put aside the world of duties and distractions, affix your inner gaze at the point between the eyebrows, open your heart, and calming your breath, come to the only reality there is: THE PRESENT MOMENT. This “point of singularity” is the “throne” of God, creator of all that is and it is your very SELF! “Be still,” the Psalmist counsels, “and know that I AM God.”
Joy to you,
Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma
(1) See either the Introduction to the book, "Holy Science" published by Self-Realization Fellowship, or, a more complete and fascinating analysis in the book, "The Yugas," by Joseph Selbie and David Steinmetz, published by Crystal Clarity Publishers
We’d be willing to bet that you may be finding that you are
busier than ever before; that life is moving faster and more unpredictably than
ever before. What’s going on? Is this some conspiracy? Is it toxins in our
water, air, or food?
Paramhansa Yogananda’s guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, published only one book in his life: “The Holy Science.” In its introduction (written in 1894), he made a number of predictions for the 20th century and into the future based on a very technical analysis of astronomy using ancient Indian teachings and science. Among those predictions included the prediction that the average life span of humans would soon begin to increase. Another similar prediction relates to the average height of humans.(1)
The National Center for Health Statistics says that in 1907 the life expectancy for men was 45.6 years; by 1957 it rose to 66.4 years; and, in 2007 it reached 75.5.
Quoting from the website Our World in Data (org), it says that average height over the last two millennia hovered around 170 cm. “With the onset of modernity, we see a massive spike in heights in the developed world.”
But the most important prediction Sri Yukteswar made was that humanity would very soon discover that all matter is, in essence, a condensation of energy. That year was 1905 and the person who did that was Albert Einstein. Einstein proved that energy and matter are interchangeable! At its most elemental level, we call this the dawn of the Atomic Age. (1)
As humanity reaps the windfall (both blessings and curses) of this discovery, it has, and continues to rapidly convert the “matter” of fixed ideas and customs (politics, religion, science, art and culture) into a maelstrom of high energy potentials! The pace is not about to abate any time soon, because Swami Sri Yukteswar further predicted this trend would continue for some two thousand years! We can only hope, for the sake of everyone, that the rate of change will gradually diminish.
This shift of awareness is upending and challenging traditional attitudes, customs, and power structures. From the “hard” view that matter (including our bodies and ego) are the bedrock reality to the “soft” view that we are all connected and interchangeable, is a rough and tumble journey generating conflict and confusion everywhere.
We see the past vs the future; haves vs have nots; sustainable living patterns vs destructive ones; racial conflicts; gender revolutions; international, national and local conflicts; global vs local interests; religious conflicts; personal liberties vs social mores or responsibilities; political upheaval; and on and on! Paramhansa Yogananda warned audiences that future conflicts and catastrophic events precipitated by the transition from one epoch of human awareness to a higher one would have to come first before a prolonged period of peace born of the new awakening.
Into this maelstrom of lifestyles, conflicts and confusion has
come the gift of peace: the practice of yoga (meaning, meditation supported by
physical yoga). This is the gift of the “gods” (meaning our higher nature,
divinely inspired).
The practice of meditation, supported by hatha yoga, was brought to the West in 1920 by its foremost proponent, Paramhansa Yogananda . “Divine vision,” Yogananda wrote in his classic life story, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” is “center everywhere, circumference nowhere.” In a world view of billions of galaxies with no discernable center, we can discover that “the kingdom of heaven” is “within you.” There is no certitude or safety in money, position, reputation or talent. The source of our calmness, strength, and happiness lies in the “portable paradise” of peace within us.
If you want to walk with courage, confidence, and calmness amidst the “crash of (our) breaking worlds,” meditation is for you.
Take the time, therefore, each and every day, to put aside the world of duties and distractions, affix your inner gaze at the point between the eyebrows, open your heart, and calming your breath, come to the only reality there is: THE PRESENT MOMENT. This “point of singularity” is the “throne” of God, creator of all that is and it is your very SELF! “Be still,” the Psalmist counsels, “and know that I AM God.”
Joy to you,
Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma
(1) See either the Introduction to the book, "Holy Science" published by Self-Realization Fellowship, or, a more complete and fascinating analysis in the book, "The Yugas," by Joseph Selbie and David Steinmetz, published by Crystal Clarity Publishers
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Beam Me Up! How We Rise Spiritually!
I am Underwater:
A fish doesn't necessarily know that it is in water. The medium of water becomes the "given" and is assumed. "If there was a sound, continuous since birth and omnipresent until death, what would you call it?" "Silence." If there is a YOU, consistent since birth, identified with the same, if slowly changing body, a family, an environment, culture and customs, what do you call it? ME.
You are Other:
If I am ME, then you must be YOU, and you are NOT ME! When, therefore, we contemplate God, we contemplate that which is not ME. As I cannot BE YOU, then I cannot BE God. Or so says logic.
Out of the Labyrinth:
If we encounter the Vedantic and metaphysical teaching that we are children of God and that our destiny is to reclaim our divinity and soul freedom by becoming ONE with God just as a wave is in separable from the great ocean, how then do we find our way out of the labyrinth of ME vs YOU?
My Help Cometh from the Lord:
There has been no time in known history where nations, tribes and peoples were not guided by spiritual teachers, prophets, or guides. In all walks of human life, there are leaders among whom there are, however rarely, great and inspired geniuses. In any successful group dynamic and enterprise, leadership emerges and proves essential. "Help" as if "from above" enters the picture at every crucial juncture of human history. As our intellect and intuition are centered in the heart and the brain (and not the stomach), and as ideas appear as ideas in our mind or heart, so too is all life guided silently and invisibly from a higher realm which we cannot see.
While you may justly claim that "I had an idea," you cannot say from "Whence cometh" the idea. We do not know where our inspiration and good ideas come from. We only know they simply appear, full blown (sometimes) whether in dreams or in our waking hours. It is true that we usually attract ideas by putting out the effort to think things through, to put our mind to the task of solving problems, and otherwise by intense mental or physical effort in a given direction, but the solution itself, we cannot otherwise account for its timing or substance. At the same time, only Einstein received E=mc2. I didn't. No poet did. Neither did a composer or a housewife. We get inspirations (usually) that are personal and pertinent to my life. [Habitual dreamers, those who live in make believe worlds of their own imaginings, may receive all sorts of ideas but they never bear fruit.]
From Whence Cometh the Lord?
Just as you cannot account for the appearance of an idea in your mind, neither can you account for your own existence. You, too, simply appeared: to yourself as an infant, toddler, child and an adult. If however, "you" are a soul and not a body, then we are like prodigal children caught in a foreign land, seeking our way home. We need a spiritual "Einstein," an alchemist, to show us how to convert flesh into spirit. We need a guide. Only one with the proven power to go between the two worlds of Spirit and Matter can teach you how to do it. Do you need to eat? To breathe? Can you stop your heart and breath at will and leave your physical form behind, and then return at will? Why then imagine you do not need an enlightened teacher to show you the way?
Letting Go
We cannot fall asleep consciously for the simple fact that the subconscious state is not the conscious state. To enter the state of sleep we must "let go" of the conscious mind and "fall into" sleep. Sleep is a lower state of awareness. In sleep we are either unaware or our dreams are an incoherent jumble (most of the time).
Superconsciousness lies at the opposite end of the consciousness spectrum. Unlike sleep, we are, in superconsciousness, vibrantly alive and awake. But like sleep, superconsciousness is not under the control of the conscious mind. And, therefore, like sleep, it also entails a kind of letting go. Swami Kriyananda, in his landmark book on consciousness, "Awaken to Superconsciousness," describes this process as "upward relaxation [back] into superconsciousness." The conscious and subconscious states are but derivatives of the superconscious mind.
The experience of superconsciousness is not the product of an intellectual assent or mere affirmation of will. It is a state of being which is very subtle relative to the vibration or frequency of ordinary thoughts and emotions. Superconsciousness lies as a horizon line between the lower state of sleep and the conscious state of wakefulness. To use another image: think of superconsciousness as the top point of a pyramid: the two lower and opposite corners are the states of the conscious and subconscious mind. To ascend to superconsciousness we must strip away the heavy baggage of passing thoughts, heaving emotions and body awareness that the very light balloon of pure awareness might rise.
The Movie
Our conscious mind and subconscious mind are more like the appearance of reality on a movie screen: the hero and the villain, as it were; day and night. Both emerge from the singular beam of superconsciousness from the projection booth of Spirit. The images are caused by the darkening imprinted dots on the film. These are our restless, body-bound thoughts and emotions. The beam of light is otherwise unaffected by the film crossing over it. The images on the screen continue until the film is over or the operator removes the film to reveal just the pure beam of light on the screen.
The Transmission
To switch metaphors, but like a transmission of radio signals, superconsciousness requires a sender and a receiver. The sender has to have a sending "unit," which is to say, must be already in superconsciousness, while you, the receiver, have to be turning your dial to the frequency of the sender. Bit by bit you refine, clarify, and purify the frequency of your receiver, thus showing your readiness and attunement to the sender's wavelength and frequency. This is the guru-disciple relationship. As St. John in Chapter One of his gospel writes of Jesus Christ: "To as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God."
In meditation we learn to focus calmly but deeply and intently, at the point of singularity (this horizon line) in the forehead. There, awaiting the transmission "signal" given to us by the guru's invisible presence, our breath can be snatched away (temporarily, at first) as we enter into this sacred land of the soul. [It is not necessary that the guru be in a human body at that time or physically present for us to receive his transmission, for we are speaking of higher states of consciousness which are independent, indeed the very source of, material and physical realities.]
Being
Superconsciousness is not born of ego. It is a state unto itself: universal and omnipresent, stripped of the characteristics of ego (memory, desires, senses, personality, and bodily identification). The ego therefore does not possess the right frequency to tap into superconsciousness alone. The ego frequency is, as stated earlier, derived FROM superconsciousness and is a lower vibration, rate of frequency and so on.
No mere book or course or ordinary (if brilliant, witty, and even wise) teacher can take us to this "land beyond our dreams" (as Paramhansa Yogananda called it). A true teacher is one who already is awake and living in superconsciousness and who can transmit it at (the command of divine) will.
"Beam me up, Scotty!"
Joy to you!
Swami Hrimananda
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
What is Kriya Yoga?
Padma and I (and others) just returned
from a four-day retreat at Ananda Village whose theme was the art and science
of kriya yoga. Kriya Yoga is the central practice of the meditation teachings
brought from India to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda and which are at the
heart of the spirituality of Ananda worldwide. This article was sent to Ananda members in the Seattle area.
Kriya Yoga is an advanced form of meditation known and
recognized throughout the world. It was re-introduced to the world in 1861 to a
humble Hindu accountant, Shyama Charan Lahiri (aka Lahiri Mahasaya) by the
mysterious Himalayan saint known only as “Babaji” who gave “Lahiri” permission to
initiate any sincere seeker of any faith whether monk or householder.
Through the traditional transmission from teacher to student-disciple-teacher,
the spread of Kriya Yoga was destined to encircle the globe. It is well suited
to the modern age where the emphasis is upon personal experience over belief. Paramhansa
Yogananda’s now famous life story, Autobiography
of a Yogi, put Kriya Yoga on the world map of popular meditation techniques.
Both by tradition and by intention, Kriya Yoga (KY) has been
given only to those who have received preparation and training using various
preparatory meditation techniques. Traditional yoga training
includes a healthy diet, right attitude and moderation in sense faculties,
study of spiritual teachings, and physical exercises in addition to a spectrum
of meditation and purification practices such as yoga postures and breath control.
The basic purpose of this training is both to test the
aspirant’s sincerity AND to prepare the body, nervous system, and the mind for
deeper and more advanced meditation practices and experiences. With the popularity of meditation ever growing, most people naturally seek physical and mental benefits. For this purpose, mindfulness techniques (such as the Hong Sau - "Watching the Breath" - technique taught by Yogananda) are more than adequate. Kriya Yoga is for those seeking enlightenment (using any number of other possible words or terminology).
The other prerequisite intended by the reintroduction of KY
into popular use is the recognition — part in gratitude and part as a
transmission of actual spiritual awakening — of the need for a God-realized
guru or preceptor. Such a person is no mere ordinary spiritual teacher; nor is
the intended transmission thwarted by the guru’s no longer being in living,
human form. Any technique given as initiation, including the Kriya technique, functions
as much as a “channel” for the transmission of higher consciousness as it does
a technique of meditation. Without the former, the latter is only partly
effective. As we are “Spirit” and not merely a body with a personality, so the
spiritual freedom we seek cannot come through merely material means or
psychological efforts alone.
The true Goal of advanced meditation practices transcends
ego, personality, body and matter: it “lives” in a realm without second,
without form, and in unconditional consciousness. Such a state is therefore its
source and being beyond ordinary perception must be channeled and received
bit-by-bit just as a computer or a cell phone conversation carries information
bit-by-bit. The technique is to the goal as a cell phone is to the substance of
a conversation. The cell phone alone cannot substitute for the conversation
even as the cell phone makes the conversation possible.
But as the guru or preceptor is a transmitting station, a
sub-station and transformer, for the ultimate Goal, we must recognize that the
preceptor, too, has no substantive personality. Our “discipleship” is not to a
person but to an “instrument” (a rather “conscious” cell phone tower, if you
will) sending us transmissions from Infinity. In this somewhat limited sense,
then, the technique itself can become our guide and guru because it allows the
transmission of higher consciousness to reach us. As Yogananda said of himself
in the role of guru, “God is the guru. I killed Yogananda long ago.” Just as we
can no more pick up our cell phone and call the President of the United States,
so we must call the switchboard and talk to one of God's reps! Eventually, by
building a relationship of trust with those who have His ear, we’ll get through
to “the top.”
Yogananda, as the guru, is no longer present in a human
form. Far too much is made these days by prospective and otherwise sincere
devotees of the fear or doubt surrounding a discipleship relationship with him since
it must needs be an inner relationship alone. Recognizing that through kriya
yoga practice one can consciously draw on the spiritual power of Yogananda’s
omnipresent consciousness is hardly a threat, except perhaps to the obstructive,
no-saying donkey we call the ego!
Nor does such a relationship prohibit the recognition of
other God-realized channels, for in God consciousness, there are no
distinctions and no competition for loyalty. Whether world teacher or unknown,
a free-soul is no more, or no less, free in God.
Given, however, that few devotees, even among the most
committed, can spend more than an hour or two each day in the practice of kriya
yoga, it must be recognized that the company of other (and especially more
advanced) devotees is one of the most important ways of drawing on that
spiritual transmission. This outward “transmission” is necessary so long as we
are “outward” in our consciousness and self-definitions. Serving the outward work
of the guru’s transmission with fellow devotees is easily one of the most
important ways to advance spiritually and transcend ego consciousness. It
doesn’t necessarily mean being a teacher: there are many ways to serve, each
according to what is best spiritually for him. If one’s life circumstances
permits such association but one balks at this opportunity, one would do well
to question his spiritual readiness.
A wonderful description of Kriya Yoga can be found in
Chapter 26 of “Autobiography of a Yogi.” The book can be read online for free
at www.Ananda.org. You can also watch
several video presentations by Padma and I on our own website: www.AnandaWA.org/kriya-yoga/ .
Sincerely and with unceasing blessings,
Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma
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