Secret of Happiness: It's Directional; It's UP!

Truth is simple: all else, complex.

How easily we stumble into the darkness of confusion and doubt by looking down into the labyrinth of our troubles, indulging our fears and self doubts, accepting the judgmental verdict of others or what we imagine that judgment might be!

If our own happiness, satisfaction and contentment be our guide and our goal, no one condemns us more than ourselves: no distant deity, no colleague or intimate can do to us what we do to ourselves.

As Paramhansa Yogananda has said, "If we want to be unhappy, no one can make us happy."

The turning point in maturity and spiritual awakening can be said to take place when we know without a doubt that there exists a separation, indeed, a gulf, between what happens to us and our reaction to it. "All conditions are neutral. They seem positive or negative, happy or sad according to the attitudes of the mind." (P.Yogananda) Only as and to the extent we gain awareness and control over our responses to life (including our own thoughts and emotions), can we begin to be the masters of our fate and destiny............and HAPPINESS!

Recognition of the separation of the world around us from the "ME" is but the first step. It is by no means the last. A teenager will rebel or reject his his parents' values and upbringing, but may, in the years that follow, return to embrace those values consciously (like the prodigal son). In a similar way, the soul, in the form of the ego (defined by Yogananda as the "soul identified with the body"), may be inspired, at first, to wean itself from the attractions of material life in its spiritual search. But as the seed of spirituality grows into a mature tree, its leafy and lofty branches nourishes and protects all who come to it for shade and refreshment. The soul's very detachment from an ego-centric life is not the life negation that other egos assume. Life negation is not the consequence of a spiritually mature form of nonattachment! Indeed, quite the opposite. Nonattachment makes life affirmation truly possible because not biased by personal interest, likes, and dislikes but motivated by what is right and good for all.

Nor is nonattachment a recipe for boredom or for being a bore. Nonattachment brings a constant flow of joy, humor at life's ironies, strength in dealing creatively and positively with life and compassion for all beings. Self-involvement, by contrast, sees the world revolving around itself. Its centripetal force steadily makes one's life view very narrow and, ultimately, rather boring. Why, then, doesn't everyone seek to expand his sympathies to include others? Habit, first and the ego, second, protecting its turf and fearing the unknown! And: reinforced by the power from which ego separation came and which sustains it so universally in human minds.

As a young man working in the world of business, I was astonished to see that the most successful investors, inventors, and business types were those whose focus on making money was a distant cousin to doing what they loved and were good at. By contrast, the "losers" were inevitably those most attached to the results. The little guy buys high and sells low, moving with the crowd, trembling eagerly at the prospect of profit or panicking in fear at the prospect of loss. Thus even in the grubby realm of making money, the law of non-attachment to the results holds sway. (Krishna, in the scripture of the Bhagavad Gita, called this form of action: nishkam karma: acting without desire for the "fruits" of action.) Nonattachment is the secret of success in all things. This is one of the great paradoxes of life.

Financial success however is no guarantee of happiness. Far too many mistake the one for the other, and, if they succeed financially, they will find, after years of strain, the coin debased. 

Life's challenges will always be with us. In this world there are no absolutes. Ill health, death, disappointment, betrayal and failure alternate with their opposites. As we mature and grow spiritually we can take in long, even strides the vicissitudes of success and failure with increasing equanimity and calm cheerfulness. Ironically, this distance, this dispassion, allows us to embrace WHAT IS with humor, with compassion, with wisdom, and with creative vitality. 

This world is a world of energy and constant change. We never stand still and, unless we harness conscious intention and will power towards a given goal and in a specific direction, we will bob up and down like a cork on the ocean of life. Thus, our journey towards happiness must be seen in directional, not absolute, terms. If we learn to love another person, we may begin with human love, which is rife with attachment. But if we consciously try to leverage on our love-relationship to make it ever more unconditional, than our human love can grow towards unconditional, divine love. In this way, my ability to love even one person can be a doorway to perfect in me my capacity to love all without condition!

Being energetic, enthusiastic, willing, helpful, creatively engaged, and compassionate (while yet also wise): these are the simple steps that make for human happiness. A selfish person is never happy in her selfishness. A giving person finds satisfaction in helping others. Are these enough, however? No, but an excellent beginning. Imagine if enough people aspired sincerely to these merely human qualities, we'd be living in a paradise on this fair earth.

Where's the fly in the soup? Well, the problem is this "ceaseless flux" thing. The average person might affirm enthusiasm but life keeps score and wants to settle accounts. It prefers to keep the universe in balance. It has this annoying way of popping balloons. You see it goes like this: "whatever goes up, must come down." If we push the rope of attitude "up," it will have to come down, eventually.

Is there a secret escape: a skylight out of this dilemma? Yes, there is. But even if there wasn't, the effort to express enthusiasm would be worth it. Swami Kriyananda (my teacher) said of himself, "The reason I love is that I am happier loving than hating." To affirm enthusiasm does make us happy, even if just for a while. But it's at least the right direction, you see?

The skylight however is the discovery that enthusiasm isn't your invention. It comes from your own higher nature. This nature isn't personal: its universal. The secret of enthusiasm (and, therefore, happiness), however, is to know that happiness is an "inside" not an outside job. It is a product of our consciousness, not outside circumstances. Enthusiasm for vacuum cleaners (if you are a sales person for such) can't carry one very far by the nature of vacuum cleaners: nothing's perfect; competition may come up with a better one; too many people have one already; the one you are selling may be over priced etc.

Enthusiasm is larger than you: just as life and the universe are vaster than any one person. Enthusiasm (joy, peace, etc.) is like a radio station. All you need to do is to tune your receiver to that station. The more powerful your receiver the more happiness stations you can choose from. What if, "by nature," you are not an enthusiastic person? Then ACT enthusiastic and the power of your affirmation will automatically and magnetically turn the dial of your receiver to that station! Again, the direction of our efforts is vital.

Meditation offers the single most effective way to experience a state of mind where life affirming qualities like joy and peace can become increasingly your new and permanent self-identity. Living from your center is like having a box of chocolates where you know that each one has a creamy, yummy soft-center. Not like that box of chocolates like Forrest, Forrest Gump had. You know, the one where you "never know what you're gonna get."

Enthusiasm, like joy and peace, is an invisible and conscious force which, if we affirm that we do have it, will respond to support us. This is the anti-gravity serum that allows us to defeat the up and down-ness of the law of opposites which otherwise rules nature. This teaching is at the heart of the once popular pop movie, "The Secret." It's called magnetism. Our "energy" is like electricity: it generates a force field which attracts to it a like kind. Energy, then, based on attitude and reinforced by action, is the key to our destiny.

Yoga practice (by yoga, I mean primarily meditation but also its physical forms: postures) takes this a step further. Not only by "sitting" or "stretching" can one experience inner peace, but by consciously working with the life-vitality of the body to move this life force from the lower parts of the body up to the brain! A yogi learns to experience the body not merely as a physical mechanism, but as a creative vortex of vital, intelligent, life-giving energy.

Just as we look up when happy and look down when unhappy, so too yoga practice teaches us how to move the "energy" of the body upward. In the very process of this movement, we experience greater calmness and joy. It's not wholly mechanical for the mind has to cooperate rather than fight this process. As happiness (etc.) is a state of consciousness and not merely a "thing," it requires conscious intention, not just mechanical movements to attract it. But nonetheless it's amazingly easily to prove that a flow of energy in the right direction can change your consciousness. No belief system needed.

As we progress in the pursuit of true happiness, we gradually awaken to the reality that this joy exists not just within us but all around us: indeed: everywhere. We discover that this reality is conscious; it is self-evident to our own experience. This reality is super-conscious, meaning omnipresent and omniscient and, indeed, is the essence of life itself. It connects all matter and all people in one larger-than-life vortex of Consciousness and the reality of it becomes intuitively incontestable to your inner experience and sight. It is called: God! Divine Mother, or Father. or Holy Ghost or AUM.

Ultimately, this divine consciousness is both the source of, and the solution to resolving, all the opposites, both positive and negative. But that doesn't make negative as "good" as positive! Positive attitudes foster happiness far more effectively than negative ones. The bad guys go to jail; the heroes are honored. Our "job" is to move in the right direction (positive). When we discover the greater reality from which they come, then we are drawn magnetically towards our Source. It is in the baptism of our consciousness in that divine state where the opposites do not dwell that our efforts achieve both beatitude and increasing permanence.

To start this journey seeking the Holy Grail of happiness requires no dogma. Anyone, atheists included, may embark upon the adventure. The goal and the path are self-revealing, for, the secret of happiness, like the "kingdom of heaven," is, as Jesus Christ said it well enough, "within you."

Joy to you,

Nayaswami Hriman

Easter : Who was Jesus? Who am I?

The grand story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is ripe with spiritual lessons for all times and for everyone. I would like to share some thoughts that, while lacking in interesting history, or great moral lessons, or deep philosophical or Vedantic insights, are more personal to daily life and applicable to most, if not all of us.

Let me start by saying that in my many years of studying and sharing the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda on the subject of the Bible, including the life and teachings of Jesus, I have found the story of Jesus' conversation with his close disciples asking them the question, "Who do men say I am" to be among the most fascinating and fruitful of contemplation.

I have long and often stated that the question of "Who is Jesus Christ?" is nothing less than the question "Who am I?" One of the first modern Indian gurus whose teachings captivated me (before I even had heard of Yogananda) was Ramana Maharshi who was famous for teaching the technique of self-inquiry: "Who am I?" We all know the counsel inscribed on the temple in Delphi, Greece, "Know Thyself!"

In my sixty-five years of life I have come gradually to see that the greatest challenge to happiness faced by most sincere and intelligent people, including devotees, is self-doubt. Comparing oneself to other like-minded, sincere, energetic, creative, talented and intelligent people is far more often a cause of discouragement than it is for inspiration or gratitude.

Yogananda said that inferiority complex is simply the opposite of superiority complex. Each is a side of the coin of ego. He defined "ego" as the "Soul (mis)identified with the body." So while I will focus more on self-doubt than braggadocio, understand that the latter is simply a smokescreen for the former (and vice versa).

Dwelling on what others (may) think of you, or what perhaps someone has said to you (in criticism), or how you were snubbed or ignored occupies far too great amount of time and angst to prove productive or useful introspectively. Such musings rarely prompt positive changes in one's life. Instead it is like nursing a wound or favoring an injured limb. It becomes a habit. We all know someone who takes this tact to the point of becoming paranoid but far from reaching that stage of delusion, most of us surely find nothing redeeming from the exercise.

On the other hand, just as physical pain is there to warn us to stop doing something injurious, so guilt exists to prod us to make changes in our life. How often, however, I have observed that those who dwell habitually on guilt fail to make any changes because they imagine that by dwelling morosely upon their guilt they have exorcised their need for further recompense.

Jesus' resurrection showed his power over death itself. Spiritual or psychological paralysis, if not spiritual death, can occur by our habitual indulgence in self-doubt, unworthiness, and temptation to give up.

Yet is "self=love" the answer? Should we actively bolster our self-esteem by self-praise or boasting? Obviously not. Yet it is true that we can't really and truly love another person (what to mention love God), until we love ourselves. By "love ourselves" I mean until we have some degree of self-acceptance and contentment (including inner strength and calm confidence or faith), our self-doubt will eat like a cancer on any balanced attempt to love another. I say 'balanced' in contrast to co-dependent love.

I have seen self-doubt gnaw at a devotee's faith until the devotee leaves the spiritual path all together.

The solution to what I call our "existential" unhappiness is, as always, "God alone." Let me explain.

First: by "existential" I mean, by way of example, a person who seemingly has everything that most people would desire but is not happy. You don't know why, but there it is. This person might even be clinically depressed. In any case, definitely unsatisfied: but for no obvious reason(s). This can be a general state of affairs or related to a specific aspect, talent, or gift that he has. Take a successful artist or businessman. Such has the makings of what most others in his field would want for themselves. Yet, even in his success, he remains discontent; unsure of himself; unhappy.

The saints and masters are the only ones who show us how to find true happiness. Success in no other human endeavor consistently yields the Holy Grail of human happiness.

"Naughty or good, Divine Mother, I am yours!" Paramhansa Yogananda once wrote. When we see ourselves, our combination of successes and failures, talents and shortcomings, as a tiny piece of the great cosmic wheel of life and all things that we do as our efforts to seek the Holy Grail, we can better forgive and accept ourselves as "doing the best we can."

We should try, indeed, to do the best we can. We have to be sincere in that. But having done so, we "offer it up" as my dear, now departed, mother would counsel her children long ago. Living in the presence of divinity in human form (our form; the guru's form; the form of all others), we find it easier to resurrect our soul's memory from the intensity of the marketplace of buyers and sellers, flatterers, sycophants, and self=styled enemies.

Swami Kriyananda, founder of the worldwide work of Ananda, and direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, was my teacher, too. In his counsels and in his writings, e.g., the book "Sadhu Beware," he speaks about dealing with the inevitable (or merely perceived) criticism that everyone receives. ("No good deed goes unpunished" is a modern saying.) Among other things, he counseled to ask oneself if the criticism is deserved. If so, try to change yourself for the better. If it is not, then let it go; forget it. Most people are wrong most of the time, anyway.

Swami Sri Yukteswar counseled his disciple Paramhansa Yogananda to say, "Maybe you're right." And, then leave at that so far as one's response to criticism goes.

Meditation is the most efficient and fastest way to resurrect our identification with our eternal, changeless and ever perfect soul and to gradually dissolve our identification with the body and personality. For in this world of praise one day and blame another there is no end to the cycle. After all, they crucified Jesus Christ, didn't they; and he was blameless! So you and I, far from blameless or perfect, are naturally ripe candidates for censure.

"I am a child of eternity. I am ageless; I am deathless. I am the changeless Spirit at the heart of all change."

Be thou then, too, the resurrected Christ consciousness of your soul. Even-minded and happy should be our guide and our banner of victory over the death-infected ego.

Happy Easter!

Swami Hrimananda

Good Friday, March 25, 2016 : Redemptive Value of Unearned Suffering

Throughout history, humanity and its spiritual (and political) leaders have recognized the value of group acts of fasting, mortification, purification and forgiveness. Even in America, since revolutionary times, Presidents have called for such acts in times of war or other need.

In India, since ancient times, the redemptive power of purification through acts of discipline and mortification are recognized and widely accepted. Known as yagya, such acts historically acquired a complex ritualistic form in addition to personal acts of prayer, meditation, and purification through fasting and other means.

Both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. acknowledged the need and redemptive power of accepting suffering, in effect, taking on karma, for its transformative power not only upon oneself but upon others: indeed, others who deem themselves even your enemies.

We express this principle in our own and more positive way in today's culture. We speak in terms of an investment, like borrowing money to go to college or investing in a new but promising venture. But money, though abstract, is traceable in its cause and effect, whereas the good karma of purification is far, far more subtle. Sticking to a healthy diet; the benefits of regular exercise; the long-term value of conscious and respectful relationships: these are simple but accepted examples of the value of delayed gratification for personal benefit. But in these common examples the beneficiary is principally oneself and the benefit is primarily material in nature.

Today is Good Friday, the day we commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The sacrifice Jesus submitted to by his death on the cross fits well into this precept of the power of unearned suffering which has been universally recognized by humanity since ancient times. It is not clear how the transference of karma actually operates. In his famous life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda describes (at various places in the book) the power of a saint to take on karma. He himself did so in the latter years of his life for the benefit of his disciples.

For us, it is generally disadvised to pray to take on another's karma. Not only is the technique not revealed except to those more highly advanced, but the sanction to take on karma must come from God. Nonetheless, we commonly pray for the well being, health and healing of others and, to varying degrees, believe in the efficacy of prayer. (Don't go looking for trouble: "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" is how Jesus put it.)

So while we may not know the details of the transference, we intuitively hold fast to its potential and its value. Obviously, Jesus' suffering did not change world history to the degree that all sinning suddenly stopped or that the effects of all sin have been erased. Just as obviously, therefore, Jesus' dying "for our sins" must be understood in a more specific and defined sense.

It takes a subtler consciousness to intuit the connection between souls; the power of thought and intention; and the channels that can be created by the laser-like direction of life force energy. In general, modern minds are neither subtle, nor focused, nor convinced therefore of their own power. We deem our thoughts, for example, to be private and without impact upon others. In a higher age, long into the future, humanity more generally will acquire these latent mental powers. Most of us, do, however, experience these connections from time to time though we might not make special note of the incident(s).

Tales from ancient India are filled with examples of how a person goes off to the Himalayas to meditate for twelve or more years in order to acquire the power (called a "boon") granted by a divine source (a deity or saint) to accomplish some worthy (or even unworthy) goal.

Imagine if the people of a nation, such as America, or India or any nation, came together in prayer, fasting, and other forms of self-sacrifice for the benefit and welfare of some noble goal or in asking forgiveness for its own errors! Unfortunately in today's consciousness only lip service would be paid to such a call and not likely would sufficient numbers gather sincerely to do so.

Our leaders have forgotten this principle in their efforts to win elections and secure the power for their own agendas. Gone seems to be the understanding of compromise, when each side gives up something they hold dear in order that a greater good can be achieved.

The glory and triumph of the resurrection of Jesus is inextricably linked to his sacrifice on the cross. Even professed Christians tend to miss the connection, viewing his resurrection, as is common, as simply a miracle or grace of God. To advance spiritually and to help others spiritually requires sacrifice. This is known as tapasya in Sanskrit and in the tradition of India and the practice of yoga. Energy begets energy and energy directed towards a goal generates magnetism to enlist a greater power which is the ultimate key to success.

As we celebrate Easter, then, let us not forget that life asks of us self-offering into a higher purpose than ego gratification. This is the universal law of life (one form offering itself into another) from which comes the sunshine (the sun burning its fuel up), the rain (the clouds dispense their water), and perpetuation of life itself. Soldiers sacrifice their lives for their country; parents sacrifice for their children; inventors sacrifice to create new and useful products; devotees pray for others; the masters come into the world, voluntarily taking on the suffering inherent in human life, to uplift souls who are ready and receptive. On and on the eternal wheel of birth, life, and death.

We were not born for our own gratification but to offer ourselves, like Jesus, onto the cross of dharma, for the good of our soul and for the good of others. My dearly departed mother counseled her children at times of pain or discomfort, to "offer it up." This is the hidden message of Easter: the light from the East comes to those who offer themselves up for a greater good: the bliss of the universal Christ consciousness that resides at the heart of every atom.

Happy Easter and blessings to you,

Nayaswami Hriman

Dying to Learn How to Die

Most of the readers of this blog know Nayaswami Tushti Conti who, after a battle with cancer, has passed on from this world just a few days ago.

One of the interesting aspects of her process was the understandable desire on her part to "die consciously." It is axiomatic in the tradition of yoga, and presumably all spiritual traditions, that to die peacefully with "God on your lips" is something of the gold standard for the death of a devotee.

Yes, it's true that a liberated master is said to exit his body consciously, knowing even the time and the hour beforehand, but in these thoughts that I wish to share, I'm not referencing that state of consciousness. Only the lesser goal of exiting in peace and with conscious, devotional awareness.

I have no pretense to offer any deep insights into the process of dying but certainly this hope of dying consciously spurs thoughts and reflections in the minds of the devotee-friends of Tushti.

No experienced hospice care giver; no experienced midwife or obstetrician; no thoughtful observer of life itself is unaware of the simple fact that each death, each birth, and each life is unique and personal. It is not reasonable, therefore, to burden one's expectations of death with a judgment of "good" or "bad" or holy or profane based solely on the incidents and attributes of a particular person's dying.

Take the daily example of "falling" to sleep. One simply CANNOT WILL oneself to sleep. To "fall" asleep, you have to let go; relax! Dying must surely have a similar aspect: not in every and all cases of natural death but the basic stages of resistance and final acceptance or surrender are fairly easily imagined and readily observed with even some modest amount of deathbed experience.

We, as devotees, must consider the importance of accepting not just the time but the circumstances of our death. We cannot say what karma of our own might be released by end of life suffering if accepted with faith and equanimity. Naturally we would all like to have a peace-filled, joy infused passing, with friends at our side, and angels and masters above! But whether or not we are granted this grace, we should not judge ourselves or others by its yardstick.

It is also axiomatic that one's thought at death importantly affects one's journey "northward" into the astral realm and, just as importantly, one's next incarnation (if any). The thought of God, and self-offering without reservation into the light, can propel one past mountains of past (bad) karma, or so it is said. (Krishna so states in the Bhagavad Gita and similarly in the Tibetan Book of the Dead and numerous other traditions.) [So, too, as we "fall" asleep our last thought can impact our sleep, our dreams, and the state in which we reawaken in the morning!]

I very much like this thought-at-death "escape clause;" in fact, I have a lot riding on it. Unfortunately I have this nagging thought that "as I have lived, so shall I die!" If one has had no God-remembrance in his daily life, why would it suddenly appear at death: the moment of extreme renunciation of attachment to the body, to loved ones, to fears, attachments, unfulfilled desires, regrets and so much more?

Yet, I think it's one of those "both-and" kind of things. I can picture, for example, a person who truly loves God but has had many challenges in life: addictive habits, for example; or extremely poor health; then, at death, this person makes a heroic effort to surrender to the love of God. At such a moment perhaps all the karma, all the challenges evaporate in this moment of supreme surrender to the light.

As the life force withdraws from the organs and tissues and breath begins to fade, the "I" is beginning to "shrink" as the life force is squeezed, as it were, into the the narrow passageways of the astral body. We do this in a partial way each night as we "fall" asleep and rest in the lower energy centers (the chakras) of the spine. This is in part how and why our senses shut off and are generally unaware or untouched by outer lights, sounds, and so on.

Deprived of the day-to-day and lifetime identification with the body, the senses, passing thoughts, memories and desires, the "I" seems to fall asleep; to wink out, like a light bulb being shut off. Thus it is that many people at death appear or in fact do fall asleep and fade away, seemingly unconscious. That seeming fact however is also illusive; hearing, being the last sense to fade away, gives to the apparently unconscious dying person a link to his or her surroundings such that, he may not be able to visibly respond or react to what is being around him, he may nonetheless be affected, emotionally or otherwise.

Reports of a last minute rush of wakefulness, even when otherwise heavily sedated, is not uncommon: whether immediately before death or within hours or the last day. Thus it is a back and forth between wakefulness and a kind of sleep. There is no end to the iterations and symptoms that can be observed in dying persons when surveying a large sampling of deaths.

Paramhansa Yogananda wrote that the sojourn between earthly incarnations is marked mostly by a kind of sleep state: not unlike what we experience each night. Deprived of a physical body, with its brain, organs and nervous system (including senses) the average person is not capable of retaining consciousness in the prolonged sleep of death. It's like those who can climb Mt. Everest without oxygen. Few can do it. Deprived of oxygen of breath, most people go unconscious (actually, "sub" conscious).

But there are others who live more directly and more frequently in a state of expanded awareness, living, in effect, on the direct current of the intelligent life force that makes life in a human body possible to begin with. Deep meditators who effectively control their breath and heart rate, slowing it down not into the state of subconscious sleep but into an intense state of heightened awareness, will more likely enter back into that state during the dying process. Those whose lives on earth were lived more in the brain and higher centers (say, from the heart upwards), people such as devotees, saints, meditators, inventors, composers, scientists, mathematicians, humanitarians, and the like, are also more likely to remain conscious of the astral realm.

So as we slip towards losing our breath and our heart beat and are being "squeezed" into the astral tunnel from which we came into the body (at conception), it either appears or is in fact most people's experience to go subconscious. I suspect that one can no more by will power alone remain in the conscious, wakeful state during the final stage of dying than one can do so when falling asleep. [As the baby being born is squeezed and pushed through the mother's birth canal, so we, being reborn on the astral plane at physical death, are squeezed in the upward direction through the birth canal of the astral spine.]

The difference however is that, whether by divine grace, good karma, and/or actual life experience, it is possible, I believe and have been given to understand, to exit the body more, rather than less, consciously. But the "more" is not the day-to-day conscious mind and consciousness of the personality version of "I," it is, I am certain, the higher mind of superconsciousness, stripped of attributes but intensely aware with undertones (or overtones) of joy, peace, energy, the astral sounds or inner light, etc. No doubt, as we are taught, there are some who do so in the presence of or guidance of God, guru, etc. Again I say: there is no one set pattern or experience for everyone.

This "squeezing" is like squeezing the water flowing in a hose; by temporarily limiting the diameter of the flow, the flow shoots out with greater force. In an analagous manner, it is commonly reported that upon exiting the body and entering the astral realm, one enters into the "light at the end of the (astral) tunnel [of the spine]." There one is greeted by loved ones; by one's guru; by an angel; etc. There is a moment where a life review takes place and we see the significance of events that perhaps we didn't really notice. We receive a kind of report card. It is not judgmental, it is, in a spiritual sense, simply a review and a report. Perhaps it is a moment to resolve to do better in the future.

How long after that intense experience wherein we have a heightened experience do we retain consciousness is dependent, then, upon the factors described above. Most people, fall asleep for a much needed rest after a long or difficult life, or suffering in old age, regrets, disappointments and so on. Since this topic is worthy of a book, I can only go so far in a blog article.

Mostly my point is to offer reassurance that each of us must face our final exam as best we can with courage, faith, joy and gratitude. We need not concern ourselves for the ideally "perfect" ending. Let us live in the light rather than hope it is there in the end. It will be there one way or the other if we have lived it day to day.

As for our friend, Tushti, we know she is well and in joy. Her life was lived in that consciousness and her dying confirmed it.

Blessings to you and may we each approach life's Final Exam ready to succeed!

Nayaswami Hriman

PS A further consideration is "What of "Me" survives past death?" Maybe some other time.

Here Today; Gone to Maui!

There's nothing like being a tourist to view life as a play, actors entering the stage and the exiting, to be seen no more!

Ah, indeed....paradise....Hawaii is no place for serious thought.......seriously?

Every time something deep comes into my mind, a mango or papaya intervenes, or the sound of crashing surf across the street reminds me of the waves I am missing!

Well, we've enjoyed our brief time here, though time stands still when there's nothing going on and no appointments to meet, or decisions to be made!

It's interesting how we humans, parading in our swim suits and beach attire, are SO self-conscious of appearances when, in fact, being far from home and away on vacation, no body will remember you or care. The few who notice have no comment and what judgment they render is silent and fleeting!

If one were at home, at a pool, spa, or lake, and being around friends, the self-consciousness would grow in leaps and bounds, but why should it? Sigh.......one advantage of being "mature" is the ease and conviction with which one simply doesn't care to imagine what others might think or see!

Seeing all these people parading by I wonder what stories are there to tell! Imagine how much their stories differ from their outward appearances!

I think it is good that one takes a break from routine and from familiar surroundings and people. It is good for the soul to be unknown and to shed the "clothes" of self-definitions and the expectations and opinions of friends in order to be "naked" before our soul and our God.

We've had a lovely time here on Maui and are thankful for the friends who have made it possible to take this break from a very intense schedule.

The politics of America faded, thankfully, from view, and so have many other things, yet, not everything. There are existential issues that no one can dismiss.

A dear friend, for example, has been in transition from this world, fading daily, but not quite gone and not quite there. The pall of death, its meaning and its finality, weigh upon the waves as I ride them joyfully toward the shore. It's not sadness for her departure, nor yet for any sense of my own loss, but rather the question lingers, "Will I be as present and joy filled as she when my time comes?" The sense of impermanence of life, indeed it's lingering meaningless, hovers like a dark cloud.

Not that I have a particular investment in meaninglessness, it's just, rather, the question of WHAT exactly is MOST meaningful? What parts are important and what parts are NOT!

When in my mid-twenties I traveled to Europe and Asia for over a year, I remember flying back to America and praying that I not get caught up in the littleness of life (again). Well, I've learned that it's not the details that are the problem; it's our attachment and identification with them. After all, it's no small detail when one is hungry or thirsty! It can become pretty important then.

Why can't I just take a vacation? A vacation is NOT a vacation from issues; it's a break to put them in perspective. If you don't plan or take a vacation, you are avoiding your issues!

I am deeply grateful for the grace of a true Guru, for the practice of kriya yoga, true friends and the privilege of spiritual service. All of these bring the parade of life's potential meaninglessness into clear and beautiful focus.

Joy to you and welcome home to me!

Hriman

Taming the Monkey Mind – Part 3 – Monkey Business!

It’s important to get along with your pet monkey. It’s also important to establish that you, the Self, are the alpha of your one-monkey troop. So, now it's time to teach your monkey some meditation tricks. It’s no use berating him (or “her,” but “him” sounds better). No, we have to demonstrate that our Self is a true and inspired leader. More on this soon, but, first:

“A word from our Sponsor,” Emperor Soul (Sole):

No amount of meditation tricks is going to trick your monkey into believing you want him to lie still unless YOU really do. There is, you see, something else needed and it's not a trick. It has to be real. You will be surprised by what I have to say.

Simply put: you have to WANT to be still. Yes, I actually wrote that. You object by saying, “Well, heck, that’s what meditation is all about and of course I want to meditate!” Paramhansa Yogananda may have responded to someone who said just that when he wrote: “The soul LOVES to meditate but the ego HATES to meditate.” 

You can trick your monkey but you cannot trick your Self. Very few meditators have reached the point, sustainably and consistently, where they have no inner resistance to meditating and do so consistently. 

Moreover, none of them are reading this article because what few of these exist don’t need to. You might argue by saying it’s your monkey that HATES to meditate and you wouldn’t be wrong, but there’s something deeper than mere habit that resists meditation, too.

It’s called many things but most commonly we call it the EGO. Yes, the monkey is part of the ego, but mostly the monkey is active, reactive, and restless, a product of necessity, survival, and habit. But there is something deeper and more still; it is dark, like the subconscious — meaning very difficult to “see” — because always “behind you” yet always there. If and when it decides you are more than a meditator and are, in fact, a serious devotee and disciple seeking Self-realization through ego-transcendence, it will put up a fight that will make the monkey seem like a pet. 

It is, in effect, the master of the monkey. This series of blog-articles are about the monkey, not the monkey’s master. That’s not an article; that’s a scripture; and more than a scripture; that’s the “greatest story ever told.”

For now, however, let me say this about that: the secret to achieving stillness in meditation is that you must truly and sincerely, and with energy, WANT to be still. Whether your incentive finds expression in philosophical or intellectual terms, devotional feeling, or by sheer will power (or, most likely, some combination of all three), it must be there for you to have the power, the patience, and, in time, the skill to train your monkey to become a pet monkey.

This is why you should never be very far from having a quiver of arrows handy that enumerate the many important and inspiring reasons WHY you want to meditate. When the monkey is acting out whether by mere habit, by stress or circumstantially-driven emotions, or the influence of its master ego, you, the peaceful soul-warrior, must reach behind you and draw from your quiver several peace-dipped arrows, one by one, reason after reason (powered by determination and ignited by inspiration) to anesthetize the monkey.

Because if “you” don’t really want to meditate, the monkey’s going to stay on top. Every day, therefore, you must stay in touch with the peace of meditation or any other aspect of the benefit(s) of meditation that inspire you to want to meditate as soon as you get up, or as often as you can.

OK, our sponsor (the soul) has spoken. 

Now, back to our subject: meditation techniques to train your monkey.

   

   1.       Begin every meditation (if needed) with an examination of conscience (an old Catholic term, I believe). What’s bothering me right now? What’s on my mind? Acknowledge this and promise it that you’ll come back to it after meditation. Write it down if you must.

   

   2.       Otherwise, start every meditation in your heart. Take whatever time you need to settle and harmonize the feelings of the heart in the direction of peace, calmness or devotion: that, “Aaah, I have come home! Good to see You again, old Friend!”

   

   3.       Assuming the monkey needs some petting, you should have in your routine no less than two pranayams (breathing techniques). Use them with consecutive breaths to energize and relax first the body; then the heart and finally the mind. (I do this in the kumbhak (holding phase) of sequential breath cycles by filling first the body with breath, energy, prana; then holding it behind the heart; and then finally in the mind, clearing out the fog of restless thought so the sunshine and blue skies of mental clarity break through.

  

   4.       Then, stepping away from controlling (yama) the breath, slip into merely observing and “watching” (niyama) the breath. Do so with keen, focused, and calmly engaged interest. (I am not giving a technique per se, but the “bhav” or feeling with which to observe the breath with whatever technique you’ve been taught.) You might imagine your breath as an old friend. He’s been with you since your birth, remember? Imagine you are sitting together on the couch, intent upon one another but not necessarily talking; enjoying each other’s silent company, like real friends do.

  

   5.       If you do speak, do so with each other in a simple way. Use a mantra or affirmation with each breath.

   6.       If thoughts enter the room, like a waiter eager to ask you “Is everything all right” just as you are in the middle of an important sentence, then consider this response:

a.      Observe the thought passing through.

b.      Observe your reaction to the thought.

c.      Notice that the two (thought vs reaction) are two, separate things (not one thing)

d.      Discard or dissolve the reaction;

e.      Notice the thought vanishes.

f.       Enter (however briefly) space-mind (the space where the mind resides—devoid or waiting for the next thought).

g.      Gradually expand the time and depth of your resting in space-mind-time.

h.      Enjoy Being there.

i.       Or, if you're not ready for space-mind-time, then go back to your conversation with the breath.

Well, it’s been nice BEING with you. When you are finished, tap on your pet monkey’s shoulder and say, “It’s time to get back to work!” Smile at him: he’s your friend, too.

Joy to you and yours,

Nayaswami Hriman

Taming the Monkey Mind - To use a Thorn!

"Use a thorn to remove a thorn." So it is said in rural India. Great yogis have taken inspiration from this down-home country wisdom to suggest that we use the monkey mind to tame the monkey mind.

It is typical for beginners in meditation to report that their group meditations (e.g. in their meditation classes) are more satisfying and deeper than their private meditations at home. While the reasons for this are obvious enough -- after all, they are new at this and haven't an established daily meditation practice at home -- the meditator saddled with the monkey mind can look back at this and use it to his advantage too.

And here's how: rather than use a pre-recorded guided meditation, teach yourself to be your own guided meditation instructor. (I assume you have a technique and a meditation routine that you use, whether strictly or loosely; literally or creatively.) Start slow with just a piece of it. One peace at a time, in other words.

Since you already have a talking head inside of you, why not train that talking head to guide you through the steps of your routine or technique? "Inhale, 1, 2, 3......, hold, 1, 2, 3.......exhale, 1, 2 3." While my example here is simple it is meant only to give you a hint. 

Imagine mentally talking your way through some stretches; to sitting in correct posture; to a chant, affirmation, intention or prayer; to deep breathing, pranayam, watching the breath and then, finally.....using a creative visualization to take you i...n..t..o.........s...i...l...e....n....c.....e!

There! The monkey just talked himself out of a job! Hee, hee.........Did you get what I just did (said)? Do you need a little more on this?

While the monkey minder (gyana yogi) will, in principle, be more, well, how does one say this politely, "mental," I find that even "bhaktis" (those who are devotional by temperament) will sometimes complain of monkey breath. So the bhakti should chant, read or recite poetry (aloud if necessary), read prayers or talk to her guru or deity until her monkey breath is sweet and she feels like going inward, doing perhaps some more breath cleansing work, before entering into silent, inner communion with the object of her devotion.

The active type (karma yogi) will be a monkey-gymnast: physically restless; wanting to move about after 30 seconds of "meditation." The Energization (Tension) Exercises by Paramhansa Yogananda are excellent for this. Hatha yoga can also be excellent, too, of course, but the EE go faster both in pace and in less time spent. The gymnast will probably do well and enjoy learning up to a dozen breathing exercises (pranayams), blissing-out on the energy soothed or aroused (alternately) before consenting to enter the silence, even briefly.

In each of these three "types," it is important to note (even in contradistinction to the standard or literal advice given in meditation classes), "even a little practice" of stillness will bring you back to the cushion and bless you with the benefits of true meditation.

Here's what I'm saying: I am supposed to teach my students that up to 1/4 of sitting time should be in silent meditation (without use of techniques). But I assure you that the reality is, especially for the monkey I have in mind, that this is not time well spent when it is imposed upon the mind. 

Better it is to have 30 seconds, 60 seconds, two minutes of peaceful rest in the Self and get up feeling refreshed, inspired, divinely blessed..........and looking forward to the next opportunity to meditate than to wrestle with the monkey on the mat, sweating, cursing and fighting and deciding meditation "is not for me."

Naturally I don't want you to use this counsel as an excuse to finish your techniques, burp and get up! You should aspire to 1/4 of your time in silent, inner communion; it's just that "when the bird and book disagree, believe the bird." (Audubon society proverb). Yoga is about direct perception and experience, not belief, ritual or rules.

In the next article on the Monkey Mind, I will share a routine with general suggestions for the monkey mind to try digesting: (don’t do all of them; pick and choose; experiment; mix and match; be playful, enthusiastic, and inspired to find the no-name, no-form joyful, peaceful transcendent God-Self within you)

Until that time, don’t monkey around; mind your monkey; chat with him (or her); bargain; negotiate; give reassurance of your undying gratitude to the monkey who (thinks he/she) runs the Enterprise.

Here’s a chant for you and your monkey: O My Mind, learn thou self-control (repeat); Go not in the house of senses (repeat); Learn thou, learn thou Self-control! (by Paramhansa Yogananda)

Swami Hrimananda

TAMING THE MONKEY MIND – PART 1 – “Name that Monkey!”

Last Fall (2015), I held a one-night class on the subject of “Taming the Monkey Mind.” Suffice to say, one class was far too little time to work with the meditator’s (seemingly) greatest obstacle. At the time I promised (something of a sop, I’m afraid) to write a few blog articles to make up for the woeful lack of time. As it has been many months, they may have thought I forgot, but I have not.

Where does one begin? Well, it wouldn’t hurt to be introduced to that monkey. We find quickly that he’s not just one; he’s a whole family of monkeys. They inhabit our brain and are in constant motion. 

Practical, playful, even mischievous, at times. Our first acknowledgement we must make is for the debt we owe to the monkey brain family for keeping us alive. Of the family tree identified by Charles Darwin, this family of monkeys is highly trained at protecting us from threats, both seen and unseen, and helping us to develop many useful skills.

It is axiomatic in metaphysics and Yoga-Samkhya-Vedanta philosophy that the source of all matter is consciousness. Chapter 1 of Swami Kriyananda’s excellent book on the subject of meditation, Awaken to Superconsciousness, dedicates its first chapter to this precept (much to the dismay of its unsuspecting readers—for it is intellectual and abstruse). Similarly the thrust of the entire and vast body of Indian thought is that it is our soul’s destiny to transcend the delusion of material existence to contemplate and to become one with this ever-present, eternal, and omniscient reality (Consciousness). Our destiny it is because our brain and nervous system have evolved over eons of time for this very purpose. Slugs and snails, indeed, monkeys themselves, are not fully hard-wired to transcend the brain-body-nervous system!

While we are thus (seemingly hopelessly) body-sense-ego bound, we also, as yet and simultaneously, transcendent.  While that which binds us (brain, nervous system, senses) is as yet and simultaneously that which can free us. We are, thusly, existentially conflicted. We have two directions, seemingly, to pursue: the one, at once familiar and the other seemingly foreign and distant.

Even at the expense of reason (which tells us our life is short and our fate uncertain), we can pursue —intensely or lazily — whatever life in the body offers us, complete with its joys, sorrows, pleasures, pain and predestined demise into oblivion. Our monkey-ness keeps us so busy that most people don’t even consider there’s a choice in the matter. For those upon whom nature showers its gifts, most slumber in the forgetfulness of the moment, unheedful, ignorant or indifferent to the vast majority of others who are not so benighted.

The other path is towards transcendence. This is the path of Buddha, Jesus, and the prophets and masters down through ages. The panacea of lasting happiness and freedom from suffering, whether in heaven beyond, or in our hearts here and now, is the path of Light. In our age a new dispensation has been given to all people, regardless of status, race or nation, who seek the path of transcendence. It is the practice of meditation. Never mind that at first, millions will use meditation for its physical and psychological benefits, as if to only improve their circumstances during their predestined and brief sojourn in their human body. This is the stage of awakening such as one sees in the life of Jesus when crowds sought him for his healing powers alone.

Once a taste of monkey-less-ness is achieved, the monkey-less-MIND exercises a magnetic call to “Be still and know that I AM God.” (Psalm 46:10).

Samkhya darshana (philosophy) identifies four aspects of the monkey mind: its functional ability and purpose to interact with the body and senses; its ability to make rational or intuitive conclusions and connections (whether in the abstract and conceptual or in relation to the senses); its tendency to identify personally with either strata of mental activity; and, lastly, its embrace or rejection.

In the first, it is valuable to know that fire can burn your hand; that there’s a difference between a rope and snake; that spoiled food looks and tastes a certain way. In the second, our intelligence, whether merely logical or inspired from unseen heights, equips us with great power, good, bad or neither. In the third, we are able to identify mental activity (thoughts, emotions, actions) in its relationship to “Me.” This allows for selectivity, prioritizing and ownership or detachment. This me-function is closely related, then, to our emotional life for herein lies our tendency to identify with and desire, or reject in repulsion, the circumstances, people, or ideas that engage our daily life.

To list these characteristics, then, they are: manas, buddhi, ahamkara, and chitta. Transcending each of these aspects takes specialized tools of meditation. (We’ll come to these much later.)

These four aspects of our ego-mind can play out unseen by us in their subconscious functions, consciously, or superconsciously. It is the superconscious mind that is closest to the transcendent mind. The subconscious mind is but a domestic servant whether programmed by pre or post-natal tendencies. It holds the key to the function of habits; it serves to protect the ego by looking for threats even in the nuances of the words of other people; it reacts by instinct according to “fight or flight;” and, lastly, it is, by itself, passive and generally uncreative. It can be re-trained by the conscious intention and efforts of the conscious mind, guided by the innate and intuitive wisdom of the superconscious mind.

The conscious mind, being awake and aware of the world around us, sees mostly foes everywhere; or, at least obstacles and problems to overcome but it is too often seeing the world through subconscious filters of which it is, well, unconscious! It tends to be cautious, analytical and even wary. The conscious mind can also be insensitive to others or to more subtle signals and realities, as it is so focused on only what is right in front of it and related to "Me."

That which first filters the transcendent mind is the superconscious mind. Being in touch with a larger reality and not yet gated by subconscious filters and past actions, it sends us, to the degree we draw from it, answers, solutions, new ideas, and inspirations. It is filtered at least to this degree: Einstein didn’t hear symphonies in his head nor did Beethoven see a beam of light shooting through space. We receive the guidance apropos to our needs.

I’ll end this part with the link between body-mind-spirit: the breath. The “Holy Ghost” (or ghast, breath) signals the appearance of life in the new born and the disappearance of life at death. In between it acts as a direct link and reflector of the state of consciousness on which we sit at every moment. “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.[1]”

---

[1] “Autobiography of a Yogi,” by Paramhansa Yogananda, 1946 edition, Chapter 26: The Science of Kriya Yoga.

"Oh God" - How to Get Over the "God" Word!

Teaching meditation and the spiritual teachings of raja yoga for many years, I have come to experience, frequently, the negative reaction and association that students have to the word "God."

I appreciate their dilemma and sometimes chide a class of students to "get over it" because I intend to use the term in part because it's so easy to use as shorthand.

The question is, though, "God" is shorthand for what, exactly?

My prior blog article spoke of a new dispensation wherein a growing understanding is evolving of "God" as something far different than the anthropomorphic "man" on a throne far away who watches our every move, eager to toss most of us into the fiery dustbin at the slightest infraction!

So if you, or a friend or family member, bristles at the notorious "God" word, I have a few simple suggestions:

1. Should we use a new word? That's been tried and like the gender thing (she, he, "they" etc.) it's still a bit awkward. Fellow teachers I know often like to use the phrase "the Divine," and I use it too, but it seems so lifeless, so pallid. God isn't a mere "thing" or dumb "force" like "the Force" or electricity. There IS a personal element to "the Force." Who can love the Cosmic Ground of Being? At Ananda we often follow Yogananda's lead (and Swami Kriyananda's, our founder) in referring to God as Divine Mother. I do too but that's most comfortable among fellow members and less comfortable in public settings (though I still use it there, too). But it can prompt further questions of its own.

2. I am of a mind to simply educate others and help them to "get over it."

3. Think of God, then as the pure joy of a smile; the pure joy of pure joy; the beauty and harmony of nature; kindness; the innocence and wonder of a small child or young pet or animal; I see all these pet and animal and nature pictures on Facebook: see the face of God in such as these!

4. Think of God as the pure love of true friendship: respectful, considerate, sympathetic, yet wise, and mutually serviceful. You may have to imagine such friendship for it is rare. But the exercise is worth it!

5. Think of God as the intelligence, bounty, and joy of the life "flowing through your veins!" The heartbeat of your life, or the vitality, health and energy, within in you; in others, in nature and in the cosmos itself! 

6. Think of God as the summation of all the sound and power in the universe, like a mighty roar, the power, awe and beauty of thunder and lightning!

7. Think of God as the light of the sun, all suns, stars, galaxies and the colors of the infinite rainbow of color. A thousand million suns into One!

8. Think of God as the seemingly infinite space of the cosmos: deeply calm and expanding toward infinity in all directions; in which all objects float like island universes! Feel your awareness of space expanding outward spherically. Yogananda wrote, the body of God is space. If you want to feel God's presence feel the space all around you and expand it outward to infinity. Feel the space within your own body, knowing that science tells us that the quantifiable matter of our body, emptied of the space between all particles, would fill but a thimble!

9. See the presence and hand of God in all circumstances, positive or negative; all life flows to and through us according to the magnetism of our own patterns, past and present, in its unending process of becoming. Through life's experiences God is talking to us: have a "conversation with God."

10. Hear God's voice in the voice of His messengers; read His words in the true teachings of saints, masters and avatars; see His actions in the lives of such great souls and apply their lessons to your daily life. Call on those great ones whom your heart feels attuned to for inner guidance. These more than any other manifestation of God in this world are the purest channels and guides to our soul awakening.

Like a hippie friend once said: "Good God, man, get over "It!" "

Or as I like to plagiarize: "There's no god but God. There's no good but God; there's no thing but God; God alone, God in All."

Or, as Jesus put it: "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."

Joy is within you,

Swami Hrimananda

Can God Be Proved? A New Dispensation

I believe that in the Shankhya scriptures of India it is said that "God cannot be proved." (Ishwar ashiddha"). People argue about this all the time.

Many simply believe in God and call it good. This is, in part, because our rational and scientifically committed culture does not "believe in" intuition, except for the inexplicable but not easily replicated phenomenon known as the "hunch." This is all too frequently dismissed as just another of those things about women that men can't rationally account for. Thus "believers" are forced to build a firewall between belief and proof; between spirit and nature; between divine and the human experience.

Standing with awe before nature, human life, drama, history and yes, even science, we touch upon the feeling of something greater than ourselves; something that underlies all things. Albert Einstein's life long pursuit of a unified theory of everything echoes this intuitive feeling often triggered by the experience of awe. This is one example (of many) of intuition. We just KNOW that IT is there, here, and everywhere. It can be felt, touched but not seen or possessed. But, not proved!

Paramhansa Yogananda describes in Chapter 14 (An Experience of Cosmic Consciousness) of his life story, "Autobiography of a Yogi," a doorway into this supra-sensory realm of intuition. It is, unsurprisingly, through meditation that this experience can be replicated by anyone willing to pay the price of admission: sincere and sustained effort using specific methods of meditation.

Some many months after having this mind-blowing experience of infinity, Yogananda (PY) took a problem to his guru (who had bestowed upon him that experience). "I want to know, sir -- when shall I find God?" Swami Sri Yuktewar, perhaps smiling, responded, "You have found Him." "O no, sir, I don't think so!"After a brief exchange, in which an incredulous Sri Yukteswar was certain his disciple did not expect to find a man on a throne, he explained:

"Ever-new Joy is God. He is inexhaustible; as you continue your meditations during the years, He will beguile you with an infinite ingenuity." Later, he continues, "After the mind has been cleared by Kriya Yoga of sensory obstacles, meditation furnishes a two-fold proof of God. Ever-new joy is evidence of His existence, convincing to our very atoms. Also, in meditation one finds His instant guidance, His adequate response to every difficulty."  (Autobiography of a Yogi, 1946 edition)

PY effectively introduced, as he put it, a "new dispensation." Truth is one and eternal but its manifold expressions change according to the needs of receptive souls. So the new part is to offer truthseekers to put aside mere belief and rancorous theological debates in return for the direct perception of God in meditation. It is in the universal and nonsectarian experiences of inner peace, joy, and unconditional love (to name three of eight aspects) that God can be experienced.

As a measurable bonus, pleasing to scientists, testing has proven innumerable physical and mental benefits to meditation. These are the "added unto you" of Jesus' famous counsel to "Seek the kingdom of heaven (which is within you) first, and all these things (health, intelligence, creativity, happiness) will be added unto you."

Sticking a bit with Jesus Christ, since "sufficient unto the day" are the needs thereof, the meditator need not focus unduly with the cosmic consciousness experience described by PY and the goal of the soul's journey toward Self-realization. For the "infinite (and beguiling) ingenuity of God is sufficient unto the daily meditation practice to push us along our journey to that end which, were it to be bestowed prematurely, would "fry our brains!" as intimated elsewhere in PY's autobiography.

Thus is released for millions the tension between the rational mind and the intuitive soul. This is the new dispensation and the glad tidings, the good news that PY has brought to the world. Satisfaction, convincing to our very atoms and to our thirsty hearts, and lasting, bestowed without condition of belief or affiliation, can heal the wounds of divisive sectarianism and the war between science and religion, atheists and believers.

Blessings to you,

Swami Hrimananda

Meditation: Mind Full, or, Mind Less?

"I don't Mind that Mind doesn't Matter."

Let's leave aside meditation techniques for a CHANGE! In real meditation, the mind is focused and still, or, so we often say. 

Paramhansa Yogananda is quoted as saying, "When motion ceases, God begins!" And in the Old Testament (Psalm 46:10), God counsels us saying, "Be still and know that I AM God."

Is meditation an experience of stillness, mindfulness, emptiness, no-thing-ness, cosmic consciousness, samadhi, superconsciousness, or what - exactly?

What I'd like to discuss is NOT the "ultimate" state of consciousness as suggested by the terms above. Great saints down through the ages, east and west, and even artists and intuitives have made valiant and inspired efforts to describe that which cannot be described. 

One such effort is Paramhansa Yogananda's famous poem, "Samadhi." I recite it from memory every day, as he suggested. I find it transmits ineffable blessings, like waves of peace and bliss, whenever I recite it with depth and devotion. 

Nonetheless, I refuse to speak of such things! Instead, let us consider the experience we (meditators) have when we sit in silent meditation (after the practice of our techniques). Let us, further, consider our experience when our thoughts are still, or at least when they aren't nonstop! (Deepak Chopra is credited with describing meditation as the "space between our thoughts." While I prefer NOT to think of MY meditations in that way, his statement is not far from the mark, though it hardly describes the goal of meditation!)

A helpful way to relate to your own experience is in terms of perception, feeling, and energy. You may recognize, here, "gyana yoga, bhakti yoga, and karma yoga." A person who approaches meditation primarily with the mind: peering, as it were, into the darkness begin closed eyes, attempting to be a "See-r," attempting to pierce the veil of delusion and see the "light" of truth and subtle reality, can do so in one of two ways. 

First, with the mind still, he can gaze, wait, and watch what happens. He has all the time in the world. It's as if he's saying, "Well, I'm here....waiting................" No expectations, no self-created imagery, mantras, visualizations.....just simple OBSERVATION.

Or, he can be goal oriented. If trained to look up at the point between the eyebrows where, he is taught, the spiritual eye is said to appear, he may do so with great intensity as if, by will power alone, to make the spiritual eye appear. (This can be done with ego or can be done with the purer motive to awaken and invite the spiritual eye to appear.) Mental chanting of a mantra would be another example of this forward "leaning" aspect of perception.

Both of these approaches take a strong and clear mind. In today's culture, with so many distractions and electronics, faulty memory, and rapid fire mental activity, this approach, even if common, for being taught or used by temperament, is relatively difficult. And, of the two versions described above, the first (being the observer) is by far the most difficult because of the constant barrage of thoughts and images the subconscious mind will throw at you. 

Ironically, the popular mindfulness technique of watching thoughts is easy; even easier is being carried away with those thoughts. But I'm not describing this technique which is the intentional but passive acceptance of the flow of thoughts. Yes, that's easy, and may indeed be helpful for a beginner who essentially has no choice because his mind is far from being his "own." I am speaking of a higher order of meditation where the intention is to transcend those thoughts with a clear and focused mind searching for what is beyond the subconscious mind.

Moving along, now: a bhakti yogi will visualize a devotional image: it can be personal such as the image (or eyes) of one's guru or a deity; or, it can be impersonal, as visualizing a light, imaging a sound, or mentally offering oneself to God (or guru) in some form or feeling that is self-created. (By self-created, I do not mean to suggest that all of this is false. Indeed, one's devotion may be deeply heartfelt and very real. The distinction is that this experience originates within oneself.)

Once again, there are two directions for the bhakti to go. She can offer herself in love to God; or, she can be receptive to God's love flowing into her. Sometimes, like an alternating current, she will go back and forth and do both.

Lastly, the karma yoga meditator will be attuned to the life force energy (called "prana") flowing in and/or around the body. The "body" can be physical or astral. (The distinction, though real, need not be emphasized in describing the actual experience).

Here too, the karma yoga meditator can apply his will power to engage, feel, and enter into this divine flow, or, can "sit back" and be receptive to its graces. This meditator is apt to be attuned to and seek to be receptive to the various energies and respective qualities (sounds, colors, and other astral phenomenon) of the energy centers called the chakras, and the currents of astral energy (prana). Indeed, Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras acknowledges the meditative and concentrative value of such inner astral phenomenon as focal points of meditation.

In the practice of kriya yoga as taught by Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and brought to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda, one is trained to utilize all aspects of perception, feeling, and energy and from both points of view of will power and receptivity. One simple example is the practice of mentally chanting "Aum" in order to gradually begin hearing the inner Aum sound! The first part is done proactively and the second is done with inner absorption. This cycle is a pattern of the flow of energy and consciousness in the body. Yogananda described attuning this flow with the counsel: "tense with will; relax and feel."

Kriya yoga is a part of raja yoga (also called ashtanga yoga). Raja yoga, in turn, includes various pranayams (breath control techniques), some of which are quite well known in meditation and hatha yoga circles. It would be fair to characterize the path of raja yoga as predominantly a karma yoga approach to meditation. Raja yoga is quite suited to the character of our energetic and ever-busy culture that places a high value on energy (of all sorts) and practical productivity.

Paramhansa Yogananda even introduced a new addition to raja yoga techniques: a system of movements and tension exercises with breath control (pranayam) which he called Energization Exercises.

If you read his famous "Autobiography of a Yogi," or study his lessons or other writings, it is more than obvious that devotion and concentration are a part of it. Still, it is my view that it can be very helpful to students learning raja yoga, including kriya yoga, to focus on the energetics of these techniques and of the stillness that follows their practice. 

I say this because the other two aspects are not dominant characteristics in our society at this time nor, very likely, for centuries to come, given the line of development of consciousness that we observe in the 20th and early 21st century.

An age of personal liberties and knowledge, and of democracy, is hardly inclined to traditional expressions of "hierarchical" devotion. I won't go as far as to suggest we only teach kriya as only a science the way Transcendental Meditation became popular, but I do wish to note that Yogananda's first book was called "The Science of Religion." 

Note, further, however, that it was also called "religion." The motivation that it takes to meditate deeply suggests, hints, and indeed requires, a sensitivity of feeling and refinement of consciousness whose receptivity contains the seeds of a devotional nature.

As to mental concentration and power, we live in an overstimulated age subject to an ever-increasing pace of outward activities and change. This age is not conducive to developing strong mental focus. Indeed, the biggest plague of our times is loss of memory and loss of focus as illustrated by preoccupation with cell phones and similar devices. This trend is far, very far, from slowing, what to mention reversing.

Maybe one's mind is scattered when trying to meditate. Maybe one is not feeling particularly inspired. Instead of being discouraged by one's lack of concentration or devotion, try focusing on the energy of, first, the physical body (using, say, yoga postures or Yogananda's Energization Exercises); and, then, as you begin your meditation practices, focus on the subtle life force in the body. This karma yoga approach is a fairly neutral and relatively easy feature of the experience of meditation. The core techniques taught by Yogananda ("Hong Sau," "Aum," and "Kriya") all fit neatly within this framework. 

Yogananda, in Chapter 26 of "Autobiography of a Yogi," that the word kriya has the same root as the word karma. The meaning here is, simply, action. Thus we see a strong hint of the relationship of karma yoga to kriya. Swami Kriyananda, direct disciple of Yogananda and founder of Ananda, often pointed out in his lectures on the Bhagavad Gita that the "action" described in that great scripture includes the action of meditation. 

In that scripture, Krishna says to Arjuna (us), that one cannot achieve the actionless state (of oneness) by refusing to act. Thus he hints that the practice of meditation requires specific (i.e. scientific) techniques. Elsewhere he describes the penultimate technique as "offering the inhaling breath into the exhaling breath." (Clearly a reference to kriya yoga and similar advanced techniques.)

I have found in my own meditations that focusing on the energetics of the meditation (from the body to the chakras to the subtle spine) affords a tangible focal point such that it leads to the stillness of breath and mind that is the initial goal and necessary first stage of meditation. To quote the 1972 Alka Seltzer commercial that made this line famous: "try it, you'll like it."

Blessings to all and happy meditating,

Swami Hrimananda