Imminent Collapse of the U.S. Dollar?

As I am preparing for a talk tomorrow at the Ananda Sunday Service (in Bothell, WA, USA) on the subject of the existence of evil, my friend and teacher, and founder of Ananda, Swami Kriyananda (direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda) forwarded a YouTube video on the subject of the dollar's imminent collapse. It's about 10 minutes long and if you're interested here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3-vwYJiD8g

To students and members of Ananda worldwide this is hardly news. You know already that Swami Kriyananda has repeated this prediction which Paramhansa Yogananda gave repeatedly in the last years before his death in 1952. But we hardly need a yoga-master to tell us that the worldwide economy (dollar denominated) is in trouble and that the possibility of the collapse of the dollar isn't at least a threat!

But what the heck can you or I do about this? How can we be prepared for the possibility, whether extreme (as portrayed in the YouTube video), whether partial, short-term or permanent? From years of living with this prediction and with the steps some members of the various Ananda Communities worldwide have done, here are some thoughts (taken to a wide range of extremes or just a few steps):

1. Purchase a supply of food, but more than just 2 to 3 days of a power outage. Perhaps 6 months supply of canned or freeze dried food. I'm no expert but there's lots of information on the internet and places where this can be purchased. Don't forget water, too!
2. Supplies like prescriptions, flashlights, batteries, toilet paper and all the bare necessities.
3. Camping supplies and outdoor clothing: tent, blankets, sleeping bags, etc.
4. Bicycle?
5. Start a garden for food or at least have seeds and don't forget sprouting!
6. If you can, buy land outside a city where food can be grown and shelter can be taken.
7. Convert savings, at least partially, to exchangeable commodities. Obvious ones are gold and silver but there are many other bartable goods as well.
8. Get out of debt: this is trickier because it's possible you can later pay off dollar-denominated debt with worthless inflated dollars later, but this is hard to predict. If you have excess cash that you cannot otherwise put into commodities including decent land then maybe this is good especially if it's your home.
9. Get to know your neighbors or, if family, start planning with others who share your concerns.
10. Get out of the inner or large cities if you can. Riots and looting will start almost immediately in the worst case scenarios and food will disappear immediately. Water supplies may be shut off if and assuming most government services shut down due to lack of funds and payroll. (Virtually every government entity in America is technically already insolvent or will easily be.)
11. Buy land in the country with like minded people. Start a community with friends and family.
12. Learn to meditate. Pray daily. Join in with others of prayerful inclination to reinforce each other's faith. Read spiritually minded books.
13. Accumulate supplies not just for yourself but to help others, as you are able.
14. Curtail your exposure to entertainment and news that is filled with gratuitious violence or is fear-inducing. It's easy to stay abreast of important news through other means that are less impactful on your subconscious.
15. Don't panic and don't frighten others. Be calm and sensible. You'll sleep better at night helping yourself, your family, and being prepared to help others as well.

Well I'm sure I could go on but you get the general idea.

Oh, yes, evil DOES exist. Combat it with nobility of thoughts and actions and with the grace of God.

Hriman

The Holy Science - Part 3 - THE GOAL

Swami Sri Yukteswar now moves on to the second chapter.

Spiritual awakening is a process of remembrance (smriti is the term Patanjali uses in the Yoga Sutras). The guru awakens both a remembrance and the desire for liberation.  Hence: the goal! All desires must be fulfilled by the law of prana (energy) and creative visualization.

A deep habit can only be overcome with finality when we “know” from intuition it is no longer a desire or part of our true Self. Similarly when the soul awakens to the true nature of creation (see Part 1) and the power of maya (delusion), liberation becomes its prime goal.

To achieve final liberation the soul must transcend all influences of duality. In this state all desires are fulfilled and all suffering ceases. So long as we identify with the physical body and has not yet found the Self, suffering continues as all desires are yet to be fulfilled. Rebirth is necessary with its attendant disappointments and troubles.

Ignorance is the source of suffering and ignorance results from mistaking the unreal for the real. The unreal has apparent reality only by the flux of opposites and includes such qualities as egoism, attachment, aversion and (blind) tenacity.

Swami Sri Yukteswar then gives a more detailed analysis of this process. He starts with the statement that ignorance produces a sense of separateness of objects (egoism) and the consequent tenacious power (desire) of holding one's form separate and apart. From this comes the attraction to or repulsion away from other objects.

It is therefore from ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion and tenacity that we suffer.

Our true Self seeks existence (Sat) (immortality), consciousness (Chit) (Self-awareness), and unending Bliss (Ananda). [Satchidanandam]. These have nothing to do with anything outside our Self, but are the innate properties of Self.

We attain contentment, bliss, through the aid of the true guru who imparts the disciplines and ways by which the devotee achieves ananda. With a content heart it becomes possible to fix one’s attention on anything he chooses and so chit (consciousness) is followed to its source in its primal manifestation: Aum. In time and with deepening practice the sense of separateness is dissolved in the holy word and true baptism occurs as we repent of the sin of separateness.

Then immortality is achieved through power over delusion and realization of one’s indestructible and ever-existing reality. Now, at last, instead of merely reflecting the divine light, one is actively united with Spirit and has achieved Kaivalya, or Oneness.

Thus in his straightforward manner, Swami Sri Yukteswar describes for us the goal of life.

Next blog article is chapter 3, THE PROCEDURE. To enroll in this 4-week class series which begins Wednesday, September 7, 7:30 p.m. at Ananda Meditation Temple, go to the Ananda website: http://www.anandaseattle.org/activities/BothellClasses

Blessings,

Hriman

Holy Science - Part 2 - Chapter 1 - THE GOSPEL

Holy Science – Part 1

Swami Sri Yukteswar (SY) was asked by Mahavatar Babaji to write a book showing the underlying essence of Jesus’ teachings and those of Krishna. By extension, this is to say to show the essential truth underlying all faith traditions.

Truth is called by many names by men but truth is one and eternal. “Hear O Israel, the Lord, the Lord our God is One.” By so many words, rituals, and symbols perhaps the most universal truth teaching is to say (in numerous ways) that God (by whatever name or no name) exists and is the sole (or essential) reality behind all appearances. Thus begins Chapter 1 (The Gospel) of The Holy Science.

Perception by man of this truth is thwarted by the hypnotic influence and stimuli of the five senses of the human body. We identify reality with their reports. Consequently, the divine presence remains hidden to us until we can stimulate and develop our inner (sixth) sense through the all-seeing “eye” of intuition.

The One, absolute and Self-contained began creation by become two. God so created the world by making himself dual: the power of his Shakti (joyful energy) and his omniscient feeling (consciousness or chit). These form God as nature, God as manifested. In the microcosm of the Self, we have our will power (with enjoyment underlying it) and we have self-awareness as that which enjoys. This dual power could also be described as the outgoing (repelling) force, and the inflowing (attractive or Love) power. This dual power has a sound which is called the Word (or the Aum, or Amen).

The creation through Aum has four elements: vibration (intelligent word), time, space, and particle (atom and individuality, or separateness of objects). (These are the four beasts of the Book of Revelation in the Bible who attend the throne of God.) The Holy Ghost vibration of Aum is God manifested and manifesting creation through the principle of dwaita, duality, and its spinning hypnotic effect, maya. Though made manifest through God’s Light, the divided parts of the creation do not comprehend their reality or source.

First, individuality must become self-aware. This is the human stage with our highly developed cerebrospinal centers (the chakras). Then we find the competition between the pull upwards toward Sat (truth or God) or downward toward avidya (ignorance). Separateness, as an idea which creates separate forms, is energized toward individuality and individual consciousness by the universal intelligence and feeling state of chit. From this develops the illusion of individuality (ahamkara-ego). Here we have the dual pull of Buddhi (Intelligence) toward ultimate reality (Sat), and the pull of Manas (blind sense-Mind) (ignorance-avidya) seeking enjoyment from and within the creation itself. Underlying all creation – whether the outgoing force or the inward force – is the impulse towards bliss (or Love, or Joy).

SY then embarks on a comprehensive (not necessarily readily comprehensible) dissection of the three bodies of man (and all creation): physical, astral, and causal. He describes the essential components of each. Chitta, the calm state of mind with its sense of separateness, has five pranas (aura electricities-Pancha Tattwa) which constitute the causal body. These five in contact with the three gunas (aspects of nature, being enlightening, energizing, or darkening) produce fifteen astral attributes plus four aspects of mind for the astral body. These nineteen are the five senses, the five powers of locomotion (hands, feet, excretion, procreation, and speech), the five natural objects of the senses, and four aspects of mind: intelligence, sense-mind, ego, and feeling.

The physical body then is manifested through five elemental forms of space, gas, fire, liquid and solid. The nineteen astral attributes added to the five of the body constitute the twenty-four elders of creation mentioned in the Book of Revelations. These are the building blocks of individuality that set into motion the drama of creation.

On the macrocosm of creation, SY describes seven spheres (swargas) of creation, with seven centers (chakras or Sapta Patalas) in the human microcosmic universe. Together these fourteen stages of creation are called the Bhuvanas. The Spirit in creation is hidden by five sheaths, or koshas: feeling, intelligence, mind (as focused upon and limited by the senses), life force (prana), and matter.

As the twenty-four elders of creation are in place, the power of Attraction (Divine Love) begins to manifest, first attracting all atoms toward each other to form the five elemental forms of creation (space, gaseous, fire, liquid, and solid) and then evolving each stage of creation beginning with the minerals, then vegetables, animals, human, astral (angelic), and lastly emancipated from all koshas. As each stage emerges, one kosha is shed to reveal more and more intelligence and feeling then at last divinity (Oneness).

Introspection reveals our dream-like and idea-based sense-bound perception of reality and individuality. It is through the power of the sat-guru (savior or preceptor) that the divinity behind all forms is revealed to truth-seeking souls. Baptism, or rebirth in the sacred river of Aum, is symbolized by holy water and rivers whose sound, like many waters, is heard in deep guru-given meditative states. Thus the universal meaning and significance of rivers and of water. In merging into the inner Light, by degrees, do we reclaim our eternal birthright as sons of God.

Thus is a summary of Chapter 1, the Gospel, showing the nature and process of creation and of salvation. Don’t forget about the class series on this subject: it begins Wednesday, September 7, 7:30 p.m. at Ananda Meditation Temple. We are working on a streaming video presentation for those at a distance, but this latter promise is not yet a reality as of this date. Either way, you can register on line at www.AnandaSeattle.org

Blessings, Hriman

O Holy Science of Yoga - Introduction

Beginning Wednesday, September 7 at the Ananda Meditation Temple, we will hold a 4-week series on the book that started it all: "The Holy Science," by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. Sri Yukteswar was the first in the line of Self-realization to write and publish a book. It was published at the request of the deathless guru, Mahavatar Babaji. Babaji asked Sri Yukteswar 'Will you not write a short book on the underlying basic unity between the Christian and Hindu scriptures? Show by parallel references that the inspired sons of God have spoken the same truths, now obscured by men's sectarian differences.'

Sri Yuktewar was a man of few words and a soul of not merely wisdom but God-realization.  Our exploration of his brief but deep tome will open up vistas unto eternity. In this series of blogs, I will offer hints of those vistas as teasers to that class.

In the Foreward to the Holy Science, Paramhansa Yogannada reminds us that the great Ones of East and West achieved their wisdom by realizing the Supreme Reality behind all creation. While their words may have taken different forms and employed different symbols ("some open and clear, others hidden or symbolic") - all spoke from the truth of Spirit.

INTRODUCTION.  Swami Sri Yukteswar ("SY") has divided his book into four sections, according to the four stages in the development of knowledge. To attain Self-knowledge one must have knowledge of the world around us. Therefore the first part of the book is a description of the truths and purposes of creation. The second part concerns the goal of life: immortality, consciousness & bliss. The third section is how to realize those goals and the fourth is the revelations of those who have achieved these goals.

It is in his introduction that SY reveals his profound and intuitive understanding of the history of our planet and the mechanism which accounts for the changes in human consciousness over a 24,000 year cycle. I would recommend the just published book, "The Yugas," by Joseph Selbie and David Steinmetz (Crystal Clarity Publishers, Nevada City) for a more complete description of this seemingly abstruse theory and SY's insightful but complex explanation.

The "yuga theory" provides the objective basis for why humankind is ready and needful of this new and deeper understanding of the universal truths of creation and of all faiths.

So join me next blog post, for Chapter 1.

Return to India - Final Chapter - Calcutta

Gita and I only had two full days in Calcutta and we sought to make the best use of them we could. I am eager to complete this blog series and so will do my best to keep this brief.

Calcutta and the state of Bengal occupy a unique place in the awakening of modern India. I will not say more than that except to say that not only did there occur an extraordinary spiritual revolution but other revolutions from Bengal as well. More can be found from the history books than from me on this fascinating subject.

On our first day, Saturday, July 9, we first visited the home of Yogananda's boyhood companion, Tuli Bose. The home is now occupied by Hassi: the widow of Tulsi's son, Debi Mukherjee. Debi was a young boy or man when Paramhansa Yogananda returned to India in 1935-6 and has written of that visit in his own collection of stories. Hassi was in the womb of her mother at that time and was blessed by Yogananda. She spoke to him years later by phone after Yogananda had returned to his headquarters in Los Angeles.

Hassi is a devotee and very wise soul. She has greeted and hosted innumerable Ananda and other visitors to her home. Ananda members have assisted her in repairing and improving her simple home which no street map, no Google map will ever reveal but which is right around the corner from Yogananda's boyhood home at 4 Gurpar Road in an older section of Calcutta.

I can't vouch entirely for my notes or my memory or the language translation of our meeting but I will do my best to convey what I learned and experienced there. Yogananda, before leaving for America in 1920, and for some period of time (unknown but presumably before leaving Calcutta to start the school for boys that he founded in the state of Bihar), conducted weekly satsangs (spiritual gatherings) in this tiny home. I believe those satsangs were held on Thursday nights.

Among the spiritual stars who visited the home (and sometimes together, though which ones at the same time, I am not clear and their generations don't all exactly coincide) include: Sharda Devi, widow of Sri Ramakrishna, who conducted Durga puja there; Swami Vivekananda, most famous disciple of Ramakrishna (who visited America twice in the 1890's); Lahiri Mahasaya; Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramhansa Yogananda, Ananda Moyi Ma, and Swami Atmananda (disciple of Yogananda), along with of course, Tuli Bose.

Just to be present there in the midst of such a place was indescribable. The home is as simple and unseen as a certain manger in Palestine. How many avatars can you fit in a 10' by 10' room? Can anyone imagine such an extraordinary "satsang" or a more blessed temple - yet one that will never impress the worldly man for its grand size and beauty?

Among a tiny sampling of the relics gathered there are an iron trident once possessed by Babaji, given to Lahiri, given to Sri Yukteswar, given to Yogananda, who left it there with Tulsi! The deerskin "asan" (meditation seat) of Sri Yukteswar; the tiger skin asan of Yogananda's; and a clay statute of goddess Kali that materialized in Yogananda's palm while meditating at the nearby Dakshineswar Temple (home to Ramakrishna in the prior century). Gita and I meditated there for a little and had the opportunity to visit with Hassi for some time. She's getting up in years and asked for prayers for an upcoming cataract surgery on July 30 and again later in the Fall 2011.

Around the corner we visited with Sarita Ghosh whose husband Sonat, is the living descendant of Yogananda's artist-brother, Sananda. When we arrived, two other pilgrims were visiting. (There's a steady stream of pilgrims coming to Gurpar Road). She toured us showing us the room in which Babaji appeared to Yogananda after a long night of intense prayer asking for tangible blessings upon his journey to America (in 1920). She showed us the room which had once been Yogananda's father's bedroom and where Yogananda as boy, after his mother's passing, had slept also. It was filled with wonderful photos including the original photo, touched up with color (as was the custom then) by Sananda of Rabindranath Tagore. This "painting" is now famous and hangs there in the room as does what might be (I'm not really sure) the original painting by Sananda of Babaji, among other things I failed to catalogue. (Tagore once visited there, perhaps to approve the painting.)

Upstairs we meditated in Yogananda's "attic room" - the scene of many meditations and experiences, including the window from which he dropped his bundle of items on his failed attempt to escape to the Himalayas (as recounted in his autobiography). Sigh, what can one say about such a visit except that I shall treasure it always.

The following day we visited Serampore, where Swami Sri Yukteswar (Yogananda's guru) lived and had his ashram. Ishan, son of Durlov Ghosh (living descendant of Yogananda's eldest brother, Ananta), hosted us. We went first to Rai Ghat where Sri Yukteswar (and Yogananda) would bathe daily in the mornings and where Sri Yukteswar encountered Babaji under the still living banyan tree when Babaji came to bless Yukteswar upon completion of the book Babaji commissioned Yutkeswar to write ("The Holy Science").

It was a very hot and sticky day and the ghat was filled with teenagers but Gita and I sat briefly in meditation, hoping to draw the blessings that should surely remain in the ether with gathering of three avatars (egads!), including the incomparable Babaji.

Wending our way through the narrow lanes of Serampore we then visited Sri Yukteswar's ashram. It is inhabited by two or three families: descendants of Sri Yukteswar (he had a daughter, though no one seems to know anything about her and her offspring). Recently, we were told, it was decided not to allow visitors into the home and into Sri Yukteswar's rooms for visits and meditation. Gita, and many others I know, have done so in past years but it was not to be so for me.

Instead we were allowed into an adjacent YSS shrine and offered meditation seats. Notwithstanding my disappointment, I had a very deep meditation in the shrine. It's built in what had been an extension of the original courtyard and from its steps one could see the courtyard balcony where the door to Sri Yukteswar's room was.

I hope someday YSS, at least, can obtain the ownership and can repair and restore the aging and now decrepit building for a shrine for generations to come. While they tend to be as much gatekeepers as preservers, someone, at least needs to do this. I don't know the relationship between the families and YSS. It's probably somewhat tentative and uneasy, I'm guessing.

We then had lunch with the Ghosh family in the home nearby that Ananda members helped the family acquire when their grandmother, Mira, was in desperate need some years ago. The family is very grateful and very sweet.

On our way back to our hotel we visited Dakshineswar Temple. The grand and beautiful temple (though now aging but relatively new, only 150 or so years old, built by a devotee-disciple of Sri Ramakrishna) was home to the lila (life) of Ramakrishna. Yogananda too had many deep experiences at the temple as he relates in "Autobiography of a Yogi." We got in line to pay our respects and view the famous Kali statue (the lines allow for a brief two-second glance) and then meditated in the adjacent portico where Yogananda had an experience in cosmic consciousness.

Then we meditated in the bedroom (now a museum and shrine) of Ramakrishna after touring the temple grounds. The visit was far more uplifting than I would have thought, given the Sunday-afternoon crowds of families and sightseers. The Temple is along the river (Ganges, though it's called the Hoogley or something like that), and adjacent to one of the bridges that cross the river from which we came from Serampore (which is on the opposite side of the river from downtown Calcutta and upstream).

That's as much as I feel to share on this part. The description I’ve given belies the blessings I feel, however, and leave it to my readers to allow me that inner beatitude as a sacred trust in my heart. As some of my readers are my close friends and fellow disciples, it remains a question "How has this changed your life?" "What personal insights might you have had."

That's as much as I feel to share on this part. The description I’ve given belies the blessings I feel, however, and leave it to my readers to allow me that inner beatitude as a sacred trust in my heart. As some of my readers are my close friends and fellow disciples, it remains a question "How has this changed your life?" "What personal insights might you have had."

I don't feel this blog is the place for such personal reflections except to say “Yes!”

Blessings, and thus ends our journey and pilgrimage,

Hriman

Return to India - Babaji Safari

I am pressing to finish this series so life can go on. So today, while I have some time I can pretend to call me "own," I continue….

On our trip to India I had brought a camping vest that can only be described as a fly-fisherman's special. I don't fish and I'm not sure why Padma purchased this for me some years ago, but I've only worn it perhaps once but something inspired me to bring it to India. However it was many days into our trip that I had the nerve to wear it. Turns out it was perfect for all the many small items I needed to carry with me as we entered temples, hiked, or otherwise travelled about the Himalaya.

Gita, seeing this absurdly out of place item of clothing but admitting it worked perfectly for the needs of the trip, was inspired by it to call our trip the "Babaji Safari."

So I turn now to the spiritual highlight of our Himalayan adventure: the search for Babaji. Virtually anyone who reads this knows that Mahavatar Babaji is the deathless avatar featured so prominently in Paramhansa Yogananda's now famous story, "Autobiography of a Yogi." Said to be Krishna in a former incarnation, no one knows the date of Babaji's birth in the current incarnation and he is said to have promised to retain his physical form for the current cycle of the ages (not sure what this entails). He is in communion with Jesus Christ and together they send vibrations of the Divine Will to other saints working more visibly in the world for the salvation and upliftment of humanity. It was Babaji who resurrected the path of kriya yoga when he initiated Lahiri Mahasay in 1861 on Dronagiri Mountain near the town of Ranikhet. In India the existence of such an avatar has been affirmed and treasured for centuries. Many sadhus are called or call themselves Baba-ji (revered father) so it is far from clear who is who and one cannot help but ask "would the real Babaji please stand up." [[[1] Babaji often appears as a handsome, clean-shaven, fair-skinned youth and is said to have the ability to prevent others from guessing his identity.]]

Our Himalayan guide, Mahavir Singh Rawat had a life changing experience when he describes how “our” Babaji came to him over twenty years ago and asked him to be the Himalayan guide to Ananda devotees.

That's another story, of course. So back to my own.

We visited Dronagiri Mountain after completing the Char Dham previously described. The town of Rawahat sits at the base of the mountain. We stayed in a newish hotel there that was very nice and adequate for our needs. After unpacking our things one afternoon, we drove up the mountain. There was something very special about this mountain. Perhaps it was the effect of the monsoon season, but it is unlike any other mountain (and we drove up and down an untold number of mountains on the trip). The mountain was mostly thinly populated with pine trees which were separated by what would looked like carefully manicured or mowed lawn and small, neat and attractive walking paths winding through it. The mid to upper part contained a collection of handsome and brightly painted (think "blue") homes. The few small farms were attractively cultivated. The mountainside combined therefore a domestic simplicity with a mysterious aura of an unseen hand.

Where the road crests the mountain there is, as there is on every other mountain, a tea stall and a house or two. Here we stopped, for there was a well-maintained entrance to the mountain top shrine above. Some society or trust evidently held the property and was sufficiently endowed and energized to keep the property very attractive. An unheard-of covered walkway guided the pilgrim at least 360 steps up the mountain to the grounds of a temple dedicated to Divine Mother.

At this height a silent, drifting, and dripping fog shrouded the trees and grounds in mystery. The silence was deep and profound. Few people were about the place. With our bag of prasad (offerings) in hand, we ascended to the temple for the pujari's blessing. Mahavir had a few words with him and it was indicated that we should descend a few steps to an ancient fern-encrusted tree where a simple outdoor altar to Babaji would be found. Somewhere here on these grounds it was said that Lahiri met Babaji in 1861.

Gita and I sat in meditation upon the concrete platform in front of the tree and the very simple elements at its base that indicated that devotees and other worshippers had been there. It seemed a bit unkempt and ignored but it did not matter to us. We each had a deep meditation. Occasionally fog would drip onto us. At one point Gita offered to me her raincoat because all I had on (from our long day's travel and not knowing we were headed for a meditation at the top of a mountain) was a T-shirt. (It was here that I caught my cold.)

As we meditated we heard the gentle cooing of a dove in the tree above. I think we each felt an inward blessing. I felt an inner smile at the time. I thought immediately that Babaji was blessing us in this way. Of course I had only my imagination and desire to blame for this but I did feel great peace and upliftment. We meditated perhaps 40 minutes or longer.

After some photos, we descended in silence. All along the handrails hung temple bells: it seemed if not thousand or more, at least many hundreds of bells, at least 4 to 5 inches in diameter at the bell opening.

Near the temple entrance at the street below, Mahavir suddenly invited us into the otherwise unnoticed hut (perhaps 6' x 6') of what turned out to be a resident sadhu! Wonder of wonders he was watching television using old-fashion "bunny ears" antenna. It was the news and it looked like the 5 o'clock news anywhere in America or Europe (except in Hindi). All the smartly dressed news anchormen (and women), flashing headlines and so on.

Inside this simple hut was the normal firepit in the center but this one had a range hood, just as you'd see at home. Most huts impose upon their occupants endless smoke-in-the eyes and lungs but this one was very different. Shelves of provisions lined the simple hut as the sadhu sat there in traditional cross-legged style on the floor. (You couldn't possibly stand up straight in this thing). He'd been there for sixteen years, he said (presumably with permission from the temple stewards). What he did there I couldn't say but one never knows what sadhus do with their time, anyway.

He made us a cup of instant coffee with milk and sugar and we talked away (or I should say Mahavir and he spoke). The story of Babaji and Lahiri is well known here and is not considered unusual or extraordinary. I may have asked a few questions through Mahavir but at present I don't actually recall. Our visit was pleasant enough and unusual in its own way. The television remained on the entire time. I asked the sadhu if I could take some ash from the fire (in front of me) as holy or sacred ash (vibhutti) from Dronagiri Mountain. He happily complied wrapping a few tablespoons of ash in newsprint for each of the three of us!

The next morning after chai we checked out and once again drove to the crest of Dronagiri Mountain. There we had breakfast (noodles and paratha, I think, and more chai along with fresh fruit) before embarking on our trek up to Babaji's cave down the flank of the mountain, crossing the Gogash River and then climbing up the other side (don't know if that mountain has a name) to the cave. During breakfast the proprietor (a lively friendly gent) handed us a thick sheaf of internet printouts about the nearby Babaji cave. Gita and I were moved to inner joy when we read that it is said that Babaji sometimes comes to pilgrims in form of a cooing dove!

The morning was bright with sunshine. A young man from the south of India (Hyderabad, he said) arrived (he may have been staying right there at the cafe/lodge as a pilgrim) and explained in good English that he'd been meditating daily for a month at the Babaji cave. I asked him if he practiced kriya yoga but he said he did not. I found that puzzling for some reason but he seemed bright and calmly eager. After we left, we didn't see him again. (Was HE the elusive but young appearing Babaji?)

The light that morning through the forest was tinged with color and a softness born of what a westerner would say was lingering morning moisture in the air. To say that it was “ethereal” would be more accurate however. I flashed upon the memory of a scene from the movie "Jesus of Nazareth" when Mary Magdalene goes to the gravesite of Jesus. In the morning air it is still and the light is cloud or vapor-like. The colors in the forest were intensely green. Ferns and baby-tears (?) grew everywhere. And yet the grounds had that same consciously manicured feeling and appearance. The Gogash River had, Mahavir explained, become more of a stream than a river in recent decades. He didn't explain why. But it was clear and cool, and very inviting to see and cross. There was that same deep stillness in the air.

The hike finally turned from gentle to more steeply uphill until we reached an odd building with no windows and locked up with a grate. The property belongs to Y.S.S. (Yogoda Satsang Society - the Indian branch of Self-Realization Fellowship). The entire property is well maintained but well controlled. A little further on we came to the place called "Babaji's cave." YSS has not only locked it but blocked up all but the first 8 to 10' of the cave with bricks. Who knows what or who remains deep inside the cave. Mahavir explained that it was ill used (by local peasants) previously and that YSS cleaned it up and secured it. Well, be that as it may, we meditated nonetheless and had a very deep meditation there.

Up the hill further, Mahavir explained, is a cave once inhabited (for about a year) by the Pandavas long ago. For some reason further climb did not seem in order and neither Gita nor I expressed a desire to ascend higher. Instead, Mahavir took us to visit a nearby family farm where we were welcomed with (more) chai and cookies.

I was asked by a friend, "Well, did you MEET Babaji?" We felt his divine presence and blessings and treasure that wordless experience which defies description and which remains locked in our hearts.

Fresh from the Babaji Safari,
Hriman

Return to India - Devbhoomi - Abode of the gods

Is there anyone who, when seeing distant snow capped peaks, doesn't pause and quietly gasp with longing and inspiration? Imagine, then, if you can, the timeless power of the world's greatest mountain range, the Himalaya, upon the consciousness of generations of Indians living in the hot, crowded, dusty plains of the Indian subcontinent. Did not Paramhansa Yogananda attempt to escape to the Himalaya several times in his early life? Did he not say that in his next life he would live there for a time?

More than this, this astonishing range of mountains which includes jungles, raging rivers, and forests of pine and rhododendron trees along with the world's highest and most majestic peaks has given shelter and birth to saints, sages, and avatars since time immemorial. Here Spirit and Mother Nature unite in a profound dance of life both mundane and mystical not found anywhere else on earth.

The Garhwal District of the Indian state of Uttaranchal is home to the Char Dham of which I spoke in the previous blog. It is especially blessed with the spiritual vibrations of God consciousness as manifested through divine beings and through the masters. Like a carefully nurtured garden, this sanctity is loving tendered with the devotion of millions of pilgrims.

When a pilgrim speaks of Shiva, the goddess Ganga, Shiva's consort Parvati, the monkey-god Hanuman, or the elephant-god Ganesha, as participating in the creation and in the play of human life there in the Himalayas there is no sense of "long-ago" or mere "allegory." The sense of the presence of divine beings, manifestations of various aspects of God's Infinite consciousness (just as you and I, are unique, if not yet perfected, sparks of divinity) is a present-tense reality to the devout Hindu. As a (western) teacher of raja yoga, Vedanta, and Shankhya (India's three main branches of wisdom), I am accustomed to viewing Indian sacred mythology in allegorical or philosophical terms.

But I was unprepared for the strikingly present-tense and devotional expression given to these stories and places by the pilgrims and the degree to which no burden of philosophical extraction weighs upon the Indian heart and mind. Not that abstractions are foreign to Indian culture for as Yogananda smilingly comments in his famous "Autobiography of a Yogi," the Indian is sometimes accused by westerners of "living on abstractions!" Rather, these divine beings, stories, and manifestations of divinity in various natural formations (of caves, mountains, rocks etc.) are very real and treasured by the devout seeker.

And, as I commented in an earlier, blog: why not? Our western, scientific minds are biased by the worldview that this earth and its natural phenomenon are the "mere" product of natural (geologic, e.g.) forces. And who would argue with that? But just as the instinct for survival is obvious but tells us nothing about why it exists or how it came into being, so too the existence of extraordinary natural formations and phenomenon is no more intelligently or satisfactorily explained by "natural forces" than is our own existence and consciousness. I asked earlier whether it is not perhaps more reasonable to assume that something extraordinary is the product of a conscious creativity rather than a blind force? What computer would randomly produce a play of Shakespeare or the Sermon on the Mount?

Is the majesty we feel when we see a great mountain (like Mt. Rainier as we do here in Seattle) merely a projection of our own subconscious imaginings? Or, did the consciousness of majesty itself produce such an awe-inspiring sight? Does the peace we feel hiking in a forest come only from us or is the forest itself a manifestation of the consciousness of peace?

Whether the personified deities or their elaborate and sometimes all-too-human stories are the precise explanation is no more the point than our ability to precisely know how or why geologic forces shaped Half Dome in Yosemite Valley! But to look beyond the material and natural manifestations revealed by the senses to sense the interplay of higher, conscious and divine forces is to seek the truth behind all seeming.

In a brief email report I sent from the Himalaya I asked my friends to imagine the mountains of America peopled by "sadhus" (spiritual seekers) meditating in caves and forests seeking God-realization? Imagine such sadhus coming down from time to time into towns and cities of America and being welcomed, supported, and honored as living examples of renunciation and as spiritual teachers.

We have mountains but do we have the Devibhoomi? (The "holy" mountains-the abode of divinity incarnate). I believe the time will come for this, too. Shrines and places of pilgrimage are needed everywhere in the world, but especially in America where the knowledge of such places (formerly) has, presumably, been lost in the mists of time.

At the same time, I was not prepared for the incredible variety and natural beauty of the Himalaya. I don't know what defines a "jungle" for although the latitude of the lower Himalaya doesn't qualify for a tropical jungle, the only word that springs to mind seeing some of these areas is a jungle. All the beauty of such an experience, even if technically sub-tropical, is to be found in areas of the lower Himalaya. We saw so many waterfalls everywhere (it was early monsoon season) that in time we stopped trying to photograph them. Some would descend from thousands of feet up and all the way down to the rivers far below.

In an hour, or even less, we would drive from a river level, surrounded by rice terraces and jungle up a mountain into the cool dripping fog and pine forests! One time I saw a home which contained the likes of mango, papaya and banana trees with geraniums, begonias, roses, and bougainvillea. Even pine trees would mingle with the sub-tropical species along the rivers. Though we did not actually see most of the wildlife (we saw two or three foxes, and many monkeys), there are tiger, leopard, elephant, bears, cobras and much more throughout this region. I was relieved and inspired to see endless natural forests still yet preserved. Wildfires occur in the Himalaya just as they do in forests everywhere in the world and we saw evidence of past forest fires (in the dry seasons). In a trek I did in Nepal thirty five years ago (in the month of May), I was blessed to experience an entire forest of rhododendron trees alive with color!

The gigantic rock walls of some of the steep canyons would rise thousands of feet high and in the monsoon season we experienced richly carpeted shades of deep green. I wondered if my "home" country of Ireland would now seem pale and dry by comparison. This rich and green lushness was one of the specific bonuses we were blessed with for having come in the monsoon. (The sacrifice was the awe-inspiring panoramas of the snow-clad peaks of the Himalaya which we could only glimpse at grace-filled moments through the monsoon cloud cover.) The other advantage was relative cool (if sometimes humid). At the tops of mountains it was like being in Seattle: 61 degrees and light drizzle!

It was remarkable how the temperature and humidity would change predictably with altitude. Since we were constantly ascending and descending mountains (going east from one river valley to the next), we could experience warm/sticky to cool/wet in a matter of less than an hour. (Hence I caught a mild head cold.)

Since this is a blog article with words and since I admit our photos could not and did not do these attempts of descriptions justice, I suggest that it would easy enough with today's internet and YouTube to see for yourself the beauty of the Himalaya.

The next blog: "we are unique, like everyone else!"

Blessings, Hriman

Return to India - Part 2

In this Part 2 I will finish with a basic description of the journey itself - it's outer or objective parts before offering more personal thoughts and inspirations.

The trip was divided into two parts: the Himalaya, and Calcutta. The Himalaya segment occupied some 17 days and Calcutta, four days. Neither Gita nor I were familiar with the proposed itinerary which our guide, Mahavir Rawat proposed for the Himalayan segment. At the distance of six months from the trip I confess we didn't pay strict attention to the details.

What he proposed was for us to undertake the "Char Dham" or four-part pilgrimage ("yatra") to shrines near the headwaters of the Yamuna River and the Ganges including two of its tributaries. Traditionally pilgrims go from the western river (Yamuna) to the eastern most river (at Badrinath). The shrine near the headwaters of the Jamuna River is called Yamunotri and is dedicated to the goddess Yamuna. Heading east across the mountains that separate the Yamuna from the next river valley is Gangotri, once the physical source of the main branch of the Ganges (but due to global warming the glacier has receded some twelve miles up). The next shrine is at Kedernath, dedicated to Lord Shiva where the Pandavas (heroes of the epic, the Mahabharata) sought Shiva's blessings and where in later centuries the great reformer of Hinduism, Adi Swami Shankacharya, restored the shrine to its former glory. Badrinath is the final stop of the Char Dham and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu (the Preserver) and, like Kedernath, was restored by Adi Swami Shankacharya.

These are among the most visited and revered shrines in India, but there are countless other places made holy by tradition and by the vibrations of saints and sages over thousands of years. Badrinath includes the mountain village of Mana (the last Indian village before the Tibetan border) where the sage Byasa dictated the Mahabharata. We visited two sadhus: one in a cave outside Gangotri, and another, Tar Baba (wearer of only a burlap sack!), in Badrinath, in a tiny ashram dwelling. We entered three other caves, all unoccupied (more about that later), visited a famous shrine to the Pandavas called Lak Mandal, and a very sacred cave where Adi Swami Shankacharya lived and where a most ancient mulberry tree survives in mute testimony to his divine presence.

There is a deep yet not yet revealed connection between Paramhansa Yogananda and Adi Swami Shankacharya. In Yogananda's autobiography he went into ecstasy upon the mere sight of a temple in Kashmir dedicated to the great reformer. Even more importantly, Yogananda's life teachings take their lead from the one word description given to the world by Shankacharya centuries ago: "Satchidanandam." This is his description of God (and God-consciousness): ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss. The core thesis of Yogananda's teachings can be summarized in saying that what all beings are seeking is unending bliss. This defines our true nature and defines the goal of life!

Yogananda told his disciples that in a previous life he was Arjuna, the third of the Pandava brothers and the great warrior-king and chief disciple of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (a chapter of the epic story the Mahabharata). Thus the connection for us with the Pandavas and with Shankacharya.

Despite this grand and traditional pilgrimage I must state that the simple visit to Dronagiri Mountain and the cave of Babaji was perhaps the deepest and most touching of all of the Himalayan journey. Here we meditated near the spot where Lahiri Mahasaya met Mahavatar Babaji in 1861 (the deathless yogi of the Himalaya devoutly revered and spoken of by Hindus and yogis for centuries) and the nearby cave where Lahiri was initiated into Kriya Yoga and began the worldwide work of kriya in the modern age.

Calcutta is a story I will leave for another blog for the power of the simple abodes that I will describe is beyond imagination. Only in India can the contrast between the restless energy of a city such as Calcutta and the spiritual power of the divine manifestations of multiple avatars co-exist. As Jesus was born in a manger, the avatars of Dwapara Yuga congregated in the simple homes on the outskirts of one of the world's greatest and most vibrant cities. Calcutta was the intellectual, spiritual, and energetic heart and soul of the 20th century revolution that began the transformation of India from medieval times to the modern era.

Until we meet in the next blog,

Hriman

Return to India - Part 1

My daughter Gita and I returned from India last Tuesday, July 12. The 3-week trip went well on every level, though it had its challenges on every level too. Tomorrow, Sunday, July 17, I will offer a slide show presentation of the trip but I thought to use this blog for more personal reflections than a slide show would allow.

Nowadays many people visit India and it becomes increasingly accessible and (relatively) comfortable each year as India continues its explosive entry into the 21st century. Even up and into the Himalayas the development is intense: the mountain-clinging dirt roads (still very dangerous) are being paved, bridges replaced or added, electricity goes practically to Mt. Everest along with the ubiquitous cell phone towers, and hotels and guest lodges multiply like spring wildflowers. I don't know how many pilgrims ascend to these mountain shrines during each season (May-October) but it's many, many thousands. We were never alone. (One is never alone in India, at least physically. Even the path up Mt. Everest is said to resemble a parking lot, at least during the limited climbing season.)

We went by car belonging to our guide Mahavir Singh Rawat and driven by his driver Sitendra (having a driver for one's car is very common in India). The higher one goes and the deeper into the Himalaya the more likely the road regresses to dirt and rock. This is true also when one leaves the main "highways." We saw young men, two astride a small 125cc motorcycle, blasting up the mountains from the hot Indian plains far below to some of the highest shrines, along dirt, rock and rutted roads oblivious to the simple fact that one badly placed stone could send them hurtling down the precipitous cliffs in a nanosecond! (Imagine young men in their twenties in America heading off on pilgrimage together to visit ancient shrines high in mountains, eyes bright with joy and devotion?)

Ours was not a trekking holiday, nor yet sightseeing in the usual way. My daughter Gita had returned a year and a half ago from an Ananda group pilgrimage to India but she did not have the time to accompany the group into the Himalayas. Mahavir, the guide, mentioned to her that he did guided tours for individuals and small groups, not just the larger official Ananda tours. So upon her return she asked me if I'd be interested in returning with her. As I had been to India three times including (35 years ago) an extensive visit (including to other parts of the Himalaya), she could be sure I would say YES! And, of course I did. But it took some planning for we needed to use up whatever airplane miles we could muster to afford the trip. So Padma, my wife and resident booking agent, handled the flights. Gita had or researched the contacts with the families in and around Calcutta who are related to Yogananda and his life there; and Mahavir outlined the traditional "Char Dham" yatra (pilgrimage) to the four very sacred Himalayan shrines.

I admit that some deity or another veiled from our minds the obvious intensity of that itinerary which in retrospect meant some some 15 or 16 very long days of driving on mostly dirt and rock roads on treacherous mountain passes and cliffs. It meant stopping before nightfall at whatever available pilgrim style lodgings were at hand, and and where showers, hot water, (Western) toilets, towels, soap, toilet paper and mattresses were scarce or nonexistent but flies, cockroaches, large flying beetles, and mosquitoes formed local welcoming committees. I've never had chapati and dal three times a day for several weeks. It can wear on you.

But none of these considerations were uppermost. This was an opportunity for Gita and I to spend quality time together in an energetic commitment to the quest for Self-realization. We meditated together each day; chanted together walking or in the car; were enraptured by the stunning and ever changing beauty of both the lower and higher Himalaya, and entered into the pilgrim's way of devotion through "puja" and "arati" (traditional and ancient Hindu rituals) at sites held sacred for millennia by the presence of great rishis down through the ages and the devotion of millions of pilgrims seeking divine consolation for their world-weary hearts.

Lastly, for me this "Return to India" completes a cycle of spiritual seeking that began in India for me in 1975 but which, at that time, could not be completed because I had not yet found my spiritual path and guru (Paramhansa Yogananda). So, in going back now, at age 60, I went seeking to contact the spiritual roots of both India's timeless tradition and the prior incarnations of Paramhansa Yogananda and the line of gurus who sent him to the West.

Mountains have kindled in human hearts a yearning for the heavenly realms (whether as a place or state of consciousness, or both) since time immemorial. In India, the bounty, beauty and grandeur of nature is not seen merely as the product of impersonal random geologic forces but as the obvious result of the interplay of Divine forces personified in the gods and goddesses in interaction with the rishis and avatars. An unusual rock formation, for example, comes quite naturally with its own story. Do we not teach (in metaphysics) that all matter is created, sustained, and dissolved by its most elemental substance: consciousness? Is it not more reasonable to assume that a "cathedral" like Yosemite Valley was formed by conscious Divine beings than to say it "just happened?"

This trip was a pilgrimage and a true pilgrimage is a journey within. Perhaps in the next blog or two, I can share with you at least some aspects of my inner journey and its evolving realizations.

Blessings, Hriman

Off to India

I am leaving this afternoon for a 3-week trip to India. My daughter and I will have the blessing of Ananda's Himalyan tour guide, Mahavir, for a personal tour of four Himalayan sites sacred to Hindus for thousands of years. In addition, we will end our trip in Calcutta at the boyhood home of Paramhansa Yogananda, and a visit to other blessed sites associated with his life story there in and around Calcutta.

This trip is not for pleasure or for comfort but, with grace, we will be in the Himalaya where Spirit and Nature unit in a supreme union of outer grandeur and inner awakening. There rishis have lived and roamed since time immemorial. We hope to meditate in a cave blessed by Mahavatar Babaji whose deathless presence, to this day, permeates these sacred haunts.

So wish us "luck" that the mountains "come out" and that Babaji and the great ones bless us with their presence. Gita will be the photographer and I will do what I can to journal and bring back at least a "tithe" of the blessings we may enjoy.

This is, for me, a once-in-lifetime journey, though I have visited the Himalaya on a trek some 35 years ago. I think for me and for Gita it represents something beyond what we can know at this time.

See you when I return, July 12, by the grace of God and Gurus.

Joy, Nayaswami Hriman

The Rise of Intentional Communities

Tomorrow, Saturday, June 18, 2011, Ananda Community in Lynnwood, WA hosts its third annual Solstice Celebration and Open House. Tours of the Community, grounds, gardens, and farm begin at 1 p.m. and the Solstice Celebration Service begins at 5 p.m. followed by dinner. Free yoga classes, activities for children, an art exhibit, and musical performances all afternoon are some of the highlights. We expect a full house of members, friends, and neighbors.

Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda and direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, was present at a garden party in Beverly Hills in the late 40's when Yogananda (without warning or other context) thundered a prediction and a command that small "colonies" of like-minded people band together throughout the world to demonstrate brotherhood by example rather than only by precept. He declared that by such examples the benefits of high ideals and simplicity (I would add "sustainability") of lifestyle would produce the greatest happiness. His message of "world brotherhood colonies" was given repeatedly both before and after that famous garden party.

Yogananda also predicted economic collapse, wars, and natural calamities lay ahead as forces of enlightened self-interest struggled against established powers of exploitation and greed. Only now in the beginning of the 21st century are the issues of cooperation vs. competition, of freedom vs. exploitation, harmony vs. prejudice so heightened and intense that millions realize that courageous and bold action must be taken to avoid or lessen dire consequences for all.

In a world where a tribe, a culture, an industry, or one's livelihood can be wiped off the map by the stroke of pens, an exchange of stocks, signing of a treaty, or the impact of a satellite-guided missile in boardrooms, banks, and secret meetings, it is natural that people of intelligence and goodwill will respond by seeking an alternative lifestyle that is not dependent upon such impersonal and self-interested forces.

The time for intentional communities has arrived. In most cities we live side-by-side with people of other cultures, races, nations, and religions. It becomes difficult to hold prejudice or to entertain fears when we get to know each other simply as people. The natural races of humankind are not based upon skin color, location, or language but upon consciousness. There are those who live only the present moment, heedless of the future or the consequences of one's present actions. There are those who are self-seeking, living for future personal gain. There are those who consider the needs of others and who serve a greater cause. Finally, there are those whose sights are centered in a higher or divine reality and who live centered in the Self within.

Intentional communities tend to attract, by and large, the latter two categories of people: idealists who seek to make their ideals practical and personal. As the bumper sticker says, "Think globally; act locally." The rising insecurities on our planet will inspire people with energy, creativity, idealism and intelligence to form small communities. Hopefully most of these will not be in rejection of society at large or opposed to others, but will represent a commitment to create a sustainable, harmonious and satisfying life in cooperation with others of like-mind.

Since the end of World War II and the rise of America as a leading global economic and political power, Americas (especially) have had the luxury and opportunity to create individual and family lives that set themselves apart from others. The spread of suburban communities symbolize this "I-mine" thrust of consciousness. But this luxury to stand apart from others and from the rest of the world ended, symbolically at least, on September 11, 2001 when the world's problems and the disparity between America's lifestyle and that of others was presented like a check drawn upon the bank of our excesses.

Since then and at an increasing rate, America (and by extension other similar countries) are having to come face to face with the rest of the world and to try to integrate ourselves, our self-identity, and our behavior with that of other nations and peoples.

Paramhansa Yogananda foresaw that the time would come when humans on this planet would need to learn to live, work, and worship together in harmony. He ushered in a new dispensation of spirituality that has the potential to unite people of goodwill and spiritual-seeking under the banner of experience rather than dogma or creed. Meditation is the personal practice wherein each individual can perceive his own higher Self and from that experience to perceive that same Self in all.

An antidote and necessary balance to the crushing forces of globalism is needed today. Individuals forming intentional communities on the basis of a wide variety of commonly share interests and ideals will provide that necessary outlet for human creativity, personal commitment, and meaningful enterprise.

So, as the sun is high in the sky of the summer Solstice and as the world stands on the precipice of great changes in process and to come, we come together to celebrate and affirm the relevance, role, and necessity of intentional communities of like-minded people of high ideals and practical living.

See you tomorrow!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

How and What does it mean to "Grow" Spiritually?

My subject tomorrow at the Sunday Service at the Ananda Meditation Temple is "How Can Devotees Rise (Spiritually)?"

As I prepare my thoughts for tomorrow, I figured I might as well share some of them on this blog.

Just as there's no point discussing the menu at a nearby restaurant with a good reputation unless you are hungry, so too there's no point in discussing spiritual growth unless you are seeking it. So this subject presumes a shared desire for spiritual growth based on a shared understanding for its value to us individually.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna's disciple, Arjuna, asks, "What does one of spiritual realization look like, act, move, and speak?" Krishna's response is that one who has attained God-realization can maintain his equanimity under difficult circumstances; he is not shaken by desire or anger, for example, when others ordinarily would. Krishna's response, in other words, is very practical and demonstrable.

Doing good deeds is praiseworthy but neither good deeds nor religious ceremonies can bring us the permanent beatitude of perfect and permanent joy and freedom in union with God. Either have the potential to raise our consciousness above selfishness and egotism, but not necessarily very far without the inner intention and desire to do so as an act of devotion and self-offering to God. "The road to hell," it has been well said, "is paved with good intentions."

In the Sunday Service reading the quote of Jesus from the New Testament that is part of the reading is Jesus' response to Judas' criticism that Mary had spent money to buy a costly oil and herb to wash Jesus' feet when, in Judas' view, the money could have been given to the poor. The New Testament notes that Judas' view was not based on his compassion for the poor but on his attachment to the money itself (he was the treasurer for the little group's "purse"). Jesus said (famously): "The poor ye have always with thee, but me ye have not always."

Of course it's absurd to accuse Jesus of lack of compassion for the poor. This he demonstrated amply elsewhere. Besides, the text makes it clear the issue isn't the poor, at all. Instead, Jesus is saying that the challenges and sufferings of daily life (and, yes, the existence of poverty and injustice in the world) is a reality that is without end. This world, the saints and sages tell us in every age and time, is one of ceaseless flux. The unending play of the opposites (health, disease, life, death, poverty, wealth etc.) will go until the end of time.

Not that we who are incarnate in human form shouldn't strive to make this world a better place, and to alleviate the suffering of others. Such acts are the rightful response and duty of the soul whose compassion and sense of connection is based on the eternal principle of "we are one." Later in the Bhagavad Gita, in fact, Krishna describes the yogi as one who feels the joys and sorrows of all men even as, elsewhere, Krishna explains that one of wisdom remains unaffected by the vicissitudes of his own life.

Instead, Jesus is saying that when the opportunity or appearance of soul-consciousness comes into the life and consciousness of the devotee, it is the higher duty of the devotee to draw that inspiration into his own soul. Thus, Mary, who washed Jesus' feet as an act of devotion and recognition of Jesus as her guru, teacher, and a man of God-realization, made this inner communion her priority. When Jesus said "me, ye have not always" he meant it both outwardly to those disciples present but also to us -- far into the future, that we might both seek the inner Christ (and our guru whether in human form or in spirit alone),

It is this seeking (and finding) that must be the soul's priority. As St. Augustine wrote, "We were made for Thee (alone), and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." The world will go on as it must because the drama cannot exist without the play of opposites, but each soul must "individually make love to God." We can only achieve union with God one soul at a time. We can't do it by proxy for another person, nor any other person for us. No one can meditate or pray on our behalf without our own efforts as well.

In what form, then, does God appear to us such that we ought to make our attention and receptivity to Him a priority? Well, the big philosophical answer is God is in all things and in all hearts. But that's a little TOO big to be practical. God must therefore be in a Hitler or Stalin but attempting to seek Him in those forms is probably not a wise idea. Nor in pleasure, merely, riches, fame, fortune and the usual material pursuits of humankind.

How about churches with their congregations of like-minded devotees? Well, yes, that's a good start. Especially those churches which emphasize inner communion with God, not just social activism, dogmas, or rituals. This is where meditation plays such a large role in this new and modern era of globalism. For meditation is a practice for everyone. It transcends sectarianism, just as God, the Infinite Spirit, is our Father-Mother, Beloved, Friend of all. Yogananda wanted his churches to be like hives where the devotee bees could taste the nectar of God's presence and their own Self-realization. Based on that direct perception of God within, then, and only then, could their credos, rituals, and their acts of charity and fellowship be invested with God's power of transcendence.



To conclude I will say that in case anyone has come this far and has forgotten the "why" of spiritual growth, it is simple, just as ultimate truth is simple: lasting happiness. The reason we turn to God may, at first, be due to the suffering caused by our ignorance or errors. We may even turn to God in fear of His law of karma. But the real reason to turn within is for the love of God. Our hearts can never be satisfied with material playthings which are so evanescent and which so readily betray the hope and trust we invest in them. The love we desire; the joy we know is ours; the security we wish to build around ourselves; these can only be found in the Eternal Now, in the presence of God, and in the joy of our souls' rest in Him. This is gnosis and comes only through the 6th sense of the soul's power of intuition.

No one can convince you of this by logic. This gnosis is of the heart. Our life stories may differ by extremes but those who have turned to God (in whatever form we give to Him by name or definition) is based on this one simple reality: we "know" it is right for us. That having been said, the path to God-realization is filled with traps, tests, and detours. Both St. Francis of Assisi and Paramhansa Yogananda experienced times when they thought they had lost "contact" in the intensity of their spiritual service to God in others (their ministries), but when they "came back" to mindfulness, they received God's inner reassurance, that "I AM with you until the end of time." In their lives, however, they had already "found" God. In our lives we must not lapse smug upon the victories of past inspiration and upliftment. Let us remain ever watchful at the gate for His coming.

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

Practicing the "Presence" - A Meditation

Practicing the Presence Meditation

Meditation is the art and science of learning to enter, at will, a state of deep, dynamic calmness. This requires the elimination of distracting sensory stimuli and random thoughts and feelings. As these subside, the crystal-clear pure consciousness of Self-awareness can shine like the healing rays of the sun.

A survey of meditation techniques reveals that one-pointed concentration is a common theme. Concentration can be upon a word formula (affirmation or mantra), the flow of breath, the movement of subtle energy in the body, a creative visualization, a mental image of a deity or guru, or a specific state of being (such as peace, joy, love, devotion, etc.). Either as a separate form of meditation or a preliminary technique of relaxation, one can also sit and witness one’s thoughts, feelings, body awareness, or breath.

I would like to offer a simple meditation practice that combines visualization with calm witnessing. I call it “Practicing the Presence.” Normally this phrase is used to describe various devotional techniques used during daily activity (or as a form of prayerful meditation) that involve the silent, mental repetition of a phrase or mantra. But in this instance, I offer the concept in relation to the “presence” of the body’s innate vitality, the heart’s natural love (peace or joy), and the bliss of pure, unconditioned consciousness.

PRACTICING THE PRESENCE

Posture/position:

So, let’s try it! Sit up-right (away from the back of your chair, or cross legged), chest up, shoulders relaxed down, spine in its natural curve, palms upward on the thighs, head level. Behind closed eyes gaze gently upward with positive interest but without tension.

Intention/prayer:

Hold this thought in the forehead behind closed eyes: “My intention is to still the body, mind, and feelings, dissolving all self-involvement into the spacious One mind of pure Consciousness. There I will be refreshed and at peace. I can then share this peace with others during my daily activities.”

Beginning relaxation and breath work:

Now, inhale through the nose and tense the whole body; hold the breath while vibrating the body (briefly), now exhale forcibly through the mouth. Do this a few times until you feel refreshed and relaxed, but also energized.

Next: begin some slow, even natural (diaphragmatic) breathing. Hold the breath gently for about as long as each of the inhalation and exhalations (maybe 6 to 8 counts, or more, if you like). Do three to five of these.

Now, sit and simply enjoy the peace-filled after-poise of these simple breathing techniques. Scan the body from the feet upward (mentally and intuitively) looking for and releasing any tension. Adjust your position as needed.

Practicing the Presence in the Body.

Mentally feel your entire body. It is not necessary to move to do this. Do it through the power of self-awareness. Imagine you are as conscious in your foot as in your brain; as conscious in every cell of the body as in any other. Feel the body AS ENERGY rather than as organs, tissues, bones, or fluids. Now sit very still and PRACTICE THE PRESENCE of CONSCIOUS VITALITY which inhabits, enlivens, heals and thrills every cell of your body. It may help to imagine that with each natural, incoming breath, space is flowing into the body and with each natural exhalation it is departing. Thus is the body converted from matter into dynamic energy and space. Do this for as long as it is enjoyable and present to your awareness.

Now gently tense the whole body as you inhale; hold the breath while you vibrate the body lightly; now exhale through the mouth. Relax for a few moments.

Practicing the Presence in the Heart.

Reposition your posture and inner sight (behind closed eyes at the point between the eyebrows) as needed. Visualize your heart center (not the physical heart but the center of feeling in the region of the sternum) as having double doors. As you inhale naturally and gently, mentally open the doors of the heart, letting in fresh breezes of joy and the sunlight of peace. Imagine the breath is entering through these doors of the heart. As you exhale, feel that all tension, anxiety, fear, doubt, grief, or anger are being swept away as the breath flows out from the heart . Practice this visualization for as long as it feels cleansing and satisfying.

Then, forget the breath and rest in the heart, purified. Feel the natural love of the heart rising up from a deep place of stillness. In that stillness, feel the ever deeper and more subtle bubble of joy and that resides beneath all outer emotional turmoil. Rest in that joy, and in that love. Feel you have come “home at last!” Do this for as long as enjoyable. Imagine you are sitting in comfortable silence with your Best Friend — sitting side-by-side, holding hands.

When you are ready to move on, gently tense the whole body as you inhale; hold the breath while you vibrate the body lightly; now exhale through the mouth. Relax for a few moments.

Practicing the Presence in the Mind.

Check your posture again, do a brief body scan for recurring tension, and refocus your gaze behind closed eyes at the point between the eyebrows.

As your breath naturally comes in, imagine it is entering through the portal of the spiritual eye (in the forehead). As it does so, it sweeps away all restless, petty, and random thoughts. As you exhale, imagine the breath flowing down and out the medulla oblongata at the base of the brain. Imagine that with that exhalation, the raucous citizen-thoughts of your subconscious mind are scurrying into their hiding places at the base of the brain where they gather quietly to take in all that you are doing! As you practice this feel that your consciousness is becoming ever brighter and ever more expansive as it enters a state of crystal clarity and heightened pure awareness which is wonderfully blissful. You may find that you cannot help but smile inwardly. Soon the inflow and outflow of breath have converted your mind into pure light and joy. Feel that your awareness is expanding outward in all directions taking into its perception all objects and all space as your very own reality. Imagine this consciousness is that of the great Self of all. Commune joyfully with this, your very own Self.

When you are ready to move on, gently tense the whole body as you inhale; hold the breath while you vibrate the body lightly; now exhale through the mouth. Relax for a few moments.

Sharing the Presence.

Now before ending your meditation, bring to your mind’s inner sight your family, co-workers, or loved ones. Send to them the peace vibrations of your meditation. Share the gift of meditation on its own level to the higher awareness of others, especially anyone in need of healing of body, mind or spirit, or with whom you have had some difficulty. See them in the mellow light of the presence of conscious Peace. Now go out into daily life practicing being the Presence of peace to all whom you meet.

Aum, Shanti, shanti, amen.

How Mind-Full is Mindfulness Meditation?

My son-in-law is a transpersonal psychologist and a certified meditation teacher. He's taken training in several forms of meditation from kriya yoga to stress reduction, and in teacher training in several others. We had a conversation the other day about the effectiveness of different forms and styles of meditation. Any time-tested form of meditation is helpful, let me say from the start. Nor is any one form or technique the BEST! Always it's what works best for the individual at any given time.

That understanding having been expressed, I want to share some comments on a popular form of meditation commonly known as "mindfulness" meditation. For my purposes I am referring to the technique of "sitting" while "watching" one's thoughts. You see: the essence of meditation is a fluctuation or an oscillation between what "IS" and what really "IS!" (Of course I am being facetious, here).

In other words, should we simply rest in what we are now: our thoughts, feelings, and insights, or should we aspire to a different (translate: higher) state of Being? Are we just fine or even perfect now, as we ARE? Or, do we have a higher potential that requires transcending, or leaving behind, our present reality? This has been debated down through ages in a myriad of forms.

Another way of putting it is: self-acceptance vs. Self-acceptance? Well, let's put aside abstruse philosophy (for a moment, at least) and look at meditation techniques.

The problem with what I am calling "mindfulness" meditation is that, far from "watching" our thoughts, the beginning meditator, as yet far from detached from his outer nature, simply finds himself totally engrossed in his own thoughts. Yet, at the same time, the beginning meditator never having before become particularly self-aware, might find his train or flow of thoughts rather revealing!

Yet for all of that, in the final analysis, our train of thoughts are not especially inspiring or life transforming. If nothing else, they are a bit discouraging, revealing, primarily, our own pusillanimity (pettiness).

Thus I conclude that this kind of "mindfulness" can be helpful, perhaps in the beginning, but, in the end, takes us nowhere in terms of higher consciousness. Now, some would say that with persistence these random, petty thoughts begin to subside and a higher awareness is revealed. Well, maybe: over time and with persistent and consistent effort and commitment to longer, deeper meditations. In short, in my experience training hundreds of students, I say, and I say simply and plainly, it doesn't work that way!

Our society is too overly stimulated and not sufficiently peace-filled, non-toxic, and mind-full to ever really get to such a space except in fleeting glimpses. This brings us to the "other side." Instead of indulging in one's own random thoughts, why not use will power, concentration, and inspiration to ascend to a higher level of consciousness?

The use of a positive image, mantra, word formula, or energy to take us "higher" is, in fact, the path of Self-realization as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda. Without denying some of the positive benefits of self-awareness provided for by techniques of mindfulness, I have long ago concluded that by combining will power with concentration, right attitude, and right technique we can make faster meditative progress than by simply steeping the tea of our consciousness in the dregs of our own subconscious mind. Ok, now I've said it plain and simple, like.

I admit we need a little of both but too much of the mindfulness philosophy represents a bias against articulating and accepting a higher state of consciousness beyond mere negation of thoughts. Why not just chloroform the mind with alcohol or drugs or sleep? Is not happiness what we seek? Untrammeled, unassailable joy? Must we settle for what simply is? Must we only "chop wood and carry water?" Is that all there is? I say, and with the testimony of the masters of all paths: NO! We are much more than the mundane existence of daily life. OK, so let's accept mundane realities, but then let us move beyond them in joyful aspiration!

I began with the Buddhist paths but moved to my "home" in India where "bliss" (satchidanandam): ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss was offered as the summum bonum of life's destiny. Sadly, much of Buddhism has fallen into atheistical attitudes, though its true masters reflect the joy and compassion inherent in higher consciousness. For this, regardless of dogmas, is the truth behind all seeming and striving. It is joy that we seek.

I say, then, that with this day and age of overstimulation we need to use the frenetic energy we have to focus upon a higher reality as our truth and not merely stew in the soup of our subconscious. Sure, spend a few minutes getting "real." Then go to a higher and truer reality through chanting, visualization, watching the breath, feeling the pranic currents, and setting one's sights upon the Guru's presence, or the divine Presence as peace, wisdom, energy, love, calmness, Aum, Light, or Bliss!

Aim high lest we fall short!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

Happy Birthday, Swami Kriyananda

These past few days Ananda members, students, community residents, and friends from all over the world have gathered at Ananda Village in California to celebrate Swami Kriyananda's 85th birthday. As I write, Padma is one of a panel of speakers there paying honor and tribute to Ananda's founder, spiritual counselor, friend, and guide to thousands from around the world.

Name and fame have not been his life's goal, nor is outer acclaim any measure of success by all but the most fleeting measures. We honor Swamiji (SK) for his personal dedication to God and his guru first, and only secondly for his accomplishments. For the latter we are grateful because those accomplishments have been the medium that has inspired, taught, and involved all who honor him today. But those would have been hollow and not sufficiently magnetic to have transformed so many souls were it not for the deeper, more intangible power of his personal effort blessed by divine grace.

Swamiji's search for meaning and truth has been one that has surveyed the entire landscape of human striving. It has not been a narrow and desparate grasping for well-worn dogmas at hand. As with many fellow truthseekers it involved turning away from the past and the orthodox creed of his upbringing.

He tells the story of his "conversion" walking late one night at the beach in Charleston, South Carolina, after he had left college (for good :) ). Politics, arts, orthodox religion, social-isms of every stripe: none of these have the power to transform human consciousness. His thoughts and ruminations intensified as he walked. He HAD to know. At every dead end he found that G-word: God. At last he could avoid God no longer. But who is this? A bearded man on a throne in some antiseptic corner of distant space? One ready to toss each of us into the burning pits for eternity for our missteps or failure to join the right faith? Surely the vast expanse of space shown to us by science is adequate to suggest that the creator of this universe must be vaster still?

God MUST be conscious, SK reasoned. Indeed, consciousness ITSELF! Ok, vast, yes. Infinite, well, certainly. But whence comes this I-ness in each little, otherwise insignificant human? Whence comes the obvious consciousness of even the lowliest worm who, when prodded, recoils in response? If God is the creator of all things and is consciousness itself, then all must have been created from His consciousness. Thus consciousness must be at least latent in all things.

In this way each of us partakes in some small measure in God's consciousness. As SK wrote in his autobiography, THE NEW PATH, "We exist, because He exists." Surely we must have the capacity (perhaps the opportunity, the duty, even) to manifest Him more or less perfectly and to deepen our awareness of God at the center of our being. He wrote: "What a staggering concept!"

SK's conscious spiritual journey from this point unfolded rapidly and descended quickly to a practical application when, having discovered Paramhansa Yogananda's story, "Autobiography of a Yogi," he took the first bus to California to meet the great spiritual teacher there. The first words he uttered to Yogananda (PY) were, "I want to be your disciple." But even a week or two before he had never heard of a guru, nor yet a thousand other terms, concepts and phenomenon he encountered in the modern scripture which is PY's autobiography.

The thesis of PY's life teachings are summarized in but a few words and phrases. The first comes to us from ancient times from the adi (first) Swami Shankyacharya who defined God as "Satchidananda." PY loosely translates this as "ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss." It is bliss that all are seeking, whether ignorantly or wisely.
The second pithy summary of PY's teachings comes to us in many forms down through ages, no less than from the Old Testament and Jesus Christ: "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and strength; and, love Thy neighbor AS Thyself." In more modern language, PY used the term Self-realization as the goal of union with God (the product of our devotion and His grace). "Love thy neighbor" is summarized in the term "fellowship," service to God through our fellow man. This universal teaching takes now the form of the art and science of meditation as the basis for right action in daily life.

To return, now, to Swamiji's life, it is these high ideals that have inspired SK's life and service. These ideals are universal and available to all men and women, without discrimination. The practice of yoga-meditation, especially kriya yoga, has been brought to the West and to the world as the practical instrument of soul awakening in individual hearts.

For while Ananda is a church, our teachings are broad and universal, even if, for those dedicated to the work of Ananda, we are also disciples of PY. We see no contradiction in our personal devotion to God through the Self-realization line of gurus and the universality of these teachings. Only the actual technique of kriya yoga is reserved for those who recognize that this technique is a divine gift channeled thorugh this line of masters. Grateful recognition of that gift and conscious attunement with the masters of this line are what unlock the power of kriya yoga to accelerate our path to liberation.

SK's writings, with rare exception, are to be read by anyone, regardless of faith or spiritual path. Some of his books (on leadership and education, for example), make no reference whatsoever to his spiritual lineage. As his guru before him, SK's vision is far ranging in both time and space and are for everyone. Inspiration, once aroused, can guide us to the next steps. No one, least of all SK, intends that his writings, music, and communities are only for the "faithful."

This juxtaposition of universality with a specific focus is new to religion. It provides for those who serve the work of Ananda a necessary and inspiring dynamic tension lest our dedication become narrow and self-enclosed. It also offers an example in all walks of life in understanding how to be loyal while yet avoiding narrowness. In marriage, business, health, politics, and family life, this example of BOTH-AND has the potential for the expansion of consciousness necessary to convert competition into cooperation, and conflict into harmony.

On this theme, therefore, we are grateful for both the universality of Swamiji's consciousness and the personal wisdom, friendship, and true divine love he has offered to everyone he meets. He remains in service even against the challenges of old-age and ill-health. It is the fountain spray of divine bliss that rewards his apparent self-sacrifice.

Happy Birthday, dear friend,

Nayaswami Hriman