convocation notes 2008

Making Spiritual Happiness the Foundation of our Lives

by Brother Achalananda

Excerpts from a talk at 2008 Convocation

Change no circumstance in my life, change me

Spiritual happiness is not connected to the senses. Guruji said:

A strong determination to be happy will help you.

We need volition, then unceasing determination, to become dynamic. We must will and act, knowing we are going to succeed (to be happy or do anything else we want to achieve).

We need 1) Desire, 2) Willpower, and 3) Belief it can happen. This can give instantaneous success and change.

Sri Gyanamata said:

Change no circumstance in my life, change me.

We can overcome any problem with this attitude.

If you are having lots of troubles, stop thinking about your unhappiness. Just go out of your way to focus upon making others happy. But don‘t do that so that we can think we can make ourselves happy. Just give without thought of return. It comes from God’s grace (not our good karma), plus meditation.

The Law of the Garbage Truck.

A taxi driver almost accidentally hit the back of a car he was driving behind. The man was swearing at him but the taxi driver just smiled back and waved. He explained to the occupant of the taxi that many people are like garbage trucks - they are full of anger and frustration. It piles up and they need to find somewhere to dump it. Sometimes on you! Don‘t take it personally. Don‘t take on their garbage. Love the people who treat you right and pray for the ones that don‘t.

Sri Daya Mata said, when people dump on you, you become like a garbage pail. To cope with this we have to become strong.

Life is 10% what you make of it, and

90% how you take it

Recharging the Body With Cosmic Energy

by Brother Ritananda


Energization Exercises

• The Energization Exercises are one of four pillars of our path:

Energization Exercises Hong Sau technique

Aum techniqueKriya techniques

There is an active synergy between them all.

• Guruji never missed doing the Energization Exercises twice a day, meditation and service to others.

• The Energization Exercises induce calmness and health and energy. They purify the blood stream and recharge every cell with cosmic energy.

• It is actually 'will' which maintains our youth and vigour. The body should not dictate its needs to the soul.

• The Energization Exercises help us get conscious control over the life force. They also harmonize the life force and undo any energy knots in the body. They help us identify with who we truly are - the soul. In working with will and energy in the exercises it helps us realize we are them - not the body.

• Always start with the prayer. All actions should be smooth and flowing. Only three of the exercises have a jerking motion (when the head drops and the torso rotation).

• Pay attention to the exact position and rotation of the hands and palms in the Energization Exercises. If it specifies palms facing each other try and do this precisely as it makes a difference to how the energy flows.

• Sri Daya Mata said, "The greatest way to honor the Guru is to practice his techniques".

Mastering the Techniques of Meditation

by Brother Ishtananda


Change your Consciousness

“Change your consciousness. That is all that is necessary”. —Paramahansa Yogananda

We need to move up from the 3 lower chakra centers and operate from the higher chakra centers (Dorsal up).

The Ida and Pingala currents in the spine cause our breathing. Where they intertwine at the chakras is what ties the astral body to the physical body.

“Breath is the cord that ties the soul to the flesh”. In the state of breathlessness we have the astral communion with the Divine.

Guruji said:

“Where your energy is, there is your consciousness”.

In meditation energy is withdrawn into the Ida and Pingala, and then in deeper meditation into the Sushumna. Then into the astral spine and after the causal spine. It is the Guru’s job to lead us through these subtle aspects. The Guru will guide our consciousness so we can achieve this. Guruji said:

“Get in the spine, so I can help you more”.

We need deep practice.

Our path has 7 main techniques which are synergistic:

1. Energization Exercises 2. Hong Sau3. Aum4. Kriya proper5. Kriya 26. Kriya 37. Kriya 4

Brother Anandamoy calls Kriya proper “the king of techniques”.

Energization Exercises

The Energization Exercises are one of the most grossly overlooked techniques. Control the energy and you can control the states of consciousness. We can go into bliss doing the Energization Exercises. The Energization Exercises help us become more aware of prana. The also prepare the body for meditation.

Hong Sau Technique

Br Anandamoy explained there is an eastern and a western concept of concentration. He took a sheet of paper and drew a large circle on the paper and drew dots and dashes in the circle. He said this is the western concept, the dots and dashes are the thoughts and problems we are concentrating on.

He drew another circle and then jabbed the pencil through the centre. He said this is the eastern concept - to hold the mind to one thought only. Holding the attention.

In Hong Sau we are holding the attention to the breath, in Aum to the loudest sound, and in Kriya to the currents in the spine.

Focus on the periods between inhalation and exhalation when the breath is still and peace increases. Over time these periods will begin to lengthen and approach the breathless state.

Before practice do the 20-20-20 breathing. The inhalation, hold and exhalation should be of even length. Try to do this before all regular meditations for 6 to 12 times. Then the breathing, tension and double exhalation for 6 times.

Practice Hong Sau for 3 hours and you will know something of its greatness.

Om Technique (Aum Technique)

Put the fingers on the forehead, not the sides of the head. Rest the pinky on the eye socket, not the eyeball. Chant slowly and calmly inwardly. Listen to the loudest sound. Merge with it with a sense of reverence. It is more important to listen to the Aum than to look at the light in the spiritual eye while you are doing the technique. At the end you can then focus on the light. Don’t lean on the armrest.

On 06 of God Talks with Arjuna there is another meditation technique:

Chant Aum at the centers up and down the spine (mental chanting only). Chant "Aum" at each chakra.

I visited Brother Dharmananda before he died. Brother Dharmananda’s body was not well yet he continued to lead his meditation groups. I felt sorry for him, for the pain he was in, but Brother Dharmananda said "I feel the Aum vibrating throughout my body as bliss in every cell". I didn't feel sorry for him after that! Brother Dharmananda said, "there can be pain and you can still be in joy".

Kriya Techniques

Kriya 2 — use increased awareness in the spine to concentrate on the chakras and awaken them.

Kriya 3 — use the sense of the chakras and the currents to awaken chakras more and get concentrated in the higher centers.

Kriya 4 — use the energy to get them lodged in the higher centers.

All the meditation techniques build on one another. But we don‘t have to practice every single one in every meditation if we don‘t have time on occasion. The important thing is how regularly and deeply we practice the techniques we do have.

Even though we are looking at the spiritual eye in all the techniques, the full concentration should be on the technique (i.e., listen to Aum or watch the breath). Don‘t divide the attention. Just keep the gaze on the spiritual eye and after the techniques are finished can then really concentrate there.

Correct posture

Do the best you can according to your body. “God credits your effort”. However, we do have to sit still. This takes discipline. Stillness helps the energy go inside. Resist scratching! You will get over it.

Eyes

Best to meditate with the eyes slightly open. The eyelids will become still. If your eyes are fully closed you are more likely to go to sleep. Keep the attention on the spiritual horizon.

Breath

Get in the habit of breathing properly at all times, not just during meditation. Br did an exercise with us to asking us to put a hand on our stomach and the other on our chest - see which moved more when we breathed. The hand over the stomach should move the most if we are breathing properly using the diaphragm.

We need to make everything in our life serve our meditations.

This includes, diet, company, morals, sex life, exercise, work, etc. Moral laws are from spiritual laws. However, it is not enough to be a strict moralist. Guruji often used to remark that stones and goats don‘t break moral laws, but they also don‘t know God. Be aware of how we use our senses. Don‘t abuse them, for example, by overeating.

Follow an intuitive sense of their use. If we overuse them we stimulate the energy to go outward, which undermines our efforts in meditation. We need non-attachment and even-mindedness. This purifies the heart. Gandhi said, “When a man empties his heart, God occupies it”. Having strong likes and dislikes creates disappointments and elation. When our feeling is disturbed the mind gets engaged. Ideally we need “nonchalant participation” in life.

Attitude to meditation

We are often enthusiastic to begin with. However, over the years it wanes and practice becomes mechanical. There is no enthusiasm. Don‘t put God at a distance. Br Anandamoy stresses this is the greatest obstacle on the spiritual path - creating distance and not accepting the omnipresence of God and Guru. Have joyous anticipation, forgetting the results of the techniques. However, often in SRF we are so much trying to avoid focusing upon phenomena that we throw the baby out with the bath water.

It is OK to have intermediate goals, such as wanting to experience breathlessness or penetrate the spiritual eye or merge with Aum. Say you want it, expect it, demand it, and then surrender. If you get no experience at all in meditation say, “this is really cool, God came to me as nothing!”

Sit in stillness and practice with devotion. Stillness without devotion is sterile. Unite them and offer prayer. This is a personal thing how we do this. One of the monks practiced this by visualizing Guruji touching him at the spiritual eye after he has finished the techniques and is sitting in the stillness. He visualizes an exchange of Divine magnetism. Then feels the love coming up from his heart. If he didn’t feel the love straight away he would say, “I love you Master, I love you Master” and it would come. When our devotion and stillness becomes deeper there will be no words.

Remind ourselves before every meditation that the purpose is communion with God.

We have to ask ourselves what our priorities are. A lady called at Hollywood Temple recently and said she was so busy in her days that she did not have time to meditate regularly or deeply. She described her morning saying that after she had done the chores, eaten breakfast, fed the cats, and watered the tomatoes she then had to run to work. Brother offered to buy some tomatoes for her each week so she could at least cut out watering them to find a bit of time. She said, “Oh, but the home grown ones taste so good!” So what do you want, home grown tomatoes or everlasting bliss consciousness?

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Karma and Reincarnation: Understanding the Twists and Turns of Life

by Brother Vishwananda


Kriya Yoga Burns our Past Karma

Those who are willing to apply Guruji’s teachings in their daily life are nearly at the top of the evolutionary ladder. We have earned this through our previous efforts.

We need to understand we are the soul - not a human being bound by senses. Make the ordinary everyday Divine. Remind ourselves constantly of what we are.

All karma, good or bad, binds us to being humans - it is all the same.

Introspection is a key tool to finding out our karma and how to deal with it.

When I was first in India Daya Ma and Ananda Ma were visiting. In the main hall there were many pictures of saints but they were hung crookedly and at different levels. Ananda Ma asked me to help her in getting them all hung evenly. I was really excited to be spending the day in her presence. But she kept getting me to go up and down the ladder all morning adjusting the pictures and I started to get really impatient. After lunch Ma came up to the room and said what a wonderful job Ananda Ma had done, but didn’t she think it would be even better if they were all a ½ an inch higher? So I then spent all afternoon going back up and down the ladder readjusting the pictures. I realised one of my big life tests is to develop patience!

These issues pop up in our life to show us our deep samskaras. We have to work on them with diligent effort. Kriya Yoga burns our past karma when practiced deeply.

But then we run outside and make more karma if we are not making a conscious effort to control it!

We have to deal with our karma with enthusiasm and determination. Just keep trying and believing we can overcome it. A test to see how well we are doing is to reflect on the 8-fold path of Patanjali - consider the Yama and Niyama principles:

YAMA

Ahimsa - abstain from injury; abstain from falsehood; abstain from stealing; continence / moderation; abstain from covetousness;

NIYAMA purity of body and mind; contentment; self-discipline; self-study; and devotion to God and guru.

Study these basic fundamentals to see how we are doing with our karma. Self reflect.

Ma says our spiritual strength is based around many daily victories. Guruji said, “We die every night, and are reborn every morning”. We practice in the ordinary situations in life the attitudes and acts needed to be in harmony with our Higher Self.

Be aware of self-created destructive mantras - negative self-talk.

Ma says:

Be aware of the second thought.

That is, we have the first good intention then our negative habit springs up. We have to learn to catch and control these second thoughts.

We cannot overcome our karma alone. It is too ingrained. God has given us the Guru. God saw we are ready to follow him and have the ability to do it. It takes a very refined, devoted and disciplined attitude to take advantage of the true Guru. He has given us the teachings - we need to study and apply

them. The first voice we hear is the Guru (our conscience). The second voice is our ego.

If we love God enough He can wipe out all our karma instantly! Guruji said, “love God like a drowning man”. What greater way to love God and Guru than to be loyal and trust the Guru and apply his teachings. Fill your life with love and apply it in your ordinary daily activities.

Story:

My soap had nearly all run out and it was a tiny wafer size, because I was too busy for a few days to go and buy another bar. One morning I was called to the front desk as Ma had left a package for me. It was a bar of soap! And not only that it was also my favorite brand (which I had not told anyone about).

When we have a problem chant, "Aum Guru". There was a man doing some work high up on a ladder and it started to fall backward. It had gone beyond the point it could normally right itself and he called out, “Aum Guru”, and it righted itself.

This life is our most important incarnation. Can we have any better karma than to be brought to this path where the only thing we have to achieve in this life is to find God! Any situation that confronts us is only an opportunity to seek and love God and Guru.

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Satsanga

with Brother Pranavananda


Is it bad to be crying to God to be free of pain rather than out of a desire to have God?

All of our actions have the ultimate goal to be free from pain and experience bliss. Even our selfless actions have this as the goal. We need to ask ourselves ‘do we need God’? We need an image of God as bliss consciousness to help us understand or feel the need for God. Therefore, if we are weeping to get away from ego pain this is OK. He will purify our hearts and then we will start to feel less concerned about our ego.

If we are on this earth we should consider ourselves spiritual infants. And we are selfish in everything we do, yet Divine Mother loves us anyway.

I can’t stop crying in meditation.

Many people go through this. We may have deep feelings from our childhood or from past incarnations. It can come out as tears in meditation. If they are tears of joy or devotion that is wonderful, but try and get them to go deeper and inside so that it becomes more internal. If they are tears of sorrow or pain, or you don’t know why you are crying, then try to find out what is at the root. Examine your heart (without judgement or criticism). Introspect. If you are still uncertain then it can be helpful to write in a journal to clear it. Give these emotions to God. Give Him all our emotions, positive and negative - let go of it to Him.

If you are experiencing very negative deep feelings it may be necessary to see a professional counselor to help in clearing them. But always share everything with God - the good and the bad.

Why is there suffering in the world? How can God enjoy this as His lila?

An eternal question. The only real answer is in Divine consciousness. Guruji said, “Don’t take life so seriously”. Don’t let it hurt you. Br thinks of life as being like a Laurel and Hardy movie with many crazy things happening.

Evil comes from God. It provides a contrast for goodness. While we have a consciousness of duality we will have a consciousness of good and evil. We are not required to suffer from evil. That is our choice. We can rise above even the most intense suffering. Guruji said do not be so emotionally sensitive. We need to be tough. Don’t let it get to you. Everything that comes into our life is actually neutral - it depends on how we react to it whether we consider it good or bad. Our spirit is capable of handling everything that is given to us.

When life is smooth do we turn to God with intensity? Very few do. We need suffering to become pure hearted. How much suffering does it take for us to turn to God?

This philosophy does not really satisfy the suffering heart. Love satisfies the suffering heart. It is good to share. Find the love of God. Do not accept silence as an answer. Cry out to Him again and again demanding He show you His love. Guruji said, “The Lord is saying to you, ‘I am just as helpless as you’”. He is trapped in our body too until we get free. Who is suffering? God feels our pain. Live it with Him.

Despite all this Guruji often spoke of the arguments he had with God on this matter. He knew the answer but still didn’t like it. He fought with Him every day, therefore Guruji will be very sympathetic to us if we are struggling against pain.

How do we stop itching in meditation?

If we give in to the distractions of the body the mind will keep finding new distractions to us and we will never go deep in meditation. When we ignore the itch it gets worse and worse because we are paying attention to it. We need to steel our mind and not pay attention to it. Pay positive attention to something else - put your mind on the spiritual eye. Tell your mind you are practicing the techniques.

Br. Premamoy used to speak to the monks prior to the Christmas meditation on how to manage this. He used to be a mountain climber and said that he would always resist his first feelings of thirst or hunger when climbing. If you give in to them right away the body would bother you the whole climb. If you don’t give in it will cooperate the rest of the way.

When is it right to surrender or to resist evil?

We have constant inner and outer conflicts in life on all levels. We are never not fighting the battle between good and evil. Fight wisely. Know when to be aggressive and when not. Fight primarily within ourselves. Defend all principles of truth. Dedicate your life to love and service.

Can forgiveness be partial or does it always need to be complete?

Primarily forgiveness is not about them (the ones who hurt us), but about us. Ma says when someone hurts us we can leave it in God’s hands. Divine Love / Law will solve it for us. The trouble is with us when we cannot let go of a mean or vengeful feeling. Then we are holding onto the hand of the devil and we can’t hold the hand of the Divine. The problem is sometimes we don’t want to forgive as we worry they will get away with it! They won’t! The anger and hurt burns our heart and scars us. We need to forgive for our own sake.

There are three steps to forgiveness:

1. Say “I refuse to carry these negative feelings anymore for my sake”. Drop it. Divine Law will take care of the other person. Let the peace of meditation wash it away. Give it to God to take care of it. We must then be able to say, “Lord, bless that person with everything good”. In the material world we still may or may not have to take some form of action, for example, if someone has committed a criminal act we have to go to the police to stop them from doing it to others. But we do not need to do this with a sense of meanness or revenge. This first step is the most important step.

2. Express your forgiveness to the other person. Say, “Don’t worry about it. I forgive you”. Feel compassionate love for them.

3. Forget it ever happened.

You might say, but Krishna did not ask Arjuna to forgive but to fight? Forgiveness is the inner victory. In doing it we are not catering to the likes and dislikes of the ego. Sometimes we need to take an outward stand for what is right - always do this when a Principle is at stake. But inwardly always be ready to forgive. Outwardly fight when necessary - for the right motives. Pray for guidance with this and introspect. Make your decisions on what to do during the stillness of meditation.

convocation notes 2008

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