Sri Mahayogi's
Responses to the Seeker

Satsangha
at Sufi Books, NYC, August 20, 2004

After Santipada's reading of Sananda's article on Karma Yoga, everyone sits in quiet stillness for some minutes.

ANJALI:  Sri Mahayogi, could you speak more about the Enlightenment and freedom that is the aim of practice?  For it seems that without meeting an Enlightened Being, one does not get a taste of how great the goal is, nor receive inspiration for the practice.

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Everyone wants freedom.  Everyone wants happiness.  From the day a person is born until the day a person dies, he exerts effort for their gain.  Can they be gained by wealth?  Or be gained by fame?  Or beauty?  Or knowledge?

Even if you had all of these available to you, by death, disease and aging, all of these will turn into suffering.  Even if you think you have gained freedom and happiness through these things, the mind is never fulfilled with them.  The world is not everlasting.  Neither is the world pure nor perfect.  And through identifying yourself with the possessions you think you have gained, you lose your True Self.  Why then are people destined to seek for freedom and happiness, again and again, lifetime after lifetime?  If you observe from a larger perspective, there must be something that nature is teaching us.

Many thousands of years ago, yogis in India resolved the secret.  Not exclusive to India, irrespective of religion or nationality, the search for freedom and happiness is universal.  The conclusion is that freedom and happiness is not without or outside of the mind, but within the mind.  Freedom does not mean that you get whatever the mind desires.  Freedom is the state of not being bound by anything.  ‘Not bound’ means not dependent on any thing, it is the state of independence.  And there, there is Bliss, the ultimate happiness.  Bliss is the state of no suffering and no pain.  This must be what everyone yearns for.  Through simply correcting wrong viewpoints, you will be able to realize it.

The conclusion in Yoga is this:  human suffering is caused by ignorance.  Ignorance is to see permanence in impermanence.  Indeed, our bodies, nature, the material world, all of these have their limit.  There is no perfect satisfaction to be found in any of it.  But by seeking the bliss within, you can eliminate wrong viewpoints and realize the Truth.

Ignorance is seeing a self in what is not the Self, the mistake in thinking your ego is yourself.  The True Self is inwardly further beyond the ego, that is, the ego is seen by true consciousness.  Isn’t it so that you can in fact know your mind?  Yes, the knowing consciousness is further within the mind.  It cannot be moved.  It is always absolute consciousness.

However, a mistake unfortunately arises: that of identifying yourself as the mind.  You then think you are happy, or you are unhappy, and in this you struggle.  Throughout a person’s life it is very difficult to try and emancipate oneself.  But if you try again and again, throughout lifetimes, you are destined to arrive closer to the Truth.  Yoga makes swift the journey. 

Paramahamsa Yogananda once said:  ‘When you leave the journey of your soul up to the nature of reincarnation, it’s like walking.  However in Yoga, it’s like taking an airplane to the goal.’  (Laughter from attendees.)  Back in those days, the propeller airplane was the fastest thing available.  Nowadays, with the advancements of science, it is possible to go even faster, of course, only if you practice Yoga seriously and earnestly.

Please remember, too, this word:  freedom and bliss, and the state of Enlightenment, is also expressed by the word Nirvana.  This is the ultimate state the Lord Buddha realized.  The literal translation of Nirvana is:  ‘The state in which the flame has been extinguished.’  The flame refers to our life and the mind that flutters in nature and is then gone.  The mind is like a flame, and the state of extinguishing the unrest from desires arising out of ignorance is the state of perfect tranquility, called nirvana.  In modern days, nirvana may be understood in Yoga as nirvikalpa samadhi.  It is the state of Truth beyond duality.  It is our Essence and the Truth of each one of us.  In there, Freedom and Bliss are.  We must wake up to that.  You yourself Awakening to your Self—it cannot be realized by the intellect.  The intellect can take you only so far, but passion is more important.  You definitely need a passion that makes you willing to stake your life on it.  Then, you will realize Immortality (smiling).  You must ‘die’ in order to reach the Immortal.  Therefore, remove the fear of death in meditation.  All arises from the mind.  Truth exists as it is alone.  It does not even depend upon intellect or words.  Realize That.

SWAMI RAMANANDA:  Could you speak about a healthy approach to coping with painful emotions, such as depression, fear or anxiety?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Everyone here has a variety of differences, perhaps in hobbies or other characteristics.  These characteristics were not created today or yesterday.  These were created throughout a long span of time.

Karma refers to action and to reaction.  These also have causes within the mind.  Memories of these causes are called samskaras.  The characteristics you have just mentioned are included as samskaras.  How then are samskaras improved?

If you have negative samskaras, apply positive samskaras to decrease them:  if there’s a ‘negative’ apply a ‘positive’ to transform it.  In a direct, concrete way, all the sadhanas of Yoga assist this process.  However, samskaras can issue forth strongly from the mind.  When this happens, what is most effective is to bow in surrender before the altar consecrated to your guru.  If you do so, through a love and power that is Absolute, your guru will uplift you. 

It is imperative to guard well the openings in yourself from which such things from enter.

ALBERTO:  ‘To guard well the openings,’ what do you mean by that?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  When these emotions rise to the surface of the mind, immediately sit before your altar.  The altar is not only in your living room or bedroom:  if you have true respect and faith in your guru, the guru is always in your mind.  No matter where you go, the guru is always within you.  But before you enter this state, you can place a drawing or photos of your guru in front of you wherever you are.  So you can practice this anywhere.

ALBERTO:  In the wallet [pointing to his picture]. 
(Laughter from attendees.)

SRI MAHAYOGI:  That’s fine, too (laughing).  Do this to restrain the negative emotions from running rampant.

PREM:  You suggest meditating on the Guru, however, it seems that attachments to the object of meditation prevent the mind from quieting down because of the constant perpetuation of the thought, ‘I am concentrating.’  It is very difficult to transcend.

SRI MAHAYOGI:  This is not a problem.  The truth of the guru is not the shape of his form but the essence.  It is beyond form and word.  It is Existence itself, the Truth.  It is the same as the Truth within you.  The concerns you have will therefore naturally disappear.

KARUNA:  Sometimes in meditation, there is the search, not necessarily for Truth, but for safety—a far away place or state where the complexities of the mind are not haunting or pressing.  I learned meditation from a Vietnamese Buddhist who said to say to yourself, ‘I am home, I am home,’ and then to seek to ‘come home’.  Through this you create feelings of safety. Does this equate to the meditation that Sri Mahayogi recommends?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  The Buddhist method you mentioned is a mantra practice.  Mantra is not only practiced with the word ‘Om’—any word can be a mantra, no matter what the word.  There is often a tendency in Buddhism to be very thought or idea-oriented; so, I do not really advise escaping into a created state of mind.  It is rather more correct to say that the mind never has a ‘home’ (smiling).  So it’s important to abandon all materials the mind wants.

KARUNA:  Externally or internally?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Both.  The only thing that the mind should depend on is the guru and the words of Truth.

RADHA:  Could you please speak about the objects of meditation?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Always, I say that the objects of meditation should simply be:  the Truth, God or the True Self.  That’s it.

WOMAN - 1:  I have been on the spiritual path for many years and it seems like, ‘One step forward, two steps back.’  I need devotion and discipline, and I have been very distracted.  I need your guidance to live by the teachings I receive.

SRI MAHAYOGI:  As written in Sananda’s article read earlier, we are all in a similar situation (smiling).  However, spiritual progress is possible and Enlightenment can be realized.  It is important to discern what is the Truth and what is not the Truth, to understand it correctly.  Learn correctly from satsangha like these or through reading scriptures.  Then, apprehend correctly what has been learned, and meditate.

Meditation is to discriminate upon that which is and is not the Truth.  It holds the power to eliminate false attachments in the mind.  If you practice, you will surely feel progress in your spiritual practice.  And, as you yourself said, deepen your devotion to the Truth and to your Guru.

EGIL:  How do you know the difference between what is your personal dharma to be fulfilled in this life and what is caused by mere attachment?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  There are two understandings of the word dharma.  One is ‘duty’— which is perhaps what you meant by dharma.  The other is ‘Truth’.  In Buddhism, the word Dharma denotes the Truth.  It means the absolute Truth. 

If absolute order can be created in the universe, then one’s relative duties in the world must also be founded upon absolute Dharma.  Until dharma is established upon the Truth, dharma as relative duties is governed by karma.  Yoga transcends karma.  Because dharma, in the relative sense which I just mentioned, always changes, rather than worrying about it, focus upon Dharma, meaning the Truth.  Once you are established in the Dharma of Truth, then bring relative dharma to comply with it.

The meaning of dharma is far-reaching and difficult to understand, however, the original meaning of dharma refers to the foundation or support of all things.  This relative universe is supported by absolute principles or laws of Truth.

WOMAN -1:  From listening to you tonight, I gather that I have to offer everything to the Guru—suffering, pain, health challenges or emotional issues.  Is my understanding correct that I just have to give it all up?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Regardless of what you give up or offer, advance closer to your true nature which is Freedom and Bliss.

MAN -1:  I have a simple question:  What is meditation?  How should one meditate?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  The Truth is already within you.  If you have not yet perceived it, remove the obstacle.  Meditation is to destroy the obstacles and, at the same time, to realize the Truth.  Simply speaking (laughter from attendees).

MAN -1:  But how should one meditate?  Through concentration?  Watching myself?  Imagining something?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Who are you?

MAN -1:  That’s the question that one should ask?  Is that meditation?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Answer it yourself.

MAN -1:  I don’t know who I am, that’s why I’m here now.  (Laughter from all.)

SRI MAHAYOGI:  That is very strange (surprised with laughter)!  Indeed, that is really strange.  (Laughter from all.)  You all must know who you are, though as people pose the question nobody knows the answer! 

Well, this is the key point.  Seek to know, ‘Who am I?’

ALBERTO:  Of the different kinds of meditation you mentioned, how do you know which one to choose?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Each method is distinct.  By meditating upon the Truth, you lose ignorance in the mind.  By meditating upon God, you know the Truth of God.  By meditating upon ‘Who am I?’ you abolish the false self and wake up to the True Self.  [As you continue to practice,] you may proceed to combine them.  This does not mean to combine the methods during one meditation, it means to apply one method in one meditation, and then to apply another at another time as necessary.

Kashinatha arrives with his young daughter and they take a seat quietly on the floor near the entrance.

SRI MAHAYOGI (continuing):  The mind is in constant movement and through that movement is disturbed.  By studying the Truth, having passion for the Truth, still the mind’s fluctuations.  If the state of stillness is solidly sustained, at that time, you will awaken to the True Self.  It is truly a distinctive awakening (smiling).  Until then, you are only dreaming.

WOMAN -2:  Does the heart play any role in meditation?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Yes, the role of the heart is very big.  The passion that I mention again and again arises out of the heart.  Intensify the heat more, and nourish it.  The waves of the mind will then be calm.  The heart is like the pathway to the center.

KARUNA:  In meditation, when I ask, ‘What is Truth?’ or ‘What is God?’ it is a very verbal thing.  Can you let the words go at some point, or if there are no words, is it best to repeat the words?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Words are grosser aspects of thought.  The role of words appears only in the beginning, but once the words penetrate the heart, words are no longer necessary.  Then taste and savor it.  God is beyond words, but you can still feel it.  I want you to feel it and taste it.

KASHINATHA:  My daughter, Adriana, asked me on the way over here if you were ‘Lord’.  (All laugh).  Because I don’t have the right words, can you comment?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Well, tell her, ‘Yes’!  (All laugh.)  And say, Kashinatha, ‘Your daddy is making an effort to become one, too.  And, Adriana, you yourself are Lord, too.’

Adriana, sitting on Kashinatha’s lap, buries her face on her father’s chest.

KASHINATHA:  It was very important for me to bring her tonight.  Thank you.

MONA:  I tried to do the ‘Who am I?’ meditation and it wasn’t beneficial.  Answers come to me, but it seems as if the repetition of the words prevent the consciousness from expanding.  The ‘Who am I?' Is too abstract.

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Very strange (surprised, Sri Mahayogi laughs)—‘I’ is Reality itself!  (Attendees laugh.)  It is not abstract—what is abstract is the mind.  You are Reality itself.  Exert a little more effort and continue.  The search should not be practiced with tension in the mind.  Practice it without heaviness.  As the Buddha said, ’The string of the instrument is neither too tight nor too loose to create a good sound.’  The importance is in the tuning.  Through continuous training, you will acquire it.  Learning, asanas, meditation, all is practice, practice, practice.  But you see, these are not the aims, these are the means.  Definitively, the aim is to realize the Truth.  Therefore, always keep your eyes on the aim. 

ANJALI:  Sri Mahayogi, to ‘stake your life on Realization,’ does that mean that when one sits down for meditation, one should be willing to physically die in that moment?

SRI MAHAYOGI:  Although you can think it, to truly do it is very difficult.

Seriousness is measured by how much you are willing to stake your life on the realization of the Truth. 

An old story goes, that a young practitioner was wandering in the forest, seeking the Truth.  A huge monster then appeared, singing the Truth.  (All laughing)  The seeker instinctively felt, ‘This monster knows the Truth.  I must know this Truth by any means!’  The monster said to him, ‘In exchange for your life, I will teach you.’  The practitioner considered it, thinking that if he died, he would not hear the Truth, but that if he realized the Truth, he would not need life.  The monster then taught the young practitioner the Truth.  And immediately, he realized it.  At that moment, the monster transformed into its original God nature.

It is like that.

May your earnestness and passion for Enlightenment intensify and deepen more and more to realize the Truth. 

Today, the time has come to a close, to be continued in two weeks.  The continuation of the article Karma-Yoga, which was read in the beginning, will be read.  I am looking forward to seeing you again.  Thank you.

Jai Sadguru Sri Mahayogi Paramahamsa Ki, Jai!