The psychotherapist and the guru both have important roles to play. Where the work of the psychotherapist finishes, the work of the guru begins. Therefore, instead of comparing the two, let us connect them. Of course, the guru can act as a psychotherapist, but that is not his primary motive. A psychotherapist is a person who helps you through a particular crisis in your life, but in the relationship with guru, psychotherapy is spontaneous and ongoing. The guru’s relationship with the disciple, his own personal life experience, and his knowledge of the nature of the mind are such that after relieving his disciple of certain mental problems, he is then able to give him spiritual life.

That is why, right from the beginning, certain rules and regulations have been fixed. Not everybody can become a guru. In order to become a guru you must first have had a perfect discipleship. How can you become a lecturer or a professor in a university unless you have been a student? If you have only read some of the yoga sutras and yoga books and attended a few seminars here and there, you should not think that you are a qualified guru. That is a very dangerous situation; such gurus need a psychotherapist.

If you treat someone’s mind, and then leave him at that point, he will continue to have problems. Of course, at a certain level, sickness of mind has to be treated, but there is no end to it. In my opinion, it has to be transcended rather than treated. The mind is a composition of the three gunas, which keep on assaulting it all the time. Therefore, a disciple should develop new tools of knowledge and experience with which to deal with the problems of the mind.

In the company of truth

Similarly, we cannot really equate Satsang with group therapy, even though many times we try to explain Satsang in these terms. The Sanskrit root ‘sat’ means reality, divinity and purity; it represents Self or God. Satsang does not mean being in the company of many people; that is known as ‘sangha’, which means company or association. Satsang is being in the company of truth.

There are various types of Satsang. You can close your eyes and practise Satsang all alone. When you are reading a spiritual book which deals with the topics of reality that is also a form of Satsang. Satsang happens when you are with a group listening to the glory of divine being or the ways of purity and self-evolution. Hearing about the lives of those people who have had divine experiences and who have suffered or lived for the higher experience, is also one of the most inspiring types of Satsang.

In Satsang you may practise kirtan or meditation, but these are not Satsang, they are only ways of conducting Satsang. In Satsang the most important thing is the constant movement of ideas related to the ultimate reality, divinity or highest being.

There are certain groups which I have come across in recent years where people join together to do some practices and to help each other. There is a very simple, scientific explanation for this. If you put a grandfather clock in with many other small clocks, you will find that initially, the movement of their pendulums does not coincide, but after some time all the clocks will be following the grandfather clock. This experiment has been repeated many times. Similarly, when you play a violin, all the other violins in the room begin to resonate. If you listen carefully, you will find that the vibrations from the first violin are being transmitted through the inactive violins. The same thing happens in a group also, when people get together to help each other.

In India, there is not much need for these group sessions, because the social situation is still very well organized. If a group of people live together in a joint family or in an ashram situation, they begin to understand the nature of human psychology. They have an opportunity to see where they stand with one another. They are able to assess their own minds, their limitations, and faults, which is a great change from the modern culture.

In the west, particularly in this century, group therapy has become an important phenomenon. In the 18th or 19th centuries, the situation was different. There was a more compact and well knit family and community life. But in the last one hundred and fifty years, the social structure has deteriorated bit by bit, and so the need for group therapy has arisen.

However, we must remember that mind is not the ultimate reality; there is something beyond the mind. We only talk in terms of mind because mind seems to be a barrier for many people. Actually, whatever we do in spiritual life is not done for the sake of the mind, but for the discovery of the universal spirit. Therefore the path of psychotherapy can only be followed to a certain extent; then there comes a point where it must be left behind. Psychoanalysis can definitely be of great use at a certain stage of development, but eventually it becomes a barrier and then you have to transcend it.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, July, 1981)

What is the relationship between cosmic energy and pranayama?

In yoga cosmic energy is known as prana. There is life energy in the whole atmosphere, but in addition to this there is an infinite quantity of cosmic energy. This energy is predominantly present in the five elements. Just as we say the source of protein is meat, eggs, nuts and soya beans, in the same way the five sources of prana are earth, water, fire, air and ether. But the best source of prana is the air, and that is why pranayama is such a powerful practice.

The breath which you take inside is not pure prana; it is air with prana. Ultimately it is purified and separated into positive and negative ions, into ordinary air and prana. This separation occurs during kumbhaka, and at the time of meditation these pranas are assimilated. Therefore, a hatha yogi who practises pranayama must also practise meditation in order to assimilate the separated prana. So this cosmic prana becomes a part of individual prana through pranayama and meditation.

Is concentration on the breath considered an essential part of the tantric practices?

Concentration on the breath is one of the most powerful methods of introverting the restless mind. The practice of meditation is divided into 4 stages: pratyahara or introversion; dharana or concentration; dhyana or meditation; and samadhi or transcendence.

Concentration on breath comes in the first category. As you concentrate on the breath, the mind automatically becomes withdrawn. When this stage has been accomplished you must then try to fix your mind on one chosen point. If you continue to withdraw and introvert the mind without bringing it to one point it will be absolutely hypnotised. Therefore when you are able to introvert the mind to a certain point and when psychic experiences suddenly begin, immediately start the practice of dharana.

Regardless of which system you follow, practices of introversion alone cannot lead you to awakening. They are only intended to create passivity and tranquillity. The restless tendencies of the mind must be pacified. This is the first stage. The next stage, dharana, means fixing the mind on one point and reducing the area of space. When the mind is fixed on one point and is concentrating itself it will lead to dhyana and samadhi.

What is a correct and systematic method of preparing for meditation?

Concentration and meditation come under raja yoga, and before you practise raja yoga, you must purify the physical body by the techniques of hatha yoga. In yoga, we believe that as far as possible, the causes of thought processes should be cleared up first through the physical medium. For example, sometimes a thought can be the outcome of a bad stomach or the effect of a thyroid malfunction. Therefore we recommend the purifying techniques of hatha yoga. There are six hatha yoga cleansing techniques: neti, dhauti, basti, nauli, trataka and kapalbhati. They are called the shatkarmas. With the guidance of an experienced teacher, you do these practices according to your requirements and capacity.

After you have practised the shatkarmas for one to two years, harmony is attained within the nervous system, the parasympathetic and sympathetic, in ida and pingala nadis. They are responsible for manas shakti (mental energy) and prana shakti (pranic or vital energy) respectively. If either of these nadis are disturbed, then you have diseases born of manas or prana shakti.

By hatha yoga, therefore, we are actually purifying all the flows so that they are homogeneous and uninterrupted. When this has been accomplished you should then start concentration for which a strong nervous system is imperative. When the flows in ida and pingala are correctly energised and balanced with respect to each other, the third flow, sushumna, is automatically activated. When this happens, meditation becomes spontaneous. However, this doesn’t mean that you should not practise japa or that you should not do anything else now. You must continue with these things also, but if you are going to enter into meditation practice seriously, then you must do it systematically.

Apart from the relaxation and health benefits is there a deeper purpose for practising meditation?

The purpose of meditation is to develop super-awareness which should take charge of all the affairs of life, replacing the mind just as in presidential rule the governor takes charge of all the affairs of the state when the cabinet does not function. In the same way, when we know that this mind is not able to conduct the affairs of life properly, when it is creating torture, agony and suffering we say, “No, the mind is not a good director”. The limited mind must be replaced by a superpower, super awareness, but the problem is that there is no super awareness. Therefore we practise meditation to develop it.

During meditation, is the position of the hands important? If so, what is the best position?

If both nostrils are not flowing freely the position of the hands should be as follows. Place the right hand under the left armpit and the left hand under the right armpit and press. The arms should be relaxed. This is called swara yoga mudra. At the time of meditation both nostrils must flow freely, if they do not, then one part of the brain remains inactive and you cannot meditate properly. When both the nostrils flow freely, both hemispheres of the brain are equally active and meditation can be accomplished without any difficulty.

If, however, both nostrils are flowing freely when you sit for meditation, you can place your hands in the lap. This is called yoni mudra. Or you may adopt chin mudra, with the thumb and the index finger joined and the remaining three fingers separated, symbolising the separation of yourself (index finger) from the three gunas of rajas, tamas and sattva, and the joining of yourself to the supreme consciousness (thumb).

In meditation it is very important that both nostrils are free. If for example only the right nostril is flowing and the left is blocked, the mind will run terribly hither and thither like a monkey. If only the left is flowing you will start dreaming after some time or depression may set in. When both nostrils are flowing, the right and left hemispheres of the brain are harmonised and begin to function in a greater dimension. In this way meditation can be accomplished.

During meditation something starts jumping in my body, then the body starts shaking. What is this?

It is perfectly all right but don’t dwell on these happenings. Try to remain aware of the point of your concentration. With concentration many things can happen. If the mind is swayed by these psychic experiences and physical symptoms, it is a distraction from the main centre. However, sometimes, in a state of meditation these disturbances become so powerful that it is useless to fight with them. It is better to find out the reason for their presence. Maybe you have not fulfilled some of the preliminary conditions of yoga or have not stabilised your nervous system or emotional structure.

Sometimes in meditation there is an experience when the breath stops automatically.

There is a certain moment when prana and the mind interact and move together. When the mind is controlled the pranic forces also stop and when the pranas are controlled the mind automatically stops. In yoga this is known as kevala kumbhaka, automatic, spontaneous retention. The moment your mind ceases to function or is consumed in the point of concentration, automatically the breath must stop because in the brain these two activities are interconnected. The raja yogis first control the mind then stop the breath. Hatha yogis control the breath and thereby control the fluctuations of the mind. When kevala kumbhaka takes place allow it to happen without resisting because it culminates in the awakening.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, January, 1980)

Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Given at the Zinal Conference, Switzerland in Sept.

In spiritual life it is necessary to know exactly what you are trying to achieve. Whether in tantra or yoga, there is only one thing that man is trying to arrive at, and that is the awakening of his latent forces. These forces are a part of his existence. They are so important for his evolution that by awakening them, man can become superman.

Out of the ten parts of the brain, only one part is now functioning. Our perception, cognition, etc. are the outcome of this one part only. The other nine parts are inactive; they play no part, no role in our life. Men live and die without awakening these areas of the brain. Of course, the natural process of evolution is taking place, but it is going to take millions of years. By that time perhaps the earth might not exist. It is worth an experiment to awaken the totality of human consciousness in this very lifetime. In my opinion that is the ultimate purpose of spiritual life.

These nine areas of the brain contain potential energy, not merely psychic awareness but total knowledge and shakti. The brain is like a big city with beautiful roads, houses and street lights. Inside the houses are televisions, radios and electrical installations. Now this city is desolate and uninhabited because there is no electricity. All we have to do is to connect it with the main generating station and it will become a city of light and life.

The city is here in the brain. Illumining the city is the process for which the whole life has to be properly set. This objective must be very clear and exact in your mind. Now, how are you going to awaken or realise this divine city? Where is the generating station and the connecting cable?

Tantra and kundalini yoga have made it very clear that mooladhara chakra is the generating station, sushumna is the connecting station, and ajna chakra is the local substation. The existing amount of prana and state of mind cannot awaken this silent area. In order to feed that silent city we need an enormous quantity of energy. With the help of prana and mind, the intellect and the different systems of the body may function, but not the silent areas of the brain. In order to have the necessary quantum of energy, mooladhara chakra has to be awakened. Then the energy has to be conducted to ajna chakra via sushumna.

If awakening of the totality of energy and consciousness is the ultimate aim and destiny of man, what are those elements and behaviours which activate and which suppress this awakening? I am not talking in terms of good or bad. For me, there is neither sinner nor puritan. We have to make a clear-cut definition of pro-evolution and pro-awakening. If a certain type of life is able to create awakening, then that is the way we must live.

Transformation or self-punishment

Before an awakening can be brought about, a lot of changes have to take place, not only on the intellectual plane but in the basic structure of consciousness. The entire form must be changed. The very purpose of yoga and spiritual life is to bring about this state of transformation in the structure of the personality. When you accept the process of transformation as a primary hypothesis, then you should also be prepared to experience everything that follows transformation.

Transformation is a Very clear process, and it forms the basis of the guru/disciple relationship. The same process is applied whether the relationship is external, in which case I am guru and you are disciple, or internal when a part of me is guru and a part of me is disciple. In order to clarify this, let us take the example of a carpenter.

A carpenter takes a piece of wood, cuts it into different sizes and then drives nails into it in various places. If only that piece of wood could speak out during this ordeal, it would make a horrible accusation: ‘Look here, I am being misused and abused by this dirty carpenter.’ But ultimately the wood is transformed into a beautiful piece of furniture as an outcome of the carpenter’s cruelty.

Take another example, that of a tailor. A piece of cloth lying in a shop is brought to a tailor to be made into a shirt. First the cloth has to be cut to size. So the tailor cuts it with sharp scissors. Next he stitches it with a sharp needle until finally he pierces each and every part of the cloth. Imagine if you were that piece of cloth and I were the tailor. With every prick, you would say, ‘This swami is so bad.’

Ultimately, however, it is not the cutting and stitching process that is important, but the finished product. The tailor or carpenter must have a very clear vision of this in mind before taking up the work. Otherwise, both time and material will be wasted. For example, if you give a saw and some wood to a person who is not a carpenter, who has no vision, he will cut the wood into many pieces. Finally, he will not know what to do with them, so they will just lie there, poor little bits.

This is what often happens in the life of yoga, whether you are dealing with disciples or your own self. Therefore, when you practise yoga and spiritual life, it is necessary to understand that the purpose is transformation and awakening; it is not self-punishment. There is not something inimical within you which has to be killed. During the process of transformation there are things which are left behind. At the same time, there are elements which come forth spontaneously. The human being throws off scales like a serpent. Therefore, it is very important to know exactly what you are becoming. If your vision is not clear, then whatever process you put yourself through will be one of self-punishment rather than transformation.

New dimension of discipline

Many people undergo strict discipline in life. They fast and meditate, keep silence and practise celibacy. But unless you understand the real purpose for these restraints, they become a type of punishment which you inflict upon yourself. Sometimes you are angry with yourself so you undergo a life of austerity to punish yourself. This unnecessary austerity creates a great division in your personality. One part of you becomes a puritan and another part a sinner. The sinner wants to remain a sinner, while the puritan is always trying to punish and execute the sinner. This division of personality has to be dissolved. Neither puritanism nor licentiousness helps in spiritual life.

There are moments in life when you have to give yourself to the fulfilment of sensory pleasures in order to work out karma. In this particular respect, you should accept one thing without any doubt. The life of the senses and the mind is not anti-evolutionary, it is pro-evolutionary. Fulfilment of desires in life is a part of spiritual illumination. But, at the same time, you have to remember your purpose. It is not for the fulfilment of sensual life, but the fulfilment of your spiritual vision that you are following this pattern of life.

All spiritual practices ultimately lead you to the point of awakening. The life you choose, the religion you follow, all the food you have fixed for yourself, should be in accordance with the fulfilment of this purpose. Now that the objective is clear in your mind, you have to design each and every item of your life. The austerity, control and restraint that you practise must all have a purpose. Only then can you ensure that your life does not become a religious ritual.

Now we are giving a new dimension to this word discipline. Fulfilment of the objective has to be the purpose of discipline. Discipline for the sake of discipline is just abnormal behaviour. But when you are following a certain system of life which has an objective and a purpose, then discipline has some meaning. Discipline is different from individual to individual and from society to society. What is discipline for one may be a punishment for another, according to the level of understanding and the purpose.

Therefore, the aspirant of yoga should formulate the pattern of his life according to this threefold purpose: (i) the awakening of kundalini, (ii) the awakening of sushumna, and (iii) the awakening of the silent areas of the brain. Keeping these threefold aims in view, you have to set your yoga practices and formulate your moral code. Whatever you do for this triple purpose is to be defined as spiritual discipline.

Yogic discipline

For the awakening of kundalini, it is important that sushumna nadi be purified. In order to purify sushumna, you have to practise a lot of pranayama. When you practise a little pranayama only, it doesn’t matter, but when you practise a lot, you have to take care of so many things. You have to know the rules and regulations which control the practices of prana in relation to food and life. This is a form of spiritual discipline, and the person who follows it will never feel any difficulty, sense of punishment or restriction, because the practice of pranayama is very necessary to awaken sushumna.

When you practise pranayama you have to practise kumbhaka as well. In fact, kumbhaka, which means ‘retention of breath’ is the ultimate definition of pranayama. In conjunction with pranayama, you also have to practise bandhas. When you practise moola bandha and other bandhas, naturally your mental and psychic system is affected. If your stomach, mind, or emotions are constipated; if your family or social life are too complicated; and if your mental personality lives like a vagabond dog, you can just imagine what the practice of pranayama with bandhas is going to do.

A strong kumbhaka with jalandhara, uddiyana and moola bandha, creates heat in the body. This heat is known as the fire of yoga. It is not only spiritual or psychic in nature, it is also physical and affects the metabolism as well as the psycho-spiritual system. When enough heat is created, there is a powerful explosion and an awakening takes place. How are you going to maintain a balance in the heat that has been created by the awakening? For this, there are special rules and regulations given in the yogic texts: “Neither too much eating, nor too much fasting; neither too much sleeping, nor too much vigil; neither too much talking, nor too much silence.” Extremes are for from helpful on the path of awakening. The practitioner has to understand the important things: proper food, adequate sleep, and the right kind of social interaction. All these things create a balance, and they also balance the complications that could arise due to the awakening.

Think of yourself as a carpenter. The body, mind, psyche and spirit are your material. With these four materials you are creating a fully evolved being. With the scissors of spiritual discipline, you have to cut everything to size. This means that you have to train the physical and mental systems. Later you have to train the psychic system, and ultimately you will have to train the spiritual system.

In order to train the physical system there are the practices of hatha yoga. When you practise hatha yoga, you know exactly what the rules and regulations are. These are the discipline for the hatha yogi because through them he is able to fulfil his purpose. In order to train the mind, you have to practise raja yoga, and in order to channelize your emotions, you will have to practise bhakti yoga.

The channelization of surplus or unruly emotion is most important, otherwise you will have trouble in the psychic body. In order to train the psychic body, you will have to undergo a lot of difficulties. The psychic body is a wild elephant, or an untamed tiger. Being very powerful, it refuses to be tamed. It is the house of all psychic dreams and experiences. In order to tame this psychic body, the aspirant has to undergo a special type of life. Very few people leading a normal type of life have been able to obtain this psychic power. As you tame the emotions by bhakti yoga, the mind by raja yoga, and the body by hatha yoga, you train the psychic body by ashram yoga.

Mission of man

In order to evolve quickly, we must be prepared to accept any kind of discipline from physical to psychic, and we should not brand it as ‘religious’ or ‘good for swamis but not for me’. If you want to fulfil your destiny, then you should be prepared to accept every discipline. To others, this may seem like a punishment but, in fact, it is not.

You are ready to undergo hardships for whatever you want to accomplish in the material life, not necessarily for the awakening of kundalini or spiritual powers. Many times when you are working on a project in your life, you follow a path of adventure. When you plunge into this adventure for the fulfilment of some material project, your normal life undergoes a total change in so far as programming is concerned. You no longer care for your family, the food you eat, where or how you sleep. The most important point is accomplishment of the project. In order to fulfil that purpose, maybe it is gaining an empire, the establishment of an industry, or the discovery of some medicinal plants, people throughout the ages have made all kinds of sacrifices. They have gone without the necessities of the ordinary life. They have jumped over their personal emotions, passions, ambitions. For an onlooker, it seems horrible, ‘What kind of man is this? He doesn’t eat; he doesn’t sleep; he doesn’t dress like a gentleman. He has no wife and children. Look how dirty he is; his clothes smell.’

A man with a mission does not care for pain and pleasure. Every man has to live with a mission, and the mission of man, the destiny of man, is to awaken the silent city. So the definition of discipline in the light of spiritual life, is that which we do for the fulfilment of this mission.

Satsang on Sannyasa and Gurukul Life

How does the way of a swami differ from the life that we know?

Swami literally means ‘master of one’s own self. Swami does not mean a monk, priest or a religious personality. Swami is a self-master; nobody owns him and he does not own anybody. When you have a house, husband or wife, children, then there is ownership. In the life of a swami, there is no idea of ownership. Even if he is at the head of a large ashram or institution with plenty of money, it doesn’t belong to him, much less to his relatives. It is institutional, not personal. That is the ideal of a swami. For instance, my guru Swami Sivananda left nothing in his personal name when he died. His ability, capacity, and potentials were all used for the welfare of everyone and not for himself personally. This is the spirit of renunciation in sannyasa. In worldly life, however, most people suffer from insecurity. So in order to establish themselves, they have the frame of family, religion, nationality, caste, group, culture or society. They believe in all of these and secure themselves with a house, industries, economic status, property in their name, and a will in the name of their wife and children. They never let go because they are insecure.

But sannyasa is just the opposite. When you have realised that worldly life has not given you satisfaction, then you accept sannyasa, a life of total insecurity. Certain people are qualified for sannyasa and these people do not exist for themselves. A sannyasin may have many capacities, he may be a painter, writer, doctor or engineer, but he never utilises these for personal gain.

There are people who have greater intelligence and competence. They are rich in mind and potential, and need a higher path in life through which to express themselves. If you have an elephant, then where are you going to keep it? If you put it in a small room, either the elephant will die or the room will collapse. The life of a householder is like keeping an elephant confined in a small room.

If you feed a tiger with salad, just imagine what will happen to him. Salad is not the food of a tiger. In the same way, there are people who want to live a different type of life because their heart is not able to accept the slavery of customs. They need to experience life directly and to roam freely through the forest of the mind, without fearing any of its inhabitants.

Whereas most people are the slaves of their mind and senses, a swami is able to control himself. A swami knows how to conduct his emotions, jealousies, prides and prejudices, and how to keep his mind balanced. Even when all appears to be going wrong around him, he is able to maintain tranquillity.

How does one become a swami?

If you want to take sannyasa, you have to prepare your mind first. Then call a barber to shave your head, and live in the most simple and spartan conditions, eating and sleeping less, wearing only two dhotis, and keeping the mind under control through constant activity.

A sannyasin must have a guru. You should not say that the guru is inside. This kind of reasoning is a product of ego. If guru is inside, then wife is also inside. Why do you need her? As a newly initiated sannyasin, you must retire for some years to the peaceful surroundings of the guru’s ashram, live with other swamis, and adjust your ego to theirs.

When your mind is stabilised properly, then you must travel far and wide. As you travel, gaining knowledge and intuition, you must have a clear goal in mind. You must be a clear thinker, saying whatever you think and know about yoga and Vedanta for the benefit and evolution of the whole society.

In order to become a swami, you must know what you really want. The life of a sannyasin is the highest life. Once you have accepted it, you are indeed blessed, and if you are able to live in the spirit of sannyasa, you are one who walks with God.

Could you please clarify why you give the title of swami to people who are not yet masters of their minds?

Most of the people who come to take sannyasa, in this ashram anyway, are very serious minded. They realise that sooner or later they will have to become masters of the mind, but this requires a certain amount of preparation. You know what society is like today. A sannyasin does not drop from heaven; he comes from your society. Even though he may not like to succumb to the temptations of the mind, still he has his own habits, his conditioning. When he comes for sannyasa, he carries these with him. To drop these habits takes a long time and a hard, strict guru is necessary. But, sooner or later, those who are sannyasins should be able to control their mind through their higher self.

Why is it necessary for sannyasins to lead a simple life?

Sannyasins must have a very strong base in life. You know many years ago the saints used to go from village to village with only a shoulder bag. Some of them didn’t even have that: they lived a very poor life. They often had no shoes. Sometimes they didn’t have enough to eat, yet they were still able to give spiritual guidance to the people. Nowadays, life is very complicated, but the swamis have to live a simple life. Mentally they should be simple also, and the ashram should be simple.

Why don’t sannyasins return home and teach their people how to live better lives through yoga?

After one has accepted sannyasa, he belongs to all, not to any particular group or individual. The rishis and sages who made the rules for sannyasa were very much aware of the limitations of the human personality. They knew that a sannyasin has a special role to play in society and that he has a special place in the heart of the people. But if he lives with his own relations, in his own village, the people will always be aware that he is their own son or brother or whatever relationship. Therefore, the moment you take sannyasa, forget that you were born to a family, forget that you were meant to love or be loved. The sannyasin has a twofold duty- to develop self-awareness and to spread the spiritual influence to as many people as possible.

Why must sannyasins leave the city and remain isolated in an ashram?

In the city, weak sannyasins have some difficulties, but in isolation they are helped by the situation. Just as a baby has to have the right conditions around him so he can learn to adjust, similarly, conducive conditions have to be created for the new sannyasins. Of course, these will not continue throughout life, but it takes some time for the mind to become stable and for a sannyasin to become seasoned.

When you season wood, you can even use it on a river bed and it will repel water. It does not rot or get eaten by insects, and it does not expand or contract so much. It is stable. Once the mind, body and emotions are stabilised, you will know where you are going and what you should do. Then you can roam freely like a mendicant and absolutely nothing will affect you. You can also teach yoga and effectively help many people.

You know what happens when you are exposed to society; you are influenced by friends and relatives who come to tell you so and so is married or divorced and this person wants to see you, etc. This may not affect all sannyasins, but it has adverse effects on some. When you are isolated from society, these things do not happen, and during the course of time the sannyasin develops sufficient detachment from these associations.

In the city you are not very far from the old type of life, where there are so many temptations and so much maya. If you are not strong, you succumb to them, but if you are far away, even if the mind is tempted, it is not possible to satisfy it. In this manner the negative aspects of the mind become weaker and weaker. When your mind is isolated like an island, it is able to conserve prana which then becomes your spiritual power.

Will you please tell us about daily life in your ashram?

Ashram life is absolutely different from any other way of life in the world. Just as you don’t require air conditioners in cold countries, or central heating systems in tropical countries such as India, when you live in an ashram, you don’t need to practise any spiritual sadhana. Yoga should be practised where the entire life pattern is un-yogic If you have the right type of ashram life and additionally you do the various yoga practices, you are only exerting yourself.

The ashram wakes up by 3 a.m. and until 5 a.m. all the inmates are busy cleaning and doing a little bit of study or writing work that I personally give them. All day the people in the ashram are engaged in practical, manual work. We have created a lot of work in order to keep the mind properly occupied, and all the inmates of the ashram are busy in those self-created activities. The beauty of ashram life is that since everyone is enthusiastically participating in the activities and trying to enjoy them, work becomes contagious and voluntary.

There is no religious insistence and life is conducted in a very simple way without any moral emphasis. Food, activities and mutual interactions are based on natural things. As I am not a religious person most people who live with me are also not religious. They are a mixture of Hindus, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims, but most of them are disillusioned by religions. We have no religious celebrations in the ashram.

The thing which people in the ashram like best is singing kirtan at night. Most people participate in that although it is not compulsory. The most compulsory thing in the ashram is getting up at 3 a.m. and retiring to your room at 8 p.m. Even eating is not compulsory; you need not eat if you don’t feel like it.

Ashram life is difficult, but it is certainly worth trying.

Why do men and women stay in the same ashram?

I don’t think men and women should be separated. God has not done it, so why should I? Separate facilities are all that is necessary. At the same time, we do not form attachments and personal relationships, because it is far better to live an independent life within the ashram. We work together, that’s all. We are neither brother nor sister, husband nor wife, parent nor child. We have no relations with each other. I am not half and you are not half. I am one and you are one. I want you to be a complete unit. That is how one has to grow.

This reorientation to one another may take decades or even centuries. The old cultures and religions have not succeeded in changing man’s limited attitudes and views of the opposite sex. Today there are still many weak men and women in the world. In the ashram, therefore, we have to learn to live together with full knowledge and a new awareness, just like a snake charmer.

You know, when you are worried and anxious, you use more energy. But when you carry a big tree with this girl or this boy, you use a lot less energy. Community life with hard work is good, but not two swamis sitting together, talking and talking.

Please tell us something about the children living in the ashram.

I will tell you about the children Jiving in my Australian ashram at Mangrove Mountain. Most of them came to the ashram when their parents took sannyasa. They are very peculiar children, strong in inclination and completely different from their parents.

They have to attend school because it is compulsory by Australian law, but they are sannyasins first. The teachers find them very intelligent, open and disciplined. They never use bad words or talk about TV. Whenever the teachers get angry, the children tell them, ‘Please practise yoga.’

All the children have shaved heads, and as soon as they get back to the ashram in the afternoon, they throw off their shirts and pants and put on geru. One girl of six years said, ‘Oh, we don’t want to read, we prefer to cook food at the ashram.’ All the children are happy on Saturdays and Sundays as they can play all day and help prepare food for the hundred or more people in the ashram. When the children go to the forest to collect firewood, they come back dirty from head to toe. If anyone asks them why they are so dirty, they reply, ‘Naturopathy’.

Indeed, children like the ashram life so much that some of them come to live here before their parents. One little girl stayed in the ashram for two years before her mother and father came to join her.

Why is the ashram so austere?

I have visited some of the ultra modern ashrams in India, but I do not believe in them. Even though I have had opportunities to create a modern ashram, I have purposely not done so. I believe people come to the ashram for a change. When you leave the modern society for a more austere way of life, you undergo a great metamorphosis of body and mind.

We have a very big ashram in Australia, sixty miles out of Sydney. There are no sealed roads for miles around, and there are pythons in the forests. For four years the ashram did not have electricity, and although we can build beautiful houses there, we chose to construct small mud-brick huts. There is no necessity for elaborate living quarters, electricity or septic toilets.

Maybe we live a backward way of life, but perhaps modern culture is also backward. Modern amenities make you dependent and lazy; you don’t even have to think. You use a bathroom without thought or effort. You live like robots. In the ashram you can’t live like robots; you have to think. When you live in luxury, your brain becomes very slow, but an austere life promotes a very active brain. Remember that a great metamorphosis will only take place in the brain if you undergo a major change.

I also think that separate rooms do not give us the opportunity to see where we stand with one another. If a group of people live together, they begin to understand the nature of human psychology. They are able to assess their own minds, their limitations and faults, which is a great change from the modern culture.

What is your idea of a beautiful ashram?

The ashram should be constructed along simple lines by the labour of sannyasins and inmates. It should be situated in an out of the way place where there are many difficulties. At times there should be a cyclone, typhoon, flood, extreme heat or cold. Sometimes it should be pleasant and other times very suffocating. This is my concept of an ashram, and a very beautiful ashram. This is how God has decorated nature.

How can a householder create an ashram atmosphere in the home?

The purpose of household life is not to amass desires and ambitions, but to exhaust them and get rid of the net of maya while performing one’s duties. A greater number of ashrams, monasteries, churches and temples cannot accelerate the pace of human evolution until and unless the spirit of these places is imbibed by the householders as much as possible in their day to day life. If you find a better way of life in the ashram, you have to imbibe that spirit and bring it down into family life. The life of a householder can become sublime if you keep in mind the ultimate purpose of human life. Householders must practise yoga, simplify their lives, and create a system of harmony, orderliness and discipline within the precincts of the family life.

Ashram is not a monastery or nunnery. If one is sincerely following the path and is trying to fulfil the purpose of a swami, then his family environment becomes the ashram. Wherever you live, you will try to create a new system in your family and that will become an ashram. You will become a swami and your children will become your chelas, your disciples. It’s only a transformed or sublimated way of life, a life of continual self-purification, correction and growth into the area of vastness and infinity.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, July,1980)

Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Given at the Zinal Conference in Sept.

Right from the beginning-less ages, the world has been guided by spiritually illumined people who come from time to time to raise man’s consciousness and to remind us of the way we must go. Swami Sivananda was one great soul who was born to give the word of spiritual life to thousands and thousands of people all over the globe. He never came to the west and he never went to the east, but today he is everywhere.

A man who could convince the intellect

Of the many great men who have come in the galaxy of spiritual life in the last thirty to fifty years, I have met most. I have utmost faith, respect, devotion and acceptance for all of them, for their sterling personalities, but I have met practically no one in life who has been able to convince my keen intellect. I have always been critical about everything, including myself. But it was Swami Sivananda whose way of life, whose daily routine, external dealings and expression of personal spiritual power were so convincing and impressive that I made him my guru. I am proud, or rather, I feel I am very fortunate to have Swami Sivananda as my guru.

I do not mean to draw a comparison between others and Swami Sivananda, but definitely, when I was young, and when I grew up as a sannyasin, I had my own doubts about personalities. If I saw a man who could perform miracles, my intellect used to ask: ‘What is the necessity?’ and ‘If he can perform miracles, then why not this one?’ and I would create a particular miracle in my mind. If I heard a person talking about the universality of religions and equality of man, my intellect used to put forth the question: ‘Why don’t you practise it?’ and I used to think, ‘What is the use of talking about it? I can also do that.’ If I came across a great man who had renounced everything and preached detachment, I would look at him and a question would form: ‘Then why don’t you really live it rather than just trying to convince others?’

Like this I went on criticising throughout my life right from the age of ten. My intellect was always unconvinced about some point or other. But when I lived with Swamiji, from 1943 to 1956, I was very keen on observing each and every action he performed and each and every thing that he wrote in his books. I found that there was no gap between his preaching’s, his practices, and his personal life. Therefore, I summed up that when there is absolutely no gap between a man’s thought, speech and action, such a man is a mahatma, one who has universal consciousness.

His inner personality

The life of Swami Sivananda, as I know it, was the life of a simple, innocent child. In fact, he did not have even a trace of the ego of a yogi. When you reach a high point in spiritual evolution, you become a child- not meaning childish, but innocent, like a child. Everything in Swami Sivananda was so natural. He did not have to practise it, nor did he need to think about it. It was as though his personality, mind, body and spirit were all emanating a type of fragrance.

There are two types of people- those who express their nature and those who express their intellect. I have seen many people who are very humble, but that is not their nature. They are shrewd people, but they behave humbly with others. I have seen people with charity and compassion, but I can smell it. That is not their nature; they have faith in it, so they do it. I have seen people with purity, continence, chastity and generosity, but I definitely know these were not part of their nature; they were expressions of their faith.

You may be compassionate, humble, charitable and pure, but is this what you really are, or is it just the way you have trained yourself to be because you know that these are very good qualities? Swami Sivananda was not an artificial good man, he was intrinsically, basically and primarily good because that was the element in him. In my eyes that is the one thing that made Swami Sivananda completely different from all others I have met in my life.

His life

Swami Sivananda was born on 8th September, 1887 in the south of India on the banks of the Tamrapurni River. There were prophesies that the next incarnation of divinity would be born on these banks. In his family, about three centuries back, there was ‘another saint who was highly honoured as a great teacher and devotee of Lord Shiva. So naturally, Swami Sivananda imbibed all the greatness from his family lineage.

He became a doctor, went to Malaysia and served as a medical man up to 1922. When he realised that man’s maladies were deeper in nature, he left the profession, returned to India, and was initiated into sannyasa in 1924. From 1923 he remained in Rishikesh until his death in 1963. He did not mean to develop an ashram, but one grew up around him. He did not intend to make disciples and become a guru, but disciples rallied around him and made him a guru.

The band of disciples grew year by year until finally they had to search for a place where they could all live together. At the site of the present Rishikesh ashram, there was a dilapidated cowshed which Swamiji and his young disciples acquired and occupied. Around this cowshed grew the ashram where the international structure of the Divine Life Society is situated.

My first meeting with Swami Sivananda

I came to Swami Sivananda’s ashram on 19th March, 1943 in the early morning. When I met Swamiji he was sitting in a small room which was his office. As soon as he saw me, he got up and greeted me with ‘Om Namo Narayanaya’ and bowed down at my feet. I was about nineteen then. He made me sit down and asked me what I had come for. I said that I was searching for something. In the first meeting it was not possible for me to tell everything. He said that I should stay there, and so I stayed for twelve years. During these years I lived with a person whose every act was in absolute conformity with what we call God’s behaviour, divine enactment. The more I think about it and compare that with my own life, the more I understand what the word perfection really means. I know that all of you will not have the chance to witness an example of perfection unless, of course, somebody else comes down like him. But surely, in the case of Swami Sivananda, perfection was an absolute expression of the beauty and magnanimity of his personality.

Life in the ashram

During the years with Swami Sivananda, I did not learn hatha yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, tantra, Upanishads, or Gita. Right from dawn to dusk, and sometimes during the night as well, I worked and worked and worked, like a donkey, because he gave me just one command: ‘Work hard, then you will be purified. You don’t have to bring the light; the light is in you.’

It was not intellectually possible for me to understand what he was telling me, but because I had accepted him as my guru, I had accepted his commandment. For twelve years I lived a life above time and space, and worked as though I was having hysteric fits. I did everything from cleaning the toilets to the management of the ashram.

The first years of ashram life were so difficult that if I imagine them now, I think it must have all been a dream. I am sure none of my disciples would have been able to survive there as swamis! Along with many of the other young sannyasins, I helped to build the ashram step by step. In those days we never knew what we were going to eat the next day. Whenever I went to Swamiji he would say, ‘You look so lean and thin; you should eat a lot.’ The only thing I could reply was, ‘Where from?’ Then he would smile and tell me, ‘No matter, prana is inside you and from it you can get the energy you need.’ His smiles were wonderful. I think that if a hundred young women laughed I would not be won over, but one of Swami Sivananda’s smiles was enough to kill me.

As well as having little to eat, we had no place to sleep, no room, no roof and no blankets. I never saw a mosquito net the whole time I was in the ashram; I only saw masses and masses of huge mosquitoes. For drinking water we had to descend 300 steps, and of course we had to ascend them again after we had finished drinking. When I had diarrhoea it was a great problem. Every session involved a one and a half mile walk. By the time I finished one session and came back, I had to go again! Of course there would be no water left in my bucket and I would have to descend 300 steps again, get more water and hurry to the jungle.

Once I had jaundice and I never knew it. I was returning from the market one morning when an elderly swami called out, ‘Hey, you’ve got jaundice!’ I did not know what he meant by jaundice because disease was something I had never experienced before. When I returned to the ashram I asked Swamiji, ‘What is jaundice?’ He said it was some kind of disease in the body. Anyway, I forgot it and nothing happened. Another time I had paratyphoid and, being away from the ashram, I had nobody to look after me. I was unable to cook food for myself and I became so hungry that I went to the garden, picked some green papayas and ate them raw. Next day I had cramps in my stomach. Oh my God, I was in so much pain! But this also passed.

During the difficult periods which were ultimately intended for our evolution, we were unconsciously working day and night in constructing rooms, writing books and printing them. We never knew that we were working. It was a transcendental life and work was relaxation. I can definitely tell you that during those twelve years I did not really have any mental turmoil. Even if there was anything troublesome within me, it never dared to raise its head.

Living in the presence of a saint

To live with Swami Sivananda was to live with a little baby. In his presence you were never aware of your ego. Hold a little baby on your lap, then you will find out where your ego is. Whatever your age, whether you are a big officer or businessman, the president of a large company, the prime minister of a nation, or even a criminal, how do you behave with a baby on your lap? Differences, formalities, personalities, no longer exist. That was the effect of Swami Sivananda’s personality, and this is how a saint lives. It is very difficult to talk of such great men, because what can we say about them? It isn’t easy to fathom the spiritual illumination of a person. The mind and logic are finite, but the spiritual attainments are infinite. So, with the finite scale you cannot fathom the infinity of spiritual life.

Learning at the feet of the master

Swami Sivananda gave us complete freedom of expression. We had to manage all the ashram affairs from building construction and publishing books, to taking care of the guests or finance. Whatever problem the ashram had or whatever things the ashram needed, we had to manage ourselves. If we made a mistake, we were not chastised. Swamiji believed that everybody had come to the ashram with a noble intention, and he had complete faith in the sincerity, purpose and intentions of his disciples. Even if Swamiji heard about the swamis fighting amongst themselves he said, ‘It’s just a momentary diversion, relaxation!’

Many outsiders used to bring complaints to Swamiji about swamis fighting, or abusing each other. He said, ‘They are swamis, sannyasins who have renounced with a purpose and an intention. This is a temporary maya on them. They will be all right soon.’ That is what kept his disciples around him. It was not Swami Sivananda who created the whole illusion, the whole maya, but his disciples, and he was just the seer of that. He gave us plenty of chances to learn things, and that is why his disciples are doing such marvellous work all over the world today in a very sattvic and humane way. They do not work in a rajasic manner, but in a calm, quiet and simple way.

During my stay with Swami Sivananda, people from different ashrams used to come to me because they knew I was a brilliant Sanskrit scholar. ‘What does your guru teach you?’ they asked. ‘Nothing,’ I replied. ‘He doesn’t teach you hatha yoga?’ they pursued. ‘No,’ I said, ‘I type his letters.’ ‘Does he give you shaktipat?’ they inquired further. ‘I don’t know anything about this shaktipat business’, came the reply. ‘Has he given you some siddhis?’ they asked. ‘No’, I answered, ‘nothing’.

Frankly speaking, what I say in lectures, what I have written in books, the hatha yoga I teach, etc. has not come from studies or teachings. I have not read books about all these things, but they are very clear to me, and definitely I am an authority on hatha yoga, tantra and kundalini. You see, the knowledge does not come from outside; it is an unfoldment of what is already within. That which is in me is also in you. The only difference is that I had one watchword in life- service to guru, without any motive, without expectation. This was my passion, my joy and my pleasure.

Once a very powerful leader of politics came to the ashram. He told me: ‘Look here my boy, you are wasting your time in this place. You are so brilliant and such a fine orator, you could influence the whole country. Come with me and I’ll tell you what to do.’ I kept quiet and thought, ‘This is a test my guru has sent to me.’ That was the greatest temptation because he wanted to make me president of a big federation, a leader of thousands of powerful people, but I did not accept that offer. I remembered what Swamiji had told me, ‘Work hard and purify yourself, then the light will unfold from within you.’ And I felt sure it would come true.

Swami Sivananda’s divine charity

I have heard many mythological stories about great men of charity, but I have never seen one except for Swami Sivananda. Nobody went away without taking something. If one asked for money, clothes, blankets, food, shelter, medicine, love, affection, recognition, certificate, recommendation letters, anything one wanted he received. That was the greatness of Swamiji’s heart. It was not that he was rich, in fact, for many years the ashram was under a very heavy debt.

If anyone told Swamiji about the ashram’s financial situation he would say, ‘It’s not me; it is God who gives.’ If something was not available in the ashram, we had to bring it from Rishikesh market. If it was unavailable there, it would be brought from Dehra Dun, (26 miles away), or from Delhi.

Swamiji’s generosity was one of the greatest problems for the institution. His behaviour, attitude and personality became a very big liability, so much so that the moment money was received through the Post Office, it was immediately distributed to different people, leaving nothing in the balance. Then, every time Swamiji asked about money, we would tell him there was none. When he realised what we were doing, he began to directly give away the money that was placed at his feet.

His attitude to criticism

Not everyone in Swami Sivananda’s ashram spoke well about him; some criticised him day in and day out. Some people even came to the ashram to ridicule and mock not only Swamiji, but everything that concerned him. Swami Sivananda knew this very well. When it was brought to his notice, the only thing he said was, ‘God’s creation is beautiful, and we all have to be different from each other. If there is no resistance or criticism, the evolution of man will come to a dead end. If you think, wish or believe that everybody should accept you, your advice, philosophy, way of life, and agree with you totally, then you are hoping for a world which can never be.’

The world is a mixture of the three gunas. As such, you will always find people representing different compositions of these three qualities. If everybody in your institution was like you, it would be like an organ or harmonium with only one note, not seven. In music, as in life, each note is entirely different from the others. If you don’t know how to combine these notes when you play the harmonium, you will only produce a lot of noise and disturbance. But if you can combine the notes well, you will be able to create beautiful music out of the different sounds. In the same way scandal mongers, tale carriers, backbiters and other such people should exist and they always will, so you have to learn to live with them and not let them disturb you.

This is a very difficult philosophy to live by, but it is inevitable that you do. If you cannot live with different types of people in society, in your family, in an institution, then you are doomed to miseries, frustrations and all kinds of mental problems. You know it very well.

An instrument of God

When people came to him with troubles, Swamiji’s attitude was so natural and free from vanity, show and egoism. I have never seen anyone else like this.

Many people who have siddhis make a show and give a type of stage performance, or they credit themselves, but he never did this. Whenever people came to him with a problem, he always said, ‘I will pray for you’ or ‘You should practise this mantra and meditation’ or ‘God is very kind and he will listen to your prayers. You will be all right’.

If anyone told Swamiji they had been helped by his spiritual power, he would immediately reject it. He would say, ‘No, God is great, he has done it. I’ve only helped him.’ Many people have marketed their spiritual power, or they have cashed it in for political influence, or for obtaining disciples. This is still being done in the world today and it has been happening throughout the ages. But Swamiji was never a part of this.

According to Swamiji, spiritual power which comes to you by dint of sadhana is an expression of God’s wish. Therefore, you are only an agent, an instrument. That much credit can go to you. You are the tool, but you are not the maker of miracles. You are not the healer; you are not the prophet, it is he. This is the greatest self-control a sadhu, a sannyasin or a saint must have.

Once a scorpion stung me twice on the toe and it was a very horrible experience. I was actually crying like a child, not from fear, because I do not know fear, but on account of the unbearable pain. It was so great that I wanted to cut off my toe, but before I could do it I met Swamiji. He asked, What happened to you?’ I said, ‘Scorpion.’ ‘Let me see,’ he demanded, and when he touched it, I was all right. Then I asked, ‘How did you do that?’ His reply was, ‘Oh, I happened to remember the right mantra for it’. I know he was reciting mantras, but he would not take the credit upon himself.

His departure from the world

On 13th July 1963 I was at Monghyr, and that night when I was sleeping, I had a very clear vision. I saw Swamiji travelling across the Ganga in Rishikesh on a very big ship. I was standing on the bank of the river while the ship was moving towards the opposite side. The dream was over and I knew that Swamiji had left his body. The physical body of guru leaves at any moment, it is inevitable, but his spirit remains forever if the disciple can remain in tune with him. Then he guides him at all times, in dream, in thought and emotion, and in actual life.

Satsang on Saints

Please explain the difference between mahatmas, munis and saints.

Mahatma means great soul, one with expanded consciousness. Muni means one who has acquired peace, silence within and without. Santa or saint means a spiritual person, a sadhu. Seer means one who is able to see beyond the present times. Siddha means one who is able to control the mind and materialise the thoughts. Avadhoot means one who has entered the unconscious body, who is beyond hatred, jealousy love, compassion, mercy, filth and purity. These are the titles given to great men according to the different spiritual capacities acquired during their sadhana.

Please tell us a little of your own experience and contact with other realised beings.

As a child I was fortunate to have the contact of many swamis and saints who were passing through my place on their way to Mt. Kailash. It was the advice of one of them which ultimately directed me to search for a guru. During my stay with Swami Sivananda, 1 met many mahatmas and saints.

After leaving my guru’s ashram in Rishikesh, I lived for short periods of time with Ramana Maharshi at Tiruvanamalai, Swami Ramdas of Kalhamghat and Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. It was during this time that I met a saint called Swami Nityananda. He was a person who, in orthodox language, could be said to have been a kundalini yogi. He lived close to Bombay in a place called Bhadreswari. Swami Muktananda is his disciple. Swami Nityananda was not in his normal consciousness. There were many people who wanted to see him, but he didn’t know anyone. He used to talk to himself and was oblivious of everyone else.

When I met him he was very old and only wore a loin cloth. I went up to him and as I came closer, I felt that I was almost touching an electrical cable. He was not even aware of me until I received the shock. Then he said, ‘They can’t carry the burden, yet they want it.’ You see, we want spiritual power but we are not capable of holding it. When I confronted him, he would say, ‘Everything is useless!’ Some people had donated a lot of blankets to the ashram and he said, ‘Why do you throw all these useless things to me? This is all waste paper for me.’ He would say, ‘These idiots are only fit to teach, preach and lecture.’ I am one of those idiots ; he was a kundalini yogi.

Many saints suffer from serious illness and die when they are still quite young. Why is this so?

Most of them were not yogis. They were beyond yoga. A yogi is very aware of his body and he looks after it, but a saint is like a young baby, an innocent child. If there is a cobra, he will just hold it. If he is given dirty food, he will just eat it, because he does not know the difference. He is beyond the three gunas.

When the mind crosses the boundaries of the three gunas- tamas, rajas and sattva, he becomes completely ignorant of the processes taking place in the body. His experiences are something like this: ‘I am not this body; I am not the senses; I am the self, the atma.’

When these people realise the higher being, they transcend the body, mind and senses. So long as you live in the three gunas, you live according to the laws of nature. You rise in the morning, go for a walk, bathe and then practise asanas and pranayama. However, when the mind and senses withdraw completely into the self, and the higher self becomes effulgent, when the inner experience becomes vivid and higher consciousness takes hold of your mind, who cares what happens to the body?

That was exactly the case with Ramana Maharshi. His body was here, but he was in the seventh plane. He was not the body, not even the seer of the body. He had completely divorced himself from bodily affairs. His body was not properly looked after. For days on end he would stay in one posture and practise endless trataka. He did not talk to anyone; it was as though he did not exist. If the laws of the body are ignored one falls ill, and that happened to Ramana Maharshi.

Similarly, if you have a house and abandon it for a better one, the old one remains neglected. Maybe you will visit periodically, but your interest in the old one is finished. You may take care of it while you are temporarily there, but you have little to do with it any longer.

Up to the age of forty five, Swami Sivananda maintained all the rules of health. But after that he transcended these rules; his entire consciousness was switched off. He used to say, ‘This body is perishable. Why do you take so much care of it? Are you a cobbler that shines shoes?’ All his instructions had changed.

It is similar with Swami Vivekananda and others who died early, but their cases are slightly different. These people are born with a mission; they have something to say, to do or accomplish. The moment their work is over, they go away. Swami Vivekananda has clearly written, ‘I have finished my work; there is no reason why I should live any more.’ Another saint, Rama Tirtha, also died before forty saying, ‘My work is finished, now I can go.’

Remember, the practice of yoga is not the end; it is a means. Samadhi is not the end; it is a means. There are very high stages in spiritual life, and the nearer you are to the absolute self, the further you are from the body. As a jumbo jet soars so far from the earth that you are unable to distinguish a house or a garden, similarly, when the consciousness soars high, things on this mundane plane look so insignificant.

It is said when you have that absolute experience in which the identification with the body is eliminated, then wherever you are, you are not there. Wherever you are, you are in samadhi. So, for such a man, it matters little how he dies. Diseases do not matter. Otherwise, we would have to say, if Christ was the son of God, how could he have been crucified? There is a reason, and the reason is that when you go to the supreme spirit, you don’t care for your body.

With so many gurus and saints in India, why is there so much poverty?

Up to the 17th century, India was a very affluent country. It supplied food, navy, men and materials, even gold to many other countries. However, every country has its own political horoscope and none can be spared by nature. So, things went a little bit differently during the British period. Even now, the picture which is being painted is not so grim.

Indians, by nature, live a very simple life, with a few dhotis and not many things. We don’t believe that material advancement is the real advancement. We don’t believe that industrial revolution is a mark of progress. We are not in a hurry to industrialise the country. We like villages very much. We prefer to draw water from the well rather than from the tap. We prefer to go to the toilet in the jungle and bushes rather than in the toilet. We like to take bath outside in a pond, lake or river, and not in the bathroom. Unless it is raining heavily or too cold, we prefer to sleep outside in the courtyard, in the field, or even in the corner of the street. That is the way Indians live.

Therefore, India has produced more gurus, because we respect the people who have deeper wisdom and greater intuition. We know how the rich people live. We know their private, personal and public life, and we don’t want to be proud of having produced a Ford or Rockefeller. Wisdom is the greatest mark of man. If man can develop his mind beyond the non-frontiers, then that is the fulfilment of his humanness. In India, people seek the association of saintly and wise people. So the social and economic situation has been limited to the extent that we get the proper opportunity to open ourselves up to their influence.

Why do saints, sadhus and sannyasins prefer the Himalayas to any other place in the world?

In the Himalayas the earth, water, air, vegetation, people, everything is pure. The atmosphere there contains more ions than anywhere else. There water flowing in the rivers is amrit, ambrosia. The purity that has descended from this holy place in the form of Ganga, the Vedas, yoga and tantra, quenches the spiritual thirst of society.

When kundalini awakens, sadhus need such a place where the atmosphere is pure, and they can meditate all day without being disturbed either emotionally, mentally, psychically or spiritually. This can be found particularly in the areas of Gangotri, Uttarkashi, Bhadrinath and Khedarnath. These are the four places where rishis and gurus live in absolute seclusion for many centuries in quiet samadhi. The spiritual energy generated by them is so powerful that it even affects the physical ecology. It is like going to a place where they have an atomic reactor and there are nuclear radiations all around. Wherever there is a reactor, there is a leakage of energy. In the same way, these mahatmas are powerhouses of spiritual energy, and if you go anywhere near their vicinity, you are going to be affected by their spiritual radiations. Therefore, all aspirants should try to visit these places at least once in their lives.

Please tell us about your experiences when you visited Kailash and Manasarovar.

It is a lovely place There is no temple, idol or pujari; no mantra, ritual or formality; yet everything is there. You never feel that you are in a desolate region. Manasarovar is a crystal clear lake, overshadowed by the snow peak of Mount Kailash. You have nothing to do there, just sit down and close your eyes, like a god. There is no sound, no vibration. When I sat down after taking bath, I saw Lord Shiva in padmasana. I became aware that it was my mind’s creation, that I was visualising it, and shook my mind. But still it was there. With my eyes open or closed, it was so clear, so pressing. Kailash/Manasarovar area is the abode of the gods. It is a place which is so far that now I cannot say whether it was a dream, vision, perception or hallucination.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, July 1980)

Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Given at the Zinal Conference in Sept.

Generally speaking, faith is a quality that belongs to bhakti yoga, but in yoga and tantra, faith means awakening of kundalini. Faith belongs to man’s higher evolution. It is the inherent reality of man’s understanding of the deeper nature. Faith is not belief; it is the hidden knowledge in man. Faith is that dimension of knowledge which exists in a person, but has not actually become conceivable to him.

The relationship between guru and disciple, as also between God and devotee, is linked by faith. If there is no faith, then there is no relationship. The presence of faith in the disciple makes him aware of the deeper and greater venues of his inner existence. Nothing in the world is difficult if one has faith. It is so spontaneous that if you have faith in your guru, your mantra or your sadhana, it works immediately. If faith is properly directed, you can heal sickness, transfer the power of magnetism to others, and even make an object move by the power of thought. Of course, this degree of faith is very difficult to maintain at all moments of life.

For most of us, faith is a very illusive subject. Faith in guru, what does it mean? Usually, it only means that you are intellectually convinced. But faith is more than this. Faith is a higher energy in a concentrated form. What most of us have is belief, and we always mistake this belief for faith. Belief can fail, and it does sometimes. Intellect fails, but faith is infallible; it will never fail. One is so sure because faith is not an expression of the mind. You understand it through the mind, but you don’t express it through the mind. It has a different source and a different channel.

Faith is much deeper than thought; it is an expression of the inner spirit. As you progress along the path of your evolution, and leave behind you a trail of things- emotions, sentiment, memory, sense objects, and so on, there is a peak of experience where things that come within a certain range of the mind appear to be a reality. That experience is the basis of faith. You may have read many stories of saints, sometimes stories of miracle men, and also the lives of great devotees. Things have happened that cannot be explained in terms of human knowledge. This is due to faith. Therefore, we have to guard our faith. We have to protect it, because intellect and logic kill faith. But if the difference between faith and intellect is properly understood, then both can develop simultaneously in their own directions.

In order to protect faith, to increase and experience it more fully and intimately, the relationship between God and devotee, or guru and disciple, comes first. But this relationship is a matter of total faith. It has to be a living faith. You have to believe, even as you believe in your mother. How do you know that she is your mother? That is faith. In the same way, you have to have faith in God and guru.

What usually happens is that our faith in God is also intellectual, so it is not actually faith at all but an idea. Most of us believe in God. We love, respect and worship him, but nothing happens. Why? That is belief. That is what we have learned from our parents. They have taught us nice things, but these have not become a living experience in our life. There are many people who even kill that little belief in God, by which they have survived on the psycho-emotional level. People say there is no God, and they have arguments about it, thus further damaging their only link with the divine forces.

It is necessary to protect one’s faith and belief. Therefore, the most important thing in life is the relationship between guru and disciple. We need it to fulfil the sublime aspect of our life, and yet it is so difficult to maintain. How can a man have faith in another man? When you are born on the human plane, no matter who you are, you are incomplete, imperfect. The body itself is a replica of imperfection. You are born and you die. You should be immortal, but the body is not.

When a guru is born in the physical body, he lives on the gross plane where he is subjected to imperfect laws. There are many imperfections- he eats, sleeps, talks in the same way as others do. Once you enter a human body, no matter who you are, you are conditioned. When the disciple sees that the guru is conditioned, his faith wanes, for he sees little difference between himself and the guru. He wants guru to exhibit some miracle so that he can have faith in him, but he never does. Any magician can perform miracles, so that is not necessarily an instrument for developing faith.

Faith must be protected and developed by your consistent, intimate, indivisible relationship with guru. The relationship between guru and disciple has been discussed for centuries. We have heard about it and we know that many times it has worked. For instance, you have read the story of Milarepa, the great yogi of Tibet. It is a perfect story of faith.

There was a young boy searching for his guru. One day he came across a married lama who had several disciples. As the boy approached him, the guru demanded:

- What have you come here for ?

- I have come for initiation, the boy replied. The guru went inside and left the boy on the doorstep to ponder why he had really come there. Later, he opened the door and called out:

- Who is there ?

- I am, the boy replied, and I have come for the teachings.

- What, you are still there? the guru shouted, and gave him one kick.

Even after Milarepa had given his initiation fees and had been accepted as a disciple, the situation did not improve, rather it grew worse and worse. Whenever Milarepa asked for the teachings, he received only rebukes and abuse. The guru never allowed him to take his place with the other disciples during any initiation or important event. He always had to remain at the back, outside, or down in the kitchen.

When the guru had finished his meals, he used to keep what little was left in the cupboard for two or three days, and when it had ail gone dry and hard, he would give it to his poor, young disciple. The guru’s wife, being kind hearted, took pity on the boy, and often she would bring him some fresh milk to drink. One day the guru saw Milarepa drinking milk and he shouted in rage:

- You ungrateful cur, now I have caught you stealing my milk!

- I didn’t steal it, the boy replied innocently. Your wife gave it to me.

- Then there must be something going on between the two of you. If you’ve done anything with my wife, I’ll kill you, the guru shouted, and immediately dealt them both several hard blows. Now get out, he said to the boy, you are unfit to stay in my house any longer.

- But where can I go? Milarepa asked.

- Up on the mountain, the guru replied. You can carry stones and build me a house.

So the boy climbed up the mountain and began his arduous sadhana. Every day he brought stones from different purls of the mountain. He worked from sunrise to sunset, until his whole body was bruised and aching, and he could not hoist another stone onto his back. One day the guru came to inspect the work and he saw Milarepa collapsed in exhaustion after carrying a huge boulder from the other side of the mountain.

- So this is how you spend your time, you lazy good for nothing, he shouted at him. Why are you building here when I told you to build further up the mountain. You can’t even follow such simple instructions.

So Milarepa had to dismantle the whole house, stone by stone, carry it all up the mountain and start again. This happened seven times. Each time the house was raised, the guru came along and said to pull it all down and build it in another way. But in spite of all the hardships, pain and anguish imposed on him by the guru, Milarepa never lost faith. He had unflinching, un-shakeable faith in the guru, regardless of his apparent cruelty and hard heartedness.

In most cases, gurus have never been like a kind mother, although they can play that role very well for an ordinary type of disciple. Only to the disciples with faith does the guru show his real nature. For they are made of a different material, and they can withstand the sharp chisel that cuts a beautiful form out of a crude piece of wood.

The story of Milarepa is a great revelation. Most disciples stay with the guru for a few years, until they find some fault in him, then they decide he is not their guru. This is the crisis which occurs in the life of a disciple when there is no faith.

Faith has always been a very important factor in my life, because I have to be with my disciples, and I have to be with my guru as well. In both cases my faith has to be very consistent and constant. If there is any breach in it, the whole show will collapse.

Faith is the greatest asset of man’s personality. If you have faith, you have everything. Without faith, you have nothing. A good husband or wife, a nice house, and plenty of money can cause problems and give rise to doubts. Faith is not a result of external observances, it comes by constant inner awareness, not of the senses or the turbulence and disturbances of the mind, but of the soul, the atma. As you go deeper within and face the inner light, you become faithful. Where there is faith, there is power and enlightenment.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, July, 1980)

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

I have read that one should not eat stale food or food which is not freshly prepared. Nowadays, many people keep most of their food in refrigerators and deep freezers. Is this practice advisable?

All over the world people do not know what they should eat. Most of them depend upon advertisements and they are ignorantly being misled. However, people are gradually waking up to the situation and they have become aware that the tinned and preserved foodstuffs are dangerous for health. These foods are proving to be the carriers of the greatest diseases that mankind has ever suffered. The western countries, including America, have the largest number of deaths due to cancer and coronary diseases. According to medical statistics, 80% of Europeans suffer from rheumatism, and a large number of people suffer from psychological and mental diseases. This is mainly due to the fact that the food we are taught to eat is commercially good but lacking in nutrients.

Not for yoga, but for good health and a sharp mind, it is necessary to have freshly prepared food. It is a matter of common sense that all vegetables undergo a state of chemical transformation, a process of decomposition. Some vegetables also develop fungus. Even if you keep vegetables in air conditioned rooms or freezers, they will definitely develop fungus because they are out of touch with the root, the earth and the heat. Tinned foods contain additives and a lot of preservatives which, according to scientists, are one of the most significant causes of cancer and tumour. Man cannot conceive the dangers that will result if he continues to eat foods grown with artificial fertilisers and preserved with dangerous chemicals.

What do you think are the best foods for the digestion and health of the body?

For the practice of yoga and keeping the mind in a tranquil state, the optimum diet does not necessarily follow the modern dietary system. When the great yogis and saints of the past such as St. Francis, St. Xavier, Ramana Maharshi, Aurobindo, etc. were practising yoga, they fixed their diet in such a way that the food did not stimulate the ‘monster’ in the mind.

We have made certain observations and have found that most people who follow modern dietetics are very active mentally and emotionally. Therefore, when the question of diet is considered, it is necessary for the aspirant to decide what is more important, peace of mind or physical strength. Shall we eat to live or live to eat?

In spite of all the ideas on diet, I have found that people are not keeping good health anywhere.. We stuff our bodies, but our knowledge of diet is based on propaganda which is always dependent on a commercial purpose. It is important for everyone to know that the simplest diet is the best. Therefore, the yoga practitioner should simplify his diet. He should not be too fussy about it because when we practise yoga we alter the inner chemistry and all the digestive enzymes and nutritional properties are renewed.

Another important point to remember is that the food of one region and climate becomes poison in another. In the arctic climate we have another system of diet altogether because the body reacts differently there than in the semi arctic and temperate climates. Therefore, the diet goes along with climatic conditions, and nature itself produces the right things according to this order. For example, you have mangoes in India but not in Norway and Sweden.

I have been considering this question of diet for at least thirty years. I have practised yogic diet on myself and on many others. I have read about practically every system of diet including macrobiotics and have come to one conclusion. The food that burdens the body least, that keeps the temperature right, that allows elimination without difficulty, and that does not stimulate the rajasic tendency, is the best food for the yogi and any sort of yoga practitioner.

For optimum digestion and health, a sattvic diet is best. A sattvic diet is not just simple or vegetarian food. Sattvic foods have a kind of vitality which increases peace, bliss, lightness, clarity, intelligence and illumination. Rice, wheat, vegetables and fruit are sattvic. Anything which makes you physically strong, increases your dynamism and excites the sexual hormones, is rajasic. Milk, meat, onions and garlic are rajasic.

The best food for a yogi is khichari. It is so light you don’t know you are eating it; the stomach never knows it is there, and when it leaves the stomach you never know it has gone. That is the definition of the best diet. The worst diet has the opposite effect: when you are eating it you know it; when it is in the stomach you feel it, and eliminating it is a job. Khichari is easy to prepare, it is the cheapest food, and it is available from the north to the south pole.

What is it? A combination of rice, lentils, vegetables and other enzyme producing constituents all cooked together.

How important is diet to a yoga practitioner?

Some people think that a yogi must have a well balanced nutritious diet, and to these people I say, ‘Why practise yoga at all?’ Yoga gives you nourishment through prana shakti. If this is not true, then there is no need to practise yoga. Yoga conserves vitality and, more important, by concentration, it controls the natural secretion of the hormones from the pituitary body. When the hormones are controlled at their basic root, at the top in the pituitary, they don’t come down. These hormones are then transformed into vitality or ojas.

In yogic physiology, the pituitary is associated with sahasrara, the highest chakra, and hormones are called retas. Normally, these hormones flow into the body and cause different kinds of reactions, destruction, catabolism, anabolism, metabolism, etc. By concentration, however, they can be controlled and kept from flowing downwards. In this way, they are then transformed into prana shakti, the power of vitality, which nourishes the body of a sadhaka. So the belief that a yogi has to take a special diet of fresh vegetables, raw fruits, etc. is not altogether true.

What is your opinion about fasting?

Fasting is usually done for the body, but if the mind is very turbulent then you can also resort to fasting. Buddha and others took to long fasts to purify the mind. When food is in the body it affects the mind, and when the body is not pure, the tranquillity is disturbed. While fasting, the nervous, glandular, digestive and eliminatory systems are at rest. Therefore, you can concentrate or meditate with greater ease.

Fasting purifies the digestive system and gives rest to the coronary system. The heat conserved within the body during fasting helps to eliminate toxins and speed up the process of catabolism. If fasting is carried out correctly, it can influence the structure of kundalini at mooladhara chakra.

I personally believe fasting is good for everybody, but I don’t suggest that people undergo long fasts unless they have the guidance of an expert. For those who want to follow the path of yoga and meditation, the best way to fast is to take food only once a day. When you eat only once in twenty four hours, you will conserve a lot of mental, physical and spiritual energy. You may find it a little difficult at first, but in a short time, you will be completely used to it.

Is it essential for a yoga practitioner to give up meat, alcohol and cigarettes?

You must remember one thing – yoga is part of tantra, and in the tantric system nothing is prohibited. This does not, however, mean that one should indulge in meat, wine and other things indiscriminately. You must always do according to the condition of your health. Instead of thinking whether you can take all these things, you should be considering whether they are good for your health, whether they are necessary for your physical growth, and do you really need them? Therefore, the practitioner of yoga must make a survey of his personal health and if he feels he needs meat, there is no reason why he should not take it. But if he finds that meat is detrimental to his health, increases the blood pressure, causes more toxins in the body, etc. then it is up to him to use his discrimination and give up meat.

Those who have a tendency towards high blood pressure, high cholesterol and excess uric acid in the system, must try to avoid a meat diet. Secondly, those who are suffering from nervous problems, nervous breakdown, depression or traumas, should also avoid meat completely in the interest of their health and not just because they are practising yoga. Thirdly, those who have a very bad liver and are not able to digest properly, should also avoid meat. When you are unable to digest your food properly, during your yoga practices you might have hallucinations and you will misunderstand them for spiritual experiences. When your stomach is bad, you will have a lot of dreams, sometimes horrible dreams. In the same way, a bad stomach influences the experiences of the psychic body.

Similarly, if you are taking intoxicants like marijuana, LSD or alcohol, they will definitely interfere with your psychic experiences. These things influence the nervous system and the brain. When you take intoxicants, your brain does not function at its normal level. When you are practising yoga, this will be a great barrier to the psychic experiences. In short, in order to allow your psychic body to function independently and in order to have true visions and not just hallucinations, it is important that you keep your brain normal, your nervous system strong, and your coronary system intact. Therefore, the practitioner of yoga and anyone who is concerned about their health, should think twice about taking meat or alcohol.

What are the spiritual dangers of eating meat?

Manu Smriti has it that there is no harm in eating meat, in drinking or in having sexual interactions, because these are the tendencies of every being. Nature has created them, but if sometimes you are able to leave them, this will give you speed in spiritual life. Meat eating does not kill spiritual potential, but correct vegetarianism will increase the spiritual experience. It is something like removing a heavy load from your car. Then you’ll find it can travel at a greater speed.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, September, 1980)

What is the goal of yoga?

The primary purpose of the practice of yoga should be to integrate the different planes of one’s personality and at the same time to evolve the consciousness, to gain greater knowledge of oneself. A person should not be thought of as only materialistic, with no spiritual inclination. In the depth of his being, man is searching for truth and he has been trying hard to experience truth. Yoga removes obstacles and confers clarity of consciousness. In this way any person, anywhere in the world, can fulfil his long cherished wish.

Would you say that yoga is not a religion, but that it develops religious consciousness?

Definitely it is not a religion, it is a science. It is based on facts and figures, and it is immediately and intimately concerned with the body and mind. Yet at the same time, for those people who want to have the inner experience, if they feel that other ways of realization have failed, they can definitely groom their minds through the practice of yoga. Yoga confers clarity of mind and controls the behaviour of mind in all its manifestations. Definitely one who wants to live a religious life can fully utilize the benediction of yoga. However, for one who is not religious and has no admiration for religion and does not want it at all, but who wants at the same time to have a body and mind free from disease and full of peace, and a life dedicated to a particular purpose- for such a person yoga is the answer.

With bank notes you can purchase anything you want in the market. In the same way, with clarity of mind and control over consciousness, you will go ahead with your aspirations and live this life in fullness. Yoga is a science.

Nowadays we hear a lot about Chinese yoga, Japanese yoga, Indian yoga and Egyptian yoga. What is the relative value of these approaches?

Today we are living in a time when people have opened their minds. Every culture has become conscious of the science of yoga already existing in their country and they prefer to brand it in the name of Indian yoga, Chinese yoga, Japanese yoga and maybe even European yoga also. I do not mind the various brand names. For me it is not the kind of yoga but the purpose of yoga which is important. It is the evolution of the collective consciousness that is important, and if that purpose can be accomplished by Chinese yoga, or Japanese yoga or Egyptian yoga or maybe Occidental yoga, well and good. However, if Indian yoga, Japanese, Chinese, Egyptian or Occidental yoga is leading the human consciousness from inner experience to external convention and split personalities, than no matter what it is called, we should reject it.

Yoga is absolute mastery over the functions of the mind; yoga is absolute equilibrium and equipoise in any situation. Yoga is the ability to experience what we have not experienced up until now. The scientists have gone far into the galaxies, discovering them, but more important, every individual should enter into the inner galaxies of his own existence and should discover greater formations and expressions of that existence. Life is not only this, it is much more. If any yoga can teach this, we welcome it from the depths of our hearts. It does not matter what brand it carries, we are open to its benediction.

How far is teaching yoga compatible with earning money?

If one is dedicated to the dissemination of yoga for the benefit of mankind then he has to be very practical and this practicality should be in absolute confluence with his organization. If the ideal and the organization do not move together then there will be some kind of imbalance and then it will not be possible for you to disseminate this life-saving science to more and more people. As well as this, in society there must be a balance in the exchange of what we possess. If we do not adhere to this the balance is disturbed. When a student comes to you and wants to learn yoga, you accept the fee from him and you give him the lessons in yoga-there is a mutual contribution. However, if the teacher is suffering from personal guilt and does not like this mutual exchange to take place he will create an imbalance.

In our modern society when we teach yoga a certain remuneration for the teacher is fit and proper. He uses this for the improvement of his institution, for his family, and so that he does not have to work at another job, but can devote his whole time to the study and teaching of yoga. He can also have all kinds of yoga literature in his library and can afford to go a number of times to India or elsewhere to increase his knowledge.

In India we do not practice this because there is an understanding of the true situation faced by a teacher. When a disciple comes to the teacher to learn yoga he definitely knows that the teacher has to subsist and also maintain the whole organization. The disciple does not pay a fixed remuneration, but he offers what he is capable of giving. If he is a millionaire businessman, he may give 10,000 rupees, but if he is a farmer he may give only 10 rupees, and if he has no money, he may just give one bag of rice. This is how the yoga institutions in India have been maintained from the very beginning, but in countries where this tradition is not present, remuneration must be on a practical level. I also urge that all the yoga teachers, yoga exponents and yoga minded people should not say that one is ‘selling yoga’. I think that people who say this are not very aware of the facts of organization or of the facts of life. There should be a liberal give and take business so that the teacher can develop his institution, and himself, in all dimensions. A solid monetary foundation is essential and there must be unanimity on this issue.

In many places the subject of tantra is taboo. Are the people of today ready for it?

What I mean by tantra and what the rishis understand by tantra is the way to ‘stretch the mind and liberate it from matter’. This is tantra, and many people are searching for it.

Are there any practices we could do from today?

Yes, I will give you two Aum practices.

Practice 1: Take your mind to mooladhara chakra situated in the perineal area, and with the help of ujjayi pranayama breathe in and up through the spinal passage. That is, on inhalation direct your mind up through the spinal passage. Come up to ajna chakra at the top of the spine directly behind the eyebrow centre, and stop there for three seconds. Concentrate on ajna and then chant a-u-u-m-m-m-m-m. . . conducting the vibrations down the spinal passage through ajna, vishuddhi, anahata, manipura, swadhisthana, and mooladhara. Concentrate on mooladhara for three seconds, then inhale and ascend again with the breath. Practice this for ten minutes every day.

Practice 2: In the same way, breathe up through the spinal passage to ajna and retain the breath and awareness there for three seconds. Then practice awn but in the following way: Aum, aum, aum, aum, aum, aum. Go down the spinal passage, jumping from one chakra to the next in order. Pass through ajna, vishuddhi, anahata, manipura, swadhisthana and mooladhara. Up and down, up and down, go on jumping like a frog for ten minutes. The practices for initiation into tantra are complete for today.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, January 1979)

Swami Nirvikalpananda Saraswati

Sutra 1:19

The videha and prakritilaya yogis have birth as the cause of asamprajnata samadhi.

- Tell me more about the land of Samadhi, Sadhaka begged the rishi the next evening. Does it take a long-time before you reach Nirvikalpa?

- That depends, answered the rishi. For most people the journey is very long – many lifetimes may pass before they reach their goal – but it varies. Some can reach it in just a few years. Anyway, the journey is so beautiful that it really doesn’t matter how long it takes.

- Why does it take more time for some people and less for others? asked Sadhaka.

- You see, it depends on their karma. There are, for example, some people who travel through the land of Samadhi and reach as far as these rivers we talked about, called Asamprajnata Samadhi. But before they can go further, Yama, the god of death, calls them, and they have to go to his abode for some time. Later on they are born as small children again, and as they already once have been as far as Asamprajnata Samadhi, they know the way and are able to proceed much faster than other people. They can reach Nirvikalpa when they are not much older than you are right now.

- What does karma mean? asked Sadhaka. I don’t understand that completely.

- Karma is the law of cause and effect. You see, man is like a farmer, sowing his field of life with the grain of actions. Thinking that he won’t have to eat the harvest of what he sows, he often doesn’t care about the quality of seeds he puts into the soil. He doesn’t care whether the grain is good or bad, if the soil and climate are auspicious for that kind of grain, or if the grain is sown in the right way according to the laws of truth.

After having sown his field of life, man goes to the abode of Yama to rest for some time. Meanwhile the grain he has sown grows, and when he comes back to earth the grain is ready to harvest. If he has sown his field with bad grain, he will get a bad harvest; likewise, if the field was sown with good grain, his harvest will be good. This is called the law of karma.

- Now I understand it better, said Sadhaka. But how can other people, who haven’t this auspicious karma, reach Asamprajnata Samadhi?

- That, said the rishi, I will tell you more about tomorrow.

Thus ended their talk that evening.

(Courtesy: Yoga Magazine September 1977)