Control the Breath, Control the Mind

I woke up this morning and sat down to meditate. I was in a little bit of a hurry, so I decided I would get right to "the good part."

So I said a few oms and proceeded to go to that state of being.

It started well. I started smiling a little...

But shortly after I'd begun, I realized I was in the middle of a thought. It was a good thought, but a thought nonetheless.

Realizing that, I let it go. After all, thoughts happen - it's a part of meditation.

Then another thought came which I found myself engaging with. My mind is active this morning! It took a few moments to disentangle myself from it, and then I entered back into meditation.

Then another and another came, all quite vibrant and with more frequency than normal. What was going on? Why was I so distractible this morning?

I realized the problem: I had skipped the deep breathing part of my meditation.

"Control the breath, control the mind." I had forgotten the importance of this, and thought I could just rush through my practice.

All the little rituals we do in our practice have good reasons, which we sometimes forget. Meditating at the same time every day for consistency, chanting om, doing cleansing breathing exercises, deep breathing, counting to help elongate the breaths, etc., are all important parts of a solid meditation practice.

Even with deep breathing, thoughts will come, but they are more manageable and easier to let go, along with the emotions that are sometimes attached to them.

Enjoy your practice.

Keep Your Spiritual Techniques Handy

From Gautam Baiji's satsang:

"In the kitchen you have two white powders. One is sugar, and one is salt. How do we know which is which? 

We have to taste it for ourselves.

You don't need blind faith (for your spiritual practice). Whatever technique you got from here, just practice it. And match it according to your scriptures.

We have the techniques, but do we try to practice them? 'Oh Baiji, we get so tired. You don't have to go to a job. We work eight hours and drive for three hours in traffic. I don't get a chance to do meditation, to have that kind of experience. 

'We have time for breakfast, we have time for a shower, we have time for work, for shopping, we have time for everything (essential), but for meditation, we get sooo tired. We have family, we have so many responsibilities.'

Meditation you are doing for whom? Yourself, right?

We have our spirit and our body. Soul and body. We should feed both, right? You have one son and one daughter, but if you feed just one, the other gets sick, right? You have a duty to feed both.

We have two eyes, we have to wash both, right? You never say, 'I don't have time, let me just wash one side of my face. My office is such a way that where I sit, people only see my right side, my left side they cannot see, so let me just wash and make up my right side.'

We don't do this. We get up early and take care of the whole body. We never think our soul needs care. We are feeding only our body.

We make sure we buy what's in season for our body. Fresh fruit in its right time.

But what about the soul?

Our saints say to keep our attention on our body and soul.

At least 20 hours, think of your body. Four for the soul. Or just one!

The techniques you learn are in your pocket, ready to use, right? Don't keep them there. Keep them handy!"

Gautam Baiji Asks For Just a Few Minutes a Day - Satsang About Meditation

We all are like candles.
You know how much power is in a candle
A candle looks very small, but when we light it, it dispels the darkness, gives us light, and with light, we can get whatever we want

So when we get together, we learn good things from each other
You are not learning only from baijis

Sometimes we all learn from each other

This universe is like a university
And when God made us, he put good things in everyone
Everyone has good skills to teach
Once we collect and learn that good knowledge, our life will become good

And wherever we go we will spread the goodness and knowledge
And that way, we can help society

Because sometimes we think we should do some kind of charity
We might make food, or give to poor and needy people

But when you give someone food this month, what happens next time?
The person will have hunger again
But you cannot feed them all the time

So the best thing is - we don't need to feed them fish
We need to show them how to catch the fish themselves

If we are in peace, we can spread the peace

It's like perfume - people will get whatever scent you are using

The same way - if we have peace, we can give peace to others

How can we do that?
Whenever we go to any church, any temple, we feel peace
We feel happiness because we are getting something

But you have to go to your job, you have to go to college, you have to go home
What will we do there?

How can we bring the peace we get from the ashram everywhere?
How can we maintain that?

We have to make a discipline in our life
We have to make a rule in our life
We give importance to many things,
But we have to give importance to meditation

If you meditate every day...
I'm not saying for one hour, or two hours, or more than that
Just a few minutes

That means we are recharging our battery
And you all know how the cell phone needs that
If it's charged, we can do whatever we want
We can take video, we can record bhajans, listen to songs
And we can enjoy the whole day if we recharge it

The same way we can recharge our life

(to be continued)

Peace of Mind Ain't for Sale - A Poem

Peace of Mind Ain't For Sale

When life throws you lemons, and you just want to throw them back…

When the road splits in half, and demons leap out to attack…

When life pricks you, bleeds you, makes you tempted to cuss

When we’re too busy row-row-rowing-to-see life’s-but-a-dream-all-around-us…  

>And you’re feeling the squeeze…

In that dreamland we call reality there’s a temptation

To distract our self from life’s pain with medication

But if thousands of years of practice are any indication

The true alleviation for what ails us, is meditation    

>In lotus, if you please

Because the companies can’t bottle and sell soul rejuvenation!

So in desperation they push sedation on the population

To stop the contemplation that there’s a direct correlation between our agitation

from spiritual starvation that leads to a lack of liberation with no salvation  

>Possibly connected to all the new disease

Now I know there’s exceptions, just don’t let-em predominate 

Remember the goal, it’s for your soul-union I advocate...

So look around, you’ll see there’s no public indignation

People shrug and indulge their addictions with resignation

Big pharma media’s smoke and mirrors obfuscation

Ensures people will line up like sheep for slow-drip stimulation     

>Their reprise...

Is BRING DOWN YOUR HEART RATE

IMPROVE YOUR FLOW RATE

YOU’LL NEVER AGAIN GAIN WEIGHT

OPEN THE FLOODGATES     

>To your dis—ease

Causing us to say, “I got no time for self-realization

Don’t need to hear ‘bout karma and reincarnation

I reject meaningful conversation ‘bout sun salutation

Now let me go back to my inebriated hibernation    

>We’ve become whose devotees?

But… become the hero of your story and you’ll stay free through meditation

You’ll realize it’s nature’s most organic vaccination

Against life’s roughest and toughest tribulations  

And the only place you’ll hear this kind spiritual articulation   

>Is in rooms like these

But wait – society has other distractions to fill up our God hole

With things that steal the present moment and-I-think-you-know-exactly-what-I-mean - but our goal

Should be to look at ourselves with God’s eyes before we need real damage control

Nothing should divert us from hearing the voice of our soul       

>And that voice is saying please…

And even you Matrix escapees, spiritual devotees, spiritual sojourners who aren’t just sightseers

Can sometimes relapse and let in that insidious ego puppeteer

Let it distract us, extract us from our inner seer

And all that realization just… disappears     

>It gets better but, the challenge never ceases

So listen well, because it’s never too late

To get your real power back and set yourSelf straight

That’s Self with a capital S

Tap in often, you’ve got the access

No need to guess or get distressed

Just Keep practicing, don’t digress   

>And at the very least increase your peace

Meditate, don’t take their bait

Meditate, don’t play their game,

Your higher self will be your guide

Go inside, the truth won’t hide

Meditate and your life

Will be

Blessed.

>Peace.                                                              

                                                          

© Scott Ware, 2016 (to be featured in an upcoming DAYC publication)

Your Favorite Place(s) to Meditate

Whether we meditate every morning for ten minutes or an hour, we usually have a place at home that is quiet, dark and private.

We prefer no distractions, because the mind is distracting enough.

We may also have a place outside our home we like to visit where it is easy to meditate.

It could be a temple, a church, a park, a forest, the mountains, or the beach. There's something about being out in nature...

We can't get there as often as we'd like, but we can imagine it in a heartbeat, and remember the good feelings we have when we're there.

And then there are the places in between. Smaller, more accessible places that still manage to put us in a meditative mood.

It could be something in our own backyard, perhaps a fountain or a garden area near the patio.

This a photo I found that I'd like to recreate one day. It's been a very nice screensaver.

Do you have favorite places you like to go?

Finding Onions When You Expect Oranges

Satsang by Mahatma Gautumbaiji

When we pray, we say:

"Oh God, please lead us from darkness to light.
Lead us from untruth to truth.
Lead us from mortal to immortality."

But we never think about that.
We only sing it (in our bhajans) - we never try to walk on that path.
We cannot get anywhere just be reading about it

But if we practice, we can get whatever we want.

Someone asked Buddha, "What do you get from meditation?"

"Nothing," was his reply. "But if you ask me what I lost, I will tell you I lost my anger. I lost my desire. I lost depression, anxiety, fear of old age and death." 

When a person starts doing meditation, he or she starts moving into reality.

Life is a dream, and dream and reality are very different.

One girl loves a boy. They are very happy. But when they get married, they notice they change. Same person, different perspectives.  

One says, "When we met, you were a totally different person. Why the change?" 

Change should come, especially if you are sowing any seeds. 
Are the seeds changing, or not?

Why don't we accept that change?

The seed is changing slowly, slowly. 
You nurture the plant to help it along
You make a nice planter, you water it every day. 
But after a certain time, you don't need to water it every day. (change)
Then maybe you transfer it into the ground because it needs more room to put down roots.
And it grows into a big tree.

Sometimes in this world, we forget to face this reality.
Everyone wants the truth in their life, but we don't want to face the reality.
We want it our way, a way that causes no pain or sorrow.

We want to change the onion into an orange.
That's our problem - we are trying to change it.

We may think we didn't want the onion, but what goes better in soup?
The onion. It will make your soup more tasty.

Why are we coming here (to satsang at the ashram)?
What is our goal?

We are using our time, sitting here for two hours.
Our time is precious, it's hard to do.

But we know we are coming here for our goal: peace.

But how will we get it?

A new person came here, and I said, "This place is unique. You will get everything here. Everything means everything. But always remember and don't forget your goal. What is my goal?"

Just like shopping at the mall. You never forget why you are there. Are you buying a nice dress? You do that right away, especially if you have a time limit, and then if you have extra time, you do other things. You achieved your goal.

The same way we came to this planet. We must remember our goal.
It's a big mall, everything is here, but always keep in your mind your goal.
If you remember that, then you will achieve it. You will fill your bag with what you want and be able to enjoy your life deeply.
But if you fill your bag with other things...

Your "glass" will be full, and you'll run out of time to get anything else...

So we must practice.

Can I play tabla like Dada? Not without practice.
Can I sing like Baiji? Not without practice.

No time? We always make time to feed our belly. We just open the refrigerator and eat.

Why don't we make it a priority to feed our soul?

What is Om?

OM is the most often chanted sound among all the sacred sounds on earth. This sound is considered as the sound of the existence.

It is believed that the whole universe, in its fundamental form, is made up of vibrating, pulsating energy. Om is considered as the humming sound of this cosmic energy.

 

Om is an incredibly resonant sound that naturally draws us into its warm, vast, absorbing and embracing sound. 

Continuous Om Chanting generates and stabilizes our prana, cleanses us both physiologically and psychically, clears and steadies the mind, opens the heart and allows us to rest into consciousness itself.

“Om” is said to be the primordial sound born with the universe. As we exhale the A-U-M, its vibration links us to the original source of creation. When done properly, the sound reverberates from the pelvic floor upward through the crown of the head, filling the body with pulsating energy that simultaneously empowers and radiates tranquility.

OM is said to be the original primordial creative sound from which the entire universe have  manifested. It is also known as the ‘Anahat Nada’, the “Unstruck Sound.” This means the sound that is not made by two things striking together.

If you observe the nature of sound you’ll find that all ordinary audible sound are produced by the striking of two objects: bow and strings, drum and stick, two vocal cords, waves against the shore, winds against the leaves, bat against the ball, tires against the road etc. In short all sounds within our range of listening are produces by things visible or invisible, striking each other or vibrating together, resulting in pulsating waves of air molecules which we interprets as sound.

In contrast to the above, OM is the sound which is not the result of the striking of two objects. It, rather emanates on its own. It is the primal sound of the universe that contains all sounds in itself.

This single word produces the sound and vibration which allows you to feel at one with the universe. 

Meditation: Doors Open That You Didn't Know Existed - Satsang by Graciela Eichenger

"Some religions think you have to suffer here on Earth to get to Heaven. We don't know. Hindu people believe in karma. Maybe yes, we don't know. Now there are scientists that are starting to prove that many things we do in this life 'come with us' through our DNA - the thoughts, emotions, everything. So everyone has 'a little book.'

To me, we are here to be happy. That is the commandment that I think we have to follow.

So how do we do that?

One day, doors opened for me to get happiness. For me, it's been through meditation. When you do that, doors open for you that you didn't know existed. And things start happening to you, changes start happening. You don't know what happened, you can't explain to anybody what happened, but something's changed inside of you.

You're softer with people, more understanding, more loving with people. You are changing a lot.

And this is most important for me, because when you feel that way (or you try, because it's hard work), you realize we're all part of everyone... we're all like mirrors. What happens to me affects you and everybody, and vice versa.

That's my idea about life. Meditation is the most important thing."

We Also Have a "Spiritual Birth" - Satsang by Jigna Pandya, part 2

Jigna Pandya satsang excerpts:

“Why do we do satsang?

We are born once by our mother, and we have a second birth as well, a spiritual birth. When we go to a spiritual place, and we listen to the spiritual discourses (satsang), we learn different values, we use them in life, we learn what is right from wrong, and eventually we learn meditation. 

Through a saint we connect with the truth through satsang. The saint helps us unite our body with the truth that is within us. The body is just to hold the soul. That soul is on this Earth for a specific reason. We get our second birth when a saint teaches us the knowledge and we meditate, a very important step for us to take.

Just existing inside the human body is not the ultimate goal! We exist with all the animals, but the human is the crown of creation. After how many births are we given this particular human birth? It’s for a specific reason. We ask the saints, “Am I just existing to eat, drink and be merry?” No, there is something beyond that.

What is that energy within us that makes us do things? Why do we think, why do we act? If that energy is gone, it’s a dead body. There’s not even a name for that. When I was born, I was given the name Jigna. When I’m gone, the body is called “the late Jigna.”

So what is gone? The body’s still there. What’s gone is the soul within us. And what is the soul? What is that specific energy that exists in all of us? It’s the same in all of us, and it’s the key to moving from physical birth to spiritual birth. That’s why we come to satsang at the ashram.

I recommend you all take advantage of the baijis’ presence. Come as much as you can, sit with them, ask questions, any “stupid” question you can ask: “What am I supposed to do, why am I here?” and the baijis will give you their knowledge. They will reference the scriptures, the bible. They will show you how Lord Rama took the words from his mother, why Jesus was born.

In the meantime, be the best human being you can be, and radiate that good energy out in the world to make a difference, like the baijis are doing.”

"It's a Truly Special Place" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

Why do you come to Divine Art of Yoga Center ashram?

Scott: It’s a truly special place. There's always good energy, and you get a lot of warmth from the community of people there, who may be coming from different places but it's clear they're on a spiritual path, and that inspires me. Plus, I can do yoga for the fitness benefits as well as the spiritual element. I can practice breathing and meditation techniques that have numerous benefits, including calming the mind and going deeper inside myself. I get knowledge on the deeper parts of life, like the role of the ego, managing my energy/chakras and my overall health and well-being. I get spiritual guidance from the Mahatmas on any subject, like decreasing suffering in general and attaining enlightenment. And we truly experience the meaning of Namaste, “the divine within me honors the divine within you.” With all this, how could I stay away? 

What If It Cost Money to Meditate?

I was listening to a recording of one of Gautum Baiji's satsangs, and she seemed to suggest we should meditate as insurance against the tougher moments of life.

When I asked her about it later, she agreed.

Baiji reminds us that life is like an ocean, and many times there will be smooth sailing. But there will always be waves too. How we ride out the waves in our boat will determine the quality of our life.

So if we know the waves will come, shouldn't we prepare for them so we don't get thrown overboard?

We buy health insurance because we know we will need it at some point. We get home insurance and car insurance for similar protection.

Why don't we give ourselves meditation insurance that would provide well-being protection?

Do we think we're somehow done experiencing problems? Did we "win" at life already?

I wonder if meditation cost money, would we appreciate it more? If we had to run our debit card through a little machine and pay $40 for 10 minutes of meditation, or $125 for an hour (what a therapist charges), maybe we'd even be lining up for it.


Going within actually takes very little effort. The least amount of effort. So little effort, that our mind wants to fight us and keep us busy so we don't meditate.

But practice is all it takes.

Peace be with you.

If You Skip Meditation, You Skip Your Deepest Self - Satsang by Gautum Baiji

A few weeks ago, Gautum Baiji spoke about how we won't get the realization benefits in meditation if we don't commit to the practice in the first place:

"We all know God is within us, but when a problem comes, we never go inward.

Where do we go? We try to get help from outside.

Meditation is there, but where is the trust? If trust is not there, meditation is not going to help you.

So what do we have to do? How can we get that trust? We can't buy it from a store.

Sometimes we do meditation, but if we are not 'realizing' then we cannot get that kind of trust.

We sit around for 15 or 20 minutes and think, 'You told me you can see this or that, and I don't know why I can't realize these things when I meditate.'

We say, 'God is light,' 'God, you are within me...' but as long as we don't know, we won't achieve what we're looking for.

We have to know first.

So how can we know?

We already know about deep breathing, but sometimes when we sit, we have to check where our mind is. We are sitting for meditation, but is our mind there or not? The mind is thinking something else.

Someone was telling me, 'You know, in the early morning, we cannot do meditation.' Why? 'Because when we get up, our minds go immediately to our job. We have to take showers, we have to make breakfast, we have to do this, we have to do that...' The list is there. And you skip meditation.

Did you ever skip anything else? Do you ever skip breakfast? No, you always have breakfast. Did you ever skip your shower? No, because if you go without showering, other people will not sit around you. So you are very careful.

So if you make time for everything else, why not for meditation? For breakfast, for shower, you get up one hour earlier, right? So we can get up 15 minutes (or more) early for meditation.

(Once we cultivate that, we have a place to go when problems happen in our lives.)

If you think this is a very important practice, then you make it a rule. And if you are making a rule, you will carry it forward in your life."

"I Come for Meditation and Spiritual Realization" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

Why do you come to Divine Art of Yoga Center ashram?

Vijay: "I specifically come for meditation and spiritual realization. I have learned to keep my mind calm for any situation that comes up. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, that kind of knowledge is available to anyone. Full control of your mind gives you the ability to achieve whatever you want, whatever your goals are. It's difficult to explain this to people unless they come here - it has to be experienced, especially the baijis' satsang (spiritual discourses)."

The Difference Between Belief and Faith - Satsang by Gautum Baiji

Gautum Baiji shared a story of Hanumanji and his great faith and devotion to Rama (God).

When Hanumanji was given a gift of a beautiful pearl necklace, he started breaking it apart. When someone asked why he was doing that to the precious necklace, he said he was trying to find Rama in the pieces. If Rama wasn’t there, why did he need the necklace?

People laughed at him and told him because he lived in the jungle, he didn’t know the value of the necklace.

Hanumanji was trying to show them that actually, Rama is everywhere; he is omnipresent. Rama is in my heart, in your heart, everywhere. At this point in the story, Hanuman opens his chest and shows that Rama is indeed inside his heart.

How can we get that kind of strength to have that kind of faith? That kind of bhakti and devotion? Hanumanji had no ego – how do you get that?

We all believe in God. But believing and faith are different. We believe there is oil underground, but is that enough to run our cars? No – we have to dig, look for it, pull it out, and then we can drive our cars.

So believing and faith are different. With Believing, we are not sure. With Faith, we are sure, 100%. We know. Hanumanji had that kind of faith.

To get that faith, that fruit from the tree (the kind you cannot buy in any stores), you have to put a seed in the ground. You nurture it by watering it, feeding it, cultivating it. This is the first thing to know.*

The second thing: If a stranger comes to your home, do you ever say, “Oh please stay at my house for free, we have so many rooms for you." We don’t do this because we don’t know anything about them. How can we have faith that they will be okay to stay in our home? You get to know them, you talk with them, you become friends, and then you have the faith to say, “You can stay in my home.” 

We would never invite a thief into our house, right? “I have so much gold jewelry, a diamond necklace – what time do you want to come, Thief?”

Yet why do we let negative thoughts come into our minds, to stay there and live? Why are we giving these negative thoughts a chance to steal our happiness? Steal our joy, our bliss? When we do this, we get depressed, tense, and worse.

What we want to bring into our life is up to us.

That’s why satsang is very necessary because it's a positive force for us. Listen to it as much as you can.

Rama asked one of the Rishi: show me the place where I can live so people will have joy and not have problems.

Rishi answered: Rama, you are everywhere. But still, if you are asking me, just live in those hearts of people whose ears are like oceans. Live in the hearts of those who love satsang, who listens to your glory. We can get all our questions answered only by satsang.