You Will Leave It Too

Dr. Madhu Patel told this story at Satsang:

One Sunday morning there was a wealthy man who was sitting on his balcony. He was having his coffee and enjoying the sunshine.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed an ant carrying a big leaf. The leaf was several times the size of the ant, but he managed to carry it across the floor of the balcony.

For almost an hour the man watched as the ant encountered obstacle after obstacle. It would pause occasionally, or take a detour from his path. Whatever was necessary to complete its mission.

Once, the ant encountered a crack he couldn't cross. So he put the leaf over the crack, crossed it like it was a bridge, then picked it up again and "carried" on toward his destination.

The man was amazed that one of God's tiniest creatures had so much to ability to get a task done. Even though it was so small, it had the brains to reason, to contemplate, explore, discover, and overcome any stumbling blocks.

Then, it finally reached its destination: a tiny hole in the floor that led to his underground dwelling. The man wondered how this leaf was going to fit into that tiny hole.

After all, the ant had managed all the obstacles and difficulties, had come all that way, with all that hard work, using all his skills... but ultimately it had to leave the leaf behind in order to enter his home.

The ant probably never thought about the end before he began his challenging journey, what a burden it was. And the creature had no option but to leave the leaf behind to reach his destination.

The man thought about this and related it to humans. He thought, "We worry so much about our family, our jobs, how we are going to earn a living, where we're going to live, what kind of car we're going to buy, what kind of clothes we're going to wear, what kind of upgrades we're going to make to our appliances and gadgets that we have...

Only to abandon all these things when we reach our final destination. We'll just leave it before we go.

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!"

Wednesday Night Pranayam (Yogic Breathing, Meditation, Om-Chanting class)

This is only SOME of the devotees and members who come on Wednesday for deep breathing and meditation. Everyone always glows afterward!

Note: The last blog entry is active - the audio has been repaired. You may now hear Gautam Baiji's satsang, along with Tara and Nishma sharing their wonderful experiences at the ashrams in Nepal!

The Ashrams in Nepal Welcome You With Open Arms

Update: the audio link has been fixed. You may now click the link and listen:

This Sunday, Nishma and her mother Tara returned from the ashrams in Nepal and shared their experiences there. Everyone in the room was fascinated.

(One person told me afterward they were so inspired by what Nishma said, they are going to plan a trip to the ashrams as well.)

You can listen HERE.

Gautam Baiji does satsang first, then at 19:58 Tara speaks, and then Nishma shares at 25:40. You won't regret it.

The Path to Enlightenment is as Sharp and Narrow as a "Razor's Edge"

I was finally watching the famous American movie about a spiritual seeker called "The Razor's Edge" from 1946 starring Tyrone Powers, and a number of discoveries occurred for me.

First, the film is about an adventurous man who goes off to find himself, and at first I was frustrated because the movie is vague about what he's seeking and what he discovers.

He finally gets some answers when he winds up at an Ashram in India. There, a guru tells him we're like "raindrops from Heaven being reunited with the sea that created us."

He also tells him about the three paths to God (faith/worship; good works/seva; and the pursuit of knowledge). Here is a link to the scene.

Later the guru can see that he has discovered that "You and God are one."

"Yes" he replies, with a look of wonder in his eyes. You can see it here.

His character gets challenged in many ways after this enlightenment, and he handles these challenges with amazing grace due to the deep peace he has found within himself.

SO THEN I researched the story, and it turns out the main character was based on Christopher Isherwood, a writer who was into yoga and Hinduism long before the Beatles discovered Eastern religions and helped popularize it in the United States.

"Isherwood became a disciple of the Hindu monk, Swami Prabhavananda, the leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He was introduced to the Swami in 1940 by his friends Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard. Isherwood studied Hindu philosophy, translated sacred texts, and practiced meditation and yoga from 1940 until his death in 1986. He also reviewed books and wrote articles for the Society’s newsletter, Vedanta for the Western World. His short story, “The Wishing Tree,” is considered a model of the parable form and a key to understanding the Hindu idea of karma."

I found this book for free on the internet and it's an amazing collection of essays that's easy reading for "westerners." Gautam Baiji agreed it would be a good book to share, so here is a link. Also here. Spiritual seekers will enjoy this book!

Isherwood even writes the introduction, which in itself is an excellent primer on divine spirituality.

What Does Lord Ganesh Symbolize?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

Lord Ganesh is teaching us so many things.

Ganesh's head is big to remind us to think big. High thinking. In our culture, we say simple living and high thinking.

His eyes are very small to remind us to concentrate. You will not have success if you don't concentrate on your task.

His large ears remind us to listen more, talk less, so we can learn.

His trunk allows for two things - he can eat and drink. Two senses are working together. Your thoughts and actions need to match for a peaceful life.

He has one broken tusk. This happened because he was writing an important speech and his pencil broke, so he broke his tusk to finish the task. We should all strive to complete the tasks we start.

His big stomach signifies that we should peacefully digest all that is good and bad in life.

There is always a small mouse with Ganesh. This is the symbol of desire, reminding us to keep our desires small, and not to let them take us for a ride. Control is important.


Sweets are at his feet to remind us that the world is at our feet if we pray to the holy name.

What is the holy name? It is within us.

God is everywhere. The only people who take advantage of that are those who know that, who know about the energy all around us.

Ganesh says if you remember the holy name, the world will be at your feet. Also your thinking will get changed, your actions will be changed, and you will get sweetness in your life (like the laddu). Then you will spread the sweetness as well.

Ganesh has two wives! Why two? Most Indians only have one because one is enough!

One is the symbol of wealth, the other wisdom. If you remember the holy name, wealth and wisdom will come automatically.

He also holds an ax, which cuts off ignorance and attachment. 

Would You Allow a Mahatma to Wash Your Dirty Dish?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

I want to share this with you - last week a bhajan singer came to the ashram. Dada (the tabla player) brought him along.

He was a very good classical singer. He sang so many nice bhajans here... and that guy was down to earth! He was so good.

He was here during lunch and I told him there was food ready, that he could join us if he wanted to. He said, "I already ate lunch, but I will have tea."

So I served him tea.

Afterwards, when he got up to leave, I also got up and started to pick up the plates and cups and everything...*

He said, "No no, please don't pick up my plate and cup."

I said, "No, it's okay, I can wash them."

He said, "I don't want to give them to you because my guru taught me not to give up a chance to do seva. Why should I give anyone, especially a Mahatma! - my dirty dishes? How can you think that?"

He's here, but still he remembers his guru! This is a small thing, not a big thing, but by that we can learn. There are a few things we cannot teach you directly,** but there are few things we can learn and accept.***

I feel so good about his guru. The guru may not have said, "Don't give up your dirty dishes." But he taught him well, and that even the small things matter.


* As a public place, they keep the kitchen very clean and wash any dishes immediately.

** The Mahatmas devote their lives to serving others, and yet they are so treasured as living saints that true devotees don't allow them to do very much work for them - they would do anything to help with their burden. Which is good, because they don't like to ask for help - they are the ones devoted to helping others, right - how can they ask? They are sooo busy - to run an ashram 24 hours a day, 7 days a week demands they receive and meet with visitors; take phone calls around the clock, frequently to counsel people; plan their satsangs; prepare meals; clean, clean, clean; lead yoga and meditation classes; plan future events; and much, much more, just to enrich our lives. Most devotees consider it an honor to be able to help in any way possible (seva).

*** No one has to do anything. This is simply for those who see the value in devotion and seva and its role in helping us conquer our ego and get closer to God. 

Should We Change?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

"Like Vibhisina, who was the greatest devotee of Lord Rama, sometimes we think that when we keep good company, that's enough for us to get changed and do good things.

But sometimes our samskaras (our psychological imprint; our nature) don't let us change. A person could be listening to satsang for many, many years but if you look at him or her, the person is the same! There's no change.

Who's fault is that? The Mahatma's? The ashram's? Or the person's fault?

Sometimes the kids fight with the parents, or hear the parents fighting with each other, and then ask their parents, "What did you learn from the ashram? Why are you fighting so much?"

The secret? Only fight when you're alone - don't let the kids hear!

What if your son was going to school for a long time and still didn't know his abc's? What happens?

Questions arise in your mind. "I'm sending him every day to school, but still he is not learning his abc's. Something is wrong there!"

Maybe the kid cannot hear. Maybe he cannot see, or isn't giving attention to it...

Either you will come up with the solution to the learning problem, or you will let it go, saying, "Oh, that's fine. My duty is just to feed him, clothe him, give him supplies, that's it."

What would you do?

You will try to find out the problem.

You will try to make it better.

It's the same with us who attend satsang again and again.

(We must be diligent and willing to face the Truth of our weaknesses to get liberation. Who's going to do it for us if we won't?)

Wonderful Music and a Thousand Acts of Kindness

As the sun went down and the air cooled, the musicians at the Hindustani Classical Concert yesterday at Divine Art of Yoga Center performed music that transported you, even transformed you...

But behind the scenes, dozens of volunteers performed a thousand acts of kindness to help make the event happen.

With the inspiration of Mahatma Rammurti Baiji and Mahatma Gautam Baiji, a crew of devotees generously donated their time and resources to cook delicious homemade Indian food, set up chairs and tables, facilitate parking, and more, all for a good cause: proceeds would go to the ashram in Kathmandu for orphans and the elderly. We all worked together as one. 

Aside from meditation, I don't know any better way to experience oneness than working together with an exceptional group of people to create such an experience for 350 people. Seva is giving, but it's also a gift we give yourselves for our own spiritual path.

If God is love, then we surely experienced both for the duration of the event.

- Scott Ware

God Gives You 24 Hours a Day - What Will You Do With Them?

Krishna in the Gita said, “If someone puts poison in your mouth, there is a chance to cure that. But if someone puts poison in your ear, there is no medicine for that.” So save your ears!

Poison can come from anywhere – negativity comes so fast, you don’t have to chase it down. It comes without asking.

How can we deal with these things (that threaten to distract us from our path)? The laziest and easiest way is to get satsang. Nowadays there are hundreds of mahatmas on youtube, so you can listen on your phone. Here you cannot turn it off, but with your phone, it’s easy.

So because it’s so easy, you can’t say, “I wanted to listen to satsang, but I didn’t have time.” God gives you 24 hours a day. It’s up to you how much of that time you’ll spend on yourself. Then you might even start singing bhajans!

When you have a good thought, it’s good to share it. Because if you have one dollar, some people might say “Give it to others.” What is left? Nothing, right?

But if you have one good thought, and you are sharing it with other people, what happens? You still have it – nobody can take it away.

While we are sitting here (in satsang) it’s up to you, you can think whatever you want. If you want, you think, “Oh my God, why do we come here? The baiji, she takes too much time. We get bored, we’re yawning, she never keeps track of the time.”

You can think that, or you can think, “We are so lucky. By the grace of God we get the opportunity to hear a good satsang. Our mind is not wandering here and there; we are able to keep our mind steadily in place.”

It’s up to you what perspective to take.

(to be continued)

Don't Be a Slave to Your Mind and Maya

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

Once we get knowledge, why do we still need spiritual instruction (satsang)?

When you see a farmer sow the seeds, we know his work is not finished.

He goes over and over his crops. He keeps an eye on them.

When weeds come up, he uproots them. Why? To protect the plants.

Satsang means the company of truth. How can we get that?

First we have to know what is truth and what is not truth.

Our saints say, "Truth is permanent." We cannot change it. Truth in invincible; it cannot be destroyed.

So we look at the world and ask, "What is permanent and invincible?"

Our body is always changing. Our house is always changing. Our mind and thoughts change. Everything in the world changes.

Except soul. Spirit.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says you cannot destroy the soul. You cannot burn it, it cannot get wet, it's invincible.

How can we realize that?

That's why great souls came into this world, to tell us: "Know thyself."

We have to learn who we are and understand why we came here.

What is the goal of our life?

The human body is the crown of creation. Why?

Because we have great potential.

To earn lots of money? Retire when we get older? Then what?

To get peace. Salvation. Liberation from... what?

What is binding us? Who is holding us?

Our saints say we won't get moksha until we get liberation.

Then maya, the illusion, is binding us, we say.

Once a guru saw a man walking while holding a rope attached to a cow. He said to his disciple, "Look at this. Who is bound to whom?"


The disciple said, "Simple. The cow is in bondage to the man. That's why he's attached to the rope."

"No," the guru said, "The person is in bondage to the cow. Why? Because if the person drops the rope, the cow will run away. Then the man will run after the cow. The cow doesn't need the person, but the person needs the cow."

The same thing with maya. Sometimes we say, "Maya is the bondage, Maya is binding us." Maya is not binding our mind, it's binding us.

That's why Krishna told Arjuna, "I don't need anything from you. Just give me your mind. If your mind is here, everything is here. If it's not, not matter how much I scream my discourse, you will go home and not remember anything. "I was there, but my mind was not there."

Our mind binds us. The mind is our friend and our enemy. 

How?

The mind is like a ladder. It can help us go up, or it can help us go down.

If you go upstairs, you can see far. If you go down, you can only see the basement. The walls, nothing else.

When is the mind our enemy? When it goes with worldly things. "Oh, that person is like this, that thing is like that, etc." All negative thoughts come. Our mind's tendency is to go downward, like water.

When is the mind our friend? When we allow satsang to elevate us.

Our parents and society taught us how to behave, but not how to think. Satsang teaches us that.

What is Your Heart Saying?

Satsang by Gautam Baiji

How can we make the right choices in life?

When you see a small child or baby, maybe one or two years old, whatever comes into his hands makes it into his mouth. He doesn't care if it's a pen, or paper, whether it's edible or not.

Pen and paper are not edible, but he doesn't know that. Whether it's good for him or not, he doesn't know. 

The same baby, when he's four or five years old, he never tries to do that anymore.

Why?

He has knowledge of what he should eat and not eat. Even if you try to force him, or say, "This pencil is so good and colorful" but no, he knows this is a thing he should not eat.

The same applies when we ask ourselves if this or that karma is good for us or bad for us.

We know if we do the right thing, we'll get happiness, and if we do the wrong thing, we will not get happiness.

How can we get happiness? We need the knowledge of what is good and bad.

How? Check your heart. What is your heart saying?

Our intuition will tell us what words to use, what foods to eat. If we have a sugar problem, or high blood pressure, or a cholesterol problem, and you are eating fried food a lot, you are enjoying it but your inner voice is saying, "Careful, okay? Don't each too much of this." 

But your senses are saying, "No no, it's okay now. Tonight I will walk for two miles or three miles. Just enjoy the kachori, enjoy the pakora... and what happens? We are ignoring the inner voice who knows.

Why? Because we are so involved with the crowd, we don't hear the voice.

We have a small clock here. When it's quiet here, you can hear and even feel the TOCK TOCK TOCK like somebody is cutting wood! If you are sitting here peacefully, it is so loud. 

Now we can't hear anything because there is too much outside noise.

The same way: when we get too involved with the worldly things, with our senses, we can't hear what our soul is saying. We ignore it. And again and again, we get pain and sorrows. 

So how can we get rid of the obstacles? 

(to be continued)

Sri Krishna

When God Says It's Time to Go

From Gautam Baiji's recent satsang

When we are growing up, we think, "Let me get an education. Let me graduate."

"Now I'm graduated, let me get a nice job." So you get a nice job.

After that, "Now I want to get married."

And then? Children.

Why? All these things are to get happiness. To get peace.

And then... you know the link, right?

After that, you want education and a nice job, but not for you. For your children.

Again... marriage. Again... (grand)children.

What next?...

And the reason for these things? Happiness and peace.

I'll get education, I'll get peace.
I'll get a job, I'll get peace.
I'll get married, I'll have peace.
I'll have kids, I'll have peace.
And again and again the circle continues...

Then the time come when God says, "My dear son/daughter, it's time to go."

Then we start thinking, "What should I take with me? Let me fill my bag."

When we travel, we feel like our pockets should be full. Money, credit cards, so we don't get stuck, or have to borrow money. So we're careful to make sure we have what we need so we will have peaceful traveling.

But when God is ready for us to travel, we cannot even take our own body.

So how could we take a bag?

We cannot fill the bag with children, with wife or husband, or with money (because that currency doesn't work there).

What will we be ready to bring?

In another satsang, Gautam Baiji said that just as we brought our past karma into this life, we would be bringing our current karma forward that we achieved in this life... but that is all. To whatever level we developed our soul, that alone would come with us on this trip, which begs the question, are we prepared? If not, what should we be doing?

"It Keeps My Soul Happy" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

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

Melina: The baijis are everything I want to be in terms of radiating love and warmth that all humanity should radiate. I love being around them because they remind me to stay humble, and I always feel uplifted when I visit. It keeps my soul happy. 

You're Invited: An Evening of Classical Hindustani Music - August 21 at 4:30pm

What Are You Doing With Your Life, The Crown of All Creation?

~ Gautam Baiji gave this satsang last week ~

One day a man saw his Mahatmaji, who asked him:

"Why are you not coming to ashram? You used to come all the time, but now not so much."

The man said, "I don't have time. I have to do everything for my family," and he told him all the things he has to do.

The Mahatma said, "I'm not saying you shouldn't do those things - you definitely should take care of your family. That is your duty. But what are you doing for yourself?"

The man said, "I don't have that time for myself. I'm too busy with my family. Plus I have to attend events with relatives all the time. But one day I will get a chance, and I will do it for sure."

Mahatmaji asked him, "Who told you you will get a chance later?" 

We say things like this a lot: "When I retire, then I will have time." But ask people who are already retired how much meditation they are doing, how much time they are spending on themselves..."

We think, "When everything is done, then I will do meditation."

Will that happen? No. One day your life will be over, but your work will continue.

So the man said, "Mahatmaji, you don't have a family, so you don't understand all that I have to do. I simply do not have the time."

Mahatmaji said, "You know, you are working for them day and night. Do you think they will help you with your karma?

"Why not? If I'm helping them, of course they would help me too."

"Let's put it to the test," and the Mahatma gave him a technique to use.

So the man went home and asked his wife to make rice pudding for him. She did this and served it to him.

Soon after, he started complaining of stomach pains. It got worse and worse. "I think I'm dying!" the man said. (He was pretending.)

After moaning in pain for a while, he said, "When I was a young boy, I would get this same pain and the only person who had the medicine was one Mahatmaji. Please call him." Then he stopped breathing and passed out.

The wife was scared, and she immediately called the whole family there and got her son to fetch the Mahatma. When he arrived, he said:

"It's true that I have the only medicine that can cure him, but it comes with one condition: I need someone to volunteer to drink the medicine for him. It will kill that person, but your Dada will live - that is the only way. Who is ready?"

The grandmother said, "If I do it, who will take care of my husband. He needs me, so I cannot to do it."

The wife said, "Mahatmaji, I could do that because I love my husband, but my kids are very young. If I die, who is going to take care of them? Because of them, I cannot die."

The Mahatmaji said, "Will any of the kids drink it?"

The mother said, "No, how can you say that?"

"Okay, so no one's ready for that, so let me drink it," the Mahatma said.

"Oh Mahatmaji, thank you so much," the wife said. "Mahatmas come into this world to help others. You already sacrificed your life once, and now if you sacrifice it again, that would be great."

"We even promise that if you drink the medicine to save him, when you die we will make a nice temple for you. We'll put a statue of you there, and we'll pray every day. Thank God you met us."

The man then opened his eyes and sat up, showing everyone he was not sick at all. He heard everything and realized that even though he did everything for his family, they were looking out for themselves, as people typically do.

"Do everything you can for your family, but take time for yourself. Sit alone, think about yourself, ask 'What is my life's goal?'"

Why do I have this beautiful life?

The saints say this human life is the crown of all creation. What are we doing with it?

Meditate For Oneness

"It's a Feel-Good Environment" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

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

Serina: The ashram opens my mind, enhances my spiritual life and is such a feel-good environment with good, uplifting vibes which I take with me even when I leave. Everyone who comes to the ashram is so loving, it truly feels like home. 

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)