ContentsEditorial + The Cosmetic of Love + What are you wearing? + Swami Replies + Understanding Each Other + Uthaan Pada Prana Ajna Mudra Asana + Amethyst part 1 + EMF Balancing Technique + Art of Leadership + Lahiri Mahasaya + Science of Karma + Navarathri + ABC of Life + Meditation and the Art of Speaking + Inspiration + GitaScendence + Science and Power of Gayathri + Truth 4 Youth.
Selected Articles
Editorial
Namasté all.
With only three months left to the end of the year, many of you are surely planning your year-end holidays. Over the next three months many will be taking part in two important Spiritual Celebrations: Diwali, festival of Lights; and Christmas, the birthday of Christ. Perhaps we should start contemplating now on what we have done for others over the past nine months, and what we can do in the following months to improve the lives of others not as fortunate as we are.
Having just come to the end of the Navarathri prayer, we have included an article on the symbolism of this event, so that those who don’t know can understand the purpose of this Divine devotional period.
I would like to use this month’s editorial to say a very big thank you to Creative Print World for their amazing service in the production of this newsletter. Usually, I rush to put all the articles together three or four days before pournami and end up arriving on the printer’s doorstep in a whirlwind, boss all their staff around, (who are extremely tolerant of my rudeness, and actually stop their other - often urgent - work to get the Transcendence printed) and rush out again with a box of 150 or so newsletters - usually a rather small quantity for any printing company to be bothered with. Thank you especially to Rob and Dean, Ashleigh and Jayce. If it wasn’t for you, the Transcendence would survive only as a file on my pc.
The three most important articles to read in this edition are, firstly, our feature on Lahiri Mahasaya (MasterCard included), direct disciple of Babaji and paramguru of Paramahansa Yogananda; Suren’s article on Meditation and the Art of Speaking which is brilliant and should make us all think about the purpose behind our words; and Swami Murugesu’s article on the Science of Karma, which is extremely informative.
Swami Shankarananda justifiably questions our modern mode of dress; we learn why men love big words, and Rod Briggs explains to us the importance of balance. There is a brief write-up on the Yogathon - a long one is not necessary because all of you should have been there! There is a video available and also photos for anyone who is interested. Please contact Deepak or Pauline in this regard - but we have included some photos for those of you who didn’t make it to the event.
You will probably have noticed that there are not a lot of Readers’ Contributions this month. Although we did have some contributions, all were not included because of lack of space. They will be included in following issues ... and that doesn’t mean you must stop sending them in!
Finally, please have a look at the advert on the back page of this newsletter. There are some enlightening products available from the Jadatharaya Institute for your own benefit. If you compare the prices to CNA or Exclusive books, you will realize that they are unreastically reasonable. Remember that these items are not available anywhere else so are rare - and besides their present spiritual value, might be of great material value one day. So do yourselves a favour and purchase some. All proceeds go to the further promotion of the Jadatharaya Institute teachings.
In Love and Service always,
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Message from the Master
The Cosmetic of Love
Let every moment be a time of love. Let love be the cosmetic on your face. Love all. Start, firstly, with you physical self, then slowly move on to your Spiritual and Divine Self. After some time spent in establishing Self Love like an anchor, start to love those around you - your family and friends. Teach them love of Self. Let them to love their family and friends and also teach them to teach others of Love. Slowly, but surely in this way Love will permeate the whole universe. Love will become the cosmetic of the whole universe. Once you have attained Self Love, you can sing, ‘I am love, you are love, we are all Love.’ Love is the greatest healer of any pain. OM.
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My Beloved,
Never try to conceive things from the Mother,
be honest straightforward in a humble way.
The mother is the silent witness to all you experience
in this short life.
Banish the ego for it will only bring you down.
Pray to the mother with expectation as it is your
divine birthright to have the mother comfort
and guide you in all things you do, great or small.
Deanadayalan
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What are you wearing?
Swami Shankarananda
In the Rig Veda is written ‘Vastreneva vasaya manmana suchim’, meaning ‘we cover the sacred and the private (organs) with the right dress’.
Your cultural affinities are revealed by your style of dress. One’s style of dress is also a reflection of a person’s cultural values and how much they cherish (or not) those values. Today even the design of Eastern garb is tainted by imitation of modern Western dress. This indicates our weakness and the superiority of Western civilizations and cultures. It also indicates a great lack of pride in the Indian culture and values. Even Mahatma Ghandi, often realizing the influence of Western culture on Eastern ways, changed back to permanently wearing only Eastern dress.
The modes of Indian dress prevalent these days reflect neither one’s culture not tradition. Society has dictated to us how to dress, these standards based on Western influences, i.e. the exposure of sacred parts of the body. I find this situation is the same at home in South Africa. The modern mode of dress lies upon the young generation of our countries - it is their responsibility to check and reverse this trend. It is important for this to happen - and temples and other places of worship must also set standards in dress.
The latest trend nowadays is the punjabi worn with a short top. This becomes embarrassing when a devotee so decked, is prostrating. What is even worse, is when both mother and daughter both dress this way. All of this is an indication that our culture-sense is fast depleting. Married females should wear saris in the Indian culture; and unmarried ladies should wear long dresses or punjabis that are presentable. Men, on the other hand, should also set a standard and wear a dhoti and kurta or long pants and a kurta top. Short pants are not to be worn in the temple. Do not dress to impress anybody in the temple, but dress to cover your body appropriately. Everyone in the congre-gation should be looking at the altar and not at you!
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Feature: Lahiri MahasayaDirect Disciple of Babaji
Lahiri Mahasaya was a contemporary of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and a direct disciple of Mahavatar Babaji. He was the Guru of Swami Sri Yukteswar who was the Guru of Paramhansa Yogananda. Always soft and humble in contact with others, as a Christ-like spiritual teacher he was provided with great miraculous powers and took worldly responsibility as a family man as well.
Lahiri was the surname of Schyama Tscharan Lahiri, who was born in Ghurnigram, West Bengal, India on 30 September 1828. Mahasaya is a religious Sanskrit title and means ‘magnanimous’. Through his exemplary life Lahiri Mahasaya taught an age-old but, nevertheless modern, form of Yoga, which shows the correct balance between meditation and the fulfilment of worldly obligations.
Up until the age of 33 Lahiri Mahasaya lived an ordinary worldly life. However circumstances took his office job near Ranikhet, at the foothills of the Himalayas. It was here that he had a remarkable meeting with the avatar Babaji who was able to rekindle Lahiri Mahasaya’s spiritual realisations - realisations he had attained in previous lifetimes. After experien-cing the bliss of Samadhi in the Himalayan Mountains. His Guru instructed him to return to his worldly life and initiate any sincere seekers who may be so interested. Thus a prosperity of Kriya Yoga began in the year 1861.
The central spiritual practice which he taught to his disciples was Kriya Yoga, a series of inner pranayama practices that quickly hasten the spiritual growth of the practitioner. He taught this technique to all sincere seekers, regardless of their religious background. Regarding Kriya Yoga, he said: “Always remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. Reflect that some day you will suddenly have to leave everything in this world – so make the acquaintanceship of God now. Prepare yourself for the coming astral journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of God-perception. Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles. Meditate unceasingly, that you may quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free from every form of misery. Cease being a prisoner of the body; using the secret key of Kriya, learn to escape into Spirit.”
He also encouraged direct experience of truth, as opposed to theoretical discussion of the scriptures, and to: “Solve all your problems through meditation. Exchange unprofitable religious speculations for actual God-contact. Clear your mind of dogmatic theological debris; let in the fresh, healing waters of direct perception. Attune yourself to the active inner Guidance; the Divine Voice has the answer to every dilemma of life. Though man’s ingenuity for getting himself into trouble appears to be endless, the Infinite Succour is no less resourceful.”
Apart from his spiritual obligations and his responsible activity in his occupation and family Lahiri Mahasaya took over functions in the area of youth education, founded study groups and actively took part in building a large high school in the Bengalitola district of Benares. He initiated thousands of persons of all religions and faiths into Kriya Yoga, thereby undertaking a bold attack against the caste system of his epoch.
On one occasion in Benares, the great Indian sage Trailanga Swami, who was known to be nearly 300 years old, forsook his usual silence in order to pay public honour to Lahiri Mahasaya. One of Trailanga’s disciples objected: “Sir”, he said, “why do you, a Swami and a renunciant, show such respect to a mere householder?” Trailanga replied, “My son, Lahiri Mahasaya is like a divine kitten, remaining wherever the Cosmic Mother has placed him. While dutifully playing the part of a worldly man, he has received that perfect Self-realization which I have sought by renouncing everything - even my loincloth!”.
Three notable principles taught by Lahiri about what he believed to be the fundamental characteristics of a true guru, are:
A true guru will never ask for money or gifts. (Note: Lahiri himself asked only for a donation from people who he initiated into Kriya Yoga. This practice was continued by many of his disciples. These donations went toward spreading the Kriya Yoga message, rather than benefiting the Guru).
A true guru will never assume any special title that might separate him from, or elevate him above others.
A true guru will never ask that his followers surrender their free will to him in any way.
Lahiri also taught that if one is earning an honest living and practising honesty in all his or her dealings, then one need not alter one’s external life in any significant way in order to become aware of God’s presence in one’s own daily life. If a student neglected his worldly duties, he would correct him. He generally eschewed organized religion. However, he personally made at least one exception to this principal, allowing one of his advanced disciples, Panchanon Bhattacharya to open an Arya Mission Institution in Calcutta where the saintly disciple spread the message of Kriya Yoga. Other disciples of Lahiri also started organizations to spread the Kriya Yoga message, including Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri’s ‘Satsanga Sabha’. Some of his notable disciples include, Sri Panchanon Bhattacharya, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, Swami Pranaba-nanda, Swami Keshabananda, and Sri Bhupen-dranath Sanyal.
In the year 1886, 25 years after his initiation by Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya retired, and from then on spent most of his time in a state of silent meditation. Towards the end of his life his aura of spirituality and peace attracted many sincere seekers who would come to meditate in his presence. It was on September 26th, 1895 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, that Lahiri Mahasaya left his physical body. But the following day he appeared to some of his disciples in a more vital, younger radiating form, and spoke with them.
Five Directives of Lahiri Mahasaha
Two: Always do Satsanga, i.e., associate with moral and spiritually oriented people, inquire into the nature of yourself and read spiritually uplifting literature (i.e. do svadhyaya).
Three: From time to time congregate in a place and talk about God.
Four: Do not show disrespect to any name or form of God.
Five: At the end of the year, at least once, leave the worldly duties and go to a retreat for a month, or a week, or at least three days and enjoy the solitude.
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Meditation and the Art of Speaking
by Suren Pillay
Today, when I hear some people speak, I wonder how much thinking has gone into what they have said, as speech is an expression of our own thoughts. To speak kindly, sweetly, lovingly and sincerely, will be of true benefit to mankind. When we use this great asset of ours to increase the joy and wisdom in other people’s lives, when we use it to uplift human consciousness from confusion to understanding, we are speaking wisely.
Most people are unaware of the metaphysical consequences of their words. Words have the power to inspire and break people down to their lowest level. It is thus incumbent upon man to use this great faculty wisely. Inherent in every man is the divine ability to inspire his fellow man. Indeed, it may be said that it is the divine duty of man to uplift his fellow man from whatever negative situation that man is experiencing.
Words have a three-fold effect when spoken in the physical realm: they react on the speaker, the surroundings of the speaker and the person spoken to. If a man gives in to anger, he is thus unknowingly acting on three levels in a negative way and creating more negative karma for himself. When he speaks in a negative way, his words impact on his own nervous system, seriously affecting his physical and mental health. A saint once said that it takes as long as three weeks for the nervous system to recover from a serious bout of anger. Apart from affecting himself in a negative way, the negative vibrations carried in his words affect the environment in more subtle ways. When people come to that physical place where harsh words have been spoken, the atmosphere of love and peace will be noticeably absent. This will be immediately present to those who meditate deeply. The person spoken to is also affected in a negative way. On the mental plane, such a person might have experienced emotional pain which, in turn, also impacts on the person’s physical health. If that person then chooses to harbour a feeling of resentment because of the words spoken to him, he unconsciously chooses to destroy his own mental peace and health.
Dear friends, such is the power of words. If anyone chooses to speak negatively, it will not serve to act in anger and resentment against such person. Remain tolerant and avoid such company, for you will only be adding to the negativity if you continue talking to such people. So the question is: how does meditation affect speech? Meditation brings one’s own consciousness to a level of stillness and clarity. One’s speaking is not confused or distorted. In addition, a meditator’s words will usually carry more strength as his thoughts are more concentrated than the ordinary individual. Meditation also purifies the consciousness and, naturally, leads the individual to think better thoughts and speak better words in respect of his fellow human beings and his environment. In addition, a meditator will be less likely to be affected by the negative words spoken by others, naturally minimizing the level of negativity in the environment.
I have included here, some of the golden rules of speech. Meditation will lead you to follow these rules naturally, with minimum effort. However, if you don’t meditate you can still attempt to practice them every day.
1. Speak effectively. If you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say anything. Don’t add to any negativity that is already present and increase your own negative karma. Gossip usually manifests if this rule is broken.
2. Speak energetically. In the face of negative company, speak only when spoken to. Speak minimally and subtly bring in the positive aspects of life.
3. Speak truthfully. Our words carry tremendous force and it is said by a saint that if one speaks truthfully, uninterrupted for 12 years, whatever he says will come to pass.
4. Speak powerfully. Speak from the deepest level of your being. Speak with the mind, body and soul in blissful harmony. Never speak with your mind elsewhere and body wanting to do something else.
5. Speak compassionately. Speak with sweetness and love. This is one of the greatest gifts God has given you. In this way you bring joy and positive vibrations to yourself and all those around you.
6. Speak sincerely. Believe in what you say. If you don’t believe in your own words, don’t expect others to take you seriously.
7. Speak wisely. your words have the power to divinely inspire others to their greatest good. Speak the wisdom of the sages and the Vedas, and they will no doubt bring a shift in the consciousness of those spoken to.
I invite all readers to practice the above laws in their everyday lives, and observe the results for themselves. If one has mastered speech in one’s own lifetime, that is a worthy achievement as it would have contributed positively, not only to himself, but to all those around him as well as his environment.
The coming of the Guru
By Suren
In the depths of darkness and ignorance,
May thy light touch my heart and open it to wisdom.
In joy and excitement, I behold thee in awe! The Guru cometh!
Awaken in me, Divine Master, the spirit of life and the Divine wisdom
To burn all temptations born of ignorant perception.