Contents
Editorial + Keep Positive + Readers’ Contributions + Swami Says + Swami Replies + Understanding Each Other + Yoga and Ancient Wisdom + Tending the Temple + Expanding Understanding + The Jewel Box + Healing from Within + The Art of Leadership + FEATURE: Mother Gayathri + The Secret of Cosmic Mind + The Eternal Way + Questions Answered + The Meaning of Hindu RItuals + Yogathon 2007 Reportback + M is for Money + Spiritual Paradigms + Gitascendence + Everyday Enlightenment
Editorial + Keep Positive + Readers’ Contributions + Swami Says + Swami Replies + Understanding Each Other + Yoga and Ancient Wisdom + Tending the Temple + Expanding Understanding + The Jewel Box + Healing from Within + The Art of Leadership + FEATURE: Mother Gayathri + The Secret of Cosmic Mind + The Eternal Way + Questions Answered + The Meaning of Hindu RItuals + Yogathon 2007 Reportback + M is for Money + Spiritual Paradigms + Gitascendence + Everyday Enlightenment
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Editorial
Namasté all.It is with sad news that we end the month of September. Sri Swami Murugesu Maharishi entered Mahasamadhi on the 24th of September after a long and painful illness. Swami Shanarananda made an urgent trip to India on the 16th September to spend Swami’s last days with Him. We will be blessed if our Guru, Swami Shankarananda is here for us this Pournami. In Swami Murugesu’s honour we have chosen Mother Gayathri as this month’s MasterCard and feature article.
Swami will be sorely missed by those devotees who were honoured to have spent time in His Divine presence and I’m certain that many who could have had an opportunity to visit Swami in Sri Lanka will regret not having taken the chance while they had it.
Some good news is that the Jadatharaya Institute is now also able to publish all of Swami’s writing so that it can be made available to the public. We have secured a series of ISBN numbers for this purpose. You may also have noticed that Transcendence carries an ISSN number and barcode, which means that it may soon be available in retail outlets also.
The annual Yogathon of the Jadatharaya Institute was held on the 23rd September (see photos on page 21). A big thank you to all who put in the valuable effort to have made this the successful event that it was, although the absence of Guruji was somewhat loud.
Noteworthy reads in this issue include Swami Murugesu’s Secret of Cosmic Consciousness, Suren’s Spiritual Paradigms, Understanding Shakti by Yvonne Jarvis and Living Positively by Swami Shankarananda. We also learn about the healing benefits of kiwifruit and the properties of the Herkimer Diamond crystal.
Please take the time to read page 7. Some changes are in the pipeline for the future of Transcendence and we would like all readers to be a deciding factor in the direction of these changes. There is a poll on the Transcendence website, where you can let us know your views. Please visit and select your preferences.
Until next month, keep Swami Murugesu in your thoughts and prayers and remember to appreciate the Spiritual Master we are lucky enough to have still living in our midst.
In Love and Service always
Editor
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Swami Says
Can We Live Positively?
Swami Shankarananda
Yesterday we watched the news and were informed of a three-day old child being abandoned by its mother, political corruption, ongoing terrorism, wars, hijackings, water and electricity restrictions, global warming and many more negative incidents, beyond our power to control and allowing us no peace of mind in todays super-fast changing times. Today we watch the news and what do we get? Nothing less than we received yesterday, more negativity, in fact. To add to this, we are troubled by myriad personal problems, mental and emotional conflicts, health problems, unsatisfactory relationships, money problems and an unending string of other difficulties creating states of unrest and insecurity.
We can have peace of mind in today’s corrupted society by not allowing ourselves to be influenced by the negativity we see all around us and, instead, follow the teachings of great characters. If we all did this then corruption and negativity would cease. Ths is What Roy Eugene Davis says on the matter:
1. Observe current events with dispassionate objectivity, regardless of what occurs. Know that an intelligently directed power is certain to eventually produce ideal conditions for everyone. You can nurture the collective consciousness of the planet with your optimistic thinking, spiritual awareness and constructive actions.
2. Adhere to a wisely-chosen, holistic lifestyle. Be mentally peaceful and emotionally stable. Acknowledge the innate, divine nature of everyone while being self-reliantly self-determined. Be responsible for your personal circumstances and improve your understanding of your true spiritual nature and relationship with the infinite.
Always be grateful and joyful that we have within us the invincible power of God.
INSPIRED BY SRI ROY EUGENE DAVIS
Understanding Energy Part 11
Understanding Shakti
Yvonne Jarvis
In the last edition we learnt about subtle energy and shakti. As a reminder, shakti is subtle energy which ultimately comes from the Source (God) which creates and sustains the Universe. In this edition we will explore three concepts fundamental to understanding shakti.
1 Shakti behaves intelligentlyShakti knows what an individual needs, even if we do not know it ourselves, therefore it has the ability to customize what it does for each person. An example of shakti behaving intelligently is when shakti directed to clearing negative emotions, homes in on the chakra which stores most of a particular negative emotion. Aura photographs of people who have experienced 15-20 minutes of the more powerful shaktis show remarkable chakra changes. Shaktis also help us work with our ‘blind spots’, where we perpetuate our imbalances because facing our fears may be too painful. Sometimes our negative belief systems are so entrenched that we mistake them for reality, and shakti can clear these negative thought forms by facilitating opening of the chakras.
2. There are many shaktisThere are many different kinds of shaktis in the universe. Just as heat and gravitational energy may both be described as ‘universal physical energy’, they are not the same. Our lives are enriched by the different colours of physical light (red, orange, etc); so are our lives enriched by the many manifestations of spiritual light.
People who are sensitive to energy may feel shaktis have different textures of smoothness or graininess, they may feel hot or cold, they may move in different geometric configurations such as straight lines, circles or spirals, and clairvoyants may see them manifesting different colours. The reason for these differences is that they do different things, for example they may work on the chakra system, or the meridians, or on just one chakra such as the brow chakra. Even those that work only on the brow chakra may do different things, such as dream interpretation or memory improvement.
People may find that they respond differently to different energies, for example they may resonate more strongly with Hindu than Buddhist energies. In Hinduism, different faculties are associated with different energies, for example: intention with iccha shakti, action with kriya shakti and knowledge with jnana shakti. Different processes are also associated with different energies, for example: breathing with prana, circulation with vyana, digestion with samana, waste elimination with apana and the link between physical and spiritual with udana. Each chakra is governed by a different shakti.
3. Shaktis can be permanently installed into your energy fieldIt is possible to have the subtle energy fields that surround and interpenetrate your physical body, imbued with a permanent shakti This experience does not empower you to pass that shakti to others. It enriches these fields by adding frequencies of subtle energy that were not there before. Some are of a higher vibrational frequency, others are just different; in either case, it facilitates a change for the better in our way of being in the world. Many people notice accelerated personal or spiritual evolution after experiencing the energies at a sacred site, for example at Stonehenge. Reference: Energy Blessings from the Stars – Virginia Essene and Irving Feurst
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ABC of Life
M is for Money
Rod Briggs
Rod Briggs
Ask any group of people about their aspirations and dreams and a large proportion will mention the Lotto. Most people want to be wealthy. Despite a large body of research which tells us that Lotto winners are no happier a year down the line we all imagine… that new house, car, yacht, lifestyle and how idyllic it would be. The New Age movement affirms that it is “an abundant universe” and “if you can dream it you can achieve it” but if it was as simple as that we would all be millionaires. Our ability to interact with money depends on our belief system which, like most of our paradigm, is predominately fixed in the first six years of our life. If you come from a background, like most of us, where, when you were young, you heard things like: “money doesn’t buy you happiness,” “it doesn’t grow on trees”, “put it away for a rainy day”, “it’s the root of all evil”, “mind the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves” or similar pocket “wisdom” you will not be happy with matters fiscal. Think about the voices in your head when you deal with money and you will find that what you learned as a child colours your reaction now – it has become a subconscious habit of thought.
No matter how much you consciously think having money is good you will never be comfortable around wealth unless your subconscious is programmed to agree. In the vast majority of cases the two sides of the psyche are not in harmony on the subject which sets up an uncomfortable state called cognitive dissonance. This causes both aspects of ourselves to pull in opposite directions; we solve this unhappy condition by sabotaging ourselves until we “fit in” with the pre-programmed pattern in our mind. We have created poverty consciousness and console ourselves by saying that money doesn’t buy happiness, thus perpetuating the cycle.
The truth about money is that, like all energy, it is neutral. It’s what it is used for that creates positive or negative effects. We need to learn to let money flow, in and out, of our lives and not get confused between our needs and our wants. Our needs will always be met; our wants never can – due to the fact that when you get what you want you want something else. This is what was warned against in the Bible, which does not say that money is evil but rather the love of money, i.e. an obsession with money, is the root of all evil. Understanding this is where prosperity starts not “keeping up with the Jones’s” which I have heard defined as: spending money you haven’t got, to buy things you don’t need, to impress people you don’t like! Namasté
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Spiritual Paradigms
Suren Pillay
Often I find, both in secular and spiritual life, people ,who are dissatisfied, with their current circumstances. In their speech, they habitually blame others, outer events and even God for their misfortunes. These people choose to live in a paradigm of limitation, scarcity and poverty. When we start to look at the outer circumstances that such individuals have attracted into their lives we can’t help but think that such circumstances have arisen because of the mind-set of the individuals in question.
Spirituality teaches a philosophy of abundance, affluence and unlimited possibility. To truly say that you live in God, is to say that you live in possibility perpetually. A spiritual man is never deterred by outer events, circumstances, moods and the actions of others for the divine inspiration within him never stops burning. He chooses God as his guide and refuge on his journey. Although finding such individuals in the world may be difficult, ones aspiration to attain such a high state of living should never be compromised.
In business I have often seen people flourish, succeed and live in great joy because they have a passion for their work. Such individuals live in an essentially spiritual paradigm when it comes to their thinking about the physical world. They choose to live in a world of infinite possibility and joy. They are motivated and determined for success for they inwardly know that whatever they want can be provided for. This type of thinking can also be applied to spiritual life.
The aspirant, who dwells on his negative habits continuously and contemplates on his weaknesses predominantly as opposed to his strengths makes little progress on the spiritual path. The sages have reminded us that yesterday’s mistakes belong to yesterday and should not be repeated. The aspirant who constantly remembers that all saints were sinners at one time and that mistakes or errors will always occur as long as one has not attained perfection, effectively provides room for growth on the spiritual journey. The aspirant who forsakes himself because of errors committed in the past ,effectively foregoes any opportunity to grow further because of his limited thinking.
The optimistic view is thus a wise one provided one is sincere in his spiritual practices. In meditation we take a journey into our own mind. The deeper aspects of our subconscious mind reveal themselves and the greater reality, a reality much deeper and richer than the reality of the physical world. The value of meditation is that, as one meditates more and more, one becomes increasingly aware of the depths of his own mind and then starts to awaken from self-limiting beliefs. Beliefs that are often restricting and in opposition to the forces that propel spiritual growth. The word limitation should not be in the vocabulary of any true devotee of God, or God is Himself unlimited and we as part and parcel of the universal intelligence can express such qualities as individual units of pure consciousness.
Devotees of God, my message for you this month is to examine your thoughts and beliefs about life. Do you think and live in limitation or do you believe that all is possible in this world and can be made possible as soon as you choose to live in possibility? If you have any self-limiting beliefs, contemplate on whether they have served you in any way. If they haven’t, wouldn’t now be a good time to renounce them? May we all live in unlimited joy, affluence, health and abundance evermore!
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Everyday Enlightenment
by Vish
There are two words which can efficiently summarize the purpose of our births: Athma and Paramathma. Paramathma is the Absolute, Supreme Intelligence we call God. Athma refers to fragments of God present in living beings. i.e. individual souls soul.
The purpose of life is to merge the Athma with Paramathma. We have all heard, and believe, that God exists in every person, and rightly so. Krishna proclaims in the Bhagavad Gita, “I am that that is within.” Similar sentiments were echoed by Christ and other prophets of our time. There is another aspect to this concept that is as important: we all exist in God. Indeed if God is infinite, supreme and omnipotent, it follows that nothing can exist out of Him (or Her). Swami Rama summarized this in a beautiful analogy, “The purpose of life is to know that you are a wave of bliss and beauty. Just as waves in the ocean are not separate from the ocean, you are not separate from that beautiful and blissful Divine Being. The life-force is like waves that continuously emerge from this ocean and subside in it. The entire world comes out of this beautiful blissful Divine Being. And after completing the cycle of its outward expansion, it dissolves again into the Divine Being.”
In Hinduism, many deities, such as Kali and Krishna, are depicted with a dark-blue or black hue. This is to emphasize that all colours dissolve in black, in the same way that all souls merge in God. The Shiva Panchakshara mantra AUM NA MA SI VA YA is an indication that we all emerge from the Supreme Lord Shiva. The reverse of the mantra SI VA YA NA MA AUM indicates that to Shiva, we must all return. A stone thrown in water creates ripples. Those ripples must return to the source once again. When Mother Yashoda accused her son, Krishna, of eating dirt and asked him to open his mouth to inspect, she saw the entire cosmos in his mouth. So indeed God is in everything and everything in God.
Rishi, muni, yati, tapasvi, yogi, arat, arthi, chintit, bhogi.
Jo jo sharun thumhari aawein so so munwanchit phal pavein.
This couplet from the Gayathri Chalisa translates, “Whether one is a rishi, a muni, an ascetic, a yoga-practitioner, a depressed individual, an ambitious person, a worrisome person or a sensualist, whoever seeks Mother Gayathri’s blessings will be rewarded with the desired result.” It is never too late to start your spiritual journey. You can never be so far away from the Mother that you cannot find your way back to Her. Just as mortal mothers run to the rescue of their sobbing children, so too does Mother Gayathri come to you in your darkest hour. When you are in distress, the light of Mother Gayathri’s love may seem dimmer. But alas! It is brighter than ever before. The tears you have shed during these times have caused your eyes to perceive Her light dimmer. A child cannot suckle efficiently if he isn’t properly attached to his mother’s breast. You cannot experience the full bliss of Mother Gayathri if you do not lie close to Her bosom.
Mother Gayathri is Kamadhenu, the celestial cow said to produce the amritha or elixir known to be of the purest quality and highest spiritual benefit. You, too, can drink this nectar. The same Mother that lies within you cradles you on Her lap. But if you turn away, can the Mother really feed you? Dear devotees, embrace the Mother with both hands, lest you suffer from spiritual malnutrition!