Swami Ramdas’s Sannyas Day

Yogacharya David

Papa_OrangeRobeColorized reducedOn this blessed day, Swami Ramdas’s Sannyas Day, we honor the whole hearted commitment Papa made in totally throwing in his lot with God. I have included an email from our dear Swami Muktanandaji sent on the 27th (it was the 26th on our calendar as they are over 12 hours ahead of our clock), and my response. I have also included some salient quotes from Papa, from his book Swami Ramdas on Himself. Yogacharya David

Blessed Atman:

We are deeply grateful to both of you for the loving greetings on the occasion of Christmas and we heartily reciprocate the sentiments expressed therein.

On this joyous occasion of Christmas what wells up in our mind is the sublimity of the love of the Christ! His heart is ever shining with the lustre of compassion, forgiveness and peace. It is a heart that thrills in symphony with the ailing heart of mankind. The waves of love that go out of it seek to soothe, heal and purify the heart of every being. How blessed does indeed life become when the mind ever dwells in him.

Yes we all remember the blissful time we all had with you during your stay in Ashram. When are you planning to be here again?

By the abundant grace of Beloved Papa, Pujya Mataji, Pujya Swamiji and all Mahatmas, the activities of Anandashram is going on well as usual. They also make us aware of their guidance always in spite of our short comings so that we are constantly reminded of the ideal they placed before us.

Today is Beloved Papa’s Sannyas day. He reminds us that Anandashram came into existence because of the transformation that took place in the life of Vittal Rao on the 27th December 1922.  Our heart is full of gratitude to Him who not only awakened us of the higher life but also has been providing all that we need for realizing Him in spite of the fact that we are not rising up to His expectation.

Deepest love and best wishes to you and Carlaji

Ever your Self

Swami Muktananda

Our dearest Swamiji,

How thrilling to receive your most loving note. Your words about the life and teachings of Jesus could not be more perfect, as Jesus must be seen as the embodiment of compassion, forgiveness and peace. It lifts and purifies our hearts just to think on these virtues made manifest in him, even as these virtues are at the core of all the great Masters.

You are now a day ahead of us, so while it is still early for us, we are so glad to think of Papa’s Sannyas Day even now. It is amazing to contemplate that on a human level Papa was just one man who totally dedicated his life to realizing the universal vision of God, and how that has changed the world!

May Papa’s vision of God spread all over this earth to usher in a new era, an era of “Peace on earth, and goodwill toward all men!”

And, may Papa’s Grace ever radiate from your hearts, minds and souls in total realization and loving service. Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram!

Yogacharya David

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Swami Ramdas on Himself

The great change came over Ramdas in 1922 with his life of renunciation not as a result of his own effort or initiative, but by the power, Will and grace of God. Until this transformation came to him, he was living only an ordinary life. This does not mean that he was selfish or inflicted any injury upon others or exploited others for his personal happiness. It was only that he was not aware then that there was a great Reality underlying this universal manifestation and that by attaining that Reality one could become supremely happy and peaceful, free from all anger, hate and bickering, which brought him in daily conflict with his fellow-beings.

When this great change came, Ramdas was swept off his feet, as it were. He did not know what was going to happen to him. He was asked to repeat the name of God constantly, to keep his mind serene and calm, so that it could go deeper within himself, to find the truth on which his life was based. For that purpose he was made to give up everything, all attachment…

To tell you the truth, when God wanted Ramdas to leave his family—the old family you may call it—and go on a wandering life, he did not know why he was going. He went because God led him away from the place. He had no idea what was in store for him. If it was for Sadhana, why should he go elsewhere? He could have practiced it sitting at home. Still God wanted him to go. Ramdas did not ask Him why he was being taken away, but He Himself whispered to Ramdas’s ear: ‘Ramdas, I am taking you from place to place not because you have to renounce everything, but because you have to see that everything is My form. You have to go to householders and tell them that they need not renounce worldly life in order to realize Me.’ It was with this object that He made him give up the old life…

Having experienced that supreme joy in this state, Ramdas was going about telling everybody that, if they lived on the lower levels of life like animals, they could never get real happiness. They must transcend all these and go deep down within themselves and realize the all-pervading eternal Spirit, which is pure bliss and peace.

[Our dearest Papa, we pray that same desire for God be awakened within us that inspired you; that we are led, even as you were led; and that we find fulfillment in the same universal vision of pure bliss and peace in which you were constantly immersed. Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram!]

Happy Birthday Mother!

Yogacharya David

Mother - From picture with Sri Annamalai[I am sending these excerpts from Mother’s Talks on this Christmas Day to celebrate the day Mother took incarnation in a human body. Indeed, life would not be imaginable without her coming and living the life she did for all of us. This excerpt is from a talk Mother gave in 1978 in which she talks about Sri Anamali, a great jnani saint, sending Mother both Christmas and Birthday cards, and the tremendous lesson she taught us about free will. It is also displays her humor! Happy Birthday Mother.]

Let us do some thinking before we try to order other people’s lives around. Let us first order our own, clean our own houses out. Sweep our own doorsteps. And stop telling the other fellow what to do before you know how to run and regulate your own lives. It’s important. It’s very, very important.

I would like to see each one who is here start out this moment in God and do a thorough shampoo job on their minds, on their thoughts. Clean house! Get rid of all of the worries, of the troubles, of the resentments, the hatreds, the things that you’ve got against everything and against everybody and against life! Life is what you make it! You can make it wonderful and beautiful and successful or you can let it drag you down to the depths. It is up to you! You have your own free will. And you must exercise that.

I’ve told you many times but I’ll repeat it again. I had not only a Christmas card but a birthday card from this master whom I told you about. Ten years ago this happened when he was talking to me about the complete oneness of God. There was no duality in this world as far as he was concerned. He’s a jivan mukta or a liberated soul, and he told me about his experience. He said that he was praying night and day for samadhi, samadhi, samadhi. Finally one day as he sat before Swami Ramdas, the Kundalini force at the base of his spine started going up and it flooded his whole being. It just didn’t go up the spine but it just went all the way over his whole body and exploded up here in an explosion that he said was absolutely indescribable. He said he was in samadhi and in samadhi. Then he kept praying to God, “God, take me out of samadhi! Take me out of samadhi!” [laughter]

But, to go back to this individual will, he then made a statement (having said that there was only God) that man thought that he had free will but in fact he did not. He was the creature of whatever was predicted for him. And I disagreed with him violently. I told him that I did have free will and I exercised it. I could choose to do this or that in every event, every moment of my life. “Oh, no, no, no.”

Well, we argued back and forth and neither one of us would give because we’re very strong, stubborn people, both of us. Finally, I closed my eyes and I said, God, I know I’m right. You must tell me how to convince him. So all of a sudden the answer came. I opened my eyes and looked at him and fluttered my eyelids a little bit, you know. “Swamiji, may I ask you a question, please?” “Oh, yes, yes,” he said. I said, “You say that there’s only God in this whole universe. There’s no duality. Is that right?” “Yes. I asked him if God had free will. He said, “Yes, of course, He has free will.” So, then I said to him, “If there is only God in this world and I am He, do I not also have free will?” He looked at me and all of his disciples sitting around the floor started snickering and grinning. Some of them were there this last time when I was just there and they remembered, and they were still grinning. [laughter] And he said, “The only trouble with her is that she thinks too fast for me in English!” [laughter] Well, this is true; he does have trouble with English but, nevertheless, the principal is the same. But I love him very much and I have very great respect for him.

He has tremendous power. As I say, he’s a very stubborn man but then it takes one to know one. [laughter] So every time we meet the sparks fly but we have developed a tremendous relationship now and we have great respect for each other and great love for each other. And that, after all, is the purpose of life: to find that which is beyond the surface and see God within each one and you will find God in their hearts, their minds, their souls. Having found that you will find your ability to express these things and experience them expand within your own consciousness, within your own being. It’s the most tremendous experience in your life.

As I’ve told you many times before, to realize your oneness with God inside is not to quit living but to start living, really to start living for the first time. Life is eternal; it is Ever‑New, Ever‑Conscious, Ever‑Existing Bliss. And the Ever‑New part is the thing which keeps it interesting, which keeps it going. I don’t care if you have absolute oneness with God, still you are so vast. He is so vast. And you are so vast in your oneness with Him that you keep exploring the facets of your own being forever and forever and forever because He’s infinite! He’s eternal! And it never stops, not until the last breath you draw in this incarnation or any other one because God is life, all of it! And life is God.

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[This is an excerpt from a talk Mother gave for Christmas in the year 1980. It gives you a hint of the humility of Mother, and when given a compliment, she always managed to turn it back onto God. The reference made to a “concert” was an evening event to celebrate Mother through gifts of music, song, dramas and humor performed by devotees.]

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful and happy and prosperous New Year. Keep the Christ in your hearts, in your consciousness, in every act, in every deed, in every thought that you have. Think only of him and serve him and he will come to you in all of his graciousness, his radiance, and his light and bless you forevermore.

Now, we are all invited to go downstairs and partake of the food of Christmas in the human sense.

[Dale Tonkins] Mother, we have a little presentation that we would like to make to you. You know, last night after the concert you thanked all of us for what we’d given to you, and I couldn’t help but think, and I say this for all of us, that the thanks is to you for what you are in God and for what you’ve attained in God, for the love that you give to us. You know, Mother loves us enough to scold us when we need it even, whatever it takes to help us realize our talents and to find God within. We thank you, Mother, from the bottom of our hearts and from the depths of our souls.

Some of you may not know that Mother’s birthday is on Christmas Day, so we have two cards here. This is for a Happy Birthday . . .

[Mother reads card] “A loving birthday greeting for the dearest of all mothers to wish you all the happiness you’re always giving others, to thank you for the things you’ve done in such a thoughtful way, and then remind you once again how much you’re loved each day. Have a wonderful birthday.” There are many, many names and all this money [giggles] that I can use for God’s work.

Let me say that I appreciate very much your thanks, but I give it all to God, because without Him I am nothing. He makes me live and breathe, walk, sleep, eat, everything. I could not do one thing if it were not for Him, and I serve Him in each one of you with all my heart, my mind, and my soul. And any credit for anything that I do goes to Him alone, because without Him I am nothing. He makes all things possible for each and every single one of us, as I have said. I am the littlest one on the Christmas tree of life, I feel. That I can serve God in each of you is my greatest pleasure and my greatest privilege because I, too, am serving Christ in you each moment. I’m fortunate to have my birthday on Christ’s birthday.

[We were so fortunate for Mother coming to us in human form and sharing with us her incredible incarnation. May you and your family be blessed on this holy day and all the days of the year. With all love and blessings, Yogacharya David.]

The True Meaning of Christ

Yogacharya David

The Holy Night by Carlo MarattaFor this Christmas eve. and Christmas day I wanted to share with you what I read from Mother Hamilton’s talk on Sunday in which she quotes from a Christmas letter of Paramhansa Yogananda. What a universal Spirit all great spiritual Masters bring with them. For Yoganandaji and Swami Ramdas, both Hindu Swamis, their adoration of Jesus Christ was not just a vague acknowledgement, but it was based on direct experience with the Spirit and the man that has changed this world with his message of love for God and for his fellow man over two thousand years ago. Let that Spirit be born afresh in us this Christmas season, and always.

Yogacharya David

Mother Hamilton: I’d like also to read to you a Christmas letter that was written by my Guru many, many years ago to all of his devotees.

Dear Friends,

Let us decorate the growing Christmas tree of civilization with the flaming flags of all brother nations. Let us drown our differences and behold the branches of our national life spreading out from the tree of one international life. Let us demand that America, India, Germany, Russia, France, China, Japan, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, Egypt, and all nations learn to decorate their flags on the Christmas tree of brotherhood and celebrate the coming of the United Nations of the World through their awakening in Christ. Let all brother nations contribute their best to make a League of Hearts and a League of Wisdom in preparation for their coming union. Let all nations consider themselves as children of God with different names only. May the love of nations be the twinkling lights with which to decorate the Christmas tree of world union. Let us obliterate the oddities of dogmatism and behold all religions as the branches of the one tree of truth. Let all sects celebrate around this one Christmas tree of universal religion in the coming United States of the World. Let us behold the soft twigs of our temporary joy‑loving senses, not projected away from, but joined to the everlasting Christmas tree of Divine joy. May we all learn to climb up the spinal tree of life and pass by the starry top into the infinite kingdom of Christ.

In this coming Christmas we shall celebrate the coming of one kingdom, one religion, one brotherhood, one human nationality, one wisdom, one ever‑new happiness, one language, one race, one universal law, one freedom, contact of one God, and one understanding for all human brothers. May this Christmas and New Year time fill you with the adamantine determination to improve yourself and others as Christ would wish you to do to usher in paradise on earth.

Mother Hamilton: What a tremendous vision he had of universality. It’s a strange thing, isn’t it, that a man from India… I have known two masters from India who taught me more about the Christ during the time I was with them than all the rest of the years of my life. And in the ashram where I went through the mystical crucifixion twenty‑two years ago myself, there, in the most prominent place of all, was the picture of the Christ. And yet we call them heathens, yet they came to teach us the true meaning of Christianity, the true meaning of Christ, if we would only open our eyes and see that.

Sri Yukteswarji-Death is no Barrier

Yogacharya David

SRI Y-1 a (2)This astonishing description of Sri Yukteswar gives insight into how great Masters can walk the earth in extrarordinary ways. This story comes from Paramahansa Prajnanananda in his book: Swami Shriyukteshwar Incarnation of wisdom; page 78-9.

Yogacharya David

The youngest disciple of Swami Shriyukteshwar was Rabindranath who is now world renowned as Paramahansa Hariharandanda. They used to meet regularly at Serampore Ashram. Shriyukteshwar requested this young man several times to take charge of Puri Ashram, but young Rabindranath did not accept this proposal as he was not mentally ready for it. In the beginning of June 1938 Rabindranath came to Puri. Before coming to Puri he sent one of his friends to arrange for a rented house close to the ashram where he could live independently meditating and also spend time in the ashram. The friend asked the help of the ashram in this matter and a house next to the ashram was secured as a rental. Rabindranath moved to Puri and started living in that house.

On a hot summer evening Rabindranath and his friend were relaxing on the second floor balcony of the house enjoying the cool breeze of the sea and watching the sky. Suddenly Rabindranath thought he saw Shriyukteshwar walking from Karar Ashram premises towards the house they were in and he saw him passing them several times. At this Rabindranath cried out with great surprise and joy, “Look, look my beloved master Shriyukteshwar is coming.” His friend looked in that direction and became pale as if he had seen a ghost because he knew of the mahasamadhi of Shriyukteshwar. When he recovered from the shock he informed Rabindranath that if was the same person whom he had met at the ashram when he was looking for the house to rent. This was an extraordinary event when Rabindranath could see his master in his physical form after his demise. After a few months getting clear indication from Shriyukteshwar to join the Ashram and practice meditation there Rabindranath joined Karar Ashram and was known as Brahmachari Rabinanarayan. Thus the desire of Shriyukteshwar was at last fulfilled.

The Greatest Love in all the Three Worlds

Yogacharya David

24.19-Aksharam Temple (2) smallerPicture: Krishna & Radha, Aksharam Temple           

Sadhana, your practice of God-remembrance, must permeate every part of your life for the total transformation in divinizing your life.

God-remembrance takes place in your deeper meditations, when you divinely love on a spring-filled day; when you are at home doing your daily chores, watching a movie, when you are in conversation with friends, driving your car, when you are at work, or in your private musings.

You may ask, “How can I possibly think of God in all those places and situations?” However there are earthly examples when such remembrance takes place.

When you are first in love or feel a great attraction for someone you cannot, not think of the object of your attraction. Whether you are at work, driving or at home you think only of that one, “What is she doing now, I would like to see her, talk to her.” This “love drug” eventually wears off, but when you are in its midst it is a powerful intoxicant.

Or, when a mother has a newborn she is always thinking of her baby, “Was that my baby who just made a noise? Is it time to feed her? Oh look at her, is she not the most beautiful baby!” If that mother has to be separated from her baby for an hour she is thinking, “Does she need me? Is she all right?”

If you do not have this deep feeling for God-remembrance then you can pray to God to have it. Bhakti, loving devotion, is said to be the easiest path to God because there is nothing more powerful than loving remembrance. In that divine state of mind it is not work to think of your Beloved; it is no trouble to do something in service to the One, rather, it gives you great joy!  You are enthusiastic to discover what your Beloved likes; you are charmed by everything the Infinite says and does; it is the greatest love affair you will ever know.

In that mood you will know endless bliss and joy, you are an intrepid explorer of Truth, and the relationship is, unbelievably, ever-new. Unlike the human “love drug,” this divine mood need not ever wear off, get old or become stale; when in God-experience you do not tire of it, and God is always worthy of your trust and affection. God is the only attentive lover who can be with you cradle to grave, and beyond. The only limiting factor in having a God-affair is what you impose upon it, for God is infinite and eternal, and is always anxious to share all that He is with you.

If God is a distant thought to you, an impersonal force for you to use, an interesting puzzle to figure out, or even a close friend, you can still deepen the relationship. Whether as Divine Mother, Heavenly Father, or your beloved Friend, any and all forms of relationships may take place with your Infinite Beloved, because God is all of that and more.

Start now, this very instant! No matter your current feeling toward God. Even if you feel distant, angry, or peevish, it is a “come as you are party!” Bring it to God, bring exactly what you are thinking and feeling. He has big shoulders and will not mind; it is only important that you bring yourself. Open the door of your heart and invite Him in, for God is the cure for all ills. Do this, and know the greatest love you will ever have in all the three worlds.

Cathedral of Light

Yogacharya David

2011-P1020089 (2)As we were ending the last hour of our six hour meditation I asked God, after a very full day of experiences, “Is there anything else You have for me now.”

The response I got was immediate and affected me to the core of my soul. It began with a tremendously powerful inner sound of Aum. Following on the heels of that sound I found myself in an enormous Cathedral of Light, extending far into the distance in front of me. There were massive columns of Light on either side of the Cathedral which only added to the light already shinning from this marvelous structure.

Then with tremendous speed but with no sense of motion I moved toward the front of the Cathedral; at the front where the wall behind the altar would normally be I saw a tunnel of Light. As I continued to move forward I entered that tunnel and as I progressed through the tunnel I saw a brilliant five pointed star in the center; the star grew larger as I moved forward.

Without hesitation I entered the star and then merged into it; I had left the Cathedral far behind me. My body identification was with this vast realm of Light that the star had become. My body was now the Light of the star and the Light of the star spread all over the earth, and it extended out into vast, unlimited space. I remained merged in that expansive Light for some time; experiencing unparalleled freedom, peace and expansion.

Later, when I had returned to consciousness of this body I felt directed to write of this tremendous experience. This revelation is a wonderful meditation on the inner birth of Christ Consciousness. Through inner attunement you may feel its truth and power, especially fitting during this season celebrating the birth of Jesus.

This Light of Christ Consciousness has redemptive power, and as souls around this world join together in this Light the world is reborn into higher consciousness, and the promise given at the time of Jesus may be fulfilled, “Peace on earth, and goodwill toward all men.”

11-14-2013 A Full Day Dedicated to God and Guru

Yogacharya David

063cropped to TravisTravis sent this description to me, and with his permission I am posting it here. I know you will find it as inspiring and delightful as I do.

To: Yogacharya David Hickenbottom and Carla Ma.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful letter you sent us at Anandashram.

It was very blissful. Ram has prompted me to dedicate (power went out, hold on, ok, moved blinds to let in more light in) a day to God in the form of the Guru, you!

That day was the 13th and started with a midnight alarm to wake up, Kriya, Ram Nam and meditation till 2:30 or so to start the day off. Ram has directed me to take no food or drink other than water and to stay in silence for the day.

Now the question arises whether one can be in silence whilst belting our Ram Nam at the top of one’s lungs! But Ram says yes. The alarm again at 4:45 wakes me up and I proceed out into the ashram grounds and sit outside the Satsang Hall and count Ram Nam on a newly minted necklace of mala beads Ram has so generously provided me.

(Lights back on, thank you Ram!) About 25 minutes provides enough time to count through three cycles of Ram Nam (power out again, Ram’s will!), then five minutes or so to get to the mandir for chanting Ram Nam. Since the mandir doesn’t open till 6 a.m. I go to the Bhajan Hall and chant Ram Nam till 6 a.m. then over to the mandir of Papa Ramdas’ to begin chanting of Ram Nam, to Ram. After each half hour of Ram Nam I walk to Swami Satchidananda’s room to quietly count mala beads (lights are back on!) for Ram and his Ram Nam Vault.

This is how Ram’s day goes until 12:00 to 12:15; there is a shortened Ram Nam chanting due to lunch. Afterward a swami I am quite fond of, that is often leading Ram Nam with cymbals, asks me, “How much chanting do you prefer?” Rather than giving me two options to choose from however, he instead ends his inquiry there. My best answer would have to be that I prefer the amount of chanting that Ram directs me to do, over the amount of chanting that I want to do. However I am in silence and indicate such. (Power out again, now I feel Ram is playing tricks on me with the lights going on and off!)

The swami then tells me that he leaves this afternoon, I pronam and bow to God in this wonderful man then leave (15 minutes ahead of schedule due to early closing of Mandir for lunch) to count mala-beads before the start of 1:00 post-lunch Ram Nam. About one third of the way to Swami Satchidananda’s room I am prompted by Ram to write the swami a letter (lights back on) in lieu of being in silence.

The 15 minute early release provided by Ram allows me just enough time to walk to my room, write a short goodbye and return to Swami Satchidananda’s room to count my routine of three cycles of mala-bead Ram Nam before the next Mandir chanting session. Upon walking to count mala-Rams I think that perhaps I should count them by the entrance and exit of the dining hall as so not to miss the departing swami. Ram tells me that I should instead go count mala-beads in Swami Satchidananda’s room.

It is Ram’s will whether or not this letter is delivered. Three cycles completed I walk to the 1:00 Mandir and who do I see walking up the way, none other than the departing swami. I hand him his goodbye from Ram and continue to the Mandir without missing a step! Oh Ram, you are Great!

At 1:00 Mandir everyone must still be eating and there is only one elderly man in the corner barely muttering Ram Nam with the cymbals. He hands them to me and bows; I bow and graciously accept my first assignment with the cymbals, Ram leading the Ram Nam, not I.

Now this man is either slightly mentally challenged or has a malfunctioning larynx because after the first verse of Ram Nam his report back is barely audible. After the second cycle of this one way Ram Nam, Ram decides my chanting should be continuous and gives me a beautiful melodious Ram Nam to chant continuously for Him. This continues the entire half hour, just me and Ram in this quiet man’s form.

2:00 chanting has more people (Ram in disguise) but again I am there a full ten minutes before anyone shows up and the women inside the mandir motions for me to relieve them of the cymbals and begin the next half hour of Ram Nam. Ram has me sing again His melodious Ram Nam and the procession soon perfects the pitch and the chanting proceeds until the elderly swami, with the four pointed cane, that usually leads the Ram Nam shows up and I hand him over the reins and he plays the cymbals for the remainder of the half hour. Thank you for sending me your swami, Ram, for (I am not worthy) Ram is the doer.

3:30 is satsang so the 4:00 Ram Nam is missed. Ram says that is ok. After the 6:00 ending of mandir Ram Nam my feet are somewhat sore and the body is somewhat tired, all is for Ram though and I feel progress is being made in Rams’ sadhana.

Back in Swami Satchidananda’s room there are a number of people meditating so I pull out a chair and sit in the Satsang Hall to count mala-Rams. Tonight the hall is accommodating a large flock of mosquitos who are fiercely guarding the place. One cycle of Ram Nam is completed before I move on to find shanti [peace] elsewhere.

Returning to Ram’s room (#5 of Swami Ramdas Block) I tally up my Ram Nams; up until that point 33, a good number. Swami Muktananda is celebrating a birthday sometime soon I hear and Ram told me to give him these Ram Nams for the vault. I am now up to 36.

That evening while winding down I get a buzz at the door. Who could it be other than Ram! My first visitor, how exciting! I open the door and Ram is there in the form of a lovely elderly neighbor. This beautiful lady has come to bring me Prasad that I had missed receiving. Ram, how wonderfully kind you are to me, what more can I do to repay you than dedicate my entire life to bringing Your Kingdom to earth as it is in Heaven.

In the morning I will break my fast with this mini-banana that has been blessed by You, Ram. I then fall asleep, tired from a long day of dedication to God and Guru who are one and the same. Ram kindly prompts me up at 11:30 p.m. and I perform Kriya by Ram’s will to end the day.

All my love forever: Travis AUM

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