3

Sthita Prajna

Guru Vandana

*****

nitryaya satyaya chidatmakayanavyaya bhavyaya paratparaya

shuddhaya buddhaya niranjanayanamostu nityam gurushekhakaraya

I bow to the crest jewels of Guru preceptors ,theembodiment of knowledge and truth, who is eternal, dignified andever new: that pure, enlightened, detached one is undoubtedlythe greatest of them all

4

CONTENTS

VOLUME 18 ISSUE 1

Printed and Published by Swami Achalananda Giri on behalf ofPrajnana Mission, Printed at Graphic Art Offset Press,

at Nuapatna, Manglabag, Dist : Cuttack (Orissa) and published atPrajnana Mission at Nimpur, P.O. Jagatpur, Cuttack-754021, Orissa.

Editor : Swami Achalananda Giri

Sub Page No.

• GURU VANDANA 3

• EDITORIAL 5

• MESSAGE FROM THE MASTER 6

• PRAJNANAVANI – BREATH MANAGEMENT 10

• GURUDPURNIMA MESSAGE 14

• SIX DECADES COMPLETE 16

• MESSAGE OF THE MASTERS 18

• MYTHS AND METAPHORS 19MAHABHARATA

• MY GURUS 25• VALUABLE VOLUMES - LAW OF KARMA 32

• DATES TO REMEMBER 38

• THE YOGA SUTRA OF PATANJALI 39

• AROUND THE GLOBE 41

5

FROM THE EDITORS :

Prajnanam Brahma

This issue is a special issue that brings you the news of thecelebrations of the 60th birthday of Sri Guruji completing 6 decadesof life on August 10, 2019. Celebrations were held around theglobe, thanking God for the treasure of love and knowledge spreadthrough the medium of the Guru and with wishes and prayers forcontinued guidance.

In Message of the Master, we have Gurudev’s tribute tohis beloved chosen disciple – “He is the one to continue mywork.”

Prajnanavani brings you the reminiscence of the momentousoccasion, of Gurudev bestowing the title of Paramahamsa on the10th of August, 1998.

Under our Myths and Metaphors theme, Mahabharatacontinues with the special yajna by the Pandavas and AvadhutaGita talks about how one can learn from the earth and the trees.

Law of Karma comments on - Who can change theirdestiny as those of faith and willpower and intense desire.

Sage Patanjali comments, that as a result of practice, twothings are achieved: dawn of knowledge of the Self and eliminationof obstacles on the spiritual path.

We bring you news from around the world of the activitiesof Prajnana Mission and the worldwide activities, messages andthe upcoming future activities.

***

6

MESSAGE FROM THE MASTERWHAT IS PARAMAHAMSA AND PRAJNA

Breath is your life. Onebreath is like a fire ceremony.Into the fire we offer ghee; theair goes and touches the fire.The air is ghee, and the fire isthe Supreme Almighty Lord. Itis a constant fire ceremony. Justkeep your attention inside, halfan inch inside, in the atom point.Do not see anything. Be likeParamahamsa Prajnanananda.He is highly cultured andeducated. He is so extremelycultured, that when hesuccessfully completely hisexaminations, he got a job inthe government college. Just hisexamination results were sent

– he did not go personally toapply for the position. They sawthe examination results, whichwere the top scores.Immediately they wrote him aletter asking him to please comeand join the college as aprofessor.

Nor only an academiceducation, but all the scripturesare also in his brain. He stayedconstantly with Hariharananda.Throughout this time period,when he was a student, andwhen he was a professor, hewent from the ashram to theuniversity, and came back totake food in the ashram. Everyday he traveled ninetykilometres to and fro, just so hecould be with me and learn.Traveling forty-five kilometreseach way on roads in Indiatakes a long time.

One day when I wasdoing puja, he was present. Ispoke about the long dhyanamantra, and said that he wouldnot have memorized this mantra.Then he recited the entiremantra. I asked how he knew

7

it. He replied, “On the day thatyou were worshipping, I recodedwhat you chanted. I listened toit, transcribed it and committedit to my memory.” This isprajna. Prajna meansBrahman – knowledge,consciousness, superconsciousness, and cosmicconsciousness; these are thestages of knowledge. The firststage, knowledge, meansmaterial knowledge.Consciousness is higher,including knowledge that youare free, and not evil. Superconsciousness and cosmicconsciousness both mean beingnear the door of God, thecosmos. Prajnanananda isthere, in that state. Prajna andsamadhi cannot be taught withwords.

Prajnananandaji has vastknowledge of all the scripturesand of spirituality. He wrote abook about the Bible. Becauseof his love for Jesus, disciplesgave him a large statue ofMother Mary and Jesus. I havethe deepest love for him. I amso happy with him. I am old –ninety-one years. How long willI be able to talk? How long willGod inhale in this body? I donot know. But Prajnananandais advanced. He is above the

level of humanity. He is the oneto continue my work.

R e c e n t l y ,Prajnananandaji wrote a shortbook about the Bhagavad Gita,which I read, He wrote thatyou must go beyond your bodysenses and that you needthorough control over your eviltendencies, wrongs, immortality,and debauchery. If you cancontrol your breath, you cancontrol your mind and makeyour life a divine one.

The whole body sense isham and the soul is sa. Hamsausually means swan. But inpramahamsa, this hamsa doesnot mean swan, it means one.He and you are one, and alwayshave been one – hamsa – inthe material, and in the non-material, or spiritual.

On his birthday in 1998,I decided that his name shouldbe Pramahamsa Prajnanananda– supreme sa and supremeham. His whole ham (body) isGod. Prajnananandaji is thatperson – Supreme Almighty –param, ham, and sa. He is freefrom all negatives and hasattained this highest spiritualstate.

The whole gross bodyhas fifty types of breath, and

8

your soul body is sa. Withoutsa you cannot earn money,enjoy physical pleasure, or eatfood. You must watch two at atime – ham and sa. And havelove, love, love. Feel thepresence of God. Feel thepresence of God as one. Becareful. Remain detached fromevils, wrongs, and immortality.Prajnananandaji is of that typewho is free from everything. Heis traveling all over India,Europe, and America.

You should always feelthat you are pramahamsa –feel that you are divine. OnPrajnananandaji’s birthday, Iwrote that I am so happy thatthey presented the statue ofMother Mary to him. I am sohappy that he will be the one tocarry on my work. Today, I amalive, but tomorrow God maynot inhale for me. My brainpower is all right and I am stillworking.

P a r a m a h a m s aPrajnanananda – what isprajnana? Prajnanambrahma. Prajnana is Brahman.Brahman meanssarvamkhalvidam – in thewhole universe, whatever yousee, whatever you cannot see,that is Brahman. Brahmanmeans ‘in the whole universe.’

The all-pervading Father,Supreme Almighty Lord, isabiding in the universe. That isBrahman. No one can touchBrahman, no one can catchBrahman, no one can seeBrahman. Air is everywhere,air is Brahman. That is yourlife – prajnana. You havematerial knowledge. Forexample, I can see you. I canrecognize you. This isknowledge. Consciousness isbeyond knowledge. Superconsciousness and cosmicconsciousness are even higherknowledge. Cosmicconsciousness is upperknowledge. You are only at thedoor of God. Prajnananandaji isbeyond, in the formless stage. Ifelt this about him long before.It is why, at the time hereceived sannyasa, I gave himthe name Prajnanananda –prajnanam brahma,ayamatma brahma. Your soullife is Brahman – breath.Ayamatma brahma – your lifeis Brahman.Sarvamkhalvidam brahma –anything you are seeing,everyone is Brahman. Tattvamasi – Thou art That. Youare the Supreme Almighty Lord.You must feel that.

9

Prajnananandaji wassitting and only listening to me.He would return to the ashramat twelve or one o’clock in theafternoon. Then he ate somefood. He did this every day onlyto have Hariharananda’scompany. All the time, evenwhen he was teaching in thecollege, he would travel forty-five kilometres each way, ninetykilometres every day.Astonishing, isn’t it? He studiedearly in the morning, becausethe classes started at seven. Sohe arrived there before seven,to be on time. Then again after

the classes, he came back tome at the ashram. This is love.He said, “I have one friend inlife – Swami Hariharananda. Iam married with God, who ismy breath, my life.” One dayin an open meeting, he said thathis guru is everything to him.God is the Supreme Lord, theSupreme Almighty Father. Thisis Paramahamsa andPrajnanananda. Prajnananandais special name, a rare name.Prajnanananda is the best.Pratistha is the supreme,formless stage. Even all of youare born only for this.

***

State level Gita competetions - Odisha

10

PRAJNANAVANI - THE VOICE OF WISDOMA MOMENTOUS OCCASION

For many years no oneoutside my immediate familyknew my date of birth. Thedate of birth that my familyknew was not the English date,but the astrological one. In ourfamily there was no tradition ofcelebrating our birthdays, exceptfor doing some special pujasand eating special food cookedby my mother. Although manypeople asked about my birthdate, I avoided answering. Thedate of birth in my passport(June 21, 1960) comes fromschool records and is incorrect.When disciples would glance atmy passport and seek

confirmation, I would smile andsay, “No, that is not mybirthday; it is just the date ofbirth in my passport.” When Istudied astrology, first I wantedto study my own horoscope asI knew myself and wanted tosee what my horoscope said.So, I brought the palm leavehoroscope from my home andstarted studying it and then Iconverted it into the Westerncalendar. I found there was abig difference. My date of birthwas August 10, 1959. The yearchanged and my age rose. InIndia, ordinarily people areconcerned about the date of

11

birth for their job andretirement. But those who goto astrologers need to know theexact information about theirbirth date because astrologersneed to know the actual dateand time of birth otherwise allcalculations and predictions willnot be accurate. When I foundthe date and time of my birththrough my calculation, I spoketo my brother and she noddedher head with confirmation. Thisdate was not well known toothers.

I was there for verysurprised when on August 10,1996, while I was at a programwith ShriGurudev in Zurich,everyone, following ShriGurudev’s clue sang “HappyBirthday.” Until then I wasunaware that ShriGurudevknew my true date of birth.Everyone looked at me with joyand ShriGurudev said, “Onbirthdays, friends and relativesgive gifts to the person whosebirthday is celebrated, but I amgiving you all a gift and he isPrajnanananda.” I felt shywhile they were clapping theirhands. I wondered how ShriGurudev knew about this day.Then I remembered that weeksearlier while I was writing thebook The Torah, the Bible and

Kriya Yoga, ShriGurudev hadoften come to check on theprogress of my work. Evenwhen I was not there he wentinto the room and sometimesleft an indication of his presencein some way or another. Oneday I had left a small piece ofpaper bearing my ownastrological chart written inOdia in my own handwriting.He had looked at it in detailand put arrow marks ondifferent planets. When I cameback to the room I saw thepaper and knew it was solelythe work of ShriGurudev. Thiswas my clue as to how he hadfound out my actual date ofbirth.

One year later, I was inPortland, Oregon, I spent mostof the day meditating and onlyreceived a few phone calls fromdisciples in Europe. I neverwanted people to know aboutthis date and organizecelebrations; however, it isdifficult to hide the truth. Slowlypeople found out about it.People in the USA celebratedon April 25, the date of mymonk initiation as well as mybirthday.

In 1998, I was in theMidwest for many programsand in Cleveland on August 10.

12

The disciples there wanted tocelebrate my birthday with asimple program. I sat with thefamily of Sudha Ma and Dr.Harinath Bathina, the centerleader and longtime disciples ofShriGurudev. (Now they live inour ashrams as monks – SwamiGurupriyananda and SwamiMatrukrupananda – and servein doing ShriGurudev’s work inmany ways.) That morning theyhad a special fire ceremony andprayer for my birthday, andduring that time the telephonerang. We all were in prayer andmeditation and did not answerthe telephone, but I could hearthe voice of Shri Gurudevsending me abirthday message:“Today is a most auspiciousday, it is the birthday orParamahamsaPrajnanananda.Today I confer all my blessingsas Paramahamsa.”

After meditation andprayer we all listened to therecorded message. It was awonderful surprise. I did notknow if ShriGurudev hadreferred to ParamahamsaPrajnanananda by mistake.After some time, the telephonerang again; it was from Vienna.When I picked up the receiver,ShriGurudev told me, “Fromtoday I give you the title of

‘Paramahamsa.’ You are nomore Swami Prajnanananda,from today you areParamahamsa Prajnanananda.”

I was unable to speak.With tears in my eyes I thought,“Until now you were a mysteryto me. I have not understoodwho you are.” The image ofYoganandaji flashed through mymind. What had I done to beworthy of such a great honor?Slowly I recovered my voiceand was able to murmur, “I amnot worthy of all these things. Ibow to you, my guru! Let meseek your love, your blessing. Iam overwhelmed. Let this lifebe used for a divine purposeand let this life be like a flower,offered at the feet of the guru,the sacred feet of God. Letevery breath, every thought,every word be used to fulfillthis mission. Let my life be filledwith self-sacrifice, self-oblation,let my life be the oil that isoffered as an oblation. I bowto God. I bow to my guru. Letme be your tool.”

My life, I realized, hadbecome inextricably bound withthat of my beloved master andhis lineage. As my spiritualfather, Sri Gurudev opened thedoor to a future weighed downwith responsibilities. I only hope

13

I will prove to be a worthy pupilof such a rare, loving, andunique master. We have beenwelded in a relationship that has

no beginning and no end. Butuntil now, I am not sure if I amreally his worthy child or not.

(From My Time with theMaster by ParamahamsaPrajnanananda)

***

Birthday celebrations at Durg Ashram

14

Loving and Divine Souls,

Let the choicest blessingsof God and the masters be uponall of you. I take this opportunityto pray for you and send mybest wishes on the occasion ofGuru Purnima, the full moonday in the month of July(ashadha). It is the birthday ofSage Vyasadeva, which occurson July 16 this year.

On this day disciplesoffer their love, adoration, andgratitude to the guru-preceptorand the lineage, which startswith God and continues up tothe present teacher. God is theeternal teacher. With the graceof God our parents become ourteachers and teach us todevelop many good qualitiesand to be good people. Parentsare the first teachers. Oftenparents will provide spiritualtraining for their children. Inancient times parents took theirchildren to a teacher’s home forboth secular and spiritualeducation.

The Upanishadstherefore say, matridevobhava

GURUPURNIMA MESSAGE

(love the mother as God),pitridevobhava (adore thefather as God),acharyadevobhava (respectthe teacher as God), andatithidevobhava (serve theguest as God). Among allteachers, spiritual teachers havea special role; they can lead usto human perfection and to betruly good people during everymoment of life.

Spiritual texts alsoemphasize that our teachers arenot limited to any particularpeople. We can learn fromanyone and everyone andeverything if we have developedthe ability to see goodness inothers. A tree can be a teacher.A bee can teach us how to live.For this learning we must openour minds and hearts and thenpractice the lessons we learn.

Today is the annual dayof offering our love anddevotion to all the masters andespecially to Sage Vyasadeva.

How can we best offerour gratitude to our teachers?

15

We human beings arerational, intelligent, andpractical, and we have thewillpower to shape our lives andevolve ourselves. We mustcultivate these abilities, and wemust follow the teachings of themasters.

Today is the day torenew our spiritual life withvigor and dynamism. We shouldrefresh and rejuvenate ourminds and lives with new spirit.Time is flying fast. The mastersof Kriya have told us to spendevery breath in love and prayerand thanksgiving and use everymoment of life for spiritualgrowth and service to God andgurus.

The teachers observe ourtransformation. We must shapeour lives with love and gratitude.Nothing is impossible. Our livesare in our hands; our future isin our hands.

Let us be sincere in ourspiritual discipline and practicewith diligence. Let us love themasters and put their teachingsinto practice withoutprocrastination. Let us love andserve each other and thisbeautiful world with our littleeffort of living a joyful life.

On this special day, Ibow to you as the presence ofGod and the masters. I againsend my love and best wishes.

With Love,

Prajnanananda***

Inauguration of Gita chanting competetion - Mayurbhanj

16

Loving and divine Souls,

Let the choicest blessingsof God and the masters be uponall of you. I take this opportunityto pray for you, and I send mybest wishes to you. I seek yourlove and prayers on theoccasion of completing sixdecades in this body on August10, 2019.

When I grew up with myparents and other familymembers in my childhood, wedid not celebrate birthdays as afamily tradition. Instead, mymother told us to do a specialpuja, and she cooked specialfood. We did not know ourbirthday or date of birth, norwere we eager to know. Onlymother knew themastrologically, and every yearour birthday arrived on adifferent date as the planetarystate changed.

When I was in my finalyear of high school,I saw in theschool record that my date ofbirth was June 21, 1960.I wasnever curious to know how mymother’s celebration came

SIX DECADES COMPLETEBirthday Message from Paramahamsa Prajnanananda

during monsoon time, where asmy official record was in hotJune.

When I studied a littleastrology, I wanted toexperiment on my astrologicalchart so I wanted to know theexact time and date of my birth.My mother told me that I wasborn on Monday morning in themonth of July- August. I askedfor the palm leaf astrologicalchart that showed all our familyand was calculated in the Indiancalendar and times. I convertedit into English system, and tomy great surprise, I found thatIwas neither born in June, nor inthe year 1960. It becameAugust 10,1959.That is how Ilearned about my time of birth,which my family members didnot know.

However, I am happy tohave three birthdays,one in myofficial record (June 21 , 1960),one in the palm leafhoroscope(August 10 ,1959),and later on my monk’s initiationwas my spiritual rebirth ( April25,1995). To be very honest, I

17

***

do not believe in birthdaysexcept from the astrologicalviewpoint. However a fewknew about my birthday onAugust 10, before I came tothe West and gradually othersbecame aware of it.

What shall I write on thisday except to offer my love andgratitude and ask forforgiveness from each one ofyou? I am ever grateful to myparents, my family members,my villagers, my teachers, myfriends and relatives, mybeloved Gurudev, my country,all the people I have met in mylife, all the saints and sages, allthe divine incarnations, myfamily deities, and above all,God. This list is not complete. Iam ever grateful to all of youwho are reading this.

I am a human being, soI am not free from humannature. But by the grace ofShriGurudev, I experienced a lotof transformation during mylife. I am not living for myself;

my life is a life in the serviceof all. In this journey of lifeabout four decades of my lifewas with ShriGurudev, servinghim and all of you, I am yourservant. I have tried to serveall of youwith humility to thebest of my ability. However, Ifeel it could have been better. Imight have hurt you or mightnot have been upto yourexpectations, upto the wishes ofthe masters, or even upto thewishes of God. With yourloving, kind, and generoushearts,you all will forgive meand will not hesitate to give yourlove to me. Your love is mystrength.

What more am I to writeon this day? I am offering mylove and devotion to my parents,ShriGurudev and ultimately toGod , and I am praying for allof you. May you all shine onyour paths with spirituality,love,kindness,and compassion.

Again, I bow to you all.

With Love

Prajnanananda

18

Teachings of the Masters

“A true Guru is humble, always God consciousalways ready to forgive and guide with love andcompassion.” Paramahamsa Prajnanananda

“When your breath becomes very feeble, thenyou are really practising Kriya. You areestablished in truth.” Paramahamsa Hariharananda

“Never accuse others of their mistakes. If aperson has only one good quality out of 100then try to see that good one not the 99 badones.” Swami Satyananda

“Behind the light in every little bulb is a greatdynamic current; behind the weaves, vast oceans,and behind the individual lies the SupremeSpirit.” Paramahamsa Yogananda

“Men of wisdom are neither deluded norhaunted by the spectre of birth and death. Oneshould, without being inordinately confussed bythe words of wise men, follow strictly theirmethods of Kirya.” Swami Shriyukteshwar

“There is no work without desire. Work whch isduty bound is also born of some desire.”

Lahiri Mahasaya

“It is not proper to unnecessarily metnion thename of the Guru. By this, he is belittled.”

Mahavatara Babaji

“The purpose of breath-control is to keep thebody and mind free from negative vibrations.”

Sanyal Mahasaya

19

MYTHS AND METAPHORSMAHABHARATA

SPECIAL YAJNA BY PANDAVAS

The Role of Inviting

The role of inviting is notan easy job. One should behumble and careful to invitepeople with due honor and love.When the Pandavas wanted todo the fire ceremony for theinauguration of the new city,they invited kings from all overthe world as well as all theirown citizens. Bhima was putin charge of inviting everybody,but he forgot to invite oneperson. On such occasions,people expect the hosts to do alot.

Before continuing thestory of the Mahabharata, I willfirst tell a story from the life ofa great saint of India who lived

about a hundred years agonamed ShriRadharamana Deva.ShriRadharamana Deva wascompletely devoted to LordKrishna, his personal god-head.For many years, he lived in Puri.He traveled on foot to manyparts of Odisha spreading thepath of divine love.

When ShriRadharamanaDeva was in Nabadwip, Bengal,his dog died, and he wanted tohave a death ritual for the dog.The tradition in India is thatwhen somebody dies, the familyinvites friends, relatives, andothers to have a meal togetheron the ninth, tenth, or eleventhday. So ShriRadharamana

20

Deva thought to invite straydogs in the town for a meal, aswell as saints and all the holypeople of the locality. He gavethe charge to his disciple saying,“Whatever dog you find, requesthim to come to this place at aparticular time.” Although thissounds unbelievable, it actuallyhappened. On a set date andtime, the dogs in the town wereinvited to the ashram.Hundreds of dogs came at thestipulated time. Seating hadbeen arranged for each dog.The holy man bowed down tothe dogs and told them to taketheir seats. The food wasserved on a banana leaf, butnone ate. Typically, when foodis given to animals, immediatelythey eat. But here all weresitting politely and not eating thefood in front of them.ShriRadharamana Deva, whowas also popularly known asBadaBabaji or Big Babaji,bowed down to them with foldedhands, requesting them to eatthe food. Then the dogs startedeating. After they had finishedeating, again the holy manbowed down to them and said,“If you all have been satisfied,you may leave.” Given that allthe dogs were strays, they allleft peacefully without making

any noise and causing adisturbance. The holy manpicked some grains of food fromthe leaves and put them intohis mouth.

Shri Radharamana Devahad a rule that all food shouldbe eaten each day, not leavinganything for the next day, whichis known as akashavritti.Monks and sadhus live withdifferent types of vrittis, ordifferent ways of collecting theirfood or whatever they need.The first vritti ismadhukarivritti, which meansto collect food like bees.Madhukaras, or bees, go fromflower to flower to collectnectar. Likewise, monks do nottake food from one house butbeg from a few houses.Whatever they get, they offerit to the guru and whatever theguru gives them, they take. Thesecond one is ajagaravritti. Itis the lifestyle of a python.Pythons do not go anywhere;they just lie down in one place.Whenever an animal comesnearby, it welcomes it, thinking,“Come, today you are the God-given food for me,” and then itswallows it. If no food comespythons just lie there. Pythonsare huge and can even swallowhuman beings. Sometimes they

21

swallow goats and otheranimals. Being constrictors,they can expand their bodies.The python is indeed one of thelaziest animals. Inajagaravritti, the sadhu doesnot go anywhere; he sits in oneplace. If somebody gives himfood, he accepts it as the willof God. If there is no food, hefasts, saying, “Today God wantsthat I should not have food.”He accepts his circumstanceslike this. When SwamiBrahmananda, the disciple ofShri RamakrishnaParamahamsa, was living inVrindavan, he said, “I wassitting and observing thisajagaravritti, the lifestyle of apython. Somebody came andcovered my body with a blanketas it was wintertime. After awhile, a thief came and tookthis blanket from my body.”He was completely detached,with no protest: God wasgiving and God was taking.What complete surrender toGod! The third one isakashavritti. In this vritti,whatever is received that dayhas to be spent that day; nothingis to be left for the next day.They clean the pots so well thatnot a single grain of rice is stuckto the pot. They keep the

empty pots facing the sky,believing that from nothing,something will come. AsBadaBabaji followed thisakashavritti, everything wassupposed to be consumed thatday.

In the evening, a devoteecame to BabajiRadharamanaand told him that a mistake hadbeen made. All the food thatwas offered in the temple wasnot eaten, even though, all hadeaten. So what were they todo with the food? Baba smiled.At that moment, a black dogcame running onto the ashramcampus, and so the plate offood was served to this dog.The disciple who invited thedogs came running to his guruand said that this was the dogthat he had invited at the end.He had told the dog, “I do notknow if I invited everybody ornot, so go and tell your friendsand relatives so that everybodyis fed.” Can anyone believethis really happened?Nevertheless, it did.

The same holy manhelped in another way. Therewas a huge, beautiful banyantree in Bengal that peoplewould sit and rest under.Nearby was a pond wherepeople would go to take a dip.

22

Some Muslim people who hadgoats and sheep would cut treebranches to give to theseanimals. One day, they decidedto cut down the banyan tree.In that locality, Muslims werethe majority and the local rulerwas also a Muslim. The holyman learned about the plan tocut the tree, and the Hindusrequested him to do somethingto protect the tree. He said,“Let us go and convince themthat God is in the tree also.”Hindus believe God is presentin everything: in trees, animals,and in all. Some people criticizeHindus for worshipping idols,but they are not idol worshipers.Although they have idols, theyworship the omnipresent divinityand consciousness in the idol.The holy man said, “We willchant the name of God and thetree will dance to the rhythmof the chanting.” They invitedthe Muslims to come and seetheir Guruji chanting and howthe tree would dance. If thetree danced, they would knowthat God is present in it. Alarge number of peoplecongregated to see this event.The holy man started chantingin his own divine ecstasy andthe branches and leaves movedin such a rhythm as if the tree

was dancing with the love ofGod. Someone thought therewere people sitting in the treeand moving the branches andthe leaves, but they soonverified that nobody was in thetree. As a result, the tree wassaved. This holy man saw Godin dogs and the tree. Throughhis exemplary life and activities,he showed the presence of Godin them.

Now, let us return to ourdiscussion of the invitation tothe special yajna by thePandavas. Bhima, the secondPandava, was given theresponsibility to invite everyoneto the inauguration. Althoughhe went everywhere, he forgotto invite a cobbler. At thebeginning of a celebration, aconch was to be blown, butafter many attempts, no conchsound came out. Even thepowerful Bhima tried, but stillthere was no sound. Theywent to Lord Krishna to askwhy this was happening. LordKrishna told Bhima that he hadforgotten to invite a cobbler andthat he should now go and invitehim. As soon as Bhima invitedthe cobbler, the conch wasblown and the celebrationstarted. The message is to loveall and that the way of spiritual

23

life is to honor all. Spiritual lifeis all-encompassing.

Division of Service

All the kings were invited,including theK a u r a v a s , Yu d h i s h t h i r aembraced all the Kauravas andtold them, “Whatever is here isyours. We all should worktogether. You all should takesome responsibility because thework should be accomplishedin a proper way.” There wasa list of tasks to be done.Duhshasana, the secondKaurava, was given theresponsibility of taking care ofthe store and kitchen.Ashwatthama, the son ofAcharyaDrona, was to takecare of the brahmins, to seethat they were properly treated.Sanjaya, the minister ofDhritarashtra, had theresponsibility of taking care ofthe royal guest and kings. Themost important task was theoverall supervision to ensurethat everything was done, andthis was given to Bhishma andAcharyaDrona. AcharyaKripawas given the responsibility toprotect all the properties and togive donations to the people.All the expenditure andaccounting responsibilities weregiven to Vidura. Receiving gifts

and donations wasDuryodhana’s responsibility.When every task was allocated,Lord Krishna said one task wasmissing and that he would doit. It is said in the Mahabharatathat Lord Krishna washed thefeet of all the guests, especiallythe brahmins. The traditionalbelief is that not only did hewash the feet of the guests, butalso, he cleaned the eating areaand removed the leaf platesfrom the place where millionsof people were fed every day.This is the external narration ofthe fire ceremony.

People with Envy LosePeace

Envy is a parasite thatsickens the body and the mind.While Duryodhana received thegifts and donations, he feltjealous seeing what people gaveon this special occasion,imagining how much moretreasure they must have. Canwe be happy in showing ourprosperity to others? Can webe happy to see the prosperityof our enemies? It is very easyto go to somebody who issuffering and in trouble , but ifwe see someone very rich,prosperous, and successful, canwe be happy with their success,especially those whom we do

24

not like and consider an enemy?It is very difficult. Duryodhanawas boiling from within whilelooking at the huge collectionof gifts. While others wererejoicing, Duryodhana wassuffering in misery. Heremembered the incident ofwalking into the place, beingconfused and humiliatedbecause he thought the wetfloor was dry and dry floor waswet. He thought there was a

wall, but it was a door.Wherever he went, he felthumiliation, and now he feltjealousy. As a result, heconstantly thought of how totake revenge for thishumiliation,. He could not sleepand lost his inner peace. Peoplewith envy and hatred rarelyexperience peace. When hereturned home, he spoke toShakuni, his trusted advisor.

***

Birthday Celebraton - Hariharananda Gurukulam

25

MY GURUS

God is within us all asthe inner guru. God abideswithin us and is constantlyencouraging us to find our wayback home. Even though theDivine is near and dear, Hecannot help us when we haveno desire to change. If we don’twant to change, we will neverchange. We must change ourown lives; we are here totransform ourselves. With ahuman birth, God has given usa beautiful opportunity. Our timein this world is temporary, notpermanent. Each and everymoment is a rare and preciousgift. But what usually happensis that most of us suffer whilewe are here, and our days arefraught with a constant flow ofobstacles and challenges. Thus,it benefits us greatly tooccasionally go to an ashramor spiritual retreat to seekrefuge from worldlytemptations, worldlyrestlessness. Nowadays there iseven greater need to spendtime in a peaceful, loving,spiritual environment.

Shri Gurudev often toldme when I was young that weshould leave the world and allnegative thoughts behind uponentering the door of an ashram.When we open the door andcross the threshold, we shouldbecome completely new. Whilein the ashram we should try tospend every moment with love,self-analysis, and more Godconsciousness for greatertransformation. Unfortunately,what happens when we stay atan ashram for a longer periodof time is that all our old habitsand old tendencies come backand overpower us. The initialstrength, the initial willpower,and the initial determination aresoon forgotten. We becomevictims, prey of our own vices.The question is, how can wechange? If we sincerely wantto change, there is only oneway; we must be strict withourselves.

The king asked the nakedsadhu, “Who is your guru?What teachings do youpractice? What type of

26

meditation or yoga do you do?”If somebody asks you whattype of meditation or yoga youare practicing, you might saythat you are practicing KriyaYoga and that you are followinga certain teacher. But Avadhutatold the king that his questionwas a beautiful one. He said,“O King, I don’t have just oneguru.”

The king was surprised.“More than one?” heexclaimed. “How many gurusdo you have?”

“In total I have twenty-four gurus.”

“So many gurus… forwhat reason? Who are they?”

With rapt attention, thecurios king anxiously awaitedthe sage’s response.

The Marvelous Lessons ofthe Elements

Avadhuta begins abeautiful narration about histwenty-four gurus and thepriceless lessons they taughthim. When the eager king askedAvadhuta to describe his gurus,the sadhu replied, “O King, Iwill speak now of my first guru,the earth.”

“Earth is your guru?”asked the king, somewhat takenaback.

“Yes, it is so,” saidAvadhuta.

The king was confused.“Till now it has been taught thata guru should be a human being,someone who can teach, whocan talk, who can see who canguide.”

“It is true that a guru inhuman form, who can talk andteach is very good. But I tellyou, if your mind is sincerelyready to receive, if your heartis humble, you can learn fromanyone. The whole universebecomes a university. Everybeing, every object, everyhappening, can teach you whenyou are ready to learn. Such ismy attitude, and I thereby havelearned many valuable lessonsfrom the earth.”

“How could you learnanything from something that isinert? The earth has no mouthto speak,” said the king.

Avadhuta smiled andsaid, “If one has the ability tolisten and observe, the earthteaches a lot.”

Thinking about the earthbrings to mind a beautifulteaching of SantKabir. He gavethe example of a potter whowas digging the earth to findsome soil to make a pot. After

27

getting the soil, he carefullyformed a clay pot and put it inan oven to bake. The earthasked the potter:

mati kahe kumharasetukyaraum de moheekadina aisaaegamaimrom dugi tohe

“After taking me, whatkind of pot will you make outof me? The day will comewhen your body will be burnedon me.”

In the Hindu tradition,when someone dies, the bodyis burned on the earth. Or, theybury the body inside the earth.So, the earth is saying, “Youare trying to make a pot out ofme, but do you know that oneday you will become part ofme?”

The earth is a teacher.What does the earth teach?

Avadhuta said, “The firstthing the earth teaches istolerance.”

People dig into the earth.Sometimes we dig into the soilto plant seeds. When we digholes in the earth, the earthnever objects. The earth is likea mother. Mother Earth is fullof tolerance, and no matterwhat we do, we are likechildren playing and jumping on

the lap of the mother. When ababy jumps, it might hurt hemother, but the mother willinglyaccepts this pain out of love. Inthe Vedic culture it is said, matabhumi putroham prthivyam:“We are the sons and daughtersof the soil. The earth is ourmother.” We are born on thelap of the mortal mother. Andwe are born on the lap of thisearth. No matter how old weare, we are still her children,and we are playing on her lap.

The Vedas say:

saudra vasane deviparvata stana mandale

vishnu patni namastubhyampada sparsam kshamasva me.

“O Mother Earth, theocean are your clothes and themountains are your breasts.

O beloved of God, myfeet touch you, please forgiveme.”

It is a beautiful, poeticallegory. Just like we suckledour mother’s breasts when wewere babies drinking milk,similarly, from the pristinestream flowing down themountaintop, we drink theearth’s life-giving waters. Thisearth is our mother, we are itschildren, and the quality of theearth is tolerance, the non-

28

reactive nature. Out of all theelements — earth, water, fire,air, and space—the grossestelement is earth and the mostuseful element is earth. Wecreate everything from thisearth, the remarkable planet onwhich we live.

Avadhuta told the kingthat not only did he learntolerance, he learned manyother things. For instance, hesaid, “I learned that everythingon the earth grows — plants,trees, insects, animals, andhuman beings — all living thingsgrow, then one day they mergeback into the soil. Everythingmaterial comes from the earthand goes back into the earth.”

Thus, the earth teachesus where we come from and itis the source to which wereturn. The body returns to itssource, the earth, but whatabout the soul? In the sameway that everything materialcomes from the earth andreturns to it, we, as souls, comefrom a source and return to thatsource. What is the source?From where did we come? Wecame from God and will goback to God.

Avadhuta then said, “Theearth taught me that valuabletreasures are hidden within.

Valuable treasures are hiddenwithin the earth, and if we wantto discover them, we mustwork hard. Inside the earththere are diamonds and gold,but we must work hard todiscover these treasures.Similarly, treasures are buriedwithin you and me. A pricelesstreasure is within us — peace,joy happiness, love — and wemust strive to explore and findthis treasure that lies within.”

But are we working hardto find these inner treasures?Are we using our timeeffectively? Think about howmany years have passed sincewe arrived in this world. Manyyears have already passed, butwhat is our real achievement?Whether it is fifteen years, fortyyears, fifty years or more, nomatter how many years havepassed, every year should be ayear of growth andaccomplishment. Moreover, ifeverything is within us, are wesincerely trying to explore thetreasure of divinity and lovewithin? And if we find it, willwe know how to use it? Aproverb in Sanskrit says, “If youthink that you are rich becauseyou have lots of money, and youbelieve that money is thesymbol of prosperity, then I say

29

I am the richest person of all,because the whole earth is mineand thus all that remains withinit belongs to me.” The truth is,accumulating gold and riches inthe outer world is not theanswer, not a real achievement.How we use our lives, how weuse our time, is what trulymatters. We must ask ourselves,“Every moment, every breath Itake…how am I using thesegifts?”

Do you use your breathin love, in joy, in Godconsciousness, or do you useevery moment, every breath,day after day, month aftermonth, year after year, in idlegossip, in jealousy, in laziness?If you sincerely want to makeprogress, you must examinehow you use your time and howyou use your life. The earth hasmany lessons to teach, and oneof the greatest is — everythingis within me. Those who searchfor and find the earth’streasures become rich. In thesame way, the earth is teachingus that we also have a treasurehidden within. Hence, thoseadventurous and courageoussouls who work hard, whoexplore their inner divinity,ultimately attain a treasurebeyond their wildest dreams.

When that happens, lifebecomes enjoyable. When thathappens, we can have lives oflove, joy and everlastinghappiness.

The naked one,Avadhuta, and the king werehaving a beautiful discussionabout how to learn from life andhow to learn from everythingwe see. Everything andeverybody has a special lessonto teach us. That is what thesadhu meant when he said hehad many gurus, and the firstone was the earth. Whendiscussing the earth he also said,“While observing the earth Isaw high mountains and lowvalleys. This became anothervaluable lesson for me. Forexample, when it rains, therainwater cannot be absorbedby the mountain, so it flowsdownward. The valley, whichis low, becomes the reservoirof the rainwater. Consequently,I learned that if you arestubborn, if you do not bendyourself, if you are not humble,you cannot learn.” Themountain,is a symbol of ego, andthe valley is a symbol forhumility. Thus, Avadhuta said,“I learned that if I want toreceive and preserveknowledge, I must be humble.”

30

Next the sadhu saidwhen he looked at the earth,he observed many plants andtrees and learned from them.

“What lessons did theyteach you?” the king asked.

“From the trees I learnedhow to live a life of sacrifice.When a tree is in the form ofa tiny seed, and it comes incontact with the soil, it willinglysacrifices its form. The seed,after sacrificing itself, becomesa sprout, and after that, a smallplant. It grows and grows onits journey upward toward thesun, toward the brilliant light,valiantly ignoring gravity’smighty clutch that tugs and pullsto hold it back. The root goesdown, and the trunk grows up.”The sadhu is explaining thatwhen he saw how a small plantis attracted to the light, how itloves the light and growstoward it, that he as a humanbeing, should likewise direct hismind, his consciousness towardthe light, toward knowledge,toward God.

He then went on to say,“The trees taught me how tosurvive in spite of difficulties.For example, when a droughtor a strong winter occurs, thetrees naturally adjustthemselves. In the fall, before

winter appears, they drop theirleaves. They protectthemselves. Then whenspringtime arrives, they sproutnew leaves and even beautifulflowers. Similarly, whenever adifficulty comes, instead ofcomplaining, I behave like tree.I adapt and adjust and makeaccommodations during thecritical situations of life.Moreover, from the tree’sexample, I now clearly see thatwinter is not permanent, thatagain spring will come. Thetree has shown me how to livewith hope. When problemsarise, I know not to feelheartbroken and defeated. Ihave learned to live with thehope that no problem ispermanent. A tree is born fromonly one seed, but during itslifetime it brings forth manyseeds. Thus, if only one goodquality resides within me, I willmultiply it a hundredfold. I willstrive to continuously bring forththat quality in all that I do. Inthis way, the tree teaches thelaw of karma: Whatever thoughtwe have or action we performwill elicit many fruits, manyseeds, from just one tiny seed.By observing the tree, I realizedthat I should be careful in allthat I do so I do not create so

31

much new karma, new bondage,which brings more suffering inthe future.”

The sadhu told the kingthat the tree taught him evenmore than this. He said, “I sawthat after the flowers blossomand the tree is loaded withbeautiful traits, instead of beingproud, the tree becomeshumble. It bends down.” Thosewho have visited the ashram inMiami know that during mangoseason, the branches of the treebend down when they areloaded with fruit. Here, thenaked sadhu is explaining thata person of knowledge isalways humble, whereas aperson with ego andstubbornness stands rigid andstraight and refuses to bend. Hesaid, “A tree that is plentiful withfruit bends down, and thistaught me that when prosperitycomes, whether inner or outer,I must be humble. Moreover, Ialso saw some childrenthrowing stones at the treetrying to retrieve some fruit. Iobserved that though they werethrowing stones, the tree wasnot throwing stones back;instead it returned their stoneswith fruit. Through this Iunderstood that when somebody

does something to me that isnot pleasant, I should not reactimpulsively.” The human mindis always reactive. In fact, wereact so much that we usuallyperceive everything in anegative way, which in turnmakes our lives miserable. Butthat isn’t the only damage wedo; we also affect others in anegative and painful way.Avadhuta told the king thatwhen he saw the childrenthrowing stones at the tree andthe tree providing fruit, helearned how to change his life.How? Avadhuta said, “Evenwhen someone does me wrong,I will respond with a smile. Iwill try to be good to everybodyas much as I can, for thereinlay the beauty in life.”

The sage continued, “Oneday I saw a man cutting downa tree for firewood. However,because it was a hot sunny day,the man soon grew weary andtired and sat down under theshade of that tree to rest. I sawthe tree’s nobility, for it wastelling the man, “When you aretired, you can sit down, and thenyou will attain the strength tome cut me down. My life is notfor myself; my life is completelyfor others.”

***

32

VALUABLE VOLUMES

THE LAW OF KARMA

BY PARAMAHAMSA PRAJNANANANDA

Life of Acharya Shankara;the Story of ChangingDestiny

In India, well-knownstories circulate about peoplewho increased their lifespans.For example, the lifespan ofAcharya Shankara, a greatspiritual master of India,changed from sixteen years tothirty-two years. The parents ofAcharya Shankara were bothelderly and childless after manyyears of marriage. For sometime the father had beensincerely praying to God for achild. In India it is believed thatdying childless is not good; thus,he was very motivated. Afterspending time in earnest prayer,he had a vision of the Divine,Who told him, “You have achoice. Do you want abeautiful, spiritual, God-loving

son who will live sixteen years,or a son who will be dull-headed and uneducated whowill live 100 years: What is youranswer?” Shivaguru, Shri AdiShankaras’s father, thought fora moment and said, “Let ushave a good, loving child with ashort life.” And because thefather knew the child wouldonly live a short time, he toldhis wife, “I have been told thatyou are going to be blessed witha beautiful son; however, he willlive only sixteen years. Pleasedo not be unhappy.” From theday the child was born, therewas peace, love, and beauty.Later he was an exceptionalgenius. He started speaking injust a few months, and hememorized scriptures at a veryearly age. In the course of time,

33

the father died, and the childstayed with his mother. Manytimes the child wanted torenounce everything, to be amonk, to go elsewhere andmeditate. However, knowingthat he was to die young, hismother would not allow it. Onhis sixteenth birthday, the motherand son went to the river totake a bath. While they werebathing, a crocodile got hold ofthe boy and slowly began pullinghim into deep water. The sonthen cried out, “Help me! Helpme! I have been caught by acrocodile!” The helpless motherfrantically shouted, “Is thereanybody here who can help myson?” But there was no one tohelp. Then, while looking at hismother, the son, gasping for air,said, “My mother, I had a strongwish to be a monk. You did notallow me to be one. Now atleast mentally, I will be a monkbefore I die. Can you allow meto be a monk now?” With tearsstreaming down her face, themother lovingly said, “Let it be.”This, ShriAdiSankara closed hiseyes, and while thinking of God,he said, “I renounce everythingfor You.” That moment thecrocodile loosened its death gripand swam away. The boy thenreturned home and became a

monk, and lived another sixteenyears.

Deep prayer sincereprayer, can help change ourdestiny. We are not slaves todestiny. Many people feelhelpless, thinking – it is mydestiny, it is my destiny. But likeShri Adi Shankara, strong willpower, sincere prayer, and apositive attitude can help uschange destiny to a greatextent. But remember, destinycannot be changed completely.Destiny pertains to us as weare now. For example, thefamily, the country, thenationality, the language, thegender are all part of thedestiny that we cannot change.Prayer and meditation as wellas positive thinking and strongwillpower are the tools that willhelp us change our prarabdhakarma, our destiny, which willmanifest in this present life.

Doing the best of Our Ability

We must try to live thebest life we can, If we live alife of prayer and contentment,there is every chance for abetter life. Instead of focusingon the present kriyamanakarma (continuation of karma),many people blame theirprarabdha (destiny) for

34

everything. The say it is due totheir destiny that they could notachieve something or that thisor that happened to them. Withunderstanding, acceptance, andrepeated effort, surely we canachieve success. Never thinkyou are a slave of destiny;make your life better right nowthrough your effort. Do not bediscouraged by failure.Remember, failure is the pillarof success. Every failure showsus our weakness and helps usto overcome it.

A beautiful Sanskritsaying in the ChankyaNitidescribes those who areenterprising, enduring, anddetermined:

udyoginam purusha simhamupaiti lakshmi, daivena

deyamitikapurusha vadantidivam nihatya kuru

paurushamatmasaktya yatnekrite yadina sidhyati kutra doshaha

“Wealth and prosperityalways visit the lion amonghumans who is industrious andenterprising.

Naïve, lazy peoplemumble that fortune has cometo them from the hands of fateor serendipity.

Leave aside fate and putforth all your effort; if, in spiteof putting forth your best effort,success is not achieved, whereis the blame?”

It is also said in theSanskrit Subhashitani:

udyamena hi siddyantikaryani na manorathaihnahi suptasya simhaasyapravishanti mukhe mrgah

“Work is notaccomplished merely bydesiring its completion. A deeras ‘prey” by itself does notenter a sleeping lion’s mouth!”

A question may arise asto whether committing a wrongis the effect of prarabdha orwill affect prarabdha.Prarabdha designated for thislife exists all the time. Badprarabdha will stimulate badkarma in the present. A part ofthe bad karma will bear fruitand a part will be accumulatedfor the future. However, ifprarabdha is very good, evenwhen we do something bad, wemay manage to survive. Somepeople do bad things, but arenot affected instantly becauseof good prarabdha. But if thepresent karma, the kriyamana,is not good, they will receive apart of the consequences, andanother part will be stored. It is

35

very difficult to deduce whatpercentage will have to be dealtwith presently and whatpercentage will be saved.

Prarabdha and Purushartha

Prarabdha is the destinythat arises from our past lives.But we are not slaves to this.Rather we have freedom andfee choice. Our present sincereaction with positive andprayerful attitude hastremendous potentiality tochange life’s path. In otherwords present action orkriyamana has the ability tochange or modify prarabdhaor destiny.

Suppose your destiny(prarabdha) points in a certaindirection, and your presentaction, purushartha, goes inthat same direction, what willthe result be? If they both actin the same direction, the resultwill be bigger; the achievementor failure will be bigger. Ifpurushartha is stronger andpositive, and prarabdha isnegative, the result will bepositive. We can change ourlives: it depends upon us. Wecreate our lives, no one else.Therefore, we are not slavesof our karma, We makemistakes, that is true. But wecan change our lives.

The masters haveexplained that prarabdha(destiny) and kriyamana(purushartha, present actions)fight like rams: whichever ismore powerful becomesvictorious. It is clear that destinyhas an impact, but present actionwith strong motivation andwillpower can be stronger. Wehave the freedom to use thepresent moment for a betterlife.

With the grace of theDivine or help from a guru, wecan be free from all karma,whether it isprarabdha orsanchita, present destiny orkarma accumulated for futuredestiny. With firm perseverance,by continually striving for abetter environment, by changingour habits, and by changing ournatures, we can change ourlives. For whateveraccumulated karma we havecreated, we are destined toreceive the effects. However,before accumulated karmaproduces fruit, we can changeour lives if we wish. It dependsupon our efforts.

God has given us kindand compassionate hearts andtwo hands to help others. Buthow can we do that? Can weinterfere in others’ karma?

36

Masters have a different view.They advise us to forget aboutother’s karma? Masters havea different view. They adviseus to forget about other people’skarma in the beginning; instead,think about our own work.When we become very strong,we can think about helpingothers. Who really needs tochange? We should think aboutchanging ourselves beforethinking about helping others.Every person should change hisor her own life, nobody else’s.Who can change their destiny?Those of faith and willpowerand intense desire.

On Suicide

Occasionally peoplewant to know whethersomeone who commits suicidefrom the desire to be free fromvery painful karma will be freefrom karma since they do nothave a body. No, suicidecreates karma from an entirelydifferent kind of desire.Someone who commits suicideis not ready to face the realityof life. They just want to escape,run away. If someone whowants to commit suicide is givenhope and a chance to changetheir present situation for thebetter and they do not feelalone., they will not commit

suicide. Suicidal people do notwant to put an end to theirbodies; rather, they use a drasticmeasure to escape a situationor state of mind. They wantsomething and are not fulfilled,and they are frustrated. Perhapsthey are in a situation that seemsso intolerable that they cannotcope with it.

Remember, committingsuicide is not good. Runningfrom a problem with suicide willcreate much stronger effect inthe future. In a natural processof death, we finish our workhere, then, unknowingly, weprepare for the next life.Ordinarily, people unconsciouslyplan their next lives, and theirdesire carries them to anotherdestiny. This journey is likeunconsciously dreaming about atrip from Europe to India. Foran affluent person with freetime, it is easy to travel; not sofor a poor person. Natural deathis like an affluent person’stravel plan. In a natural death,we have a destination;everything is arrangedaccording to our karma, theresult is certain.

For those who commitsuicide, death is like leaving arented house without arrangingfor another house to live in.

37

Everything is packed and theperson leaves with nowhere togo. What will that person do?That person will run from hereto there – the soul wanderswithout a home. It has to liveas a spirit for a longer periodof time, with much agony andsuffering until it gets a new bodyto exhaust its karma. Needlessto say, the minds of those whocommit suicide are confused,and their journeys are notnaturally complete according totheir own karma. It is not good.They use their free will in avery strong, very negative way.By using their free will in thisway, their prarabdha is notexhausted. Instead of changingtheir prarabdha, they bring itto a full stop. We can exhaustour destiny or change it, butneither has occurred withsuicide. As a result theirprarabdha returns to sanchitain a very negative way. Theymay have to suffer much more.Therefore, when you findsomeone in a depressed state,encourage them to face thechallenges of life, throughprayer and inner strength.

With deep love let usthink of God and pray to Himfrom the core of our hearts:

O God, I am born as ahuman being through Yourgrace. You have given me abody, a life, to work sincerely,to achieve my goals. Help me,O God, to change my life. Iunderstand my life is the resultof my own karma, the result ofmy own actions. But I alsoknow that what I am today isthe result of past actions, andwhat I will become tomorrowdepends on my effort today. OGod, give me strength, give mecourage, give me a balancedmind, give me faith, give medevotion so I do not waste timewith unnecessary worries orprocrastination. I will try mybest to change my life, tochange my habits, to changemy attitude, to make my lifebetter. O God, help me be goodfor others, not just for myself.

O God, You have givenme a human birth. As I journeythrough life, I carry a heavyload, a backpack filled with mykarma. I must exhaust thiskarma, no one else can do it. OLord, I want to be free. I wanttorid myself of this burden. Iknow my prarabdha, mydestiny, is with me. In my lifewhatever has happened, hashappened. Give me the love,

38

the attitude to accepteverything. Let me accept thatwhich cannot be changed, andlet me try my best to changewhat I can do. O God, You havegiven me a mind that thinks agreat deal. All my thoughts addto the heavy load I amcarrying. Help me, BelovedOne, to think properly. Help meeliminate unnecessary andnegative thoughts that spoil thepeace in my life. Bless me,Divine Lord, keep me alwaysin Your loving arms.

With sincerity and love,we must pray to god and the

masters from the core of ourhearts to change our livesthrough our efforts, prayer, anddeep meditation. Failure doesnot exist as long as we keeptrying and endeavour sincerely.Failure is a good teacher. Witha positive and self-motivatedlife, we can move forward. Asa result we will not be slavesto our destiny; rather, we willhelp create it. We can be thearchitects of our lives. Weshould live with a visionaccompanied by forceful,committed work.

***

DATES TO REMEMBEROctober – December, 2019

July 4 : Ratha Yatra

Sept 29 – Oct 8 : Navaratri9 Day Festival of Divine Mother

October 8 : Vijaya Dashami

October 27 : Deepavali

December 3 : Punyatithi of Gurudev BabaHariharananda

December 27 : Gita Jayanti

December 25 : Christmas

***

39

THE YOGA SUTRA OF PATANJALI

Sutra 29

Fruit of Spiritual Practice

tatah pratyakcetanadhigamo api antaraya

abhavasca

Word Meaning

tatah – then, hence;pratyak – innermost; cetana– Self, consciousness;adhigamah – understanding,knowledge; api – also; antaraya– obstacles; abhavasca –extinction, destruction.

Translation

Hence comes theknowledge of the innermostSelf also, and the destructionof obstacles [to that knowledgeand yogic life]

Commentary by Shri LahiriMahashaya

Then that knowledge ofGod, as direct awareness willcome and then there will be theextinction of obstacles that makethe mind restless.

Metaphorical Explanation

Ordinarily, no one canlive without action. Everyaction brings with it multitude

of results. Life is themanifestation of these fruits ofcontinuous action. Peoplewithout knowing this secret lawof action are bound to its fruits,which can be sweet or sour.

A sincere seeker or yogithrough self-discipline andconscious effort tries to followin the footsteps of the masterand progress on the path ofrealization. In the previoussutras, two things to practiceare mentioned: ishwarapranidhana (surrender to the Lord)and pranavasadhana (thepractice of omkara or om).

The first word of thissutra, tatah, reflects the fruitof such practice. As a resultof practice, two things areachieved: dawn of knowledgeof the Self and elimination ofobstacles on the spiritual path.

The inner meaning ofpratyakcetana is the “theknower of the knowledge of theopposite.” The soul as pureconsciousness is able to cognizethe body, senses, mind,emotions, and the external

40

***

world. However, this materialworld cannot know itself, as itlacks the quality of awareness.

When the mind ispurified, the knowledge of theSelf slowly manifests. Oneknows the play of the life forcethrough this divine sound andfeels the presence of the Divine.

With regular practice ofspiritual discipline, especiallyperceiving the continuous andall-pervading om sound, andreflecting upon its innermeaning, one slowly grows andglows in spiritual awareness.When the flower becomes thefruit and gradually matures, twothings happen simultaneously:the fruit ripens and the flowerdries up. Finally, the fruitnaturally becomes detachedfrom the tree. When one

progresses on the spiritual pathwith the direct help of themaster as well as with sincereand regular practice, obstaclesare seen as great enemies. Inthe other part of the sutra, thesage assures us that obstacles,although they appear to bestrong and powerful, will slowlydry up and be extinguished. Nodarkness can exist with the riseof the self-luminous sun. Anelaborate discussion of obstaclesfollows in the next two sutras.

O Seeker! Do not losehope. It is natural that all theseimpediments will stand in theway. You have accepted thispath of spiritual evolution. It isthe razor’s edge. Have faithand continue your practice withimplicit love and loyalty.

Inauguration of Blood donation Camp

41

AROUND THE GLOBE

Around the Globe

India

P a r a m a h a m s aPrajnananandaji’s BirthdayCelebrations .

Matru ashramcelebrated the birthdayaccording to the Hindu calendarat different venues. Abhishekaand worship was performed inthe Shiva temple of Pattamundaifollowed by a fire ceremony.

At HariharanandaDhyana Mandir, BeltalPattamundai, there weresatsangs by monks andNarayan Seva (serving of freefood and distribution of clothesand gifts to deserving people).

M.N High Schoolwhere Guruji was a studentcommemorated the event byplantation of several trees.

H a r i h a r a n a n d aGurukulam celebrated thespecial birthday on the 10th ofAugust with special worship atGuru Mandir and a sadhuBhandara in the ashram. Ablood donation camp was alsoinaugurated.

H a r i h a r a n a n d aBalashram celebrated the

birthday with a chain of childrenforming the birthday greetings.

Popular news papersof Odisha were full ofappreciation lauding the effortsGuruji in the spiritual and socialfields

Other ActivitiesSocial and Spiritual

Awareness Camps organizedby Matru ashram– Numerouscamps were held in severaldistricts of Odisha withhundreds of studentsparticipating.

Moral Educationclasses will be organized indifferent schools in Kendraparadistrict by Matruashram with abeginning made with M.N.HighSchool of Pattamundi.

State level Geeta ChantingCompetitions

State Level GeetaCompetitions are planned to beheld in more than100 cities ofOdisha – coming to a close atthe gurukulam on 28 and 29December. Study of the Geetawill also be introduced chapterwise.

Ashrams abroadBirthday Celebrations

were held around the globe in

42

all ashrams with great love andgratitude, with special worship,seminars, retreats and meditationfor the world teacher who hasgiven so much and continues togive. Prayers were held forGuruji’s healthy, long life andblessings of Masters and God.

Ashrams in Europecelebrated the birthday withgreat zeal and enthusiasm.

Australia ashram –Kriya Vidya Mandir – Centerof Kriya Meditationcelebrated the birthday with atwo day event in the Newmeditation Hall of the ashramwith special worship, meditation,discourses on the life andteachings , personal experiencesof disciples, video clips ofGuruji’s discourses and powerpoint presentation of specialmoments and a kriya quiz onthe life and teachings. Theprogram was well attended bylocal and interstate discipleswho felt blessed to be in thebeautiful atmosphere of theashram.

Mother center USAand the Temples of Harmony,Compassion, and Peace heldspecial programs for the event.

The projects of PrajnanaMission and the worldwideactivities continue under theguidance of the Sri Gurujiserving humanity on all fronts– from the rural villages ofOdisha to International KriyaYoga ashrams – spreading thegift of knowledge throughdiscourses, publications,retreats, meditation camps ,humanitarian projects –educational, medical, Gitacompetitions and studies,spiritual and social awarenesscamps , moral education classesin schools – Go seva andorganic gardening lessons invillages - the list goes onthrough close to 17 ashrams ofPrajnana Mission and sisterconcerns in India and eightmajor ashrams abroad , withmore than 70 monastics servingworld wide,

Visit our web site:

www. prajnanamission.orgFor current information.

E-mail : seva@prajnanamission.org / missionprajnana@gmail.com

***