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The Road to Happiness

road to happiness

More from our series “Wisdom of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik”

Every human being is ceaselessly trying to acquire happiness

Every human being is ceaselessly trying to acquire happiness or to increase his share in it and to avoid pain, or at least to lessen it as much as possible. But the experience is just the contrary. He is ever feeling the lack of something and is always plunged in misery. Things which are pleasant in the beginning end in sorrow, and misery is always on the increase and gets the upper hand.

As man does not really understand wherein lies his happiness, he passes his days in the vain hope of securing happiness some time or other. Death catches him in its grip while his search for happiness is still going on. People do not profit by the example of their companions and fellow-beings, and so continue the same search and follow the same path. They, however, do not stop to think wherein lies real and lasting happiness.

A man, if he thinks deeply about this, will come to know that all things in this world which appear pleasant are perishable and false like a mirage. They either cause pain or increase the pain which is already there. No one, however, acquires this insight. On the contrary, everyone is entangled more and more in this snare of misery and finds it difficult to see a way out of the maze.

It is therefore necessary that some royal road should be pointed out so that people going by that path might root out this unending sorrow and pain and reach the destination where there is everlasting peace and happiness. I am putting before the world my experiences in order that people might find an easy, short and sure way of reaching this goal of everlasting happiness.

When you get experience for yourself, you will be sure that you are on the right path.

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The Journey to God Through the Practice of Yoga

Journey to God-practice of yoga

Part 3 of Making Attraction and Aversion Work For Us, Not Against Us, a commentary on the 7th Ode of Solomon, written in Apostolic times (to be available as a paperback and ebook later this year).


  • For he it is Who is incorruptible, the perfection of the worlds and their Father.

This is an exposition of the nature of Ishwara. If we unite ourselves with him through yoga sadhana we shall become like him.

  • He has allowed him to appear to them that are his own, in order that they may recognize him that made them, and not suppose that they came of themselves.

One of the greatest flaws of any religion or spiritual philosophy is the presumption that spiritual truths can be figured out intellectually or by applying logic. Anyone with a modicum of self-observation is aware of both the limitations and the unreliability of the mind. This is why all authentic spiritual traditions tell us that the only viable working with the mind is that which enables us to go beyond the mind!

Maharshi PatanjaliIn the Divine Unity, the Supreme Spirit fosters the evolution of all the individual spirits which draw their being from It. Patanjali tells us in the Yoga Sutras that God himself is the Guru of all. (“Being unconditioned by time he is guru even of the ancients” 1:26.) Mostly he teaches through providing the experiences that their own higher minds determine, but he does at times teach them through intuitions that arise from the depths of their own beings where God is to be found.

The ancient tradition of India tell us that the primeval sages, the rishis, turning within in profound meditation, discovered Brahman as the essence of all Being, just as the ode says in this verse. Brahman is also our Source, the power which has enabled our manifestation within relativity and which empowers us to ascend to the Absolute.

  • For knowledge he hath appointed as its way; he hath widened it and extended it and brought it to complete perfection.

This is why we must persevere in the practice of japa and meditation, simple as they may seem. On the mechanical level they are simple (even childishly simple) but on the level of their effects they are as complex as relative existence itself. That is why the practice of yoga can deliver us from the nets and snares of relativity.

You will find that your experience of yoga practice will be infinitely varied. On occasion, of course, your meditation and japa may seem to be the same day after day, but that is because your inner and outer bodies are adjusting to the plateau of evolution your practice has brought you to. The effects are being assimilated and permatized during such periods. But after a while you will perceive yourself moving on in the depths of meditation to new areas of development.

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The Ever-present Witness

More from our series “Wisdom of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik” About a fortnight ago a learned shastri came to visit me. He had read some of the letters sent by me to my friends, and also the messages which I had given to some … Continue reading

The Power Is In You

the power in us

More from our series “Wisdom of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik”

The real power lies in the mantra and this power is also centered in everyone

I therefore say again and again, that the real power lies in the mantra, Soham. This power is also centered in you. If you thoroughly realize this power, and become one with it, you will easily attain atmic bliss, even though you may be leading a worldly life. You will be thoroughly happy internally, as well as in your worldly life. Soham awakens the power in you which is lying dormant.

My brothers and sisters should remember that a liking for and devotion to God is the result of the accumulation of great merit in previous lives. If you have this liking, God in the form of Soham who has His dwelling in the outgoing and incoming breath of every human being, will be realized by you. I say this from my own experience. You may have no faith in me but you should have faith in this Soham.

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Random Counsels: Soham Sadhana and More

Soham Sadhana

Random counsels from a letter written to a yogi friend in India.

The problem with all exoteric religion is that it eventually leads back to bondage in this world. I am very thankful that I came from a very religious family, but in time that was not enough.

Certainly the knowledge of yoga is a supreme blessing. As Paramhansa Yogananda often said: “Yoga is the beginning of the end.” And Sri Ramana Maharshi said: “Soham sadhana is the last step on the journey to Self-realization.”

Unless there is really loud or distracting noise, there is no problem with external sounds when meditating. Soham meditation is much too effective to be hindered by some outer sound. Only those who practice fake yoga claim that there can be absolutely no sounds or distractions. But that is because their false practice is weak (and worthless).

The meaning and the consciousness

It is only incidental that Soham means “I Am That.” It is the internal, subtle sound of your mental intonations of Soham that matters. The meaning is in the realm of the thinking mind, which is of not much value in meditation. We are looking for consciousness in meditation. The internal, mental sound of Soham will lift you to higher awareness. But your experiences will be nothing like these yoga cult people claim with astonishing, theatrical and therefore coarse and semi-material experiences.

First, they will be beyond description right away, and they will not delude you into thinking that you are enlightened. You will have a very realistic view of yourself, but also optimistic. The section “Soham Yoga Sadhana in three sentences” that is in the beginning part of Chapter Two of Soham Yoga gives the right perspective. So just listen to the sound of Soham japa and discover that it is much more than anyone could possibly guess. Only those who practice will know its effect and value.

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