Light of the Spirit Blog

Sayings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik

May 22, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

We wish to share with you some of the teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik which you will find in our new book, Light of Soham. We have also created a short introductory video about Sri Gajanana Maharaj which we think you will enjoy below.

If you get this blog post in an email and you don’t see the video above, you can see the video at YouTube. We would appreciate it if you would rate the video and leave comments on the YouTube page.

Selected teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik

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. You will yourself enjoy full, complete and everlasting happiness and also lead other forlorn and miserable fellow-beings to the same path. It is the grace of my guru that prompts me to show this easy and royal road to the people who are engaged in worldly pursuits.

If the body falls in the gutter, it can be washed and cleaned by water, but if the mind is dirty, full of doubts and full of desires for many objects, how can it be washed and purged of its impurities? The only way of cleansing the mind is to immerse it in the contemplation of Soham. All the impurities are then washed away. Sri Tukaram has said, ‘If your life is impure, what can soap do?” The mind is purified, and all the dirt from it is swept away by the broom of Soham.

Lord Krishna has said in the Gita that the mind, which by nature is fickle and hence difficult to be controlled, can be brought under control by constant practice. Thus, practice is the most important means of controlling the mind.

If we carry on the japa with firm faith, we clearly realize after some time the power of the mantra. If we train our mind to entertain only good thoughts, not only are we ourselves benefitted, but our conduct produces good effects upon others also. This light of Soham inside us sheds its luster on our whole life and makes it full of happiness.

Light of Soham-Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik For the rest of this month Light of Soham: The Life and Teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik is available on sale for only 99¢. You can get Light of Soham at the Amazon site of your specific country using this universal link: getbook.at/lightofsoham

You can get the ebook at Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Playster, Angus & Robertson and other online retailers at this link: books2read.com/lightofsoham.

You can also download a PDF of Light of Soham on our eLibrary page.

New Book Available: Light of Soham–The Life and Teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik

May 11, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

We are happy to announce we have published a new book, Light of Soham: The Life and Teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik, which is now available as a paperback and as an ebook. At the end of this post we will link to multiple sites where it is available.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a young crippled boy in North India met a spiritual teacher in the Nath tradition of the great teachers Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath, who imparted to him the precious knowledge of yoga meditation. The boy began to apply himself to this meditation practice and became a very unusual saint indeed.

Gajanan Murlidhar Gupte, later known as Gajanana Maharaj, led an unassuming life, to all appearances a normal unmarried man of contemporary society. Crediting his personal transformation to the practice of the Soham mantra, he freely shared this practice with a small number of disciples, whom he simply called his friends. Strictly avoiding the trap of gurudom, he insisted that his friends be self-reliant and not be dependent on him for their spiritual progress. Yet he was uniquely able to assist them in their inner development.

Gajanana Maharaj taught the ajapa-japa of the Soham mantra with the breath. In Light of Soham his teachings for success in Soham sadhana and spiritual life in general have been collected from the writings of himself and his disciples. An appendix by Abbot George Burke on the method of Soham Yoga gives detailed instruction on how to practice this method of meditation.

Here is a review by Dylan Grant, an early reader of Light of Soham:

★★★★★

When it comes to reading “spiritual books”, you are looking at an extremely oversaturated market, compounded by the fact that many of these books are either very obscurantist or superficial. But with Light of Soham, published by Light of the Spirit Monastery which has also published commentaries on scriptures and other works, you have a special exception.

This book cuts straight to the problem of life – our separation from the Godhead – and without dwelling too much on this immediately cuts to the solution: Meditation. Every good meditative technique comes from a guru who can demonstrate its efficacy with his own life, and that brings us to Sri Gajanana.

The crippled Sri Gajanana is unheard of in the west, as far as I know, and this makes his teachings all the more profound as you cannot go in with any expectations. He calls himself “The Broom” to his students because he says his job is to clear away the debris in the minds of his students that prevents them from realizing their oneness with God.

I was immediately charmed by the presentation of this simple spiritual teacher and his humble moniker. It is an excellent refresher from the Hindu Gurus who parade themselves as living gods and messiahs to their servile followers. There is none of this pomposity at all in Sri Gajanana, indeed his speech is always surprisingly plain, and this makes it so that there is nothing to obstruct the light of his teaching from penetrating into the mind of his students.

The best part of the book is the section where he answers the complex philosophical, theological, and metaphysical questions of his students. Each answer is like a knife cutting through so many Gordian knots.

The third and final section of the book is about as excellent a “How-to” Manual on meditation as you will find anywhere. It is a perfect way to end the book.

It took me a very long time to finish this short 150-page book because I found it kept inspiring me to put it down and start meditating. Every “spiritual” book should do this. A wise man once told me that the only purpose of a spiritual book is to inspire you to meditate and to remind you of the necessity of inner experience when it comes to the divine. If that is true, this book is first-class.

For a limited time you can get Light of Soham: The Life and Teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik at the introductory price of only 99¢.

You can get Light of Soham at the Amazon site of your specific country using this universal link: getbook.at/lightofsoham

You can get the ebook at Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Playster, Angus & Robertson and other online retailers at this link: books2read.com/lightofsoham.

The Amazing Story of the Miracle of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem

April 29, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

Holy Fire Header
This last Sunday was Easter (Pascha) by the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church calendar (Sunday, April 28th). By the same calendar, on the day before, Holy Saturday, a miracle has occurred every year in Jerusalem for centuries. That is the miracle of the Holy Fire, which occurs at the tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.

This church, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is the place which contains both Golgatha, the hill on which Jesus Christ was crucified, as well as the tomb close to Golgatha that received Jesus’ dead body, and is same spot from which he rose from the dead.

The “Edicule,” or Shrine of the Tomb of Jesus, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

The ceremony surrounding “The Miracle of the Holy Fire” appears to be one of the oldest recurring Christian ceremonies in the world. From the fourth century all the way up to our own time, sources recall the ceremony. [Read more…]

The Subconscious: What Meditators Need to Know

April 19, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Q: What is the subconscious? Some may call it the “Unconscious.”

The human being consists of many layers, but the three large divisions are the physical, astral and causal bodies or layers. The mind is also physical, astral and causal.

The physical brain is the seat and instrument of the conscious mind which includes the “upper” levels of the astral and causal minds. But since the human being is usually unaware of many of the levels of the astral and causal “brains” or minds, we call those levels “the subconscious.” In the subconscious are stored all the past life impressions (samskaras and vasanas) which greatly influence our personality and behavior, but reflexively, not consciously.

How does the subconscious help us? How does it burden us?

The subconscious is absolutely necessary for us to function, much less evolve. What really burdens us is our unawareness which confines us to acting instinctually when we should be acting rationally–intelligently and insightfully.

Sometimes it feels like a water buffalo smashing through the garden.

That is not its fault. What it disrupts is the result of our ignorance, the blindness of our consciousness.

Can we tame the subconscious? Need we do so?

What we need to do is bring into the light that which is presently in the dark because of the present limitations of our consciousness. To express it simply: we need to make conscious what is presently subconscious (unconscious).

We do this by delving into the depths of our minds and expanding our awareness of our total being through meditation. This is what Yoga is all about: becoming conscious. The yogi who applies himself does this quite naturally and virtually without effort.

Correct meditation practice

But of course, the practice must be effective, correct and complete.

It sounds too simple and too easy. Which is why those with tangled (they call it complex) minds:

never find it;
do not recognize it when they find it;
do not believe it is what is is when they find it;
and therefore:
never really try it.

The Science of Sound and Breath in Meditation: Essential Facts

April 13, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

This article on Sound and Breath in Meditation is taken from “Perspectives on Yoga,” a book by Abbot George Burke to be published later this year.

Although there is a great deal of interest in gimmicks and tricks in yoga and endless expositions of “shakti” and suchlike, the yogi really has one all-absorbing interest: sound (shabda).

He begins with sound and ends with sound, and his involvement in sound is what carries him along the path and ensures his success and prevents his going astray. Those who do not follow this path will almost surely go astray and wander afar.

Every element (bhuta) has a sensory experience that is common or “native” to it.

Earth (prithvi) has smell;
water (apa) has taste;
fire (agni) has sight;
air (vayu) has touch;
and ether (akasha) has sound (shabda).

The power of sound alone has both an active and passive aspect. Akasha possesses the power to both generate sound and to hear it. Furthermore, Akasha alone is pure; all the other elements have admixtures of one another, including akasha.

Even more, the elements predominate in each one of our five bodies.

Earth predominates in the annamaya kosha, the physical body.
Water predominates in the pranamaya kosha, the pranic body.
Fire predominates in the manomaya kosha, the body that is the sensory mind.
Air predominates in the jnanamaya kosha, the body of the intellect.
Ether predominates in the anandamaya kosha, the body of the will.

The two powers of the Ether

Since Ether is the ruler of the elements, and it has two powers, will and sound, yoga is based on sound produced by the yogi’s will and in which he becomes absorbed in meditation.

This is an important principle to keep in mind because many aspirants throughout the ages have wasted their lives practicing methods not based on these two powers of ether, and therefore became wanderers, and often self-distracters and self-deluders. [Read more…]

Bhakti: The Yogi’s Perspective, from “This and That for Yogis”

April 6, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Bhakti from This and That for Yogis

We are preparing a new book entitled “This and That for Yogis” by Abbot George Burke. We will begin posting excerpts here from the book, beginning with this one on Bhakti, which we hope to publish before year is out. Here is what the author says about the book:

This is a compilation of random thoughts I put down quite some time ago that were completely without any order. Unlike Satsang With the Abbot, it is now somewhat arranged according to subjects, though the final section is not. I hope it will be useful to those who read it.

I certainly wish someone had told me these things when I first attempted to be a yogi. Things would have been much easier and I would have avoided wasting a great deal of time.

Abbot George Burke
(Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

This and That on Bhakti

Unfortunately bhakti is usually considered to be emotion directed to God, especially as love. But bhakti means dedication in the search for God. It is Ishwarapranidhana, the offering of the life to God, which Patanjali says is the way to superconsciousness (Yoga Sutras 2:45). Shankara simplified and clarified it greatly when he said that bhakti is seeking God and jnana is finding God.

In the sixth chapter of Raja Yoga, Vivekananda wrote:

“All over the world there have been dancing and jumping and howling sects, who spread like infection when they begin to sing and dance and preach; they also are a sort of hypnotists. They exercise a singular control for the time being over sensitive persons, alas! often, in the long run, to degenerate whole races. Ay, it is healthier for the individual or the race to remain wicked than be made apparently good by such morbid extraneous control.

One’s heart sinks to think of the amount of injury done to humanity by such irresponsible yet well-meaning religious fanatics. They little know that the minds which attain to sudden spiritual upheaval under their suggestions, with music and prayers, are simply making themselves passive, morbid, and powerless, and opening themselves to any other suggestion, be it ever so evil.

Little do these ignorant, deluded persons dream that whilst they are congratulating themselves upon their miraculous power to transform human hearts, which power they think was poured upon them by some Being above the clouds, they are sowing the seeds of future decay, of crime, of lunacy, and of death.

Therefore, beware of everything that takes away your freedom. Know that it is dangerous, and avoid it by all the means in your power.”

Vivekananda knew what he was talking about because Bengal, his native land, was gripped by the false bhakti of the “dancing and jumping and howling sects,” especially Gaudia Vaishnavism (the Hare Krishna movement in the West), and still is to a great extent.

His fellow countryman, Paramhansa Yogananda, said: [Read more…]

Incarnations of God – Avatars: The Sankhya View (With Surprising Christian Insights)

March 30, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Incarnations of God

To someone who wrote about the nature of avatars–incarnations of God.

The Sankhya view (on which Yoga is based) of avatars is that when perfectly illumined and liberated souls return to earth to teach spiritual wisdom, they are avatars: incarnations of God in the sense that the divine is fully manifested in them. It can be said of them as Saint Paul said about the Lord Jesus:

“In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

Just think:

“They brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them” (Acts 5:15).

“And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11-12).

When I read this as in my early teens I realized that Saint Peter and Saint Paul were not just “born again” and “good Christians.” They had become Christs, gods upon the earth. They were “incarnations” of God. This is in keeping with the Bible:

“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:34; Psalms 82:6).

It is interesting how little “Bible Christians” understand or believe of the Bible. Especially those who boast that they believe the Bible literally.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12).

So we see that believing in Jesus entails a lot more than Christians even want to realize. This is why Swami Abhedananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, wrote an pamphlet entitled “Why a Hindu Accepts Christ and Rejects Churchianity.”

We are all meant to be incarnations of God

All human beings are intended to become Sons of God. It is spiritual ignorance that clouds the issue. Of course God alone is God, yet the rishis of India realized that our spirit (atman) is inseparable from God, like the wave from the ocean. But as Shankara wrote:

“O Lord, you do not belong to me, but I belong to you. The ocean can say, ‘I am the wave,’ but the wave cannot say, ‘I am the ocean.’”

Further Reading:

6 Questions That Puzzle Spiritual Seekers

March 16, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

spiritual seekers questions

Over the years spiritual seekers have sent questions to Abbot George, from the mundane to the philosophical to the practical aspects of living a spiritual life. This recent selection of questions and answers is shorter than some, so we will share them with you in a single blog post. You can read a wide selection of these previously printed in Satsang with the Abbot: Questions and Answers About Life, Spiritual Liberty and the Pursuit of Ultimate Happiness, which is available at Amazon.com.

1. To someone who wrote about the correct attitude to adopt toward others when interacting with them, especially those with whom the yogi has a close personal relationship.

In all relationships with other human beings we are to see the divine Self in them and realize that ultimately we are relating to the Divine Itself. The moment we think someone is “ours” ego is present and problematic. That is why sadhana is so necessary to keep our minds in the correct perspective.

2. To someone who asked about Khechari Mudra.

The khechari mudra most people talk about is solely a hatha yoga method, and a foolish and dangerous one at that. Those who “fail” to do it are fortunate.

The mudras of the yogis are solely positions of the eyes. The khechari mudra of the yogis is a spontaneous turning upward of the eyes in meditation that occurs naturally when it should. To do it deliberately is to interfere with the meditation process.

In Soham sadhana this happens naturally and can come and go during a single meditation period according to how the pranas are moving spontaneously. It happens when the sushumna is activated and the process of meditation becomes centered there. Some yogic texts speak of it as occurring when the japa of Soham enters–begins to take place in–the sushumna. Then the yogi truly is a “sky walker,” which is what “khechari” means. He “flies” in the Sky of Consciousness, the Chidakasha in the Sahasrara. [Read more…]

Raja Yoga: What Is True and What is False

March 7, 2019 by Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

raja yoga header

To someone who inquired about the nature of authentic Raja Yoga.

Raja Yoga is the science of Prana, the breath being the main yogic instrument for its accomplishment. It is much more than controlling or refining the breath (for real pranayama is refinement, not control), it is the Way of Unity.

Raja Yoga both leads to and is the experience of unity with the Self and Brahman. Total unity is its only goal. This is important to recognize, because Raja Yoga involves mastery of our inner and outer life, which inevitably involves the emergence of inner powers which can easily be wasted or misapplied.

Raja Yoga and yoga powers (siddhis)

It is pointless to tell a yogi to “shun the yoga powers” any more than it would be to tell a child to avoid adulthood. Certainly, an adult is subject to many more delusions and addictions than a child, and certainly has the ability to work much more harm to himself and others. Nevertheless, adulthood is inevitable.

And so it is with the yogi: these powers will manifest in him. If he keeps his eye upon the goal of liberation in Brahman, those powers will ripen into something more, into spiritual realizations, much the same way that sexual energies conserved are transmuted into far higher and greater forces within the consciousness of the yogi. [Read more…]

“Yoga: Science of the Absolute” Now in Print (Read Sample Here)

February 26, 2019 by Light of the Spirit Monastery

We have finished publication of Abbot George’s new book, Yoga: Science of the Absolute–A Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and it is now available in paperback and ebook format at Amazon and other online outlets. For a limited time the ebook is on sale for only 99¢.

What are the Yoga Sutras?

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is the most authoritative text on Yoga as a practice. It is also known as the Yoga Darshana because it is the fundamental text of Yoga as a philosophy (though practice is discussed), one of the six orthodox systems (darshanas) of Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Religion.

There is no need to have “faith” in these texts, for their statements can be verified by any reader, as has been done over thousands of years by countless yogis in India. A virtual army of self-realized men and women have proved their veracity and accuracy. Many of them are living right now as witnesses to the truth of Sanatana Dharma, which is based on the principle that all sentient beings are destined to attain liberation-union with divinity-since they are eternal parts of the Supreme Spirit, the Purushottama.

In “Yoga: Science of the Absolute“, Abbot George Burke draws on the age-long tradition regarding this essential text, including the commentaries of Vyasa and Shankara, the most highly regarded writers on Indian philosophy and practice, as well as I. K. Taimni and other authoritative commentators, and adds his own ideas based on half a century of study and practice.

Serious students of yoga will find this an essential addition to their spiritual studies.

A Sample from Yoga: Science of the Absolute

Sutra 3: 11. Samadhi transformation [parinama] is the [gradual] settling of the distractions and simultaneous rising of one-pointedness.

This change we desire comes about only gradually as the chitta itself begins to change.

This is important to know because in my yoga pilgrimage I came across some practices that instantly produced samadhi parinama. I was impressed, even at one point telling the one who had taught a certain method to me: “This is the hope of the world.” I was wrong! The practice carried with it extremely detrimental side-effects, both physical and psychological. I saw my fellow-practitioners disintegrating in body and mind while being “happy.” After a few months I realized that I must stop the practice or get into very deep trouble.

Later I met a psychotherapist who told me of patients who had gravely endangered their mental health through that method. He had himself learned it and after only a few sessions with it realized that it had great potential for harm. Other therapists who had investigated it came to the same conclusion.

A psychologist once told me that any drastic and almost instant change in body or mind is always pathological. Time has revealed to me that he was right. So even though yogis can become impatient and wonder: “When will it happen?” the inner world is not one of instant gratification but of steady and permanent change. So for the yogi it is true: Plod Rhymes With God. A teacher of Buddhist meditation, the Venerable Sumana Samanera, said:

“First of all, three things are required here: 1. persistence, 2. persistence, 3. persistence. Without great devotion, without extraordinary patience even one who is otherwise gifted will not be able to make progress.”

Yoga: Science of the Absolute–A Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is now available in paperback and ebook format at Amazon and other online outlets. For a limited time the ebook is on sale for only 99¢.